“So if you have sex, you will be in a better mood and more focused on getting us safely to the ship.”
I glare at her. “I can see where you are going with this.”
“Good, then fuck me already, so we have a chance at making it.”
“No.” I never thought I’d have a mate, and in those moments where I allowed myself to imagine that it happened, it was nothing like this. “I do not want—”
“Me?”
I glance at her. Her head is tilted, and her eyebrows are lifted. If she could make a charge, she’d be crackling. That is enough to quicken my heartbeat and spike my desire.
She is always ready to fight and seems to think arguing with me is fun. I like it, and she is like a brother in those ways.
“My body wants you.”
“Yeah, I gathered. I don’t see the issue.”
“I do not want pity sex.”
“It’s not pity.” She gives a harsh laugh. “It’s selfish. I want to live. For that, I need you. Right now, you need me. We’re a team? I know I got us into this mess, and I have apologi—”
I slam my mouth against hers, cutting off whatever her next words were. She gasps and her lips open enough for my tongue to slide in and play with hers.
My fingers release the creature that will be dinner. I am hungry for only one thing. My meq throbs and I rub against her. Her touch and scent makes me crave more, while at the same time easing the roughness in my blood.
Her arguments make sense. I don’t want us to die in the forest because I was too proud to accept help. But a part of me knows that this is wrong. That she isn’t mine.
But she is not Honey, she is not bound to me.
I shove my hand into her pants. My fingers find her pleasure bump, and she arches into my touch.
“Slow down, soldier.”
Her words barely register. I want to rip the thing out of my ear, so all I hear are her moans. Her fingers wrap around my wrist, and her nails bite into my flesh. I want to feel her claws rake down my back.
“Stop.” She nips my lip. “We will do this my way, so you don’t lose control and hurt me.”
I’m breathing hard, but this time I understand. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
Did I let it go untended for too long? My fingers twitch against her. I want to lick them clean so I can taste her on my lips.
“Sit.” She holds my gaze. “Aldit, sit and pull your…meq out.” She pulls my hand out of her pants. “I will help you, but you have to do as I say.”
I can do that. Before I sit, I unlace my pants and pull my meq out. My skin is hot and sensitive even to my touch. Pre-cum leaks from the head and rolls along the underside of the shaft.
I sit in the middle of the trail, with my meq ruddy and jutting upward. This is worse than the bed made out of my clothes. This is no bed at all. While the shame of that burns within, she doesn’t seem to care, as she pulls off her pants and kneels over me.
Her fingers trace the bumps along the top of my meq and I groan.
“They’re bigger…aren’t they?”
“It’s one of the changes.”
“What are the other ones?”
“More muscle. A stronger charge. Things that will help me protect my mate.” I force the words out because she is stroking my meq, teasing me without satisfying me. “I need…”
“More than my hand.”
