“I took a break for lunch,” she said, giving him a smile. “But I’ve been out here since you left, yes. I got all the seeds of the flowers planted. I hope they grow.”
There was a market on Dumera. Traders from off-planet would sometimes come and bring goods with them. Last week, a trader came with an assortment of seeds. Of vegetables and fruits and flowers from another world. Valerie needed to be careful just in case the seeds actually took root and grew. She needed to be careful that they didn’t spread beyond her plot. She didn’t want to disrupt the balance of Dumera whatsoever, but it was a fun little project, one that might bring a new food supply if the seeds were successful.
“Almost done?” he murmured, eyeing her in her dress, one she’d bought from the market when they’d first arrived. Since it was humid on Dumera, the less clothes, the better, she’d found.
Valerie straightened once she was finished burying the root, wiping a hand over her forehead, no doubt getting dirt on her face.
“Pax,” she said, her tone teasing.
Dravka smirked and helped her up. Her legs were covered in dirt and she swiped it away.
“Don’t worry, I’ll clean you up,” he purred, snagging her around the waist, leaning down to give her a proper kiss.
Valerie’s breath hitched, her arms threading around his shoulders, pressing up on her toes to get closer. They kissed a million times a day and still, every time felt like that first time. His kiss made her shivery and warm and wanting. It made her feel safe and loved and protected.
Valerie pulled away when Dravka’s hand began to creep up the back of her dress.
She grinned, her body already readying for him, the place between her thighs beginning to throb.
“You’re insatiable, you know that?”
“My Rut’s coming,” he rasped.
“Oh,” she whispered, excitement curling in her belly. “When?”
“In a couple days, I think,” he said.
His last Rut happened about a week after they’d settled on Dumera. The first Rut she’d helped see him through. Properly, at least.
If Valerie had thought that Dravka’s sex drive was incredibly high normally, it went into overdrive around his Rut. For three days, it had seemed like she’d been suspended in a never-ending orgasm. Morning to night, he’d taken her in every possible way, every possible position. Once he released histeelainside her, he only needed a moment’s rest and then he was ravenous for her again.
They’d nearly destroyed their tree house those three days. Every inch of their home had been christened during that Rut.
And by the end of it?
Dravka had been a very,verysatisfied male and Valerie had felt like she’d just returned from battle. A very pleasurable, intense battle that she wanted to do all over again.
But she’d loved seeing him through it. She was his mate, after all. She took great pride in the knowledge that shehadseen him through it and made it out alive on the other side.
Death by sex?
Not a bad way to go. Especially when a Keriv’i was involved.
So, if Dravka’s Rut was T-minus two days…it made sense that his sex drive was ramping up again.
“A long bath sounds nice,” she told him softly, tossing her words over her shoulders as she went through the gate of her garden and towards the ladder that led up to theirjiveratree house. “Doesn’t it?”
A growl met her ears.
Dravka was close on her heels. When they reached the ladder, he jerked his chin up. “Females first.”
She gave him a knowing look that made him chuckle, wicked and deep. But she would play along. So up she went. And when she was only up a few rungs?
She heard his groan.
Underneath her dress, she was bare and from this angle, he could see her clearly. And since Dumerians had no concept of underwear—something she was realizing had been very human—she didn’t wear any anymore because they weren’t available for purchase. The few pairs Dravka had packed from Everton she’d decided to save for her periods because she could easily slip in an absorbent cloth.
But right then, all Dravka saw was her bare flesh.
