Another growl met my greeting, and Wyn’s tail tightened around me. I smiled softly at his much smaller frame in front of me, pushing through the crowds in the bustling market. People didn’t even turn to look at us. Hawkers yelled out about their wares, and many zarkyi women leered and invited people intotheir shops, trying to use their wiles to trap hapless tourists into buying whatever they were selling.
Wyn ignored it all. He marched through the teeming marketplace, little bursts of fine dust erupting from beneath his feet. Whenever someone got in our way, he would snarl, and I did nothing to stop him. He needed to take me away, and I was happy to acquiesce to that need. I was his, as he so easily claimed.
Though I doubted he meant mates, as it was far too early for him to feel such permanence for me, and I smelled alcohol vapors wafting off him. Nonetheless, I was content for the first time in… No, this was the first time I’d ever been this pleased.
We wound through the crowd until we reached a deserted place on the edge of the sandy city. The sandhouses were behind us, and in front of us was a lovely green oasis surrounded by tall trees.
He released me and rounded to face me. “Why have you been ignoring me?”
“What?”
“You almost kiss me, and then you spend the next month ignoring me. Why, Monqilcolnen?”
My name on his lips made me groan.
“Tell me.”
“I was giving you time. You don’t seem to care for me.”
“What?”
“Wyn, you all but run from me, even that last time. I don’t wish to force myself on you. But I do desire you.”
His chest heaved as his hands curled into fists. “How?”
I blinked. “How what?”
“How do you desire me?” Wyn snapped, prowling closer. “My body? My mind? For a fuck? For friendship? For courting? Tell me how! You are utterly unreadable, and it is breaking me.”
My soul cracked. My mask had been so firmly in place for so long, it was hard to remove. If there was anyone in the universe I wanted to know me, it was Wyn. I stepped closer. “I desire all of it. I wish to court you.” I wished to claim him, but now wasn’t the time to tell him.
Wyn leaped at me before I had time to react. His arms went around my neck and his lips found mine. I started at the sudden kiss, but when Wyn pulled back, I chased him. He pressed against me, his movements claiming, frantic, desperate, possessive. I melted into him, hooking my arms around his thin waist and picking him up. Wyn wrapped his legs around me and invaded my mouth with his tongue. My hands planted on his firm butt to support him, my tail hooking his with ease, as if he’d already been reaching for me.
This. I’d needed this for so long.
“You know we won’t work,” he murmured.
I captured his mouth again. I refused to speak of this ending before we’d truly started. I refused to speak of this ending at all. We would work. We were meant for each other. There would be no end to this. Not now. Not ever. I groaned when Wyn bit my bottom lip and pulled back before attacking me once again. I squeezed his butt, and Wyn grunted. He wiggled against me, his cock hard.
“Wyn,” I growled, fisting his braid and dragging his head back to lick and kiss his neck.
“Ugh,” he moaned in response to my tongue working over his scent gland.
He was perfect, utterly perfect.
I nibbled and bit along his jaw all the while Wyn cried out, his legs practically strangling my waist as he rutted against me. He was so light compared to most drakcol. I didn’t struggle to hold him in my arms at all. I might be taller and broader than most, and yet, Wyn was so tiny against me.
A voice sounded in my ear, “Monqilcolnen.”
I growled. Talvax. I shook my head and ignored her. I didn’t care if it was against regulations. I’d waited for this moment for nine cycles. Wyn was everything. Any matter could wait until much later when Wyn wasn’t grinding his hard cock against my stomach.
Wyn panted in my ear as I kissed his neck. His tail ran over my back and teased my own while his hands explored my frame. “Mon…” His voice broke off as I bit his earlobe. He whimpered, and I licked the same spot.
My cock throbbed as my instincts pounded inside of me, demanding I claim Wyn, right here, right now. We needed to stop, but I didn’t want to. All I desired was Wyn and Wyn alone. The rest of the universe could burn for all I cared.
One of his hands was buried in my hair, and he dragged my head back so our eyes clashed. My chest heaved; fire erupted in my gut in need of him.
“This won’t work,” he repeated.
