On her third descent down my shaft I exploded with a shout, “Kayla!”
I gripped the furs until my knuckles hurt and rode wave after wave of pleasure as my seed emptied into her waiting mouth.
I closed my eyes as I caught my breath and when I opened them again, my luna moth was smiling down at me as if I had been the one to give her pleasure and not the other way around.
“Come here,” I grunted as I scooped her into my arms and held her soft body against me.
“I’m going to love you all the days of my life,” I whispered. “You don’t have to love me back, but for as long as I live there will be no one else for me but you, my luna moth, my kira-si.”
Kayla turned to face me and I caught a tear that had streamed down her cheek. A tear escaped down my own face and she wiped it away just as I had done for her. That was our way. We were equals. As a shifter, I never thought I’d be equal to anyone, but Kayla had proved that wrong.
“I love you too,” her voice was a watery whisper.
“Claim me my luna moth. I do not wish to pretend to be mates any longer. I want to be yours in every way, I want to be your mate and you mine.”
I took her hand in mine and hope filled my soul as she looked at me as if I were the most honorable male on the planet.
“I claim you Drovo. I am yours and you are mine.”
I couldn’t help the sob that escaped my throat asI pulled her to my chest. Together, we were together now, for now and for always. Luminescence or not, we were mates.
Chapter 23
Kayla
CW: abuse against an animal
Waking up in Drovo’s arms felt more right now than ever. There was no more confusion, no more awkwardness, just love, just mates, and I did love Drovo. I think I surprised myself with how quickly I had been able to admit that out loud once Drovo cleared the air about why he’d taken so long to finish my chariot, but that seemed like a distant memory compared to everything we’d experienced in the past few days.
If I were being honest with myself, I think I’d fallen in love with him that very first day when he handed me that perfect walking stick. It just took us a while to get back on the same page again.
Drovo groaned as he woke, and his arms tightened around my middle.
“Good morning,” I cooed.
“Good morning, my mate,” he whispered back.
Plans of staying in bed and cuddling for as long as possible danced in my mind when we were rudely interrupted by a knock on the door.
“Sorry to wake you, but breakfast is ready, and the priestess wants to see us.” Taylor’s commanding alto voice floated through the door.
Drovo and I roused ourselves from the furs and straightened each other’s clothing as if we were an old married couple going through the motions of everyday life. It was nice. With all the chaos going on around us, having a sweet but mundane moment was refreshing.
“Ready to head down?” I asked.
“No,” Drovo pouted, and it was so pitiful that I couldn’t hold back my laugh.
“I know how you feel, but we’ve got to go.”
“Alright,” he sighed and leaned down to kiss me one last time before we exited the room.
The table was set with steaming sweet bread, fruit, and strips of freshly cooked meat. They certainly weren’t struggling to feed themselves in the valley.
Maybe I could convince Drovo to ask the Priestess to let us keep our food for the winter. She seemed like a logical, kind elder who could be convinced to see our side of things.
“You crashed here on a ship? What kind of ship?” The Priestess questioned Taylor, looking suddenly very interested in our story.
“Umm, I’m not sure. Our planet has very primitive technology compared to what our captors had.”
