She breaks first. Her body locks rigid around me, and the clenching wave of pressure drags my own release straight out of my spine. I bury myself deep, shuddering, the secondary shaft swelling and locking tight along with the first.
The mindspace goes white.
I collapse onto my forearms. We are both shaking. She has rendered me incapable of standing up.
She traces a trembling finger along the ridge of my jaw.
“Okay,” she whispers, her voice destroyed. “NowI feel like I got hit by a truck.”
The mindspace flashes me an image from her thoughts: a rectangular beast on round black legs, roaring down a flat gray path at terrifying speed. Atuh-ruk. I file the word away. If this tuh-ruk is the standard by which she measures impact, I am satisfied with my performance.
I press my forehead against hers, my breath still ragged. I do not want to move. I want to remain buried deep inside her heat until the next dark cycle.
But the silence does not last. The tight mental shields I held during the mating begin to slip. The low buzz of the clan crashes against my consciousness.
The clan is bleeding. They are waiting for their dra-dam.
“I know, my mate,” I project before she can even speak the thought aloud.
I force myself to slowly push up on my forearms. The physical separation is agonizing. I withdraw from her body by fractions of an inch, my ridges dragging against her swollen, sensitized flesh. She winces, her thighs trembling as the shafts slowly slide free.
A thick strand of our mingled slick stretches between us as I pull back. The sight of the sheer mess of my release coating the delicate junction of her thighs makes the feral beast in my chest roar with satisfaction.
I reach down, my claws scooping a thick smear of my own fluid from the furs between her legs.
Her breath hitches as I drag my palm slowly up the inside of her thigh, rubbing the thick, glistening spill directly into her skin. I coat the soft curve of her hip. I spread the potent scent of my claim across her lower stomach. I want every warrior in this cavern to smell exactly who she belongs to.
A continuous, possessive rumble vibrates deep in my chest.
I lower my head, pressing my face directly to the soft, marked skin of her stomach. I drag in a deep breath, filling my lungs with the scent of my fluid mixed with her heat.
The mindspace trembles with her lingering arousal. She lifts a shaking hand, her fingers tangling weakly in the dense strands of my mane.
“Rest,” I project, my mental voice a dark, soothing vibration. “I will return as soon as the boundaries are secured.”
I turn my head, dragging my open mouth over the soft swell of her hip before pulling myself up to press a single, lingering kiss directly over her racing dra-kir.
Only then do I finally force myself to pull away. I swing my long legs over the side of the stone shelf, preparing to stand up and walk out into the cavern.
“Whoa, whoa, wait. Halt.”
Eh-ree-kah sits bolt upright, grabbing my arm with both hands. Her spoken voice is suddenly sharp.
I pause, looking back at her. “What is wrong? Are you hurting?”
“No,” she says, her eyes wide as she stares pointedly at my lap. “You... you can’t just walk out there like that!”
I follow her gaze down to my own groin.
The dual shafts rest heavily against my thighs.
I look back up at her.
“Why not?” I project. “The clan knows we are mated. They felt it in the mindspace. I have completed the transformation. My body is proof of my strength and my right to lead.”
“Because you’re...hanging out!” she gestures at my crotch, her face flushing bright red. “The whole package! You can’t just stroll into the clan with your...” She trails off, waving both hands at my groin in a frantic circular motion. “Yourtwo whole dicks, Kol! Just out! In the wind! Tina will die. She will literally drop dead.”
I blink, the images coming through the mindspace at me transferring her meaning.
