I barely sit up before he simply rolls himself out of the nest and over the edge.
My palms sweat from the mere idea of it.
Seconds later, I hear the heavy flapping of wings, and Jorusk rises to the top with a large Tupperware container. He smiles as he sets it before me. “I ordered nest service.”
“Room service?”
“This is not a room. It is a nest.” He opens the lid and draws out a platter of meats, cheeses, crackers, and fruit. “And, they had…”
“Is that an elephant ear?”
He chuckles. “We call this a fynni ynni. It’s fried bread with a spiced buttery glaze and dark canyon berry purée inside. I have not had one in many long years.”
Jorusk eases into the nest and sets the plate before me. He picks up one of the palm-sized fynni yinnies and adds, “I imagine you’ll like it since the other humans on the squad did.”
I finally get the chance I’ve been waiting for and gently close my hand around his tail that gently sways in the air behind him. “All I want is a taste of you.”
Jorusk turns around with a pastry in his hand, looking ready to feed me. Instead, I guide his tail to my mouth and curl my tongue around the shaft near the tip.
It is impressive the way such a small gesture can light him up and stop him in his tracks.
Jorusk shivers in delight, swears, and stares at his tail as it glides through my lips until it slips free again. The spikes at the end are softer than I expected. So I nip at them.
His eyes widen in surprise, then narrow in dark desire. Jorusk leans in, gently tugs his tail from my grasp, and steals a kiss.
When he motions the treat to me and encourages me to take a bite, he squeezes a little and drips berry juice down my chest, inside the collar of my suit.
“Oh, my fault.” Jorusk sets the pastry aside and unzips the top of my suit. He guides me back against the blankets and drags his tongue between my breasts up to my throat. It is a scintillating touch that heats my skin and slicks me with the desire for more.
He picks up the pastry and takes a bite, dripping more, further down my chest.
After a moment, he feeds me the rest. “Not exactly tradition, but I’m working with what I’ve got.”
“Whaffs fra-ition?” I strain to ask with my mouth full of buttery, sweet, deliciousness. “Visisgoof fy the way.”
Jorusk braces himself above me and bashfully hangs his head. We usuallymarkour chosen…”
“Ew.”
He scowls playfully at me. “With ashen symbols of mating from our ancestral texts. Back then, they used enemy blood. But we know now that it carries diseases we don’t want, so we just use a spiced bloodberry mix that the male must collect from the high mountains. You would paint it on yourself, and I wouldlick it off. Then I would paint myself, and you would get a turn. It’s part of Canativor,familiarizing desire. The next is Paraflete or the fire bond, where we tie ourselves together for one night by a fire while relatives protect us. Then there is Maglithus, the mating flight. It’s where I would normally chase you across the sky to prove I am strong enough to…”
“Keep me from running?”
“Keep you safe. I would start many wing spans behind you and chase you to our nest. It is critical that I catch you before we arrive. I must be stronger than you, so there is a benefit to being with me versus being alone.”
I eye the faintly glowing veins of light in his neck. “That is not the only benefit.”
He looks me over like he doesn’t know what I’m talking about. “Then there is the devil’s dance of wings. But again, you cannot. So it will just be me.”
“I’m sorry. It seems like you should be with your own kind.”
He crawls slowly over my body, red eyes shining with devilish hunger. “I do not care about purity like they do. I just want you. My Inferno wants you. And there’s no arguing with him.”
Jorusk kisses my neck with tenderness as he lies himself down over me. His strong hands glide in behind me, heating my back, then down my sides, gliding over my hips, then slithering up inside the open top of my race suit.
His teeth graze my throat, sending a sparkling wave of desire through me. His claws lightly rake over my shoulders as he works the suit off my arms and down my back.
“Jorusk?” I gasp as his scorching skin glides over mine.
