Page 23 of The Hornet’s Hucow Pet

Zyren suddenly grips my chin again, and my body goes still.

“You’re going to take this so well for me,” he purrs.

While heat still crackles in my veins, the next wave of violent pain hits me. But this time, it doesn’t pull my mind under. My eyes stay fixed on Zyren’s as my entire focus goes to matching his breathing, to letting the pain move through me.

When it finally fades, Zyren doesn’t release me.

I’m grateful for it. My entire nervous system feels raw, vulnerable. My brow furrows as I struggle to comprehend what’s happening.

“Why is it so much easier to take it when I imagine you’re doing it to me?” I only realize I spoke the words aloud when Zyren answers.

“Because then it has purpose. It becomes a challenge to surmount, with praise and adoration on the other side.” His grip gentles, stroking my cheek.

My breath shudders. “Praise and adoration?” Tears well in my eyes, and I quickly scrub them away. “S-sorry, I promise I’m not usually like this…”

Zyren’s firm grip circles my wrists, placing my hands back into the water. Then his soft touch replaces my scrubbing, brushing the tears away.

“You will become much more like this,” he says quietly, certainly.

Anxiety bubbles in my chest. “I feel like a hormonal mess…”

Zyren’s thumb traces my lip. “Yes. You’ll adapt.”

“To… to what?”

“To feeling what you feel. To hiding nothing from me. To trusting me.”

Fear spikes through me at the vulnerability those words imply.

“Shhh.” Zyren’s thumb slides between my lips, pressing against my tongue.

My head goes fuzzy.

“You will whine and complain and mew when it hurts,” Zyren says with that same certainty. “You will give me not a moment’s rest unless you’re totally content.”

My deep survival instincts recoil warily. There’s a reason I learned to hide my pain—it’s not safe to show. It marks me as dysfunctional. A burden.

Zyren slides his thumb further back, and my thoughts scatter.

“You take directions so well, Nova. Now… breathe.”

This wave of pain is excruciating, but it’s not as bad as the others. I’m locked in Zyren’s command, breathing along with him.

When it fades, I curl into his chest. “How do you know before they come?”

“Your chemistry changes slightly. I can smell it.”

“What… else can you smell?”

“How much it arouses you when I put my fingers in your mouth.”

I blush. “I don’t know if it makes me aroused⁠—”

Zyren presses his thumb deep against my tongue.

My cunt clenches and flutters.

Oh.