Page 9 of Hunter’s Harvest

“Pony… tail?” Hess’n asked.

She gathered her hair high on her head. “Like this. Oh, and she’s very excited to meet the Xarc’n warriors at New Franklin. She’s looking for a Xarc’n mate.”

Hess’n eyes lit up. This time it was okay, because it wasn’t directed at my female.

“I will search for her,” he said.

“Great. There are also two males who might be with her. Charles and Vince. They all have implants so they can understand you. Just tell them Nellie is safe and sent you.”

Hess’n grunted, then disappeared back into the forest, taking his translator with him. And I was back to only understanding a few words of what my female said.

I didn’t relax until he was truly gone. Only then did I turn to Nellie, my chest rumbling again, softer this time. “You are safe. We will find your friends.”

She sighed, her shoulders slumping. “Idonevennoifderalive, Var’n. Butihaftatri.”

I reached out, my claws retracted now, and brushed a strand of hair from her face. “I wish I could understand you.”

She leaned into my hand, her eyes closing for a moment. “Mitoo.” When she opened them again, there was a new light there, like her fire had been restoked. “Thank you fortakenme.”

I understood the thank you.

And then she reached up and pulled me down, her fingers tangled in the hair at the back of my neck. I thought perhaps she wanted to say something else, but instead, she pressed her lips to mine.

I froze, and my mind went blank. My chest exploded into a cacophony of rumbling as her lips moved against mine. A growl built in my throat. Hunger. Instinct took over, telling me exactly what to do.

I knew what this was. This was a kiss. I’d read about it in their literature. I had been waiting my entire life for this moment.

I kissed her back, angling my head to deepen the kiss. My hands found her waist, lifting her onto her toes. She made a sound in the back of her throat, and the noise went straight to my cock.

I had never felt anything like this. The taste of her flooded my senses. She was so small and fragile, but she burned hotter than any fire. She was burning me up alive now. I wanted to devour her. Claim her. Keep her.

I wanted to do this forever.

She was the one who pulled away first and I immediately mourned her loss.

“Datwas… datwassipostobea thank you kiss.” Her face was flushed and her lips swollen.

She was breathing hard and so was I, my chest rumbling so loudly that it shook the very air between us.

“No,” I rumbled, my voice low. “That was not a thank you. That was a promise. And when we find your friends. There will be more kisses.”

She chuckled. “Deal.”

Chapter 5: Nellie

Var’n still hadn’t stopped watching me like he expected me to fall over from exhaustion.

“I’m fine,” I said. “I’ve done the whole medical unit thing already.”

“My medical unit has not been upgraded for human use; it may not be as effective.” He was guessing what I was saying, and it did make sense, kind of.

“Whatever it did, it worked. I feel perfect. We aren’t that different, you know?” I pointed to him, and then to me. “Same. Same.”

He looked at me and then down at himself and gave me a glare that told me he didn’t believe it for a millisecond. Okay, so maybe we weren’t exactly same-same. He was huge and purple, and I was not. But the general workings of our bodies were close enough. Surprisingly close, actually. So close it had our scientists super-intrigued. So close that we could make completely viable offspring, naturally, as long as the hunters had their fertility turned on.

He was focused on the mission instead, which was fine by me.

“The flyers should be starting back to their nests by now, and so will the scuttlers and spitters in the area. I will manage each group we come across. It is my job as a hunter. But it is the hostile humans we need to worry about.”