Tansey’s eyes open, blue orbs staring down at me. I brush back the golden locks that fell forward, covering those lovely breasts. As I think of a future together with Tansey, I run my fingers over her hard nipple before cupping a breast.
“You’re a boob guy, aren’t you?”
The word doesn’t translate for me, but I understand her meaning. Yes, I’m fascinated by her fleshy globes, but more so by the female herself.
“I may be gone a week.” I’m not compelled to tell her any details, but I wish her to understand that I would stay here with her if I could. “The number of days depends on how long it takes to gather the intel we need. I cannot say more. And you must not speak of my trip to anyone, especially our grak and graka.”
“I get it. They’ll know you’re talking to me when you shouldn’t be.”
Not quite, but I let her believe this. I’ll explain all to her upon my return.
She attempts to lift off me, but can’t, due to my knot. “What the fuck?—”
“My knot will relax soon. Be patient.”
“Knot? What do you mean, knot?”
“My cock has knotted inside you, to keep my seed where it will increase the chance of creating a youngling.”
Her eyes narrow, anger seeping into her face. “If this is your way of trying to make me forget about Ethan, then screw you.” Again, she tries to lift from me but cannot. Anger transforms into panic as she twists her form, but cannot separate from me.
I grip her face with my hands to calm her. “I do not wish for you to forget your youngling. This is not by choice, Tansey. It is the gods giving me another chance.”
“Another chance for what? Having a woman in your furs every night? I don’t care how good the sex is, Verig, or how much I like you, I can’t stay. I’ve tried to make that clear. Release me, now.”
My thumbs glide over her cheeks before I slide my hand down her delicate throat. The effect is immediate. She falls completely still and stares at me with a hint of suspicion I haven’t seen in her in weeks.
“You are mine, whether you share my furs or not. My knot will relax and release you when it is ready, so behave yourself.”
“Screw you,” she curses, but that only makes my balls tighten and my cock harden inside her while knotted. It’s painful and utterly thrilling—andrare. I’ve never found sex so addicting as with this female.
I pull her down to me, lock her against my chest, and force my lips on hers. She fights me briefly, then relents, her lips opening to me. The taste of her mouth, the way her tongue glides over mine, reminds me of floating naked in a lake, with the sun shining down on me and not a worry in the universe.
Peace. This is what she offers me.
Her lips leave mine slowly, blue eyes looking down on me with confusion. I cannot enjoy any peace while she is torn.
My cock finally relaxes and unknots. “You can pull off now, if you wish.”
She lifts off me and leaves my furs, quickly stepping into her dress, the one she wore the day Baloq stole her from her colony. When she faces the door to leave, I wonder if she will return.
Her hand grips the door handle, her body and face turned away from me. “I’m not a bad person, Verig. Nor am I whole, not without my son.”
I fling the furs aside, rise, and pull her in against me. She clings to me as I hold her tight. Her eyes leak, the wetness striking my chest. Tears, they’re called. A sign of deep sadness, she once told me. I only know that they pierce my heart deeper than any sword could.
In this moment, I know I will do anything, risk anything, for this female…
CHAPTER TWENTY
VERIG
Six days. The tension of being gone from Tansey so long begins to unnerve me. My hand rotates the knife repeatedly, my only outlet as I crouch behind a tree in the woods, feet from the small, isolated section of the human settlement.
The night I left, Tansey fell asleep, crying in my arms. That was not how I envisioned leaving her, but I’d already set a time to meet Kodex. Delaying our mission even another day jeopardized my plans. I hope she will forgive me for leaving her like that. I do not know if she will still be in my bedchamber or the females’ quarters when I return.
Kodex and I found our target early this morning. Now, we wait for the right conditions to complete our task. Then we return home…to all the fallout.
The human colony spans a massive area with numerous dwellings dotting the land with no thought to defense. Many of the homes border the forest where they have no patrols, no walls, and not even rivers to deter invasion.
