So protective. If he knew how horny it made me he’d get all shy and weird, so I try not to let him know just how much it cranks me up when he’s fussy like this. “Are you ready for our honeymoon?”
He straightens and offers his hand to me, his spear gripped in his other. I put my gloved fingers against his and squeeze, even as we head out of the cave and out to the muddy trail that winds away from the main dwelling of the sa-khui. When we’re far enough away that no one will overhear us, my grumpy mate says, “I do not see how this is different from any other hunting trip we will take together.”
“The difference is that this one is our honeymoon,” I say, emphasizing the word as if that explains everything. “It’s about romance and sex and learning about each other and more sex and bonding.”
“And this is what you talked to Shorshie about.”
“Some girl stuff,” I agree. “I wanted romance ideas.” I’m admittedly not the most romantic woman in the world, so I figured Georgie might be better at this sort of thing than me. I like her suggestions, too. Sexy bathing? Sexy stripping? Sexy tail play? All of that sounds fun.
Raahosh just grunts, stepping ahead of me and then lifting me over a muddy iced-over puddle in the middle of the trail. “It should not be all mating.”
“Have you suddenly decided you’re not a fan of mating, then?” I tease. “Because I seem to remember some things you were yelling out when my mouth was on your cock—”
“If we want to bond we should learn about each other through talking and sharing.” He won’t look at me, and the stick is back in his ass.
“I would think you can learn a lot about a person by putting your tongue on their cock but maybe that’s just me.”
He says nothing. I peek at his face while trying not to be obvious about it and he’s definitely flushed at the base of his horns. My Raahosh is shy, and it makes me want to fucking pounce on him.
Actually, pretty much everything makes me want to pounce on him.
“I could learn to use your weapon,” Raahosh says, distracting me from my dirty thoughts. “The bow. You are very skilled and I would like to learn it. You can teach me if this is our honeymoon.”
Oh. A hot rush of pleasure moves through me. He admires my archery? He wants to learn from me? This man knows just what to say to make me happy. I squeeze his bigger hand. “I would love to show you. And you can teach me some hunting stuff too.”
He thinks for a moment. “You already know how to do more than most of the humans. You know how to make a fire, how to lay a trap, how to track…” Raahosh continues to think. “You could learn to be quiet.”
I blink. The fuck did he just say?
It’s like he knows he messed up. He looks over at me and sees my expression, and his changes. “Not like that,” he amends with a scowl. “Though you could learn that, too. I meant I could teach you how to be quieter when you are on the trail. Your feet are noisy.”
I pat his arm. “It’s our honeymoon and I’m going to pretend like you didn’t just insult me because I love you and I know you love me. I’m sure you’ll think of something awesome to teach me and we’ll learn from each other.” I grin up at him. “And also have lots of incredibly filthy sex because it’s our honeymoon and that’s what you do.”
His horns flush again.
6
RAAHOSH
I do not know how I came to be so lucky in my khui’s choice of mates. When I first saw the humans, I thought they were skinny and pale, and Liz was the loudest and stubbornest of all of them. I knew she was mine the moment I resonated, but I did not realize what that meant until I was exiled and Liz stood up for me. She tried to take on the entire tribe and make them miserable so they knew they were wrong in exiling me. Even now, she fills her pack with things we do not need just so she can silently protest.
Liz is loud, yes. And pale. And skinny.
But she is strong, and graceful, and lovely. She is free with her kisses, looks at me with lust in her gaze, and is utterly loyal to me and me alone.
I never thought I would experience the joy of a mate in my life. I am ugly and scarred and quiet. But every day with Liz is a gift, and every time I look at her, I am filled with such a deep ache of pleasure and longing both. She has captured my withered heart into her slim hands and I want to spend the rest of my days making her realize how precious she is to me. How much I “love” her, even though the human word is strange on my tongue, it means a lot to Liz.