She kisses me with gentle, delicate little nibbles, as if exploring my face with her lips. I hold still, not wanting to interrupt. I want her to do with me as she likes. I want her to start realizing that she can do anything to me, and I will enjoy it, because it pleases my mate. Her lips feather over mine in light nips, and I can feel her confidence blooming. She likes this. Likes that my lips are soft under hers but also firm. She likes that she finds my breath sweet and my skin warm. She likes all of this, and she wants to do more.
I am yours, I tell her. Do as you like.
Her thoughts grow flustered as she realizes I am picking up her emotions through our connection. She forgets this so easily. Soon it will be second nature to her, but for now, I like her blushes and her innocence. Jenny kisses my upper lip, and then flicks her tongue against my skin.
Heat flares through my body, and I grip her tighter, despite my resolve. I like her tongue. A lot.
You taste like…me. Her thoughts thread through mine, a bright shimmer in my mind.
Because I licked you earlier, I point out. It is my favorite taste.
A hint of a blush returns to her thoughts, but it is quickly overshadowed by arousal. She likes that I taste like her. She likes the memory of my mouth on her body, because it felt so good. She wants to do that again, too. Good, because I have plans to take her over and over again, until she reeks of my scent and there will be no doubt in anyone's eyes that she is thoroughly owned by me.
She sucks in a breath as my thoughts drift over to hers, and she opens her eyes. Jenny gazes up at me, her mouth soft, lips parted, and then she glances around.
What is it? I ask, curious.
"We should find somewhere private down here." Her thoughts indicate it is for mating.
Pleasure spikes through me and I take her hand when she walks away. We can go back up to our nest—
"No," she says quickly, turning to look at me with an alarmed gaze. "No, you stay with me. Like this. Don't shift." She squeezes my hand in hers. "Please."
I shrug, following behind her as she heads toward the nearest human building. If she wishes to mate down here, I will not say no. What is wrong with where we are?
"I'm not going to have sex in the middle of the sidewalk!" Her thoughts indicate that this is an open-air space where humans wander freely, and she is horrified at the thought. She wants us to have somewhere private. She wants us to be alone together.
But no one is here. I would smell them.
"It doesn't matter," Jenny insists. "I'm not having sex out in the open. What if…what if one of your people flew overhead?" She is scandalized.
He would see me thoroughly pleasing my mate.
Nope, Jenny sends back immediately.
I am amused. My sweet, soft, pliant mate is very firm when it comes to this idea. I will show you that it can be a great deal of fun to mate where others can see…but not today.
"Or ever," she sends back, leading me to a rotting building. It smells of old wood and mildew, but the look she gives it is thoughtful. "The roof here doesn't look too bad. Should we go inside?"
I push ahead of her, not liking that she is taking the lead. Jenny is vulnerable, unlike me. It is my duty to be in front, to shield her with my own frame if necessary. Let me check it out first.
"Okay." Jenny moves to the side of a wooden panel with holes in it. A door, I pick up from her thoughts. A door that once had glass in it. This looks…oddly familiar to me. My people live in caves, in nests high in the cliffs.
Salorians have doors, though. They live in square, rock homes built in unnatural shapes and they have doors…
With an angry growl, I grab the door and rip it free, tossing it aside.
Jenny lets out a squeak of terror. "What the fuck, Mhal?"
It offends me. It is unnecessary.
"It keeps things out! What if we wanted to stay down here?" She is displeased at my reaction. I pick up from her thoughts that she likes the building, that it has held together well despite the neglect, and the roof is intact. She sees it as a potential home for us…
We already have a nest, I send back to her. I do not want this place.
"Okay, fine! Jesus." She's hurt by my reaction, because she does not understand it.
Of course she would not. She has never been possessed by a Salorian. My anger burns brighter. She does not know what it is like to have your mind stripped away, to have your body forced to react to another's wishes. She does not know what it is like for her people to be enslaved around her, yet forced to ignore it, because duty as a Queen's Guard demands it. She does not—