I’m very aware of all of him in a way I never was with Johani. Something clenches deep inside my belly, and I think of our first “time” together, with him pressing deep into me. For some reason, though it didn’t feel great, I’m eager to experience that penetrating piercing again. It’s like my body craves it.
Strange. All of this is strange, I decide. Not bad strange, just different…but I no longer feel hopeless, at least.
O’jek pulls the screen from the cave entrance, peering out. He turns back to me, a frown on his face. “It is R’kh and R’khar. Why are they here?”
I shrug, because I’m just as confused as him. “Maybe Harlow sent them to check on us? Or maybe they’re passing through?”
He snorts. “There is an entire planet to wander. No one is just ‘passing through’ in the same area we are in. They are here for a reason.”
Maybe they are. I pull on my leggings and boots as he steps outside to greet them, bare naked. I run my fingers through my messy hair, and my face still feels terribly flushed after our fooling around. When I get to my feet, my pussy feels slightly swollen and achy, as if O’jek’s tongue has made all the flesh he licked ultra-sensitive. Squeezing my thighs together just makes it worse, too.
Once I’m dressed, I take a few steps outside, smiling brightly at Rukh and his son. Rukhar is getting taller, and even though he’s almost eleven years old, he’s about the same height as me. He has the same serious expression that his father does. They are wearing matching fur loincloths with decorated leggings, and Rukh’s long hair is in a braid that goes down his back. Rukhar’s is similar, but his mane is three braids twisted into one, and there’s a finer silk to his dark hair. That and his small, straight nose are the only hallmarks of his mother’s side of the lineage, I think.
He smiles at me. “Daisy. I am glad to see you look well.”
“Thank you, sweetie.” I move to his side and give him a hug. I know all of the kids in the tribe pretty well. For the last few years, I set myself up as the unofficial babysitter because it was a task I could do well. It fed the baby-hungry need in me and made me feel like I wasn’t useless. “Hunting with your dad?”
“My Har-loh sent us here,” Rukh says to a frowning O’jek. “There are rumors at camp she did not like.”
I should have known Harlow was behind this. Harlow is extremely sweet, the caring, considerate one to Liz’s brash and loud demeanor. Rukh is quiet and keeps to himself, so of course this was Harlow’s idea and not his. “Rumors?” I ask innocently. “What sort of rumors?”
“I’rec,” O’jek says flatly. His arms are crossed over his chest, his cock hanging between his legs and he’s naked for the world to see. I discreetly avoid looking in that direction, because I feel if I do, it’ll show on my face that I was just licking that portion of his anatomy a short time ago.
“What about I’rec?” I frown, confused. “He sent you guys out here?”
“No,” Rukh replies. He puts a hand on Rukhar’s head, and the boy looks up at him with devotion. My heart squeezes at the sight of the son and father. It’s a common sight, because all of the sa-khui are devoted parents, but it’s hitting home that O’jek and I might make a son. He might look up at O’jek the way Rukhar looks up at his father, and I have to sniff back emotional tears.
We’re really doing this.
“I’rec has said you two mate,” Rukh gestures at us, his strange accent thick despite years of speaking the sa-khui language. “Har-loh wishes to know you do not steal Day-see away from camp.”
“You’re okay, aren’t you, Daisy?” Rukhar adds, studying me with a worried expression. “You can come back with us if you’re not. We’ll keep you safe.”
O’jek growls at them, moving closer to me. “D’see is not going anywhere with you.”
Oh. That’s…new, that possessiveness. I can’t say I hate it. In fact, I kind of love it.
I put a hand on O’jek’s arm. “It’s okay. They’re just looking out for me. Remember when S’bren and M’tok stole their mates?”
He grunts. “Fools.”
“Right?” I smile sweetly at Rukhar and his father. “There’s no kidnapping here. O’jek is teaching me how to trail and like, other hunting stuffs.”
“Hunting…stuffs,” Rukh echoes.
“Yep,” I say brightly.
Rukh gives us a suspicious look.
Rukhar clears his throat, leaning against his spear in a way that looks just like his father. “You should know I’rec is telling everyone that O’jek and Daisy decided to make a baby. That’s why Mom was worried.”
“I’rec loves the sound of his own voice,” O’jek mutters, shaking his head.