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She is not hitting me at all. She is being very gentle. I run my hand over her shoulder, unable to stop touching her. “This is good. This is very good.”

“Mmmm.” D’see’s tone is dreamy, and my cock is very much aware of her body pressing against me. “I hate that you’re hurt, but I like this part.” Her fingers skim over my chest. “The part where we’re not arguing, that is.”

“No more arguments,” I agree. “I want you.”

She sucks in a breath. “You…what changed your mind? You’re sure it wasn’t the hit on the head?”

“It was R’jaal,” I admit. “And Juth. They made me realize I was living in fear of what might happen, and it would end up costing me any happiness with you.” I skim my fingers down her spine, fascinated at how soft her skin is, how thick her scent. I could erupt simply from these small touches, and the realization is astonishing to me. “I do not want to push away all happiness. I want you. I want us.”

She is quiet for a long moment and then glances up at me. “So what does this mean? For you and me?”

“It means I wish to be your mate. I do not care if you can skin or hunt. I want the D’see that has had my heart for the last three turns of the season. And if you want the healer to force resonance, then I will be very happy to participate, as long as it means I get you in my arms every day and every night for the rest of our lives.”

“Oh, O’jek,” she says, her voice soft. “I love you, too.” She sighs happily and presses her cheek to my chest, content. After a moment, she taps a finger on me. “Are your teeth chattering? Are you still cold?”

My…teeth?

I want to ask her what she is talking about, but then I hear it as well. A low, steady thrum that is growing louder by the moment. Immediately, I think it is coming from her. Resonance, I realize. She is resonating.

And I am the only one here.

It takes another moment for me to realize I am the one resonating. D’see sits up, her eyes wide and startled, and she puts her hand on the center of my chest. “You…you’re…” Then she pauses, a strange expression on her face. Her hand goes between her teats. “Oh, I think I am, too.”

And because I cannot resist them any longer, I reach out and brush my fingers over one of her enticing nipples. Of course it is resonance. Suddenly, everything makes sense. My absurd need to cover her in my scent. The strange thickening of my seed. My utter fascination with her body and scent. It has been building for days upon days, making me moody and possessive, and now I am resonating to my mate.

Finally.

I pull D’see down against me and she giggles, her voice full of delight. “Oh my god, O’jek! Do you know what this means?”

“That you will ride my cock until dawn?” I ask hopefully.

She gives my chest a light tap. “Not until your head feels better. No. What this means is that we don’t need the healer after all.” She burrows against me once more, pressing her face to my chest. “This is incredible. I can’t believe it.”

I cannot, either. I cannot believe that I have an eager resonance mate half sprawled atop me and she will not ride me because I have a head wound. “We need the healer yet,” I tell her.

“Oh? Why?” D’see sits up again, gazing down at me. “Are you hurting?”

“I need her to heal my skull so you will touch me.” My voice is thick with need. “Because I will go mad if you do not.”

She bites her lip, watching me. “O’jek…are you happy? That it’s me? That we resonated?”

CHAPTER 32

O’JEK

She has to ask? I pull her down against me, seeking out her mouth. Her lips brush over mine, but then she pulls away again, and it is clear she is waiting for an answer. “Of course I am pleased. I am elated, D’see. Why would I not be?”

“Because it’s me,” she says, her words blunt. “Now you really are tied to me and just a few hours ago you didn’t want me.” Her breath hitches, and the hurt she’s been fighting bubbles to the surface. “Because I asked you to stay if you wanted me, and you left the hut. So yes, I do have to ask. Every time I feel like we reach an understanding, something new happens that throws us off. Now we’ve got resonance. And just because it makes me happy doesn’t mean that it makes you happy. So I have to ask, because I need the words.”

The look she gives me is worried, searching, as if she seeks to see the answer to all her concerns upon my face. I understand, though. I have pushed her away each time I have pulled her close. Of course she wishes for more proof. It does not matter that resonance is humming through my body, making me hunger for her with such urgency that I ache down to my spirit. She needs reassurance.


Tags: Ruby Dixon Fantasy