“We are fine,” I say, reaching back to cover D’see protectively with my hand. “We do not require help.”
My mate puts a hand on my shoulder and squeezes it. “That’s not true. O’jek hit his head on the raft—he got pulled into the water and bumped himself pretty hard coming up—and Veronica should probably look at it. Just give us a minute to get dressed.”
“No,” I say calmly. “We are fine. D’see has it handled. She built a fire. She has tea on. She has put a poultice on my scratch.” I gesture at my head dismissively. “It is all taken care of. We are not going anywhere.”
“Your head,” D’see frets, her fingers brushing over my skin and making my cock twitch anew.
“We are resonating,” I say to A’tar, leveling a look in his direction. “I am not leaving this cave until my mate’s belly is full of my kit.”
D’see makes a sound in her throat—probably of embarrassment—and her hand squeezes my shoulder again.
A’tar just laughs, his hands on his hips as he glances around the cave. “I understand. Well, this is not the worst place to stay for a few days. Shall I leave the raft with you or take it back with me? I can drop off supplies in the morning if you like, and I promise to leave them outside the cave.” He gives me a knowing grin. “Promise I won’t come anywhere near your mate.”
“Supplies would be lovely,” D’see says in a gracious voice, her hand moving across my shoulder in featherlight touches that are not doing anything to avert my hunger. “Terribly sorry for the inconvenience.”
“Not a problem,” A’tar says, turning toward the entrance of the cave. “And congratulations. Have fun.”
He leaves the cave as quickly as he arrived, his bare feet crunching on the pebbled sand. A moment later, a large, dark shadow flies overhead and I hear the sound of large wings beating as he takes to the air. D’see clutches a fur to her chest and tiptoes to the entrance of the cave, watching him leave. “That was nice of them to send him out to look for us.” She glances back at me, her expression worried. “Maybe we should have gone back. Your head—”
“No.” I hold my hand out to her again. “Come here.”
She gives me a frustrated look but pulls the screen in front of the cave entrance—something she had forgotten to do earlier—and moves back to my side, slipping her hand into mine. “I’d feel better if the healer looked at your head—”
“I would not. Nothing will cure what I ache for except my mate’s body.” I tug her down against me, and when she moves forward into my arms, I turn us so she is on the furs beneath me and I am atop her. She is breathless, her eyes bright, and her khui sings loudly to mine. The urge to mate is insistent, overriding all common sense. I do know we should go back to the village and return to our hut. Eat dinner. Speak with the others.
I can do none of those things, though. Not while my mate is naked and in my arms, and my khui is thrumming with resonance. It will all have to wait.
Nothing is as important as giving D’see the kit she so badly wants.
She reaches up and touches my cheek. “You bragged about me to him.”
“Hm?” I lean in, kissing her bare skin. Her teats—such soft, jiggling mounds with fascinating tips—beg to be mouthed. They have been distracting me ever since I awoke, and I can resist their lure no longer. Licking my way down her torso, I take a nipple into my mouth and suck on it, eliciting a gasp from my mate.
“You,” she breathes, arching up against me. Her hands move to my mane and then flutter away again as if she is afraid to touch me for fear of hurting me. “You bragged about me to Ashtar. Said I was taking care of you. That meant a lot to me.”
“I meant every word.” She has shown me today that my fears are foolish. What she lacks in knowledge, she will make up for with a cool head under pressure. D’see handled everything—from rescuing me to starting a fire to warming my body—and I could not be prouder. “You are an excellent mate, and I am not just saying that because your teats are magnificent.”
She laughs, and shifts her torso, making those teats jiggle. “Are you distracted? You’ve never paid much attention to them in the past.”
“I cannot look away today. Are they sensitive?”
“Very.” She cups one in her hand and offers it to me, the nipple jutting up toward my lips. “I would love it if you played with them.”
As if I could resist. I lean over her, touching my tongue against the tip of one. She sucks in a breath the moment I make contact with her skin. Encouraged, I suck on the tip, running my lips and tongue over it, teasing it as if I would her clit. D’see squirms underneath me, panting, her fingers teasing the other nipple as I lavish attention on the first.