I’rec bolts upright, glaring over at me. “Why do you care what R’jaal says?”
Seriously? I glance over at him and sure enough, there’s a look on his face that I’ve never seen directed at me before. It’s both irritation and hurt, mixed with a touch of…jealousy? I shake my head. “You are letting your khui drive the bus, my friend. That’s not you speaking. That’s your hormones. An hour ago you wanted nothing but Tia, remember?”
“I have not forgotten.” But he has a cranky look on his face as he rubs his chest. “But T’ia has made promises to me. You have made no promises to R’jaal. It is different.”
Are we really going to split hairs while we sit here in the snow? Naked? Covered in jizz? Resonating? I want to point out that up until he arrived, my relationship with R’jaal has been that of a reluctant on-again-off-again fiancée. No, we weren’t officially together, but it was just kind of understood that at some point, we would be. And now everything is hosed.
Ugh.
Is this my fault? Did I show too much affection to the babies back at camp and now some spirit thinks I need one of my own? Or am I being punished? My mother would say I’m inviting bad luck…but my mother always thought everything was bad luck.
Still, maybe she’s not wrong. “You think we’re cursed? Somehow?”
“Bah,” I’rec says with a roll of his eyes. “It is not a curse. It is resonance.”
Oh, now he is justaskingfor it. I growl at him, grabbing a fistful of his thick hair. “You don’t know!”
His gaze flicks to my leather-covered breasts. “I know it is resonance.”
I hiss at him and hop up, distracted. “Don’t do that. It’smalas. And it could be a curse. My mother would say it’s a curse.” Even though she’s not here on the ice planet and probably thinks I’m dead, I still have some of her beliefs. I don’t sweep my hut except in the mornings, because it’s bad luck to sweep at six at night, and I don’t know when it’s six without a watch. I made sure all the planks in my hut are in the same direction as the step down to the sand. I keep my salt container full. I always cross myself before I leave my hut to go on a hunting trip…
Oh shit. Did I do that today? Or was I too lost in my problems? I gasp.
“It’s not a curse,” I’rec says again, his voice husky. He reaches for me, his tail brushing over my butt.
I flick him away with my hand, distracted. When I get home, I’m going to scatter salt in my hut. I rack my brain, trying to think what my superstitious mother would do. Probably clutch her scapular and say a prayer to the saints. I’m not even sure they watch over us half a galaxy away. Sigh. I’ll have to resort to the old ways, I guess. Maybe a gesture of food of some kind? “We need to get home. I might have messed up. I should probably do an offering of some kind…”
I’rec makes a strangled sound.
I turn and look back at him. His hand is on his cock, and it’s fully erect, a dark, aching blue that just looks like it’s begging to be licked. He’s still wet with his release, but as I stare at him, another bead of semen glides down the thick head. And I’rec, that absolute bastard, drags his hand up and down his length, and I don’t know if I want to smack him in the face for distracting me or get down on my knees and put his cock in my mouth.
With a whimper, I lick my lips. Why does he look so damned good like this? Why am I so damned needy for him?
“I do not think I can walk back,” I’rec admits, voice strained. “Resonance…”
“I know.” Do I ever know. Even now, I’m fighting the urge to race to his side and get on top of him. I scrub a hand against my brow. My pants—or what’s left of them—are somewhere around here. My boots are still on my feet, but the laces are loosened and the leather pools at my ankles. My pussy feels like a damn popsicle and my chest just will notstopvibrating with resonance. “We need a plan.”
“Whatplan?” He sounds as frustrated as I feel.
Excellent point. I don’t know what plan. I can’t think of anything right now except resonance and the need to fulfill it again. I cross my arms over my chest, hugging myself, but that itchy, under-the-skinbotheringsensation won’t go away. I know what my body needs, all right…and he’s sitting a few feet away, his hand working steadily up and down his cock.
“Okay,” I say, breathless. “For now, we have to stop resonating. Is there a cave near here? One of the hunter caves?”
I’rec nods. “Two valleys over.”
I bend down and fix my first boot, tightening the straps that wind around my calves. “Okay. We go there. We fuck like bunnies until resonance stops. And then we go back to camp and…then we figure out how to break the news to Tia and R’jaal gently. And then we figure things out from there.”
I fix my other boot and then straighten, glancing over at him. I’rec is on his feet, grimacing as if in pain as he puts his loincloth and belt back on.
“Can you make it to the other cave?” I ask, snagging my gathering bag and sticking the scraps of my leather pants in them.
“I will manage. Are you ready?”
Snatching up the last of the cut laces, I nod. “Yeah, I think I got everything. At least now if someone comes upon this spot looking for us, they won’t see shreds of leather and wonder what the fuck happened. They—ulp!” The words choke off in my throat as I’m hauled into the air and flung over I’rec’s shoulder. “Hey!”
“It will be faster if I carry you,” he says, his voice growly with need. Oh god, that sounds incredibly sexy. So unfair. Why am I so turned on for I’rec? Why couldn’t I have resonated to R’jaal and made things easy for everyone?
A moment later, I’rec’s mouth presses against my upper thigh and he groans. “Your cunt smells so good. You’re so wet with my seed.”