Barbarian Lover(66)

I should be horrified that he’s told everyone what we’re doing, but I’m too happy to even care. I peek over his arm and look back at the others in the cave. Tiffany and Josie are standing together, whispering, but they have smiles on their faces. Asha looks forlorn and lost. The other hunters simply laugh and call out jibes about Aehako and his prowess.

All the while, my khui sings and sings and sings.

Aehako carries me into the cave and gently sets me down on the pile of furs that will make up our shared bed. They’re still bundled into rolls for transport during the move. We’ve been so busy overseeing the others that we haven’t had time to set up our own cave. “Wait here,” he tells me, and stalks to the entrance of our private cave, propping the stretched leather privacy screen in front of the entrance. All the while, I watch his ass flex under his loincloth, his tail flicking madly as he walks.

A tail has never been so sexy to me. But right now? It’s driving me wild with need. Oh wow. I press a hand to my chest, and I can feel everything vibrating from the strength of the khui’s song. It makes me want to reach out and touch Aehako…or myself. My thighs press together tightly and I fight down the very real urge to flop back onto the blankets and stroke my clit until I come. I’ve never been this utterly sexualized. The khui is making it impossible to think about anything but grabbing Aehako and licking him from head to toe.

So, so hard to be me. So hard. Truly.

Instead, I reach for the rolls of the furs and work on untying them. We’ll need something to lie on. My fingers, however, don’t seem to want to work properly. My hands are shaking and I’m distracted. All I can think about is Aehako and sex.

Boy, they were right about this khui thing. It’s like someone flipped a secret switch inside me and made me into an instant nympho. It’s so strange. But I’m not unhappy about it – not in the slightest. I have to fight the urge not to cry out of sheer emotion, and my fingers pick at the leather knot uselessly.

I feel – rather than see – Aehako come and sit behind me. My khui’s acutely sensitive to his, and our matched purring sounds feel strange and yet so right.

His hands come up from behind me and he cups both of my breasts in his hands and kisses my neck. “My mate. Truly mine.”

The emotional tears I’ve been fighting finally burst free. I clutch his hands against my breasts and sob.

I feel his big body stiffen. “Why do you weep, Kira?”

“I just n-never t-though it would happen for m-me,” I babble. I’d resigned myself to being the only human amongst the others that couldn’t have a baby when having children was so vitally important to the tribe. And Aehako had wanted them. I’d never considered having one myself.

It wasn’t until now that I realize how badly I want those things. And it overwhelms me. I weep even as he shushes me and his embrace goes from sensual to supportive. He strokes my hair and murmurs as I cry against his chest. I’m not unhappy. I’m the opposite. And I have no idea why I’m so weepy, but I’m happy and so full of emotion I could burst, and I guess tears are the way it’s coming out.

“Shhh,” he tells me as he strokes my hair. “Everyone will think you are miserable at the thought of carrying my child.”

A hiccupped giggle escapes me.

“It’s true,” he murmurs, and his hand slides down my arm, gliding over my skin. “They will say she is sorry that her khui has such poor taste as to mate a clever, beautiful girl with a fool like him.”

I snort at that. No one could ever accuse Aehako of being a fool. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“I am not. There are twice as many unmated males as there are the human women. Do you not think me the luckiest of males that I would resonate for you? I do.”

I sigh, my tears drying because he’s so sweet. I love this man so much. He’s always seen me, even when no one else has. My flaws have never mattered to him – my smiles are the only thing that does.

“I’m the luckiest,” I tell him softly, and brush my fingers over the line of his jaw. He’s so very handsome, my mate. I’m getting even more aroused just looking up at his big, broad face and his glowing eyes, and the smile that curves his mouth. I lean up and kiss him, and his hands immediately tighten around my waist, holding me against him.

“Kira,” he says, and he sounds as breathless as I feel. His nose nudges mine before he takes my lower lip in his mouth and sucks on it. Oh god, he is way too good at kissing now. “When I take you this time, I will not be able to control myself. We will have long, tender nights of mating in our future. But I think now…if I do not sink inside you, I will lose my mind.” He presses his ridged forehead to my flat one and closes his eyes. A tremor rushes through him and I realize just how close he is to losing his control. Oh wow.