It’s amazing.
“Jo-see?”
Oh, shit. He wants an answer and here I am, all dopey with endorphins. “I’m wonderful,” I breathe, a blissful smile curving my mouth.
“I need to…move,” he says in a strangled voice. His hips grind against mine, just a little, as if he’s trying desperately to hold back from going to town on me.
“Then do it,” I encourage. I move my hands to his big shoulders and squeeze my legs tighter around his hips. This close together, the sheer size and bulk of him against me is emphasized, and if it were anyone else, I might have a real concern for my safety in his arms. But this is Haeden, and he would absolutely die before harming me, so I know I’m safe. “I trust you.”
It’s like my words cause the dam to burst - and his control flies out the window. He groans loudly and then his hips surge against mine. It’s a strong, hard thrust of his cock deep inside me, and then I’m groaning just as loud as him because when he moves? Not only do I feel every ridge drag back and forth inside me, rubbing against my walls, but his spur glides against my clit, brushing against the hood. It feels incredible.
Then he’s moving again. And again. Each thrust seems to grow in strength until he’s pounding into me. And it feels amazing. My groans have turned to little cries, and I’m lost in the whirl of sensation. The entire world has boiled down to just this moment, just this place where our bodies are joined and all pleasure seems to be exploding through me at once. As he fucks me, it’s like every sensitive spot in my body is being teased at the same time, and it’s too much. Another blistering orgasm rockets through me and I scream out his name, my nails digging into his shoulders. I can feel my pussy clenching tight around him like a vise, and somewhere in the blur of pleasure, he’s shouting my name in a hoarse voice, and my cootie is singing with his so loudly it’s like a freight train is barreling through the cave. And I just keep coming through all of this cacophony of sound and bliss. Over and over, orgasm after orgasm wallops me.
I’m pretty sure I pass out at this point.
At some point, my senses come back to me and I realize I’m flat on my back on the furs, still gasping for breath. My body is wet with sweat, and the warm velvet that is Haeden’s skin is stuck to my own. His big body is crushing mine into the furs but strangely enough, I like it. And my mate? He’s pressing kisses to my neck, our cooties purring gently in our chests.
“Wow,” I breathe. “You might have boned the consciousness out of me.”
“Eh?”
“Nothing.” I pat his shoulder absently. “Was it good for you, baby?”
He exhales deeply and props up on his shoulders to gaze down at me. I realize that I might still have his long braid wrapped around one hand — or what’s left of it. I think there’s more hair loose than in his braid at this point, and this is the most mussed I’ve ever seen Haeden. He’s sweaty and flushed and his long hair is everywhere and it makes me grin. “It was…enjoyable.”
Wow. Faint praise much? I frown up at him, and I realize that I blabbed about loving the guy mid-bone and all he did was grunt at me. Maybe he didn’t hear me. “I love you, you know.”
Haeden narrows his eyes at me as if I’ve said something puzzling. “Of course you do. We are mates.”
I shove a hand at his shoulder. “Are you serious? I just confessed love to you and you’re all ‘duh’ about it?”
“I am what?”
I start wriggling out from under him - no mean feat, given that his epic cock is still buried inside me and feels amazing and still a little hard - and try to get away. “Get off of me. I am so done here.”
“What?” He grabs me and holds me down under him, and all my squirming just seems to make all my sensitive girl parts get all turned on again. “Why are you mad?”
“Why am I mad? Because I told you I loved you and you act like it’s nothing!” I smack a hand on his shoulder. “You’re all ‘mates love each other’ and all I have to say to that is bullshit! I’ve seen Asha and how she treats Hemalo! She can’t stand him. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was screwing someone else just because she wants to piss off her mate! Or how about Zalah, huh? Did she love you? Did you love her? Because you resonated to her just the same as me!”
He looks at me with surprise and stiffens. I see a flash of anger cross his face and then that awful, dead look returns to his eyes. He gets off of me — and I feel an ache of emptiness when his cock slides from my body — and moves to the fire. He pokes at it with a long bone and won’t look at me.
I should be mad, but instead, I feel like I fucked up. I feel guilty and awful, like I just crushed whatever we had under my foot. I threw Zalah in his face, and that’s a low blow. I wouldn’t like it if he threw my past in my face - the foster dads that snuck into my bed, the guys I slept with in high school when I was desperate for anyone to love me, the alien that raped me on the ship. I have a very long history with sex, all of it bad. And yet here I’m lashing out at the one person that made me feel wanted and adored, all because he didn’t say the right words back to me when I wanted to hear them.
I look over at Haeden. His back is stiff, his tail still except for the small flick of the end of it near the furs.
I pull the blankets up around my chest. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I just…” I exhale deeply. “I have a real need to be told that I’m wanted and loved. I never was as a kid and now I guess it’s still a sore spot with me. I shouldn’t have lashed out at you, though.”
He slowly puts down the bone and turns to me. Haeden’s eyes are narrow, the look on his face tight. I wince, expecting him to give me an earful of how pissed he is.
But he only moves toward the furs and sits down next to me. We’re both silent for a long moment, and then he says, “When the sky-claw pulled you into his mouth and flew away, I thought my world was over. I put my blade to my breast and was ready to follow you to the next world.”
I swallow, then nod.
“I did not do that for Zalah.” His voice is achingly gentle. “I would not do that for anyone else. But you, Jo-see, I would follow.”
My eyes brim and hot tears start to slide down my cheeks. I nod again, because what else can I say? He’s right - I was looking for words when all along, he’s been a man of actions. Words are easy to say, but actions are everything.
He reaches up and gently brushes the tears from my face. “I have never had a mate before, Jo-see. I will not always do the right thing. I will not always give you the words you feel you need.” He cups my chin and forces me to look up at him. “But make no mistake - if you leave this world, I will not be long behind, because I cannot live without you.”
I burst into tears and fling my arms around his neck.
Who needs a few love words when you have a guy like Haeden?
19
HAEDEN
One week later
It takes many, many days for the resonance to sing through our systems. Perhaps it is because we have both denied it for so long that it is now insisting upon regular matings to feed its need for Jo-see to carry my kit. I am glad to comply. Mating with my female is a joy, and filling her with my seed seems to fill my heart as well. We explore each other over the days, learning what makes the other aroused. I learn that Jo-see’s ankles are very sensitive, and so are her bountiful teats - which she insists are quite small. I learn that when she starts repeating my name over and over, her cunt will start to milk my cock hard, and the pleasure doubles. I learn that she loves to wake me up with her mouth on my cock.
I shamelessly enjoy that, as well.
But after two hands of days in which Jo-see and I do nothing but sleep, eat, and mate, I am ready to leave the cave and turn homeward. This hunter cave is sufficient, but it is cramped and the winds blow right through the cave late at night, which sets my small mate to shivering against me. The furs need a good airing after our repeated matings, and we are low on rations. I can always go hunting, but I worry about leaving my mate alone for long periods of time. Every time I think of leaving her behind, I see the sky-claw swooping low and snatching her away, and I head back into the cave and hug my female tight against my chest.
And then we mate frantically once again.
Jo-see and I must return to the tribal caves, though. If Har-loh and Rukh have not yet sent hunters out in search of our trail, the tribe will eventually worry why we have not returned from visiting the Elders’ Cave. And I must warn them about the sky-claws that have appeared. Raahosh takes his mate Leezh out hunting with him, and they must be careful.
Above all, we must rescue the females in the cave. Jo-see reminds me of this daily, but I have not forgotten. I just will not put her in danger to save them.
So as my mate sleeps against me, her cheek pressed to my chest, I lie in bed with her and think as I stroke her soft mane. I ponder ways that I might travel back to the tribe with my mate safely at my side. She cannot walk back; I still have nightmares of her being snatched away again. I consider a sled, but she can be plucked as easily from the top of a sled as she can from walking. And I cannot leave her alone in the cave as I head back. We are still two or three days of slow travel from the tribal caves.