Taking a chance, I strode forward and pulled her into my arms, leaning down and kissing her. We lingered in that kiss for a long time, tongues twining together. When I finally pulled back, her eyes were wide and all of her attention focused on me. “Hi,” she whispered.
“Hi.” I smiled, then leaned forward and licked her cheek, not able to resist tasting her skin. “I spent much of the time finding you trying to discover who I wanted to be, as compared to who my father wants me to be. You are not the only one who is trying to determine where you belong, my Dana.”
She studied me intently, her [COLOR] eyes holding mine like I could not tear us apart if I cared to. Then she sighed, one of her soft human hands reaching up to stroke my cheek. “I’ll become your mate, but if you ever try to push me in the background or tell me to go back to the kitchen, I’ll cut your dick off,” she threatened, although there was no bite to it.
I chuckled, then kissed her again. “I will remember that,” I murmured against her lips. When I stepped back, the disappointment was clear on her face.
“Where are you going?” Heat flared in her eyes, and her cheeks were turning pink. “I thought we were…”
Heat surged through me and coiled in my middle, and it was a challenge to not get hard when I couldn’t hide it. “I do not want to waste meat, so let’s clean and return these to the tribe, then we can do what you are thinking.”
Dana turned to stare at the meat, then her cheeks got even darker red. I wanted to tease her, because it was obvious she had forgotten it existed, but I had a feeling she would not take kindly to it, so I winked instead.
Crouching down in front of the czik, I showed Dana how to use the blade to slice down their bellies and remove the organs inside for snacks. She didn’t seem particularly interested, so I ate them instead and buried the rest so other creatures would not come for them and discover our trail.
Dana looked at me out of the corner of her eyes while we walked, mild revulsion and uncertainty on her face. “Not sure I should kiss you after that,” she muttered.
I chuckled, then leaned over and gave her a quick kiss, wiping any lingering blood off with a flick of my tongue.
“N’Ashtar!” Her protest was high-pitched but not genuine, even when she swatted me away.
“We’re almost back.” I started moving faster, eager to make Dana mine. With a laugh, she followed, and when I looked back, there was a smile on her face.
I ignored the giggling from the human females as I led the way away from the camp. They were all staying under O’Rrin’s supervision, whereas Dana and I were going to make camp somewhere else. Far enough away that they would not complain about being woken up.
“Assholes,” Dana muttered, yet she kept her hand clasped in mine.
I glanced at them. “Are you displeased with them?”
Dana turned to look at me, the surprise clear on her face. “No, why?”
I wanted to look at O’Rrin, certain I would never understand human females. Could he sympathize? Did he have the same problems with his Hetta? “Nothing.”
She blinked at me as if puzzled, then shrugged and followed, her hand gripping mine just a bit tighter.
“Do you normally look so displeased with your friends when you are not displeased with them?” We still had a little bit longer to go, and while I could have cleared the space quickly, her legs were much shorter.
“Displeased?” Dana frowned, her thinking clear on her face, before the confusion vanished and understanding dawned. “Oh. They’re teasing me because they know we’re going somewhere else to bang.”
Bang? I mouthed the word, not entirely certain what it meant.
“Have sex,” Dana added.
Oh. That made more sense. Mate. Pure pleasure rolled through me at the thought of what we were going to do. Dana would be mine in the purest sense, my mark on her neck and her mark on mine. I had seen O’Rrin’s mark and knew it wasn’t as deep as a N’Akron could bite, but they still were able to puncture the softer skin there, and I couldn’t wait to have a visible reminder of her on me.
My cock twitched, threatening to extrude before we had privacy. Maybe soon she could become pregnant and bear my young, and there would be a forever reminder of her in my life.
“Where’d you go?” Dana looked at me with an amused tilt to her head. “You zoned out a bit.”
“Thinking of you carrying my young,” I answered honestly. “Having your mark on my neck.”
A light flush started on Dana’s cheeks, barely visible under her tan, and I could see it on her ears and neck, too. She liked the idea. Once we were to where I planned to camp for the night, I pulled her to a stop. She was staring back at me with a confidence in her eyes, a fire lit underneath it that made my pants tight. “What now?” she asked, almost daring in her confidence.
Putting my hands on her shoulders, I held her in place as I leaned down and consumed her mouth with mine. My longer, forked and textured tongue slid against her soft and smooth human one, and she was bold in grabbing onto me so she could get closer and closer. She moaned softly into my mouth, making my cock throb, and I brushed a hand across it to give it some vague relief.
Nothing would truly feel better until after I had spent myself in her and she had come at least twice.
I kept her held tightly against my body as
