Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

A nxiety tugged at Myk-El as he hurried back to his aerie. He had been gone longer than he intended, but he barely left the cave while Mee-na was ill and now he needed to restock their supplies. His eyes went to the bed ledge as soon as he entered, and his heart skipped a beat when he saw that she was no longer sitting there. Had she left him already?

Then a slight noise made him look towards the fire and he found her sitting there, smiling happily at him. His immediate relief was followed by anger. Not only was his concern for her welfare far too intense, the sight of her waiting for him was far too welcoming.

Pushing aside his desire to greet her with another of those tempting kisses, he frowned.

"You should have remained in bed."

Hurt blossomed in her eyes, but she lifted her chin. "I wanted to find something to do. Look, I made another cup."

She placed it next to his, and longing speared through him so intensely that he felt dizzy. How long had it been since he had a companion to share a drink or meal? Those two cups represented the home, the family, he would never have.

While he was still struggling with that acknowledgment, she looked at what he was carrying.

"What's all that? You weren't gone that long."

"I made the kill before…" Before he found her, and everything changed. "But there was a storm coming and I was in a hurry to return. I only had time to skin and dress the animal. I brought some meat back, and I intended to return once it stopped snowing."

"But you've been taking care of me instead."

He forced himself to shrug as he brought his burden to the fire. "It wasn't a problem. I stored it high in a tree. Everything was still there and still frozen."

He unfolded the fur and she quickly averted her eyes from the butchered kill. Draco squawked and hopped forward inquisitively.

"He doesn't seem to be as squeamish as you are." He handed the avian a small piece of still-frozen meat which he gnawed at eagerly.

"I'm not squeamish. I'm just not used to seeing meat like this."

Which was another reason why she needed to return to her planet. He didn't say it out loud, but from the color that washed across her cheeks, he suspected she knew what he was thinking. She lifted her chin.

"What do we need to do to prepare it?"

We.

His pleasure at the word almost made him reject her offer, but perhaps the reality of life on a primitive planet would prove his point.

"I'm going to roast the leg portion. Some of the rest will go into the stew pouch, and I will dry what remains. If you insist on helping, you can cut this into strips while I build up the fire."

His words came out harsher than he intended and she flinched, but then she nodded and reached for the meat. He handed her his knife and showed her how to shave off thin strips from the thawing meat, then went to collect more firewood.

They worked together in silence at first, but she started asking an occasional question about what they were doing and the tension eased. After she finished with her strips and arranged them on the flat stone over the fire, she offered to help scrape the fur.

"What are you going to do with this?" she asked as she scraped the sharp edge of a rock across the underside of the pelt.

"It will make the ledge more comfortable for you."

"For me?" Her big blue eyes filled with tears, and he half-hoped, half-feared, that she would give him another one of those tempting kisses.

"I do not want you to be uncomfortable while you're here," he said gruffly. Or ever , but all he could control was the here and now.

"I'm not uncomfortable here."

He didn't respond to the quiet statement, and she turned back to her task. As she did, her blanket slipped down yet again. She had tried to tie it in place, but the slick material kept coming undone. Each time it revealed a delicate, wingless shoulder, he remembered how her silky skin felt beneath his hands.

"But perhaps I should use it to make you a functional outfit," he suggested.

"Maybe you should," she agreed as she retied the knot. "I tried using one of the bark strips to tie it in place, but the material is too slippery."

He sighed and stood up. "Come here and let me see what I can do."

She obeyed, looking up at him trustingly, even though her pale golden head barely reached his chest. She was so small… They couldn't possibly be compatible as mates, he told himself.

But then he reached for the knot just as she did and it fell apart, the material sliding down her body and leaving her completely exposed. His doubts about their compatibility vanished.

He had seen her naked many times while he cared for her, but he had forced himself to focus on her well-being. Now she was no longer ill and he could appreciate every luscious inch. From the soft fullness of her breasts, topped by those odd, tempting nipples, to the small patch of pale, silky curls which shielded her little pink cunt.

She made no attempt to cover herself, letting him look his fill. Her eyes were huge and midnight-dark in her small face, her lips parted.

His zemka began to swell, and he wanted more than he'd ever wanted anything in his life to lift her into his arms, carry her to the ledge, and worship each part of that strange, unbearably tempting body. Instead, he called on all the control he had learned over the years and bent down to pick up the kestava cloth instead.

It was a mistake.

They were so close that when he reached for the fabric, his arm brushed across her soft stomach. He felt her skin tremble at the touch as the sweet scent of her arousal filled his head. His control vanished. With a groan, he dropped to his knees in front of her.

One taste , he promised himself. One taste to remember for a lifetime.

He ran his hand up the inside of her leg, relishing the soft skin quivering beneath his fingers as he gently urged her legs apart.

He heard her soft intake of breath, but she didn't protest. Her small fingers clutched his shoulder as he reached the apex of her thighs. Slick heat greeted him, and he growled approvingly. Sheathing his claws, he ran his finger along the delicate folds. He already knew she was not built the same way as a Letenjan female, but he hadn't been able to truly explore those differences before.

Keeping his touch featherlight, he parted the delicate skin. As he stroked the length of her slit, he brushed a small pearl of flesh that hardened under his touch. A muffled gasp escaped her lips and her hands clenched. Was she uncomfortable? He looked up and saw that her cheeks were flushed, her nipples tight little peaks, and her eyes heavy. No, she was not uncomfortable.

He swirled a careful finger over the small nub of flesh and felt it swell even more.

"What is this?"

"My… clit," she whispered.

"And you enjoy it when I touch you here?"

"God, yes."

He tapped it a little harder, and her whole body shook. He smiled, delighted that she was so responsive to his touch. With his other hand, he found the entrance to her cunt. That part was much the same, although hers was impossibly small and not protected by the hard rim that shielded a Letenjan female. There was nothing to stop him from sliding his finger into that hot little channel except the natural tightness of her body.

She would welcome my zemka the same way , he thought as he thrust deeper. She gasped again, and her blunt little claws dug into his shoulders. Using her body's response to guide him, he worked her clit while he thrust into her tight channel in a slow, demanding rhythm. He could feel her growing hotter and slicker, and he couldn't resist. He shifted his hands to her hips, holding her in place as he speared his tongue deep inside.

Her body convulsed, bathing his tongue in her essence as her channel milked him in long, pulsing waves.

His zemka sprang free from his body, aching to be buried inside her, but he ignored the impossible need, contenting himself with long, slow licks as her body slowly eased. Despite the throbbing ache, the knowledge that he had given his female pleasure filled him with satisfaction.

It was enough. It has to be enough.

Mina clung to Mikel's shoulders as the waves of her climax washed over her. His muscles were like iron ridges beneath the velvety suede of his skin, and his hands gripped her hips so hard she could feel the faint prick of his claws.

He began to pull away, but her knees were too weak to support her and she started to collapse to the ground. He caught her—of course her angel would catch her—and tucked her against his chest as he sank back on his heels. As he did, she felt the heated, throbbing length of what had to be his cock beneath her ass.

But where had it come from?

As the warm glow of her climax began to fade, her curiosity returned. She gave an experimental wiggle and felt the instant response from beneath her. Although somehow it didn't feel quite like she would expect a cock to feel.

"Stop moving," he growled.

Emboldened by their encounter and the fact that he had not rushed away—yet—she smiled up at him.

"I was just testing a hypothesis."

That stern mouth quirked. "What hypothesis, my little scientist?"

"I didn't think you had a… cock." Despite her newfound bravery, her cheeks heated at the word.

"You thought I was not a functioning male?" He frowned at her, looking as if he was hovering between amusement and offended pride.

"I didn't see anything, umm, between your legs." Her face must be completely crimson by now.

"We do not expose our genitalia."

The hard length throbbing beneath her ass contradicted his words, and she gave him a questioning look.

"Unless it is time to mate," he added. "But you do not need to be afraid. I know that we are not compatible."

They weren't? Why not?

"Can I… Can I see?"