TWENTY

- sedona -

"I want to take you outside." I look up from the stitch I was ripping out and see Kuvier holding a small knapsack and a spear.

"Why?" We're both speaking in his language. I find that we mostly use it since I've learned more of his than he has of mine. In all fairness, that's likely due to the DNA scrambling by the mantis dudes. He is still learning surprisingly fast, and sometimes our conversations are a jumbled mix of English and Lieq as we try to get our meanings across. With Xiomara around now, we have a built-in Duolingo, so the past few days, our grasp of each other's words has grown exponentially.

"To gather more vifer and check traps." It takes a second to remember what a vifer is. The red reeds we use exclusively for kindling.

"Okay, give me some time."

Kuvier looks at me in astonishment. "Sky People can give time? This is not a magic I possess, my mate."

A loud laugh bubbles from my lips. Sometimes I forget how literal Kuvier is. Colloquial phrases don't usually make sense to him or Enikk.

"No, it means that I'm not ready and I will need you to wait until I am ready."

"Very well. I will wait patiently for you by the fire."

He leans down and kisses me thoroughly. When he pulls away, I'm winded and jittery. Because the first two kisses we'd shared had both been really heated, Kuvier only knows how to kiss me passionately. And boy does he love kissing me. I walk around loopy and lightheaded too often. I could probably show him how to do more chaste ones, but I've never complained about not being able to handle some heat.

It's begun to happen so often that the other girls mostly ignore it, for which I'm grateful. I know there's some judgment there, but I've chosen to ignore it. Renata at least doesn't seem to feel the same way about it as she did considering she's one of the first to jump in to stick up for me when Krissy chooses to poke the bear.

Once I catch my breath, I put my sewing aside so I can pull all of my outside layers on. With so many women awake now, my layers had grown more limited, but I'd managed to piece together an outfit for myself.

Getting ready is quick and it doesn't take long before we are heading out into the cold. The air is crisp, biting at any exposed skin, but the walk warms me up quickly. I stay close to Kuvier to steal some of his crazy body heat, too.

We walk along for a while in comfortable silence—Kuvier is not an unnecessary talker—but after a while, I can't help but ask, "How far are we going?"

I have no problems with my body. I love the lushness of it, and I think my curves are sexy as hell. But these legs were made for gripping, not hiking.

"We are almost there. I am keeping us within the valley and on the edge of the Blood Mountains." He tilts his head down to get a good look at me. "Are you tired? I will carry you."

I consider it for only a second. "Yes, I am tired."

He doesn't need to be told twice and he picks me up with excitement clear on his face. A chuckle slips out at his expression. The man loves to carry me—has since we first met. If I'm honest, a big part of me loves it too. Kuvier has a way of picking me up like I weigh nothing and it gives me a little tingle every time. But, I've let him do it less since the others woke up because I'm embarrassed by being shown physical affection in front of them. We don't get as many comments or ribs about our relationship—it's been a few days, and everyone is pretty much used to the way he acts with me now. Still, it's something I avoid.

Thankfully, we aren't with everyone else right now.

With our chests pressed together and my legs wrapped around him, we're now eye level, so close that I can make out the individual shades of gold and amber in his irises. It felt wrong at first, but I find him more attractive every day. I'd always known he was handsome, but I was hesitant to admit it because, well, he's not human.

Now, I realize that his otherness is part of what draws me to him. The glow of his eyes. That sweet smile with those wicked teeth. The strong set of his jaw. The way he's so soft to touch. All of it makes me want him more. In fact, the more time he's around me, the more my want turns into a craving.

It's a pit at the bottom of my stomach that won't go away. A constant rush of desire that I know without a doubt only he can quench. God, I scoff internally, where is this coming from? I was never a high libido girl before, but with him, I feel like I'm in heat.

"Whatever you are thinking, stop." I blink, taken aback by his statement.

"Um, what?"

"Sedona, your desire is clear and you smell sweeter and sweeter with each step. Whatever thoughts are running through that pretty head of yours needs to stop." He squeezes my thighs in warning. "For your sake."

Yeah, that did not help my thoughts go away. In fact, I'm more acutely aware of my desire than before. Now, all I can think about is the way he's pressed so tightly to me. The way every breath he takes causes his chest to brush against mine, making my nipples pebble. How every step creates a delicious sort of friction in my core.

Kuvier stops in his tracks and connects his eyes to mine, and the look in them makes my heart rate kick up.

"I am trying to be a patient male, ti khesi, but you are testing me. Are you sure that is something you want to do?"

My hands grip his broad shoulders as I weigh his words against my options. Whatever I do next will change our trajectory, I'm sure of it. The big question is, am I ready?

"If my smell bothers you, you could always fix it." His eyes darken as he regards me carefully.

"Fix it?" His words are measured. "And how would you suggest I do that?"

My shoulders rise and fall. "I feel like that's up to you."

The words are hardly spoken before I'm sliding down his body, landing gently on my feet. Kuvier cups the back of my neck and leans down to capture my lips with his. The kiss, like all of the ones before it, is deep and sensual, and I find myself swaying into his embrace.

When he pulls away, his fingers massage the back of my neck. "If you say stop, I will."

That's the only heads up I get before he spins me, pinning me flush against him. His body drops to the ground and he pulls me with him. I land in his lap with my back to his chest, my body supported by his crossed legs, and my own legs scrunched in front of me.

His hands are on me before I can think, and once he starts exploring my thoughts evaporate anyway. He slides under my cloak easily, slipping underneath the yellow shirt until he finds what he's seeking. My head falls back against his shoulder while he squeezes and massages my breasts with both hands. His thumbs brush back and forth over the peaks, his finger pads rough, scratching against me in a way that is absolutely intoxicating.

"Kuvier, I need—" My plea is cut off as my voice catches in my throat.

"Show me what you need. Take it."

I grab one of his hands from my chest and move it down my body, slipping over the slope of my stomach and under my elastic waistband. Careful of his claws, I push two of his fingers through my folds. I use his fingers as my own, making quick circles around my clit.

"Oh my god," I breathe out, the pressure starting to build in my abdomen.

Kuvier continues pinching and rubbing at my nipple with one hand. But, he takes over with his other, mimicking my circular motion against the bud between my thighs. I move my hands out of my pants, entrusting my pleasure to him and reaching back to find something to grip.

He bites the side of my neck, gentle enough not to break the skin but hard enough to spike my pleasure. I buck into his hand and he groans low in my ear. Then, to my chagrin, he pulls his hand out of my pants.

I make a frustrated sound, something between a screech and a moan, tilting my head back so I can look him in the face when I chew him out. My words never make it out of my throat because he sticks his glistening fingers in his mouth and his face clouds with lust so intense it makes me breathless.

A vicious snarl tears through him and the hand on my breast tightens, blurring the line between pain and pleasure. He pulls his fingers out of his mouth with a pop.

"Not enough," he mutters, almost to himself. Then he shocks me completely when he sticks a claw between his teeth and snaps it at the base.

"What—"

"I need to feel you," he says as a way of explanation before he dips back into my pants.

I understand exactly what he means when his now-clawless finger pushes inside me. Just a single digit is so impossibly long and thick, that it sends me into ecstasy. His rough palm glosses over my clit with every movement and my body starts building pressure all over again. I lose control over my own body and it moves of its own according, riding his hand like it's my fucking job.

"Kuvier," I gasp his name as he thrusts deeper inside me.

"You are all I can smell now," he murmurs, his lips brushing against my ear. "I do not think I am fixing it very well. Should I stop?"

I choke out the answer, "Please don't," but my sentence ends in a mewl when he pinches a nipple between his fingers. My hands grip his thighs, digging in as he lights my nerves on fire.

"Say it again," he demands. "I want to hear you beg, ti khesi. Your pleas are so pretty."

"Please, Kuvier," I whine. "Please, please, please ." My pleases turn to screams as my body bows out of his lap. The blood races in my veins and everything goes hazy around the edges of my vision.

Pleasure courses through me like nothing I've ever felt before as I jerk and moan uncontrollably, dripping all over his hand. He doesn't stop thrusting into me until my high dies down and my cries are tinged with desperation. When he does stop moving, he doesn't take his finger out of me. I clench around him, the aftershocks gripping me. My breathing is still ragged when he nuzzles his nose against my neck, spattering it with kisses and tender bites.

"Find your breath," he whispers into my ear, "because I intend to feel you again."

We never make it to the reeds or the traps.