ELEVEN

- kuvier -

My female is determined to break my resolve.

She is determined to see me weak at the knees and begging for her to let me take her. This is the only thing I can think of to explain her actions earlier this day. What else would have encouraged her to strip down to the tiniest scraps of clothing I have ever seen and douse herself in water under the flickering light of a fire? What else could possibly convince her to allow me to walk up to the sight of her pert ass in the air, bent at the waist with her slit clothed by the most see-through, useless covering I have ever seen? I can still see the faint glow of the fire reflecting off her cocoa brown skin as she rubbed the yellow cloth over herself. Bare, vulnerable, and so delectably tempting.

I am not above begging.

I glance over at Sedona discreetly, my gaze lingering on her silhouette. She is huddled in her furs, her face turned away from me. Not for the first time, I wish I could close the distance between us. We had slipped into a sort of comfortable routine, and it seems that our exchange this morning has broken that delicate peace. I reluctantly look away.

Focusing on the task at hand, I carefully use my knife to push around the bits of chopped meat on the flat stone. The xiixii I hunted and skinned earlier cooks slowly. It is the first fresh meat I have gotten us. I realized last night that with two people eating, I would run out of my rations sooner than I would like. I had set off to lay traps near our sky cave early this morning. The xiixii had just happened to stumble across my path.

Unlucky for it, but quite lucky for us.

Against my better judgment, my eyes swing around and find Sedona again. This time, she is staring at me, her eyes cautious but curious. Her gaze snaps away from me and I miss her attention immediately.

Great Mother, give me strength.

I will have to work hard to regain the ease she had developed with me. It will be hard to pretend as though the sight of her undressed is not burned into my mind's eyes. It will be harder to pretend that everything in me had not needed to be held back from crossing that distance this morning, pushing that thin strip of cloth to the side, and sinking myself in her tight warmth.

With how thin that strip was, I know that I could rend them away with a single claw. My hands grip at my knees tightly. One twist of my thumb and she'd have been naked to me completely. I cannot help but wonder how her most sensitive places would look bared to my eyes.

I have not taken a female of my own, though I've had opportunities. Despite craving that physical touch, I never could convince myself to take the females that had offered themselves in my youth. I had no desire to be a dirty sin sought in secret, but never claimed under the eyes of others. I was not foolish and I knew that not one of them would ever become my mate. I was simply meant to be a body, a taboo experience to be forgotten after finding their true matches.

Despite this however, my clan is not shy about matings. I have often heard the sounds in passing and have walked upon new couples copulating in supply huts. If not for the snow, there would be no concerns for modesty and most would forgo clothing altogether. But, I have a feeling that my Sedona's customs are different. She wears many layers and I know from how thin some are that it cannot be just about staying warm.

She will be the first female that I will take, and if I ever wish to bring that into reality, I have to obey her boundaries. So, I ignore my baser instincts. Especially the ones that scream at me to caress her, to lick and suck her until she writhes and screams for me. I have to do my best not to imagine rutting her and filling her with my kits. To do this, to maintain my composure, I must stay in my own space until the bond stops pushing so hard, even if it pains me.

I am jolted out of my thoughts by sounds of distress from Sedona. I look away from my cooking towards her and she is pacing in front of the large eggs.

They do not all glow green as they had before. Now, one glows a bright yellow, and it appears that this is the egg that causes my mate unease. I rise from my spot and head over to her.

She turns at my approach and gives me a distraught look. Then, she begins talking to herself again, a habit I am finding my female does often. I understand nothing, but do hear this strange word "pod" over and over again. I wonder what is this pod that she speaks of. Though I do not know, whatever it is she desires I will do it. She paces back and forth for a moment, and I happily watch my mate speak and gesture with herself. Coming to a decision, I suppose, Sedona turns back to me and begins talking at me, making wide slow gestures.

"Wun uv dee pee-pill layk mee en dee pods iz waken up."

I shake my head at her, "I do not understand your words, sweet female."

She throws her hands up in frustration before she says something that sounds like ‘fuk eet.' She presses her face against the top of the reflective surface before she jerks back when the egg makes a sound. I startle and mutter a curse followed swiftly by a prayer. But, my mate is fixated so intently on the egg that I hesitate to intervene. Suddenly, the flashing yellow light turns red.

Running her hands over her hair nervously, she looks back at me and then to the egg again. She sighs deeply before she reaches out to the egg, her fingers skimming over the sides of the thing. There is a click and then it makes a loud hissing sound.

I spring into action, pulling Sedona away from the hissing, smoking thing. I grip her to my chest and move several feet back. But my mate's eyes are trained steadily on the strange egg. A moment later, I nearly choke on my spit as the door swings open and another female hatches from the egg.

"Wat dee fuk iz dat?"