THIRTY-FIVE

- kuvier -

"Ugh, my hair is so tangled now. That half-up half-down thing they made me wear yesterday was a nightmare. Now, the back of my head is one big knot."

I watch my mate pull at her mane with her fingers in frustration from my spot lounged across our furs. Her bare back is to me and I enjoy watching the way her curves move and bend with every motion. The fire is stoked high, as I woke up before her to ensure the hut would not grow too cold. And I am grateful for my forethought. I should like my mate to remain naked for as long as possible.

"It may be inconvenient, but you were breathtaking," I compliment my eyes trained on the mark on her neck that I can glimpse the edge of.

She turns around to look at me and smiles. "Thank Renata, she did the braids. Tiqii wanted to, but there was no way I was letting that woman near my hair."

"Tiqii is difficult because she was my father's mate and my mother bore a son to him before she could," I tell her matter-of-factly.

She pauses, her eyes growing with recognition. "Wait, was the dude from yesterday, the one with the white and red fur, your brother?"

I scowl. "Kuvit is his name, and I do not consider him as such nor does he consider me, but we share the same father, yes."

"No offense, but everybody in this tribe needs to work on their blame placement because it is all off." Her nose crinkles with disdain and I cannot help but smile at her sense of righteousness.

Her hands are still trying to carefully pull apart knots and tangles. I reach up and still them with my own.

"I wish to share something with you. It is about your mane." She looks at me curiously, letting her hands fall away from her head.

"What is it?"

"A custom of my people." Her face crumples slightly and I cannot help but grin. "A good one this time, I promise."

She relaxes, hesitation being overtaken by curiosity. "Okay, I wanna know."

"You know that mate bonds are important to the Lieq." She nods her agreement. "It is customary that when a pairing completes the bond, a male will present his mate with his finest hunt as a gift. It shows that he is able to provide for her."

She looks at me, her expression melting into curiosity. "You've already shown me you can hunt, Kuvier. What does that have to do with my hair?"

With a chuckle, I rise to my feet. "Wait."

I move to the corner of the hut where a basket made of vifer stalks rests. Picking it up, I feel a strange sense of nervousness as I set it down in front of her and fold myself back to the ground. She looks at the basket and then back to me. I motion for her to look inside, and when she does, her face breaks into a smile that rivals the light of all three eyes.

"I have shown you that I can provide you with necessities, but what I want to prove is that I can sustain your wants as well." I watch as she pulls my gifts from the basket. "I will never quite know what your life on Earth was like, but with everything I am, I will work to make sure that you want for nothing if I can give it to you."

She lays each gift in front of her and peers at them with intensity in her eyes. I worked for many blinks of the eyes to make them in secret; each item something that she had asked for that I was not able to provide at the time. A comb that I made from bone and carved carefully with designs, a bowl made from the skull of the oftii we caught on the last day of our trip, and lastly, the hardest to make, a large stone basin. It took me hours of work to hollow out the perfect rock and make the inside deep enough.

"You did this all for me?" She looks up at me with a watery smile.

"Yes, ti khesi. I have made these things for you." I feel a rush of nervousness and begin to chatter away an explanation. "I have been preparing these gifts for the moment you were ready to complete our bond. Some of the other females helped me to get the details right so they would be what you liked."

She throws her arms around me, leaning over her gifts. "I don't just like them, I love them and I love you."

My whole body stills as warmth explodes through me. My mate loves me. She accepts me. She wants me.

"You are my very heartbeat," I murmur into her neck as I hold her fast to me. Unable to stop myself I pull her across me until she straddles my lap, a position I have become incredibly favorable towards.

"I want you to comb my hair for me again, like you did before," she tells me as she pulls away slightly. But then, she cocks her head and a slow, sultry smile spreads over her lips. "But first, I want to show you how I care for you."

She hungrily presses her lips to mine and my gifts are forgotten for now. Her kiss is fervent and filled with a passion that sends a shiver down my spine. My hands roam over her back in almost desperation, feeling the warmth of her skin beneath my touch. Sedona pulls back slightly and her breath mingles with mine.

Impatience rippling through, she does not wait or draw out the teasing. With sure movements, she sits up on her knees and reaches down to guide my cock to her entrance. She leans in to kiss me again, her lips soft and demanding against mine. Then, achingly slow, she lowers herself, taking me inch by agonizing inch.

"Sedona," I groan, my hands gripping her hips as she envelops me in her warmth.

Her head falls forward onto my shoulder as she grinds against me with her clit rubbing over my nodules. Her hips rock in a slow, torturous rhythm. Our position exposes her mark to me and I press soft kisses to it as a surge of possessiveness floods through me.

"You feel so good," she whispers into my neck, her voice breathless and filled with pleasure.

I can only respond with a growl, my hold on her tightening. She increases her pace, riding me harder, her nails digging into my shoulders. I thrust up to meet her so our bodies move in perfect synchronicity.

She lifts and puts her hands on my shoulders as her bounces become quicker and harder. Her teats move in my face and I reach forward and capture one in my mouth. Her fingers on my shoulder tighten in sync with her grip on my cock.

The feel of her around me makes me licentious and I lose my control completely. I put a hand behind her head to protect her. Holding her to me, I shift us until she is on her back with her legs still wrapped around me. I move to my knees and lift her hips to meet every pump of mine.

Reaching down, I rub her clit with sweet circles and she cries out, her body growing taut until she snaps. Shakes slide across her as her cunt pulses around me. Her hands move behind her head, futilely looking for something to grip as she rides her wave.

"That is right, ti khesi," I snarl, still thrusting into her, "take this pleasure only your mate can give."

Her squeezes around my cock begin to slow, but I am nowhere near finished with her yet. I pull out, sitting back on my heels. With hands on her hips, I flip her over and pull her plump ass into the air, her back now arching in a way that forces her chest to the floor. She rests on her elbows, her body now on all fours, and Great Mother , what a view it is.

I lean forward, unable to resist, and bite a cheek leaving my imprint on it. She groans and pushes her cunt backward seeking me out. Pressing my face to her core and licking her, her juices collect on my tongue. She gives a loud desperate mewl.

"So sweet as always," I mutter before shifting on my knees.

I align my cock with her entrance and slowly push into her, absorbed in watching her swallow me. She makes needy noises in the back of her throat and starts to push back on me to let my length slide in and out of her.

"Yes, Kuvier," she gasps as I begin meeting her thrust for thrust.

I lean over her, my chest pressing against her back as I drive into her harder. The sound of our bodies slapping together fills the hut, with the scent of our arousal suffocating the air. Her body rocks back and forth in rhythm with mine. When I hit a particularly deep spot she arches down, her arms stretching out in front of her. My eyes follow the curve of her spine with heated intensity.

"You look so pretty with my cock filling you," I grunt with my hands gripping her hips as I slam into her.

Her ass jiggles with each thrust and I watch it like a man possessed. When I reach around and make circles on her clit it only takes a few good rounds before her body starts to tremble and she comes completely undone. Her cunt squeezes me in a vice, and with a few more pumps, my cock twitches and my seed fills her to the brim.

Her body sags below me, still in that perfectly beautiful arch. I take a moment to catch my breath and then I carefully pull out, keeping my hands around her hips to support her. My seed drips out of her and I cannot help but use my clawless finger to push it back inside of her. Then, after helping her roll onto her back, she sprawls out in front of me. Her eyes are heavy with pleasure and she smiles at me before holding her arms open invitingly.

I move forward, laying on top of her but still carefully supporting the brunt of my weight. Her knees clench around my hips and I grunt when her wet warmth rubs against me again.

"Be careful, ti khesi," I warn, placing soft kisses to her collarbone. "I am trying to give you a break."

She gives a breathy laugh and then says, "Fuck breaks."