4. No Better Than a Pup

This tiny creatureis scared of me. She's sobbing while holding her hand tightly against her chest. Leeenuh must know nothing of my people to have inadvertently taken my mating sting.

She is my mate, but I know she doesn't honestly want me. Regardless of the lack of my mating mark—she is mine now to protect. If the sight of her in pain was unbearable to me before, her reaction to what I say next breaks my heart.

"We have much to discuss, and not long before my venom takes effect," I tell her.

Leeenuh's eyes grow wide, and I can smell her fear—her panic at what will happen next.

She babbles feverishly in a language I'll never understand, fat tears slicking down her red cheeks.

"Leeenuh, please be calm. I need you to make a decision."

Her breath stutters, and she wipes some fluid from beneath her nose with her unmarked hand.

"Good girl," I say, slowly approaching.

She allows my advances, taking deep and measured breaths, as she tries to regain control of herself. Her exhalations hit me like a warm and sweet caress.

Mine! The bond screams, wanting me to snatch her into my arms. To wrap my foretentacles around her beautifully decorated body and never let go.

But I don't—because I am not hers.

I reach for her injured hand, and she tenderly presents it. Trembling gently, I remove the cloth from her palm. My heart aches as I see the mark left by my barb.

Although the flesh is red and swollen, I can already make out the faint purple-maroon mark that my venom is etching into her warm beige skin. We're running out of time.

I take her hand and press it against my chest.

"Leeenuh, you have taken my mating sting," I tell her slowly. She sniffles as I use my other hand to brush her tangled mane from her wet cheek.

"I have marked you as my own, but I know you didn't understand what you did. I need to know what you want me to do."

Leeenuh's brows knit together, the confusion on her face a universal gesture.

"My sting, my venom, will force your body into heat. If you're anything like the females of the Andjin—and I assume you are if my barb was even present to begin with—you will cycle through three heats over the next moon's pass."

Leeenuh's mouth falls open. It closes a few times before producing noises I can't comprehend.

"I will do nothing you do not wish to do…not before the heat takes hold." I raise my hand and show her my palm. "I will not fall into the mating rut; you have not marked me as yours. If you wish to never consummate as my mate, it is your choice. I will respect any decision you make."

My voice almost cracks. I will never hurt or abuse her. I want nothing more than for my mate to want me.

Leeenuh bites her lip and stares at her hand on my chest for what feels like some eternity, not the few seconds it actually is.

My mate pulls her hand back from my chest and inspects it. She traces her delicate fingers around the mark and looks up at me.

She shakes her head.

"No?" I mumble as our eyes lock. Leeenuh waits for my reaction as if I could do anything but what she wishes of me.

"No," I affirm again. Just as something breaks deep within me, I can feel a new mission snap into place.

Protect Leeenuh, even if it's from herself.

"I promise you are safe with me," I say as I puff my chest out. The Great Mother has chosen a different path for me, and I will respect my purpose.

"Do your people go through heat?" I ask, a to-do list clicking together in my brain. My focus intensifies on being exactly who Leeenuh needs me to be.

I grimace as she shakes her head no.

"It will be overwhelming. You'll stop at nothing to find a cock to mount." My mate gulps. "But I will ensure you are kept safe and unmated, as are your wishes."

Leeenuh lurches toward me, her arms wrapping tightly around my neck. When she buries her face into me, I can feel her tears roll down my neck, welling up by my collarbone.

She is mine, and…that's all that matters. I draw her scent into my lungs. I have no idea what the future holds, but even if this is as close as she'll let me get—I'll happily take it.

Putting some space between us, I cradle her chin in my hand. I stroke a tear away with the pad of my thumb, trying to convey the glowing adoration I feel inside.

"Ankh Chew," she speaks between sniffles before notching herself against me once again.

I should push her away once more. I should ready myself for the onslaught of my mate's heat.

Maybe I'm not as strong as I think I am…perhaps I won't be able to resist her. Even if she wishes not to have me now, I know the frenzy she'll be in soon will convince her otherwise.

I promise to protect this version of my mate, no matter what.

Something warm and wet swipes up my neck, and when it hits the lobe of my ear, I can feel my cock harden. My skin knows what's happening before I do, and it shifts to an amorous purple.

The feelers of my mating crest that circle my shaft search for her skin to grasp.

I moan as my mate takes my ear into her mouth. She digs her nails into my back, pulling me closer. I push her roughly, and she falls onto the bed with a dull thud. Leeenuh inhales sharply, as if the wind has been knocked from her.

She raises a hand over her head. The small tuft of brown fur in her armpit releases a concentration of her scent into the nest.

My engorged cock is painfully hard when my foretentacles instinctively shoot out to grab Leeenuh. They slide down her body, ripping the coverings at the crotch, before the limbs wrap around her ankles. With a tug, they pull her knees apart. As they fall open, the scent of her cunt hits me like a crashing ocean wave. She pushes the torn damp blue strip of fabric resting over her crotch to the side with one finger.

Leeenuh has glistening folds almost the same color as the mating mark. I can see the pulse throbbing near her cunt's apex.

Bringing her other hand to her beautiful sex, she runs a finger up her slit. She points it to me and slides the wet digit between my lips, brushing over my sensitive fangs. A sparking feeling flutters down my spine. She is all sweetness, and she is mine.

I lean over her, our faces nearly touching. My crest's feelers push and pull through her wetness. They pulsate—grabbing for any bit of flesh they can hold. As they stroke my mate's cunt, she arches against me. All while I suck her sweetness from her finger.

Her taste is intoxicating, and only when she moans, "Kitaico," do I snap back to reality. I jerk up, my crest's limbs flailing at the loss of her.

"Leeenuh, no!" I yell as I push away from her with my hands. Unfortunately, my foretentacles refuse to release their grip on her ankles; their urge to rut our beautiful mate is too strong.

"Puhweez uck mi Kitaico!" she mewls, and throws her head back, writhing in my hold.

As I push our bodies apart, I try to think of anything but my mate, hoping my tentacles will release the grip on her legs. When my mind can only conjure up her—I change tactics.

Protect her. Protect her. Protect her… I repeat to myself over and over again.

"You don't want this. It's just the venom…this will be over soon, sweet Leeenuh!" I try to comfort her, all while attempting to get my limbs back under my control.

"Uch mi!" she cries, wiggling her hand down between her legs, rubbing frantic circles toward the top of her cunt. "Uch mi Kitaico, ease!"

I wish I could understand her, but I keep up my tension, not wanting to break my promise. She makes needy noises in my grip while her hand slides back and forth over her pretty little cunt.

"Ust et mi coom, lease jus mak mi coom, Kitaico!" She bites her lip and arches her hips. Her every muscle is taut.

"Leeenuh," I whisper in some frustrated exasperation. She unravels as soon as her name falls from my lips—as if saying her name is all that she needed to climax.

Her legs jerk straight, she moans, her head falling to the side. Her breathing slows, and Leeenuh hums little harmonic moans as she basks in the afterglow of her orgasm.

My longer foretentacles release their grip on her ankles slowly, one dragging down between my spent mate's breasts. It briefly slides down her slit, triggering another moan from my sleepy Leeenuh. As if jealous, my crest's many appendages pulse.

I snatch back the betraying foretentacles and hold them under my arms, afraid they'll not be satisfied for long. I lift the slack Leeenuh, position her more comfortably in the bed, and tuck her beneath the blankets, kissing her forehead but wanting to do so much more.

My cock throbs, being this close to her. I can feel my foretentacles wiggling their way out from under my clamped biceps. My cock's head leaks a drop of precum as I spring back, my legs taking my body as far into the opposite corner as possible. Far enough away that my tentacles won't be able to grip her. They grasp futilely behind me in her direction.

Leeenuh rustles around in the sheets, and I pray she stays sated for just a little while longer. I beg the Mother to let her be truly asleep. Meanwhile, I pace my breathing to control the thudding of my hearts. With frustration, I stare down at my erection and curse my lack of control. I shouldn't have touched her.

Turning away from my hopefully sleeping mate, I rest my forearm and head against the rocky wall of the nest. I lean over the relief hole and fist my painful length.

The touch of my fingertips is too much, the friction of sliding skin making me wince.

I think of Leeenuh, of her dripping cunt. How she moaned my name and must have been begging for my touch.

Picturing the beautiful agony on her face, I can feel the whole of my crest coil and tighten, begging me for release.

"Leeenuh," I moan, snapping my eyes shut. As if on cue, the long foretentacle that dipped through my mate's sex slips between my lips. The taste of her fills my mouth.

My ass clenches and seed pulses from my cock like a geyser, its every throb pushing me further into ecstasy.

When I open my eyes, the semen drips from my fist clenched over the head of my cock. It's a poor substitute for the clenched heat of what I think Leeenuh's cunt will be.

The pale purple liquid is sucked out in the vortex of spinning water.

I am no better than a pup.

I have to learn to control myself. I cannot hurt Leeenuh!

My foretentacles slack post-release, relaxing against my back. I grab a lashing of cord and roughly bind the two tentacles from my head against the sides of my body. The woven dried seaweed bites almost painfully into my skin. I tie another knot.

I will not hurt her.