Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
I’rec sits up. “It means I will not have to walk all day with an aching erection.” He pauses, eyeing me and how I’m drawing away from him. “Hopefully.”
“No, it means you can take Tia,” I remind him. “We can separate now.”
He frowns in my direction, as if I’m speaking gibberish. “Why would I wish to take T’ia with me?”
“Because you love her.”
I’rec groans, flopping back in the furs and covering his face. “Again with this? Why do you not believe me when I say I do not want her now? That I want you as my mate and no other?”
“Because up until a few days ago, you and I were spending every waking minute of downtime going over her letters, looking for hidden meanings?”
He props up on one elbow, his hair a mess around his horns. I vaguely recall grabbing fistfuls of it last night as I rode his face again for a second time. I might have screamed a few obscenities into the night. Just a few. “That was before resonance,” I’rec says, as if this is the simplest explanation ever. “Resonance has made me realize that T’ia is not the right one for me. That the right one for me was standing nearby all along, and I was too blind to see it.” He rubs his chin thoughtfully. “I wonder if resonance merely gives us a push in the direction we need. It always selects the right mate. Perhaps it sees the heart far more clearly than we do.”
Or perhaps he’s still thinking with his little I’rec. “Don’t you find your change of heart a bit sudden?”
“Resonance is always sudden,” I’rec says. “Do you truly think I would choose T’ia over you at this point? She does not make me smile. She does not make me laugh. She does not share gossip with me or listen to what I say.” He gives me a deliberate up and down look. “She does not ride my face as if my tongue must be conquered—”
“Okay, okay,” I say, interrupting before he can get too lewd…though I kinda appreciate the lewd. “I’m just saying that I don’t buy it yet. That’s all.”
“Then I will make you buy it. Whatever that means.” He pats the furs. “Come and sit. I will make you a meal before we go. You should eat.”
“Not hungry.”
His eyes gleam and he pats his chin. “Then come and sit.”
I laugh. How is it that such a surly man has such a good sense of humor? Why does that sly smile he gives me make my heart flip in my chest? I don’t know if I believe that he’s not in love with Tia anymore…but I guess I can sit on his face for another round before we head off on our journey.
A little extra pussy-licking never hurt anyone.
Chapter
Fourteen
I’REC
“Eat some more,” I tell my mate as we walk a short distance behind O’jek and D’see. The weather is good this day, which means it is easy travel for the human females. O’jek has taken the lead, his mate at his side, and I remain a bit farther back with my mate so we can spend time alone together. I know O’jek thinks the same, because I have seen him fuss over D’see with small touches and taps of his tail, and he constantly watches her.
I would tease him over it if I did not understand it so very well.
It has been a day of pleasurable travel so far. The snow is crisp and new, but not so deep that our steps get mired in it. The wind is in our favor, and I pick up the scents of game and nothing more as we travel through the valleys and cliffs of the rocky landscape. We do not go up into the mountains, but around the base, heading for the distant Ancestors’ Cave. I have been this way before once or twice out of curiosity, but never beyond the Ancestors’ Cave. It makes me think of the times I could have gone to Croatoan, but I was stubbornly waiting for T’ia to come to me. Foolishness. I see now that she is but a young girl, and I am no longer pulled by a young, silly girl.
I would much rather have the adult female at my side, one who knows herself and her body, and who is comfortable with who she is.
One who does not eat enough to feed an infant nightflyer, much to my chagrin. “Eat,” I tell her again as we walk. I shove the large chunk of jerky under her nose. “You do not eat enough.”
“Oh my god, I’rec, quit trying to stuff me full of food. We had lunch just a short time ago.” She makes a face at me, crossing her eyes. “I’m going to become as round as a balloon if you keep stuffing me full of food.”