Chapter 20 #2
It was a genuine question, but he knew he said the right thing when the last of the tension left Scarlet and she gave him a real smile.
“Because men suck,” she said.
“Men do suck,” Peony nodded in sage agreement.
“Come on, guys, that’s not fair,” Alanna said, snickering. “You’re going to give the aliens a bad impression of human males before they ever meet them.”
The look on Atem’s face told Havali that he already had a bad impression.
And, honestly, if the females’ reaction to the threat of a loving mate and healthy offspring was aggressive displeasure, like they might be forced to take both against their will, Havali didn't think he had a very good impression of these males either.
“You are much more than a mate and mother,” Havali promised Scarlet, not even lying.
“I would never presume to think you cannot do anything else, Healer. Haviss offered that argument not to say that you could do nothing else, but to say that, to us, there is no greater pleasure than finding a mate, and if you can give us that, then we would all be overjoyed. To both have you in our homes and to see you working to fulfill your own dreams. There is no greater desire, Healer. And that is nothing that you should ever feel reduces you or your worth. It only adds to what you already are.”
Her eyes sparkled at his words, and he knew he said the right thing again.
“Sorry for snapping at you,” she said, leaning in towards him. “I guess I just assumed the worst based on what he was saying.”
“Never be afraid to be open and honest with me.” He reached out and gently stroked her cheek, pushing some of her hair from her face. “If you must snap at me, I do not mind, but you must tell me things, or I won’t know what you are thinking or how to fix it.”
Scarlet bit her lip then, to his surprise, she turned to Dominani.
“Atem, close your eyes.”
He looked confused. “Why?”
“Because you’re not going to like what I’m about to do, and I don’t want to deal with your weirdness right now.”
That didn't appear to clear anything up, but Peony, chuckling, reached over and covered Atem’s eyes with a knowing grin. He didn't fight her, but he did seem puzzled.
But he wasn’t looking, which meant that Scarlet could grab Havali’s hand and pull him from the room without setting off his protective instincts. She was escaping from her guardian to keep Atem from fighting Havali to defend her.
Which made Havali laugh when he realized what she had done as she pulled him down the hall. Not towards either of their rooms, but to an empty alcove that she pushed him into.
Then, she was on him. Her lips on his, her fingers running through his hair, her body arching into him as she lifted herself up on her toes.
Ah. He really had pleased his female.
He growled with approval as he grabbed her and turned, pressing her into the alcove instead as he took control of the kiss.
Until she pressed her tongue against the seam of his mouth, requesting entrance, then it was a battle for dominance.
One he eagerly partook in as her aggression fueled his and the need to hold his female down and fuck her until she screamed rose up in his gut.
His growl deepened as his claws extended. He tried to retract them, but then she was running her tongue along his fangs, and he forgot about his restraint.
She was moving. Not fighting him, but not submitting either.
He grabbed her by the back of the head, his fingers tightening in her hair, and he yanked her back, pulling a gasp from her that left her wide open and vulnerable to his kiss as he finally took control. He practically purred with satisfaction as he commanded her.
And she submitted so prettily. Her hands grasped at his shirt, clenched into tight fists as she held on. Her legs spread obediently as he forced his between them until he felt the heat of her cunt pressing right against his thigh. She whimpered at the contact, her hips jerking against him.
He growled, grabbing them with his other hand. Forcing her to remain still. She would only get relief from that ache between her legs at his whim. Her pleasure was his to control and she did not take it without his permission.
Then, his fang cut her lip.
The soft, wet skin there was like a cunt in and of itself. Like her, it was soft, and delicate, and so thin that the blood there stained it red even without cute blushes. And when his fang bit into it, rich, flavorful, delicious blood immediately welled up.
His growl deepened as he ran his tongue along the cut. Gathering up more. Lapping at it with a starving desperation.
It shouldn’t have been a surprise that human females tasted just as good as they looked.
Her blood was unlike any he had tasted before.
It hit his stomach and immediately warmed his body and made his cock so hard, he thought it might bruise her with each throbbing beat of his heart as he pressed it more instantly into her belly.
And that was just a couple drops. What would it be like if he could taste it directly? If he could plunge his fangs into her and feast. Drink deep. Sate himself fully on the rich sweetness of her blood while he plundered her cunt and owned her womb.
His other fang cut into her as he imagined it. More blood welled up. Tasty. Forbidden. Wrong. But everything he wanted. He couldn’t resist it.
Scarlet whimpered in pain.
That tiny sound cut through the fog of wild, burning lust that had taken over his mind like a plasma cutter through flesh. His eyes snapped open, and he threw himself away from her as shame and guilt welled up to replace the dark desire that had been driving him.
His beautiful Scarlet, his perfect, wonderful, intelligent Scarlet, was staring at him with wide eyes as she reached towards her puffy, bruised lips. Her hair was a mess. Her dress was askew. Her face was red from the rushing of blood under her skin.
Blood that, even as he watched, trickled down past her lip.
She touched it with her tongue, then with her finger, pulling it back and staring at the bright red staining the digit as if in surprise.
He had done that.
He had made his female bleed.
“Havali, you-”
Unable to bear her disgust and censure, he turned and fled.