Chapter 6
Krashe
I sat down on the edge of the nest next to Nomy, my tail curled around her legs but not touching her anywhere else.
“Eat,” I told her, “You must regain your strength.” As I said the words, I reached up to touch the small nick in my scales where she’d struck me before.
It had already nearly completely healed.
With my marks all aglow, I couldn’t even see it, I just felt the little nick in my scale when I rubbed my fingers over the spot.
In comparison, her bandaged hand was still very much injured. She was favoring the other one for everything. It smelled to me like the blood had only barely clotted into a protective crust over the slight cuts.
She wriggled around on my furs to make herself more comfortable and perched the bowl of stew in her lap.
“Okay, will you call me by my name? Naomi?” She smiled at me and that made my heart race.
Her soft, rounder features were growing on me more and more each time I looked at her.
Her blue eyes should remind me of my enemies; Thunder Rock Naga all had blue eyes.
They didn’t, they were just uniquely hers.
“Nomy,” I responded. I knew her name, she’d yelled it defiantly at me back in that dark cell. I hadn’t forgotten, but my tongue wanted to tangle on the strange vowels. When she smiled and shook her head I said it again, Nomy. That was her name, I was sure of it.
“Na-oh-mi,” she enunciated, tapping her chest with each sound.
Three sounds for the two I managed. I heard it now.
She said it clearly, but each time I tried to wrap my tongue around the name, it just became Nomy.
Swallowing the Ah noise was just too ingrained.
Frustrated I flicked my tongue out, drawing her scent into my mouth and pressing it against the scent receptacle at the top just behind my front teeth.
“This isn’t important,” I huffed, slashing my hand through the air.
“Eat, you need to stay strong.” I knew what was expected of me, I knew what the Queen and my warriors wanted, what the Clan would do if they could.
I also knew that I could never let that happen.
Na-oh-mi was just too precious, too alluring.
She was mine, to protect, to covet, and to possess.
Those thoughts were enough to stir my cock again, eager to extrude and do just that.
While rage roared through me at the idea of seeing her come to harm.
I knew what I had to do for now. I had to make sure no one even thought to come looking for her. I had to make my Clan think that she was dead. That would suit their appetites, and more importantly, ease their fears.
“Ouch, not so tight… You are pinching me,” Naomi yelped.
Her hand slapped at the coil of my tail I had wrapped around her soft, scaleless thighs.
The sound of her slap echoed between us and she raised shocked, startled eyes to my face.
She looked worried, afraid she might have upset me.
I eased my coils from around her leg, letting it slide up to curl around her slender waist, curling again and then again until a loop pressed up against the soft mounds on her chest. Her breasts were luscious, soft touches of heat against my scales.
“Naaah-omy,” I drawled, watching avidly as her soft cheeks turned a curious shade of pink that darkened to red.
The tip of my tail flicked up against her chin, making her raise it so she had no choice but to meet my eyes.
“That’s it. Give me your defiance, your fire.
My mate!” I leaned in closer when she kept her eyes locked on mine, that fire I craved dancing in her icy blue orbs.
My tongue flicked out, tasting the air, tasting the scents of her that perfumed it.
Yes! That was her heat, her musk; she liked it.
There would be more touches when I came back.
Uncoiling my body, I set aside what little remained of my food. I left the nest reluctantly but with purpose. I had a plan, now I just had to put it in motion. She would be safe, for the time being. I would figure out the rest later. Much later.
I stalked through my dwelling as I prepared, slashing my tail behind me and forcing myself to focus on other scents, other sensations.
The presence of my mate burned at me, I knew exactly where she was even when I wasn’t looking, a heat source, a trail of scent, hints of arousal that filled the air and made me ravenous for more.
“Krashe,” she said, followed by more melodic sounds.
They turned progressively more impatient as I continued to ignore her in favor of filling a sack with peat blocks, rags, and other pieces of trash I could discard.
“Damhit! Krashe!” she said, a little growling noise followed that made me grin to myself.
It was adorable, like a little Ayala defending its den.
Another noise behind me alerted me that she’d moved and I spun just in time to see that she was balanced on the edge of the nest. Was she about to try and climb out of it?
With a burst of speed, I was there to catch her right as she threw her paralyzed limbs over the edge.
I realized that she’d estimated her move just right, she wasn’t actually falling.
It was clear she knew how to work with her limitations, but my heart was still racing with worry.
“Nomy!” I said, I wasn’t sure why, just that I was scared she’d hurt herself. My arms clasped tightly around her body, my sigils glowing wildly on my shoulders and chest. I felt how my heart was thumping like mad, she had to hear it too, her head was pressed right against it.
“I’m fine, just don’t ignore me. Tell me what you are going to do!
Tell me what’s going on. I want to know.
I want to know if I can trust you…” her voice trailed off, tapering from fierce to forlorn in just a few words.
My heart clenched in my chest. I wasn’t used to sharing, I was used to being obeyed but now I remembered what my parents had been like together. Was that what Naomi wanted of me?
“You can trust me,” I said roughly against the silky soft strands of her hair.
“You can,” I repeated, but that was more for me.
A vow. I wanted to be true to that, to her.
My heart burned to be with my mate, to be with this fierce, strange being.
Mating bonds were like that, swift, complete, a loyalty unbreakable.
But there was my loyalty to the Clan too, to my cause.
“I am going to make everyone think you are dead,” I added.
An explanation for what I was about to do.
Picking her up, I worried anew because she was so light and small in my arms. I placed her back on the furs, keeping hold of her for a little longer so I could deliver a final warning.
“You stay here, where it is safe. Rest. And tomorrow we work out the rest. Do not leave my home. If anyone sees you, they will kill you on the spot. Understand?”
She nodded, her eyes huge and frightened. I didn’t mean it to be a threat, but I knew that’s what it sounded like. It didn’t matter right now. As long as she obeyed. Just to be sure though, I would engage my special locking mechanism when I left. No one but me would be able to open the door.
Unable to resist, I leaned down until our noses nearly touched.
Flicking out my tongue, I drew in more of her scent, letting it linger on my taste receptors.
Drawing the split, flat tip along her cheekbone to her hairline.
“Stay.” With a growl that masked a pained grunt, I spun away.
I had to tighten muscles along the base of my tail and belly to keep my cock from extruding; always a painful process.
I stalked for the door, my sack over a shoulder, sword holstered at my back. I made the mistake of glancing over at my nest a final time. She looked tousled, her cheeks pink, and her eyes a little glazed. Arousal filled the air. Fuck, she was sexy, she was mine, and she wanted me, right now!
I slammed out the door with a final warning. Locking the door with a definitive snick.
***
Naomi
The sound of the door slamming shut behind Krashe was ominous.
I heard the sound of tumblers clicking into place in the silence that followed, that was even more chilling.
I could even see wooden gears turn as a solid wooden beam shifted into place.
The lock managed to look both super crude and old-timey while seeming advanced at the same time.
A lock like that was handcrafted, designed by Krashe himself, and I was pretty sure his home was the only home in this cavern that had one.
My eyes went from the door to the workbench that he’d cleaned up and emptied while I’d been trying to get him to talk to me.
He’d packed away the little trebuchet and the model of something with pipes and a windmill or water wheel of some kind.
The diamondshaped shelves that covered nearly one entire interior wall of his home were now stuffed full of things.
I was a confused mess. Why did he do things to me like lick my freaking cheek?
He took all kinds of liberties with my personal space…
and I was craving more. That made me as bonkers in the head as he clearly was.
My fingers trailed over the spot on my cheek that he’d touched with his freaky split tongue.
A spicy, mouthwatering scent reached my nose when I did that.
Not the stew; though tasty, it couldn’t compare.
No, this was a scent that was all Krashe.
I hated that I felt all hot and bothered after his bizarre goodbye.
At least he told me what he was up to when I finally got through to him.
I had to admit that the way he’d rushed for me when he thought I was falling was also kind of sweet.
I was perfectly capable of fending for myself, I had everything under control, but it was pretty swoon-worthy to hear his heart race with worry.