39. Vows
THIRTY-NINE
VOWS
Lukys
I keep my grip firm even when she stumbles, too intent on putting distance between us and the human encampment. I want to remove us from unnerving events that just transpired there.
Right now, all I care about is Elena’s safety.
She was not within our camp when I returned from hunting, only her packs. I had searched everywhere, hoping she had gone to find water. And when I did find her tracks, they led me in the direction of the encampment. It did not take me long to realize she left for it without me.
I immediately knew what she meant to do.
By the time I reached the encampment, everything had been different. There was shouting, and pressure and electricity in the air. Now, there is sweet-smelling dust.
But the moment I saw Elena, my fear of losing her twisted to anger. Anger that she left when I had thought she could be trusted.
We reach her packs and our firepit. I only release her long enough to haul them over my shoulder.
When I grab her hand, she tugs it from my grip and pulls away. “Lukys, I’m sorry.”
I stare at her.
“I didn’t want to put you through weeks—months—of labor just for you to get inside when I could get right in.”
“Did you find your sister?” I ask, my voice lacking emotion.
“I… No.” Her eyes drop. “She wasn’t listed on the registry. I didn’t see her anywhere.”
“Then we have no reason to sssstay.” I growl. “Let us leave.” I wish I could feel bad that she did not find her sister, but I only feel betrayal.
Though the dust particles are no longer thickening the air, I still smell their sweet aroma. It is filling my nose even now, obscuring Elena’s headier scent from me.
“You’re mad at me… Please don’t be mad at me.”
I hiss, closing the short distance between us. Towering over her, my shadow covers her form. “You promised you would remain by my side.”
“I did… but you left me first.”
I bare my fangs. “I did so to hunt for you—nearby. I was never far enough away that I could not get back to you quickly.”
“Even so, I only meant to be gone for a short time.”
“A short time where you had to rely on another for help? Where an eruption of some human machine clogged the air with dust. You could have gotten hurt!” I shout, uncaring if I am heard by others. “You are heated and another naga could have been there!”
She flinches and I draw back, not wanting to make her afraid.
“I didn’t get hurt. There were no nagas. And I now know my sister isn’t here…”
“And what if she had been? Would you have stayed to search for her? Would you have left with her to return directly to me?”
She winces again. “I would have figured that out when I got there.”
“I see.”
She reaches for me when I move away.
“I would have convinced her to come to the forest with me. I would have returned to tell you.”
“You would have left me—” I stop and turn. She stumbles and I grasp her shoulders before she falls into me.
“You don’t know that!”
“Then make your choice, here and now.” I tighten my grip on her. “Are you with me or not? You have given me your body, but I want more. I want everything.”
Her lips part then close before she nervously licks them.
“It issss not a hard question to answer,” I snap.
“Are you with me, or are you going to continue putting distance between ussss? I will take you back to the encampment and you can stay, be with your people, or you can choose to trust me. But do not shoulder me along, do not make me fall in love with you just to leave me once you find your sister.”
Her eyes drop again.
“Well?”
“I’m not shouldering you along. I’ve never meant to make you feel that way. I do trust you but it’s difficult. I’ve… I’ve lost everything and my sister could be something—”
“I could be something.”
“You are something.”
“Something to hope for… The commander back there, he talked about hope. When I think of my sister, it gives me hope.”
“I vowed I would help you find her. I mean to keep that vow.”
She smiles but it does not reach her eyes. “I don’t deserve you.”
I hiss, coiling my tail around her leg. “I do not deserve you.”
Tears brim her lashes, distorting her smile, and I wipe them away.
“I choose you.”
I freeze. “What?”
Elena lifts her hands and places them on my chest. “I trust you. I know you’re just trying to help me, but I need you to know that I do trust you. I’m sorry I put myself in danger. I would’ve—”
I yank her to me and cover her mouth with mine. Her words get lost under the onslaught of my tongue sliding between her lips. Tense and straining in my grip, her body goes rigid.
Sliding my hands into her hair, I kiss her hard, putting all of my anger, adoration, and frustration behind it.
As I devour her delicious mouth, she eases into my steely embrace, and with her subtle surrender, I throw off the packs and place my hands on her body, moving them towards the button at the front of her pants.
“Lukys,” she gasps as I tug down her clothes, taking her thin strip of underwear with them. I do not bother with her shirt.
“Step out of your pants,” I demand, yanking at the material gathered around her shoes. “Take off your tops.”
She shudders, steps out of her pants, and then takes off her tops.
When she is done and the clothes are lying aside, she stands before me, naked and ethereal amongst the trees.
“Real,” I rumble, letting my prick swell and release from my tail. “You choose me? I want to mount you, sweet female.”
“I’m showing you I trust you,” she breathes, leaning into me. “Every time I’m with you like this out in the open, I’m showing you my trust.”
Her words fill my chest with warmth. “Then trust me now.” I place my hands on her slender shoulders and spin her around, helping her onto her knees.
“And let me inside you.” She bends over and spreads her thighs at my coaxing, parting her slit.
Dewy, pink, and grasping for me, I caress my fingers over her and lean down, sliding my tongue straight into her opening.
She whimpers and pushes back against me. I press my lips to her while I lick her inside, kneading my tongue against the walls of her constricting sheath. “You choose this, do you not? You like it when I pleasure you?” I pull back and rise over her, lining my tip to her entrance.
Elena presses her forehead to the ground as I slowly enter her, coiling my tail under and around her at the same time.
She envelops me fully, taking me smoothly all the way to my rigid knot. From there, I thrust hard, forcing it inside her. Her legs shake with strain. “Lukys!” she cries as I bury my stem deep, releasing my seed.
With the air ripe with Elena’s potent arousal, I clutch her hips and grind into her. My mind grows hazy with lust as she clenches around me. Her toes curl against me and with my lips parting, and with her taste on my tongue, I lose myself in her.
“Elena,” I moan, pushing her to the ground. She pushes back against me while splaying her fingers through the grass, barely bearing my weight. I frame her body with my tail, cushioning her. Meanwhile, I steady my thrusting.
More seed erupts from my knot and I groan as it empties. I arch my back, spilling everything I have. My seed leaks from where we are joined to moisten her thighs and my tail.
When I can spill no more, I pull out and gently roll her over to lie her on her back.
She moans as I lick her clean, her body shimmying with pleasure until she is thrashing with her own eruption. “Lukys!”
I take my time claiming her fully, and thoroughly, leaving no spot of her untouched, unkissed, unloved.
Later, I watch with satiation as she washes my seed off in the brook.
“You are mine, Elena,” I remind her.
She steps from the water and smiles at me. Loving her lips upturned, I pull her close, needing to feel her body against mine.
I see dust particles floating through the light and I stiffen.
We have lingered long enough.
“What do you think about it?” Elena tugs from my embrace to peer at the same particles.
I curl my tail around her. “I do not know. So long as it does not cause us any harm… I am glad I no longer smell it. But I do not know…”
She nods. “Maybe Greg is right, and it’s just the powercell’s coating. Maybe it’s something to do with the Lurkers.”
“Besides what of them resides inside of me, and other nagas, they are gone. Like you once were.”
She steps out of my coil and reaches for her clothes. “Let’s hope it stays that way.”
Yes.
I agree.