Chapter Twenty-One
Kael
Her lips parted and her cheeks darkened, her already bright kethra flaring in rapid pulses.
She knew what I meant.
We’d spent the day away from the home so she had a better chance to adjust to the idea of nudity, and after the bathing pool, she should have been fine with me enforcing the expectation for her to be unclothed.
She still hesitated, but by the time I returned to put away the food, she was opening her top.
I tried to force myself to keep moving, to focus on what I was doing, but the sight of her smooth flesh stole my attention. I wanted to see it again, touch it, and watch her kethra burn with her desire for me.
She rose from the table as she pushed it off her shoulders, but there was another piece below it, blocking my view. Holding in my snarl, I gathered the leftovers, and when I turned my back to put them away, she disappeared into the bedroom.
My tail lashed once before I stopped it. I thought we had moved past her shyness. She had seemed eager and interested in the River Caverns, so what could have changed?
I stalked into the room, intent on demanding an explanation, only to stop at the sight of her bare curves as she leaned over the nest, fluffing the pillows. It was an omega instinct to fluff and arrange soft bedding, and my vorran was instantly hard at the thought that she was preparing it for me.
For us.
I had never purred before, and it took a moment for me to realize the low thrum echoing in the chamber was from me. Startled eyes flashed to mine, her kethra rippling as she straightened and then remembered she was naked.
“Is the nessha ready, veyrari?”
If she had been born Morraki she would have no reason to be self-conscious, but I saw the moment doubt entered her thoughts. Maintaining my purr, I walked beneath the crystal and stood in front of her, trying to keep my gaze only on her face even though her body was calling me.
“I hope I can share the nessha with you again this vorrash?”
I didn’t think she would reject me, but it was always good to be certain you were welcome in an omega’s nest before entering. Warriors had been killed because they forgot and had assumed that because omegas were smaller, that they weren’t fierce.
“Of—Of course.”
Her pulse was fluttering in her throat, and her flesh held a red flush. Her eyes kept darting away from mine and her fingers twitched like she wanted to cover herself, so I backed away to ease her distress.
“Are you ready for sleep?”
I asked the question as I put my back to her and opened my belt. I had no reluctance about disrobing in front of her, but it would put her at ease if I didn’t look at her nudity, so I placed my belt in the storage compartment, then slipped off my korrvek to place with the dirty things.
“Put anything you’d like to have cleaned here, and Daylen will take care of it skorr.”
The crates of her things had been delivered but were mostly still stacked in the front room since she hadn’t had time to unpack them, but that was a concern for another day.
“He comes in here?”
I turned to find her under the blankets, peeking at me over the top of the crimson shavariin I’d bought on my last trip to the markets.
The rest of my bedding was all black and grey, utilitarian colors, but I’d known I was going to be bringing an omega into my home and had purchased it on a whim, aware they tended to like bright colors as well as soft things.
Biting back my smile, I continued undressing as I answered.
“He has, but we can move the basket outside the shar’nessha.”
She looked small in the bed meant for someone my size, and it stirred the protective instincts all alphas had. If she didn’t want anyone else in the bedroom, then no one else would ever pass the archway again.
I tossed the rest of my korrvek in, then grabbed the container and strode to the door, placing it outside. Serenya still held the blanket clutched up to her chin, but she gave me a small smile when I walked back across the room.
“Sorry to be trouble. I don’t understand it, but the thought of him coming in here…”
She trailed off, likely unable to express or even understand why it bothered her. Slipping onto the bed beside her, I pushed a piece of hair out of her face.
“You are not trouble. Not in that way at least.”
I paused and she scoffed, but the tension in her shoulders eased and the blanket lowered a fraction.
“Omegas are fiercely protective of their nessha, which extends to the shar’nessha. My people understand this. You will experience things now that you are an omega that may not make sense to the Human part of you, but never feel bad about following your instincts.”
Her smile didn’t reach her eyes, and I knew there was more bothering her. Settling on my side, I let my tail flick, trying to show I was at ease and she could speak freely. My mate needed to trust me.
And I needed to trust her.
I was still convinced her father had an agenda, but I could no longer think Serenya would willingly helping him. He could still coerce her, and that was something I’d watch for, but I realized I did trust her.
“It’s hard to let go of preconceptions. Nudity, sexuality, being different… those things are all shamed in my culture.”
I understood what she meant because it was hard for me to understand a world like that.
“The body is a tool. We use it, we care for it. We shape it and sometimes change it.”
I shrugged as I tried to think of something more specific to reassure her.
“Alphas are large, muscular, strategic and calculated, with prominent ridges to protect the skull and neck because we fight a lot. We are meant to protect and hunt for the clan, and our bodies are designed for that. Omegas are smaller, softer, more delicate. They are the mothers and caregivers, so they need those features. Betas are adaptable. They fill in the other roles needed for the clan to survive, and their bodies are different because of that. Should we shame them because they aren’t as large as an alpha, or as curved as an omega? ”
Serenya sighed.
“I know, logically, but that doesn’t change the way I feel.”
Reaching over, I ran a claw carefully over her cheek.
The glow of her kethra had dimmed although it still pulsed, and her scent had lost the thick sweetness, but I could still pick up traces of her slick in the air.
I didn’t want to rush her, but I could only think of one way to help her accept that she didn’t need to fear her body and instincts.
“The things you feel are natural, and your instincts are part of you now. Let me show you there is no need to hide.”
I let my claw run over her jaw and down to the shavariin. I had blunted the tips, so I didn’t fear ripping the delicate fabric, and kept my eyes on hers as I continued overtop it, tracing a line to where the peak of her breast thrust up beneath it.
“Tell me to stop, and I will.”
She trembled beneath the blanket, the glow of her kethra growing. Her breathing deepened, the expansion of her chest pressing my claw into the malleable flesh before pulling it away.
I circled the tip, watching her reactions. Her pupils expanded and her scent thickened, so I kept going, circling it again before dragging my claw over to the other.
Her legs moved beneath the cover, as if she were trying to clench them together to contain her body’s response, but there was no hiding it. The scent of fresh slick rose from her, and when I stopped circling to grip the point between my fingertips, she gasped, arching into the pressure.
“Omegas are sexual creatures. They need to be touched, to feel connected, and needed. It’s who they are. What their instincts demand they be.”
I released the peak and smoothed my hand over the whole mound, gripping her through the fabric. My vorran throbbed but I ignored my own desire. Serenya had to learn that hers wasn’t shameful or embarrassing.
Trailing my hand down, I massaged the softness of her belly, loving the way it gave to my compression. I was strength and angles, while she was resilience and cushion. We were alpha and omega, made to complement the other.
“Alphas need omegas. They are our balance. Our reason behind the strength. Our purpose to protect. Their submission soothes our natural aggression.”
I slowed as I neared the place where her thighs met. Where she had a little nub made just for her pleasure.
“The Morrak believe bonding makes a warrior weak, but it wasn’t always seen that way.
The reason the bond is feared almost as much as it is revered is because when an alpha claims an omega, his entire focus changes.
His world realigns with her at the center.
She is his meyr’kal. His eth. His reason for living.
His veyr, even Shaevrin mean nothing compared to her. ”
Serenya trembled beneath my hand, her chest heaving as I narrowed my touch to only two fingers. I let her feel the pressure of my claws through the fabric as I traced down one thigh before crossing to the other.
The scent of slick filled each breath and there was a dark patch growing on the shavariin. I couldn’t stop my tail from writhing its way beneath the blanket to circle her calf, an instinctive move to keep her open for me.
“His prime desire is to keep her safe, followed by the need to worship her. To please her. To keep her happy and sated and willing to share her nessha.”
I felt her thigh shift beneath my touch as my fingers neared her center, opening a fraction. My purr returned, encouraging her trust, but I stopped my fingers before I crossed where her thigh joined her body.
Where the wet spot revealed her desire.
I pulled my eyes back to hers. The red light of my kethra rivaled the amber glow shining from her. I wanted her to see my desire. My approval. My need to make her feel good.
“Will you allow me to please you?”
Her lips were parted, letting her drag in great gasps of air. I knew she could taste the notes of herself in it, and my own tang was laced through it.
Still, she hesitated.