Chapter 12 #3
Of course. He’d seen Rekosh, Ketahn, and Urkot hold hands with their mates, following what must’ve been a human mating custom. But seeing it had not prepared him for experiencing it, and he never would’ve guessed the profound feelings that would be provoked by such simple contact.
The warmth in him spread and deepened, and that fluttering intensified, making his chest tight. This was an intimate touch. It wasn’t about primal urges and instincts, but something more. It was a sign that she trusted him…
That she wanted him.
Seeming to take his silence as disapproval, Lacey started to pull away. “I mean, if you don’t want to—”
He curled his fingers, tightening his grip and stopping her withdrawal. “You gave. I keep.”
Her already flushed cheeks darkened, but she flashed her blunt white teeth at him in a grin. “Alright then. Let’s catch up with the others before Garahk scolds us for real.”
They trudged uphill, with Telok shortening his stride for Lacey’s comfort, and her again using her spear as a walking stick. Walking hand in hand was strange, perhaps even impractical given the differences in their bodies, sizes, and strides, but he refused to let go.
“You were always scouting ahead when we left the Pit,” Lacey said. “So…why have you been taking the rear guard on this trip?”
“Garahk and the others know the way. I do not.” Telok glanced at their hands again, and his hearts swelled a little. “And from the back, I can watch everyone. Protect everyone.”
“Are you sure it’s not just so you can stare at my ass?”
His fingers twitched, squeezing her hand, and his stride nearly faltered at the directness of her question. “I…must look at many things. To watch for danger.”
She chuckled. “You didn’t deny it.”
“I do not know your words.”
“Oh, don’t you dare. You know my words very well. Besides…” She stroked her thumb over his hand. “I saw you doing it.”
“You saw once.”
“What do you mean?”
He leaned toward Lacey, bringing his face closer to hers, and lowered his voice into a gravelly rumble. “I have watched you always, vi’jatai. I cannot look away.”
“Watched me always…” Her eyes flared, and Telok felt a shiver steal through her. “Have you been stalking me?”
Telok’s eyes dipped to her lips, and hunger roared within him. “When the hunter is skilled, the prey does not know it is being hunted until it is too late.”
“So you’ve been… Then that means…” Her eyebrows angled down over narrowed eyes. “Just how much have you seen?”
“Everything.”
“Oh… Ohhhh.” Lacey snapped her face forward, the blush spreading from her cheeks down to her neck and chest. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. “You pervy, dirty vrix.”
Telok didn’t miss the hint of playfulness in her voice, the slight curl at the corner of her mouth, or the heated gleam in her eyes. And she still didn’t pull her hand away.
Did she…like the thought of him watching her?
A pleased trill escaped him, though he knew one of the walls that had been holding back the insistent surge of instinct inside him had fallen. Resisting would be that much harder now, and it had already felt nearly impossible.
They continued forward in silence that was broken only by Lacey’s increasingly ragged breaths as the ground grew steeper and rockier.
She kept their fingers laced through it all.
When her pace began to slow, her grip tightened, and soon Telok was supporting her as much as her spear was, if not more so.
Finally, she stopped, slipped her hand free of his, and bent over, holding up a single finger as she panted. “One sec. Just…need to catch my breath. Jesus, I’m out of shape.”
“I like your shape.”
She chuckled, looking up at him as she rasped, “Thanks.”
Telok lowered himself beside her, dropping his underside onto the ground. “Come.”
“Huh?”
He curled his arm around her waist and drew her closer, positioning her between his middle and back leg. “Get on. I will carry you.”
“Are you—”
“Yes, vi’jatai. Climb.”
“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you.” She braced a hand on one of his leg joints and climbed atop him. Her weight settled on his hindquarters as she scooted closer to his back. Unfortunately, his bag blocked him from feeling her chest against his back and the fullness of her arms around him.
At least he was able to feel the touch of her soft, warm hands, the squeeze of those supple thighs, and the press of her rounded ass.
Rising, Telok strode onward, setting a more natural pace for himself.
When her fingers lightly brushed over a scar on his shoulder, Telok shivered. The ghostly pain of that long-healed wound whispered in the back of his mind, but her touch, so gentle and soothing, chased it away.
Soon enough, they reached the top of the incline, where the others had gathered.
Cole, dripping with sweat, guzzled water while Garahk, Okkor, and Elharat chatted amongst themselves.
Nearby, Ayali plucked clusters of bluevine fruit off a tree and tossed them to Koss.
Past all of them, Droztar was perched on a root, surveying the jungle ahead.
With the hunters now reunited, they resumed their journey.
Though the ground was level here and the walk was easier, Telok allowed Lacey no opportunity to get down. He liked her exactly where she was.