Chapter 21 #2
The drums changed again, their rhythm becoming slower but heavier.
Following the music, the male began moving again.
The fur on his hindquarters rose and fell as he danced, altering its pattern and the way it caught the firelight, shimmering like sunshine on a river.
It complimented the smoothness and fluidity of his movements flawlessly.
The effect was sensual, seductive, and primal.
The male’s glowing yellow eyes did not stray from the enrapt female for even the length of a heartbeat.
Telok glanced at Lacey. She was transfixed by the display, wonderment plain upon her face. Had she blinked even once this whole time?
A growl rumbled in Telok’s chest, swallowed by the drums.
His mate was enthralled by another male. Instinctual fury ignited in him, and he gritted his teeth, fighting the urge to charge forward and meet this challenge directly.
No.
Telok shook his head sharply and dug his forelegs into the wooden boards beneath him.
He couldn’t allow himself to do that, couldn’t throw away the new friendship between the winddancers and Kaldarak with a single impulsive act.
But gods grant him strength, neither could he remain idle while this dancer mesmerized his mate.
Shifting closer to Lacey, Telok slipped an arm around her and drew her against him, tucking her body between his front and middle leg—using the former as an additional barrier between her and the dancer.
She nestled against him absently, resting her hands on his bent foreleg without looking away from the dance.
His finger’s flexed, pricking her hip with his claws.
The dancing male approached the orange-eyed female, stretching his forelegs toward her. She brushed them with her own. Then he hooked his legs around hers and drew her upright.
They twirled together, hands meeting palm to palm, fingers lacing. Their heads lowered until their headcrests touched.
Leaning forward, Telok studied Lacey’s face.
There was a warm smile on her lips and a soft light in her green eyes.
The light of dreaming, of quiet longing.
He shifted his gaze to the two winddancers, who continued their dance intertwined, and back to Lacey several times before the threads in his mind connected.
His mandibles twitched, and his muscles relaxed.
She wasn’t staring at the other male with desire. Not at all. What had entranced Lacey wasn’t the dancer, but the dance itself and what it represented—the closeness and devotion shared by the two winddancers and the intimacy with which they moved.
That was what his Lacey wanted. That connection, that twining of two souls, much like he’d seen between his friends and their mates.
Could Telok give that to her? Could he give her…love?
Leave it to humans and their complicated, confusing language to instill so simple a word with such immense, powerful, impossible meaning. How could that tiny word encompass so much and yet explain so little?
Though his knowledge was lacking on the matter of mates, he knew those bonds required both individuals to bare their spirits, to share their khahal—the truth of their hearts—completely, no matter how dark and painful.
It would mean Telok’s heartsthread would be bound to Lacey’s, and the shields he’d kept around his hearts and spirit would be forever lowered. It would mean feeling everything with her.
And it would mean that losing her would be the end of him.
Do I not feel that way already?
As Telok watched his female, he longed for her face to turn toward him, for her eyes to shine for him, for her smile to widen for him. He hooked a thick strand of her hair with his claw and tucked it behind her delicate, rounded ear, which he traced with his finger.
Telok’s hearts stuttered when she turned those eyes and that smile to him. And he saw it then, saw the subtle softening of her lips, saw his yearning reflected in her gaze.
The music ended, followed immediately by a surge of cheers, chitters, and the thumping of hands and legs on the floor planks.
Once again, Lacey’s attention was snatched away from Telok. She looked at the two winddancers, clapping and adding her own voice to the din.
He forced himself to breathe slow and deep. The distraction would pass, and they would claim another moment.
“Lacey!” called Cole, his voice barely audible over the noise.
Telok snapped his gaze to the male human hurrying toward them.
Lacey stopped clapping and returned her hands to Telok’s leg as Cole stopped in front of them.
“Shit, Lace, I need your help,” he said, sounding winded. “I don’t know what to do.”
Lacey’s brow furrowed. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s Sophia.”
She tensed and looked in the woman’s direction. “What happened?”
“Nothing happened. Not…yet.”
“What do you mean?”
Cole drew in a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Sophia… Fuck. She wants to fuck me.”
Lacey jabbed a finger at him. “Cole, are you—”
“Her words, not mine!” he rushed to say, waving his hands in front of him as though to ward off whatever reprimand Lacey had been about to give. “And I…”
He combed his fingers through his hair and groaned, turning his eyes skyward. “What do I do? We just met, and I don’t know if this is the right thing to do, even if she wants it.”
Telok had never seen Cole behave this way. Usually, the human was calm, confident, and in good spirits, jesting often and rarely letting anything bother him. In his own words, he just rolled with it.
Lacey chuckled.
Cole glared at her. “It’s not funny! I’m being serious here. She’s so fucking hot, and I want her. What are the odds of us meeting another surviving human woman? Like, none!”
“Well, obviously it was greater than zero,” Lacey said with a smile.
“Yeah, but it’s gotta be pretty damn close.
” He turned his gaze toward Sophia, who was lounging back on her elbows, her legs crossed at their ankles and stretched out in front of her.
Despite her casual posture, her shoulders and neck were visibly tense, and there was a tiny line of worry between her eyebrows.
“Damn it, Lace…” Cole said. “I just really, really don’t want to mess this up.”
Telok grunted. “You want. She wants. It is not hard, Cole.”
Very slowly, Cole turned his head to look at Telok, brows falling low over his eyes. “Really? You seriously just said that? Those words actually came out of your mouth?”
Lacey covered her mouth with a hand, muffling her laughter.
Mandibles falling, Telok stared at the man. “Do you not understand?”
Cole shook his head. “Oh, I understand. Tell me, how’s that advice worked out for you so far, buddy?”
Narrowing his eyes, Telok leaned forward. “We are speaking of you. Do not change the object.”
“Subject,” Cole corrected, flinching back when Telok growled at him. “Easy, easy! You wouldn’t maim me at a moment like this, would you?”
Lacey pressed a hand to Telok’s chest, gently pushing him back. “Okay boys, calm down.” She looked at Cole. “You know, Telok’s not really wrong. You’re two consenting adults, right?”
“Yeah, but I just…” Cole’s shoulders sagged. “I don’t want her to regret it, you know? I don’t want her to think I’m just taking advantage or something.”
“Isn’t she the one wanting to jump your bones?”
Telok cocked his head. What did jumping over bones have to do with mating?
Cole scratched at the hairs on his cheek. “Well, yeah…”
“Then who’s taking advantage of who?” Lacey asked. “Because you seem to be the only human dick around here.”
The man scoffed. “Are you insulting me?”
Lacey smirked. “Maybe.”
“English hurts my head,” Telok grumbled. “Why must I untangle meaning from every word?”
She patted his leg. “Sorry.”
“It is fine.” Telok pointed at Cole before gesturing sharply toward Sophia. “Go, human. Give the female the bones she desires.”
“Well…the bone, anyway,” Lacey said.
“Are you guys sure?” Cole asked hesitantly.
“Dude, just go fuck her brains out. Give her lots of orgasms. Enjoy yourselves. And if you’re really uncertain about anything, ask her. Communication goes a long way.”
Telok could not decide which was more troubling—the thought of humans leaping up and down on each other’s bones in some bizarre mating ritual, or that of rutting so hard that brains would burst out of skulls.
“Okay,” Cole said. “I got this. It’s just been…one hundred and sixty-eight years, right?”
“Probably feels like longer for her though, so you better make it a really good ninety seconds,” Lacey said.
Cole flipped her off. “Fuck you.”
Lacey laughed, leaning against Telok’s leg.
Grinning, the male human walked backward. “I am damn good at foreplay, so the leadup to those ninety seconds will blow her mind.”
He turned and strode back to Sophia. The female sat up straight, eyes lighting up and expression hopeful as she watched him approach.
When he stopped in front of her and spoke words Telok could not hear, her lips curled into a wide smile.
Then she stood, grabbed Cole’s hand, and swiftly led him away from the festivities.
“I’m happy for him,” Lacey said. “For both of them.”
All Telok could manage in response was a gruff sound somewhere between a grunt and a growl.
Lacey yawned, covering her mouth with her hand. “It’s been a long day, and I’m all partied out. I’m gonna head to bed.”
She slipped out of Telok’s hold.
“I will come,” Telok said.
Chuckling, she waved toward the gathered vrix. “You sure you don’t want to stay and dance?”
He grunted. “You must be much tired. Your thoughts are tangled. I will carry you, vi’jatai.”
When he reached for her, she laughed and stepped away. “My mind and legs are working fine. I can walk.”
Flashing him a smirk, she set out in the direction of their den.
His gaze dipped to her bare feet, raking up to study the play of muscle in her calves, then higher to the dress fluttering around her thighs.
The breeze briefly molded that material to her curved backside.
Hunger stirred in him anew, and he knew that what he was about to do was foolish.
Damn my eyes.
With a snarl, he strode up to her and swept her into his arms.