Chapter 10
As the sun fell, the shadows deepened and thickened, and the air cooled. The thornskulls slowly gathered around the fire, which only seemed brighter and warmer as night approached.
But the heat Telok felt had nothing to do with the flames. Lacey was close enough that he could smell her despite the heavy smoke scent, close enough that he could’ve touched her with hardly any effort.
And gods did he want to.
Would that he could draw her against himself, settle her upon his forelegs and wrap his arms around her. Would that he could nuzzle that fiery hair, feel her soft skin against his hide, and mark her with his scent.
Would that he could rut her and make her his.
His little thorn… His mate.
Soon, all but Ayali had huddled around the small fire. Conversation flowed freely and cheerfully, with words spoken in vrix and English alike, often in the same sentences.
Lacey smiled and laughed, joining in like she’d been on a hundred hunts with their companions.
The sparkle in her eyes came from much more than the reflected light of the flames.
And when those plump, pink lips stretched and curled up at their corners, when she smiled, it made Telok feel so…
full. He wished he could do more than poorly mimic the expression with his mandibles.
“Are you well, Scarhide?” Garahk asked from beside Telok.
Blinking, Telok pried his gaze from the fire-haired human. “Yes.”
Garahk hummed thoughtfully, the sound barely audible over the eruption of chitters at the story Droztar was telling.
By the Eight, when did it become so easy for everyone to read my hearts?
Not allowing himself to look at Lacey again, Telok stood. “I will help Ayali keep watch.”
He withdrew before Garahk could reply, retrieved his spear, and moved several segments away from the others, well beyond the fire’s glow. Clenching the spear shaft, he turned his attention toward the jungle.
When they’d left Kaldarak, he’d resolved to keep distance between himself and Lacey. Yet Telok had been watching her all day, and he had already made her drink from his waterskin, had stood guard while she relieved herself, and had taken a second portion of meat for her, which he’d cooked himself.
And he’d been sitting right beside Lacey only a moment ago, staring. Yearning.
This was only the first day of a long journey, and he’d already faltered several times.
She is sitting there now, surrounded by males…
Barely holding back a growl, he squeezed the spear tighter and dug his forelegs into the ground. Anger blazed through him with each thump of his hearts. It was not reasonable, was not justified, but he couldn’t shake it.
My duty now is to watch, not to defend my mate from challengers.
Telok grunted.
Because…she is not my mate.
Yet no matter how hard he tried to deny his want for Lacey, no matter how determined he was to push her away, he could not pluck this thorn from his side.
Plants and mushrooms were already glowing on the jungle floor in soft purples, blues, and greens, and the bits of sky visible through the canopy were dark.
Telok kept his eyes roving. If only his thoughts could move on as well.
But that didn’t seem possible while he could still hear everyone talking and chittering, while he could still hear Lacey.
Before long, Garahk declared it was time to head up to their sleeping place. Steadying himself with a deep breath, Telok returned to the others. Perhaps sleep would offer some solace.
Elharat was smothering the fire with dirt and water.
“Without all this glowy shit, I wouldn’t be able to see a damn thing,” Cole said as he gathered his bag, bow, and spear.
Lacey chuckled, hauling her backpack up and slipping her arms through the straps. “Too bad we don’t have vrix night vision.”
“Right? That would be sick.”
Telok couldn’t understand why being able to see in the dark like a vrix would make a human ill, but he could not bring himself to ask.
“Cole, come,” Okkor said, gesturing for Cole to climb atop his hindquarters.
Grinning, Cole strolled over to him. “Let’s do this!”
Lacey tipped her head back and looked up.
Koss moved to her, settling a large hand on her shoulder, and said in vrix, “I will help you climb, hyu-nan.”
Lacey smiled and nodded. “Kir vishaax niit.”
I give thanks.
Telok’s free hands curled into fists, and his claws bit into his palms. Every thread of his being pulled toward her fiercely. Again, he dug his forelegs into the ground, this time meaning to root himself in place, to prevent himself from intervening.
I will not go to her.
Turning away from Lacey, Koss drew a silk strand from his spinnerets. Lacey adjusted the lay of her backpack over her shoulders and picked up her spear.
A growl built in Telok’s chest, deep and raw.
Koss sank down and gestured for Lacey to climb onto his hindquarters, offering the strand in one of his hands—undoubtedly for her to use to lash her body to his.
She would be astride another male, her chest and those soft breasts pressed against his back, her thighs snug around his waist, her hand on his abdomen. She’d leave her scent upon him, and his scent would be left upon her.
No.
That word resonated so deeply through Telok that he didn’t know if he’d merely thought it or said it aloud. It swept him forward on a surge of rage, and the distance between him and Lacey vanished in an instant.
She placed a hand on Koss’s arm to steady herself and raised her leg.
Fuck no!
Before Lacey could fully swing her leg over the thornskull, Telok grasped her hips with his upper hands and hooked his lower right one beneath her thigh, plucking her up and away. Lacey gasped, dropping her spear as she flailed for something to hold onto.
Releasing her leg but not her hips, Telok stood Lacey on the ground, snatched the silk strand from her hand, and tossed it back to a bewildered Koss. “I will help her.”
“Telok!” Lacey admonished.
“Be silent.” He drew a strand of his own silk from his spinnerets, passing it to his waiting hand with a rear leg.
“Don’t tell me to be quiet. That was rude of you.”
He held the silk out to her.
She glanced down at the rope, looked back at him, and crossed her arms over her chest. “You should apologize to Koss.”
Telok turned his head to glare at the thornskull.
Koss chittered, turned all four of his palms toward the sky, and backed away as he said in English, “I okay. You take.”
Returning his gaze to Lacey, Telok pressed the strand against her chest.
Her fingers closed around it. “You still didn’t apologize.”
He narrowed his eyes. “I did no wrong.”
Lacey swept her arm out and gestured to the retreating Koss. “You threw his silk at him.”
“I have my own.”
“He was going to help me.”
“Now I am helping you.” Telok turned and lowered himself to the ground. “Come.”
“Overbearing brute,” Lacey mumbled.
All on their own, his eyes drifted to her backside, and he watched the fabric of her pants mold to it as she bent to retrieve her spear. An ache bloomed in his pelvis.
She strode back to him and held her spear up. “Can you help me with this?”
As soon as he accepted the spear, she turned. He ran the shaft through the loops sewn on the side of her backpack and tightened the ties to secure the weapon in place.
When he was done, she stepped between his left legs, braced a hand on his shoulder, and threw a leg over his hindquarters, hauling herself up. “You know, if you wanted to help me climb, you could have just offered. You didn’t have to be so rude about it.”
Whatever retort he might’ve offered died on his tongue when she slid forward, pressing herself against his back with her thighs snug on either side of his waist. Her breasts rubbed his hide as she slipped her arms around his sides to pass him the ends of the rope.
As Telok fought back a shiver, his hands moved, driven by habit rather than thought as he tied the silk into a tight knot.
All he could focus on was Lacey’s body—the way it nestled against his so perfectly, the reassurance of her slight weight, her welcoming warmth and softness. The tickle of her breath on his hide.
Lacey hugged his middle, her palms flattening against his abdomen.
Telok’s claspers crossed over his slit as his pulsing stem pressed against it from within.
He’d carried her like this many times when they’d fled Zurvashi, but he’d never been quite so aware of her as he was now.
Every bit of hide she was touching was ablaze.
The urge to shred her clothing so he could feel her bare skin clawed its way up from his core.
Wrestling against instinct and need, Telok strode to the base of the tree. The sooner he climbed, the sooner he could sever this contact between them. That was the only way he’d maintain control. The only chance he had at resisting.
He sank his claws into the bark and pulled himself up.
Once they were off the ground, Lacey’s weight shifted backward, pulling the rope taut, and her hold on him tightened.
He felt her blunt nails digging into his hide, felt the muscles of her legs quivering ever so slightly, even felt the beating of her heart against his back.
All he would’ve had to do was swing her to his front, hook his claspers over her thighs, and drive his cock into her, and his need would be fulfilled.
No!
However great the temptation, however insistent and torturous, he would not submit to it.
Yet he knew his willpower could withstand only so much…and it was already worn dangerously thin.
Telok had no one to blame for this torment but himself. He had chosen to help her. He’d chosen to take her from Koss, to carry her on his own back. To have her clinging to him, bound to him. But he refused to see her wrapped around another male.
Though his muscles burned, his skin thrummed, and his stem ached, he kept his limbs in motion, climbing higher. He reached the wide branch where Garahk, Koss, Okkor, Elharat, and Cole sat with their belongings, preparing for sleep.
The male human grinned and winked at Telok, giving him two thumbs up.