by Octavia Kore
“Then I’ll have to find a way to make it up to you, won’t I?” Experimentally, Clara pressed her fingers against the seam of the slit. It took only the slightest amount of pressure from her and both of his cocks spilled out into her hand, pulsing and twitching against her palm. The flared heads rubbed against her belly, spreading the moisture that beaded from the tips onto her skin. Zaheer’s hands gripped her arms, and his lips pulled back from his teeth as he thrust his hips.
Claim him now, her guardian insisted. We are his. We are lua, tsa, mate.
With her eyes locked onto his, Clara lowered herself to her knees in front of him and kissed the tip of each of the pulsing black cocks. When he made no move to stop her, she ran her tongue along the underside of one, smiling when Zaheer’s lips parted and the muscles in his thighs trembled. He watched her through half-closed eyes, all eight of them riveted on her mouth as she leaned forward to draw the head of his upper cock between her lips.
“I’m so scared,” she said. “I don’t want to think about today or what we’re going to face tomorrow. I just want your hands on me, I want to pretend that this is all there is. Touch me, please. Chase it all away.”
“Clara…” He hissed softly, burying the fingers of one hand in the tangled hair at the back of her head as she took him farther into the warmth of her mouth.
Clara hummed around his girth, pressing and swiping her tongue against the ridged underside of his upper cock as she fisted the lower one. The way his chest rose and fell as he panted had her squirming. The blunt protrusions were much softer than she’d imagined, and Clara let them slide back and forth along her tongue as she bobbed her head, taking in more and more of him each time. Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes and she hollowed her cheeks, sucking as she continued to pump his lower cock.
Zaheer fisted her hair, and Clara’s guardian purred when his hips moved toward her. His first few thrusts were shallow, like he was testing out the waters. When Clara tightened her hand around the already swollen base, the tendrils wriggling excitedly, she was rewarded with a more forceful thrust.
The way his eyes narrowed, his gaze becoming more intense as he watched his length move in and out of Clara’s mouth drew a low, needy moan from her. She twisted her hands as she pumped, swallowing as much as she could. Clara grinned around him before pulling back to flick the tip of her tongue over the swollen head. Dark purple liquid seeped from the tiny slit at the top and Clara lapped at it.
Pin pricks of pain danced along her scalp as Zaheer yanked her head back before pulling her forward, thrusting into Clara’s mouth with a speed and force that left her momentarily stunned. Her cunt fluttered, greedy and eager to be filled, but Clara wanted to give him this experience. She opened wider to accommodate him, taking as much of her mate as she could.
Her nose came close to skimming the fur on his stomach as he guided her back and forth, but there was just so much of him that it wasn’t going to be physically possible to take any more. How he’d managed to fit both of these inside her was a miracle that she’d thank all of the gods for everyday of her life. Clara swore she could hear his growl of pleasure in her mind as one of Zaheer’s other hands reached out to cup her jaw.
“My tsa,” he whispered, his thumb stroking her hollowed cheeks. A tear rolled down the side of her face as the thick head of his cock slid over the back of her tongue. “My sweet Aanih.”
There was something so provocative about him taking control from her. She savored the burning ache in her muscles and the numbness of her lips as the soft ridges along the underside of his length passed over them. The smooth tips of the tendrils caressed her, touching Clara’s stretched lips and cheeks. It was such a strange and utterly sweet sensation to have those soft moments in contrast to his forceful thrusts.
Twin tails slithered like snakes up and down the outside of her thighs, curling around the backs of her legs to slip between the slight gap. Clara gasped as the tips of Zaheer’s tails slid through the damp curls to part her folds and bump up against her already throbbing clit. A jolt of pleasure shot through her as one flicked at the swollen nub. “Please, Zaheer. More.” She circled her hips, chasing the sensation.
A whimper escaped her when his tails retreated, and she tried to pull away when he tugged her hands from his cock, but his upper hands held her head steady as he guided her arms behind her back.
“Eyes on me,” he growled as his grip on her jaw tightened. “You don’t move until I tell you to, understood?”
“Yes.” She tightened her lips around his shaft, eyes never leaving his face, even when she felt the warm, damp sensation of his webs touch her skin. He was going to bind her again, and that knowledge made her body pulse in anticipation.
Clara’s tongue and mouth worked him as he trapped her arms against her lower back, wrapping his webs around her waist. His hands brushed against her nipples as he circled her ribs and chest, but left her breasts exposed. She gasped as he pulled her off of him, panting and shivering at the look in his eyes.
“Tsa.”
He spoke the word softly, but it crashed into her chest, cutting her open, baring her heart and soul. When Zaheer said it like that, the word became so much more than who she was to him. It was a promise, an oath more powerful than any vows he’d ever taken. Clara didn’t need her abilities or the bond to tell her that this male loved her.
“On your feet for me.” Zaheer helped Clara stand, steadying her when she wobbled. “Are they hurting you?” he asked, tapping the threads on her chest.
“No.”
She swallowed thickly when he took his upper cock in hand, stroking the length as his gaze traveled over her naked and bound body. “Turn around.”
There was a moment of hesitation before Clara complied, slowly spinning so that she faced the back of the room. Her skin prickled with anticipation and excitement, heightened by the fact that she couldn’t see or hear whatever he was doing behind her.
“What do you want, Clara?”
She shivered as the heat of his body warmed her back. His hands gathered her hair, tossing it over one shoulder as he pressed his lips to the other, trailing soft, lingering kisses all the way across the back of her neck. When he moved to the side of her throat, kissing the mottled flesh, Clara tilted her head, giving him better access.
What did she want?
“I want you to fuck me. I don’t want gentle and sweet tonight.” Her breath stuttered from between her lips as Zaheer’s fingers traced lazy circles around her nipples before showing her mercy and pinching the hardened peaks. “I want you to fuck me so hard that neither one of us can move for the rest of the night.”
One of his hands slid up her chest until it circled her throat as he slid his foot between her legs. He nudged them apart before leaning her forward so that her weight rested against his palm. She felt his upper cock slide along her folds, the flared head nudging against her clit before he pulled back and notched it at the entrance of her pussy.
Yes! That was where she wanted him. She pressed back against him as much as her position would allow, moaning when she succeeded in impaling herself on the very tip. “Please, Zaheer.”
He pressed his cock in further and then retreated, repeating it over and over until Clara was on the verge of making demands. “You want me to fuck you, tsa?”
“Yes!”
“You want me to spill inside you, to lock us together while you come around my knot?”
“Zaheer… please. I need…” Clara wasn’t even sure what she was muttering anymore, but when he finally thrust inside of her, all of her thoughts scattered like little dandelion seeds in the wind. Zaheer worked his length into her pussy, coating himself in her slick and forcing her body to stretch in an effort to accommodate his girth. His lower cock jerked, slapping against her clit as Zaheer began to pump his hips.
When he was fully seated, the tendrils at the base pressed in beside him, stroking her and lingering on the places that made her gasp and buck. Higher and higher she soared, his movements
coaxing her toward peaks of jagged pleasure. Twin tails wrapped around her hips, anchoring Clara to her mate.
Oh, dear sweet goddess or god—whatever deities are out there—thank you for dropping me here with this male.
Each thrust of his hips slammed her forward and his grip on her throat tightened. Blunt nails bit into her palms, and she pinched her eyes shut when Zaheer cupped her breasts in his big warm hands, flicking and pinching the strained tips. This was what she wanted, the unforgiving force of his hips slamming into her, the ridges of his cock and those venturing tendrils caressing her inner walls, his hands gripping her body.
Here with him, Clara was safe and protected, loved and cherished.
Her guardian, who had been quiet for the most part, pushed against her mind, attempting to rise to the surface. She felt her nails sharpen into claws at the same time as her teeth elongated in her mouth.
Zaheer’s hand came down on her ass and she jumped, gasping in surprise. “I haven’t given you a command to shift, tsa,” he growled, nipping at her ear as he bowed her back.
Within her mind, Clara’s guardian retreated, humming in approval as Zaheer’s teeth scraped over her neck. The beast rolled onto her back, luxuriating in his touch, and Clara couldn’t help but roll her eyes.
“Good, Aanih,” he said, reaching down to press his hand over the bundle of nerves between her legs.
Her head fell back against his chest as his hips resumed their brutal pace. Warmth crept up from her toes, curling around her calves as it slipped up her legs. Distantly, Clara was aware of her guardian whispering to her, begging her to claim their mate, to mark him as he’d marked her, but she was too far gone to care about that now.
“You’re mine, Clara. Mine,” he snarled, pressing his face in her neck and wrapping his arms around her waist.
My mate, she thought. All mine. “Please, Zaheer. So close…”
His chest vibrated against her back, and he lifted Clara off the ground, rutting into her until the warmth that had started in her feet had turned into an inferno raging out of control through her veins. Delicious, intoxicating pleasure rolled through her as the orgasm that had been building finally burst. Her back arched, and her hands strained against the threads as her body spasmed around Zaheer’s, drawing him in, clutching at him. With one last rough jerk of his hips, Clara felt the knot at the base of his cock expand just as his teeth sank into her neck.
Wave after wave of blinding pleasure washed over her as Zaheer’s cock spilled inside of her, dragging a ragged gasp from her lips as every spurt of scalding seed triggered yet another release. Ropes of purple come shot across the floor as his lower cock twitched and bobbed between her legs. A thick fog settled over her, and Clara’s body went lax in her mate’s arms.
She was barely aware of him releasing her neck or of him stumbling toward the pile of blankets and carefully lowering them into the makeshift nest. Warmth surrounded her when he pulled one of the furs over their bodies. “I’m going to call you a pest more often,” Clara murmured, feeling the threads that bound her come undone.
“Not too often or we might never leave the outpost.”
A sleepy smile tugged at her lips. “Good. I’d rather stay here with you.”
He pressed his lips to her shoulder as she began to drift away. “In our mind, in our heart, in our soul. Every part of me belongs to you.”
She whispered as her eyelids grew too weary to keep open, “I love you too.”
Chapter 24
Zaheer
Laughter and conversation reached Zaheer through the trees as they approached the boundary of the village his tribe called home. There was so much noise here that it set him on edge, and the steady ringing in his ears competed with the thunderous sound of his racing heart. If it weren’t for the presence of the speckled female in his arms, Zaheer might have tucked tail and turned back until he’d caught his breath, but she was a reminder of why he was sneaking back into the tribe once more.
Waking up that morning to her slight weight draped over his chest had been a pleasure Zaheer had never known he was missing out on. She’d had one hand tucked under her cheek while the other clutched the fur of his tuft, saliva dripping from her open mouth, as she snored softly. His little mate had even managed to make drooling endearing.
Staring down into her face and tracing her speckled, protruding nose and cheeks with his eyes, Zaheer knew that if this all went wrong, he would at least go to his eternal rest having experienced this love they shared. He could be at peace with himself, but he had no plans to die that day or any of the days anytime soon. It had taken him this many rotations to find his tsa and he wasn’t going to lay himself down and give up now.
Before Clara came into his life, Zaheer hadn’t been concerned enough to realize that he was missing out on really living. Loyalty to his vows had blinded him to anything other than the pack and his duty. Now he had a mate strong enough to call to him along the mating bond, even if she hadn’t yet learned how to call out to the whole pack. If not for Tratek being close enough to hear her, he could have lost his tsa.
The air here was cooler, and Zaheer drew in a deep breath, filling his lungs with it. He forced a smile onto his face when Clara looked up at him. “Are you ready?”
His mate’s eyes softened and she patted his chest. “Are you ready?”
“No,” he answered truthfully, casting a glance toward the source of the noise. “But the sooner we get this all over with, the sooner we can stop hiding.”
Clara nodded, and the shy smile she offered him set loose a swarm of banith within his belly. How had he ever thought his female as anything less than radiant?
Krunkeeli standards of beauty , his guardian mumbled.
“Let’s do this then. Where to?”
“We’ll skirt along the outside boundary until we are closer to my parents’ home. I don’t want to reveal you to the people until we can expose Pumo’s deception.” They wove their way through the trees, careful to avoid anyone who might be lurking near the edge of the village.
The breeze blew across her hair, stirring her scent so that it swirled around him. His khetis twitched within his sheath, remembering what it was like to have his face buried in the fall of her silky red-orange strands, breathing her in as he rocked in and out of her body. He’d tangled his fingers in it when she’d taken his primary kheti into her mouth the night before and helped her tie off her braid this morning before they left the outpost.
Away from the center of the village, the noise quieted to a low hum. Clara’s head rested against his chest, and those eyes he’d once thought so strange and unsettling roamed the forest around them. If someone had told him mere weeks ago that he’d be mated to an outsider and already considering what they might one day name their pups, he would have likely laughed in their face and recommended they see a healer right away.
Now though, with her in his arms and the memories they’d already created filling his head, Zaheer was looking forward to a life filled with happy moments and to watching his tsa bring new life into the world. They would make it through this. It wasn’t just their future on the line. Maylu and Tratek were out gathering the pack, and he needed to make sure they had the support of their people.
When they reached the point he’d deemed closest to the home, Zaheer crept into the village, sticking to the shadows created by the massive trees. There weren’t many Krunkeeli milling about in this area, but to be safe, Zaheer took his time selecting his route.
“It’s so beautiful here.”
Zaheer glanced down at her, drawn in by the wonder that laced her voice. Clara was staring up at the home pods high up in the branches, eyes wide and lips parted. There was a small scar on her neck from where he’d bitten her the first time, and Zaheer stared down at it for a moment in confusion. He hadn’t been aware that he could mark her in this way. Aside from the larger wounds, a Krunkeeli’s fur covered many of their scars, and the mark a guardian received from their Alpha usually faded after th
eir first shift.
I like this, his guardian purred. Not only does she smell of us, but she wears the evidence of our mating on her skin for everyone to see. We should wear hers.
I don’t know if it would work the same on us. Even if it did, my fur would cover it.
The guardian huffed and shook his head. Then we will ask her to repeat it many times.
“Almost there,” Zaheer said, pressing his lips to her forehead. The home wasn’t far, but by the time he climbed to the top and dropped down onto the platform outside, Zaheer’s heart was racing. He didn’t like feeling so exposed, especially with his female still so vulnerable.
Zaheer stood outside the membrane, stealing his nerves and gathering his courage. Clara’s small hand brushed over his jaw, and he looked down at her. “It’s all right. I’m right here with you.”
It was the little boost he hadn’t known he needed. He dropped his head to press his lips to hers and stepped through the membrane before he changed his mind. The scent of pajoo hit him, and he was reminded again of Clara’s scent the first day they met. She’d smelled of home, and appropriately so.
Spindle in hand, his mother sat on a low cushion in the main room wrapping her web around the small wooden shaft. She’d used to let him help her with it before he was taken. Melancholy marked her features, tugging her lips into a frown, but when her eyes met Zaheer’s from across the room, her entire face lit with joy and a hit of surprise, as she hadn’t expected him to return.
His mother set the spindle aside, snapping the threads as he lowered Clara to her feet, keeping his arms wrapped protectively around her torso. Clara gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.
“You came back,” she whispered before turning her attention to Clara. “This is her? This is your mate?” There was no disgust or revulsion in her voice, only genuine curiosity.
“This is Clara, and yes, she’s my mate.”
“What did she say?” Clara asked, watching his mother as she stepped forward slowly.
