by V. K. Ludwig
“I would have spoken to you once Jessica—”
“Are you well?” Neshta leaned over us, ignoring Katedo’s sigh as she stroked wisps of hair from my forehead. “Are you in much pain? Has he hummed for you?” Her eyes snapped to her son. “Are you humming enough for her?”
“He is,” I said. “And it’s not hurting so much anymore.”
“She needs vasani tea. Where is her uiri?”
Katedo mumbled something in Jalut that sounded a lot like cursing. “She only just woke.”
“She needs an uiri. Better yet, three. I will brew you some tea for now.” Neshta pressed her forehead against mine for long seconds, the gesture so intimate, I let my eyes search for Katedo’s.
“It’s reserved for kin,” he explained, and tears welled behind my eyes at how openly his mother accepted me as such.
“The tea will help make wekhja heal faster.” Neshta rose, then spun around and walked off. “After that, we will choose uiris.”
Kam hopped onto the bed, and carefully climbed around me, lowering himself onto the furs to my right. “I can hum for you, too!”
Kam’s little chest resonated with hums a few octaves too high, but it was melodic and beautiful, bringing a sting to my eyes I didn’t dare to blink away.
This was all too much.
Too much love, too much closeness, too much family. Too much of everything I’d always wanted, I didn’t know I was crying until a tear tickled down my cheek.
“Oh, oh.” Kam’s orange eyes narrowed. “Why are you crying?”
Katedo’s hum turned louder, deeper, intertwining with that of Kam in perfect resonance: a baritone and a soprano, encapsulating me in the endless comfort of their hums.
I sniffled. “These are happy tears.”
Kam frowned. “You cry when you’re happy?”
“Only when there’s so much happiness inside me, I don’t know where to put it, so I push some tears out to make room.” Katedo was a blurry mess when I looked at him, and my voice shook. “This is everything I’ve always wanted. Thank you.”
He stared at me for long seconds, his jawline turning to stone before he swallowed. “And you deserve it all but…”
Kam wiped a tear away. “Is she ours now, adi? Please say yes.”
Katedo looked at Kam, took a deep breath, then nodded as his eyes connected with mine. “Yeki. She’s ours.”
“I’ll go and help amimi!” He squealed and rolled off the bed before he sprinted out of Katedo’s room.
Katedo didn’t wipe away my tears. He kissed them from my jawline, my cheek, the side of my nose, until our salty lips connected. One hand stroked through my curls, while the other gently pulled me to rest on his chest.
His hum vibrated right underneath my ear, even as he said, “You do understand that I come with both of them, right? A son who can’t stop bouncing, and a mother who will never stop meddling?”
“They’re your saving grace.” When he chuckled, I looked up at him. “I always wanted a soulmate, but not nearly as much as I wanted a family. Now I have both.”
“Guess there’s no getting rid of us now, Jessica.” A few leisurely strokes through my hair. “To make it worse, there are a few things we need to discuss that, unfortunately, come with my position. The moment you step out of the warlord’s quarters, my tribe will swarm you. I wasn’t exactly… discreet when I ordered a shimid and ten healers here with your blood on my claw. You are their urizaya.”
My chest constricted a little. “What does an urizaya do?”
His tail stroked up and down along my spine. “Among my kind, we believe that females are the soil that grounds us. Males are the rain that whirls it up. In the end, they come together and bring life, nourishment, abundance, and prosperity. An urizaya keeps her warlord grounded.”
I tugged on his chin. “So, what you’re saying is that you want me to call you out on your bullshit.”
He grinned down at me. “I’m sure old scriptures phrased that differently but, yeah, let me know if you think I’m about to mess up.”
“I can do that.”
“I know you can,” he said, and stroked his thumb over my bottom lip. “Next topic. Uiri.”
“What’s that?”
“A female who tends to her urizaya all sun long, though some warlords spoil their mate with more than one.” There was a quick furrowing of his brows, which didn’t come as a surprise considering how he valued his time where he could just be himself. “She will help you dress, bring your meals, entertain you, take walks with you, ready your yuleshi—”
“I have a yuleshi?”
He made a sound at the back of his throat. “Did you ever tame one?”
“No.”
He lifted a taunting brow. “Then I guess not.”
I gave a playful punch against his horn and we both laughed, but only until I pushed myself up and mounted him. “You could show me how to tame one.”
“Absolutely not.” His chest widened at his next deep inhale, and a faint moan resonated his throat as he clasped my hips. “Take Rogon. He can teach you while I break in his successor.”
That was easy. “Really?”
“Really,” he rasped, his eyes half-lidded as he stroked my thighs, the way he grew hard against my pussy undeniable. “I’ve only just stung you. Wekhja heals quickly under the care of a shimid, but you need rest. As do I. Rutting is exhausting.”
I took his hands and let them intertwine with mine. “Think you’d fall into a rut again?”
“Pick a fight with me and find out.”
The memory of how he’d turned me around and fucked me from behind with no restraint would remain with me forever. “Your knot was very swollen, and… by the Three Suns, are you blushing?”
“Probably about as much as I did when you mentioned my gray ass cheeks, twice,” he mumbled, and a subtle pink sheen crept across his cheeks. “You’re only the second female I’ve ever been intimate with, Jessica.”
That was kinda adorable. “Didn’t all the females pant over the up-and-coming warlord when you were younger?”
“I told you before, that’s not the kind of male I am.” He squeezed my hands and placed them onto his chest. “Which is why I’ve always hated the rut and how it makes me a slave to my baser instincts, so I fought it rather successfully for most of my life.”
“Until a few hours ago.”
Gods, that male’s smile was gorgeous, showing off his pearly-white fangs before he said, “Once you’re well, I’ll show you how I wanted our first mating to be.”
“What about Kam? I don’t want him to be confused or upset.”
“Upset?” He laughed. “Did he seem upset to you just now? He likes you very much, as does ami.”
“I like them too.”
“Jal’zar are different,” he said. “Do our males court females or date them, as you call it? Yes. But, in the end, nature decides. If a male is drawn to a female’s scent, he stings her, binds her soul, and tries to give her a child. Kamenji knows these things.” Releasing our hands, he pushed himself up to sit, and pressed a kiss to my mouth. “Neither one of us saw this coming, but we’ll learn each other, yes?”
“Yes.” I pressed my forehead against his like Neshta had done it, and breathed in the minty scent of him. “What’s next? I feel kinda lost right now.”
“You’ll never be lost again, Jessica, because I have every intention of taking the best care of you,” he said, and I knew he would. “As for what’s next, I guess it’s time to tame yuleshis.”
Sixteen
Katedo
I dug my toes into the powdery ash of Solgad’s plains and took in the lingering tang of the damp soil beneath. “Move the reins to the left and shift onto your left seat bone. A little more. Good!”
Sevja watched how Jessica trotted figure-eights on Rogon. “Our urizaya learns quickly. If she keeps practicing, she’ll be able to ride by herself when we leave for the plains.”
My female’s radiant smile competed with t
he morning sun coming up above the western plateau, rousing an ardor beneath my ribs that melted with my pride. “She would probably sprint ahead of us if Rogon was willing.”
Sevja tilted her head, letting her eyes find mine with all their taunting sparkle. “And would you let her?”
A twitch on my upper lip. “For a few strides.”
Her lips parted for something between a scoff and a laugh when she gave me a nod of agreement. “I’m happy for you, urizayo, as are the people of your tribe. They’re already talking about when there will be another child.”
My pulse remained steady, my heart rhythmic and at ease. I’d always wanted another child. Marked with my wekhja, Jessica would be receptive to my seed come her next heat. Yet another thing we needed to discuss piling upon the many things left unspoken… unexplained.
“Don’t allow them to grow impatient.” Because there were things I needed to set right before I would place a child in her belly.
“Adi!” Kamenji walked up to us together with Faruk, Sevja’s mate. “I found her!”
“A female?”
“She’s beautiful, adi. Tall with green eyes.”
When my gaze wandered to Faruk, he said, “Her teets are still slightly elongated. She had cubs after the last cold season.”
Which often made for a gentler temperament in female yuleshis. “Well then. Grab your yalat and see if you can subdue her.”
Kamenji’s orange eyes glassed over with tears. “Really?”
I waved Jessica over to us, then stepped up to him and gave a knock on his horn. “I was wrong. You were right. Now go get Dinale, and prove how ready you are.”
“Jessica, are you going to come?” he asked.
She angled a hand against her forehead to shield her eyes from the sun. “Someone has to keep your adi from hyperventilating, right?”
“Very funny.” With a jump, I quickly mounted Rogon behind her, and clasped her shoulder between my fangs until she squealed. “Go ahead. Tease me and see what happens. You’re asking for another rut.”
She tilted her head back and stared up at me. “Maybe I happen to like it.”
I kissed her, loving the flutter inside my chest that whirled up old pain and reshaped it into bliss. “Maybe. But you’ll love the lucid version of me.”
“But first, we’re going to tame a yuleshi.” She wouldn’t hand me the reins and instead steered Rogon to follow behind the others, while giving a gentle pat against my thigh. “Don’t worry. I brought a paper bag you can breathe into.”
“The caring urizaya she is,” I said on a chuckle and wrapped my arms around her to stroke over her stomach.
“Did you decide how many uiris you’d like? Only one female of my tribe is currently trained as such since Warlord Toagi stole the other as well. But I’m sure Warlord Razgar has no issues giving up some of his, considering he has no intentions of taking an urizaya anytime soon.”
“I have.” She competently steered Rogon through a dry riverbed the last torrent had formed, letting rocks, bones, and whatever else the water had uncovered clank beneath his paws. “Unless it would come across as insulting or something like that, I would prefer to have no uiri at all.”
“Why not?”
“If the Warlord can cook his own meals, then his mate can put on her own dress.”
Her words stirred a roil in my stomach, and not only because I knew that her choice was based on my own preference. “If privacy is your concern, rest assured it’ll be gone the sun we leave Noja. It’ll make no difference to me if the nabu next to ours belongs to your uiri, or anyone else, really.”
A wiggle went through her as it always did when she grew excited about experiencing our way of life outside the city, but then she stilled. “Wait. What do you mean with the nabu next to ours? How close are they?”
“With a tribe the size of mine? Close enough I have to mind my tail at night, and that’s only if we can find a large enough mother tree to shelter us all.”
Her gaze wandered from Sevja, to Faruk, and eventually to Kamenji, who sat behind him on the scout’s yuleshi, before she whispered, “What about sex?”
What an odd question. “What about it?”
“Where do you do it?”
“Anywhere.”
The was a tiny gasp. “Anywhere? In front of everyone?”
“Anywhere.” I let my fingers slip underneath her dress and to the lace of her panties, circling what I’d concluded was her oddly placed clitoris with those broad orbits she enjoyed. “In front of everyone. Or behind their backs…”
“What are you—” Dull nails pressed into my palm, and she snorted the cutest little moan that would have drawn attention, had anybody cared. “They’ll turn around and see us.”
“And think absolutely nothing of it.” Fangs gently nibbling up the side of her neck before I suckled on her earlobe lured her into docility. “How do you like it better? Like this?” I added more pressure to my touch, and my cock swelled at how she bit back her moan. “What if I move slightly higher, over here to the—”
“Fuuuck…”
“There we go. I want you to take pleasure from this.” Wanted to learn every caress that aroused her, every movement that stimulated her senses, and every spot on her shapely body that begged for my touch. “Come for me, urizaya.”
Eyes on the group in front of us, I gently rolled my hips against her ass. As much as my cock throbbed each time I pressed against her backside, it was the friction of the woolen saddle against her cunt I was after. Between that and the rhythmic whirls of my fingers, Jessica reached her peak so quietly, the only indicator was how she held her breath.
And perhaps how she dug her nails into my arm with force, sending a rush of satisfaction through me. During our first coupling, I’d been a grunting beast who’d fucked her with little regard to anything outside the goal of filling her with my seed. I could do better than that.
She removed my hand. “You’re crazy.”
Utterly mad and descending into insane longing for those nights she slept in my arms while her wekhja healed. For the mornings when she didn’t talk much until after a cup of coffee, curls standing off in all directions, and how she devoured bread by hollowing the core first.
Faruk stopped his yuleshi until we caught up with them. “The group over there.”
“Dinale is the one rubbing her shoulder on the trunk.” Kamenji pointed at a yuleshi too tall for my liking.
“Not easy getting up there,” I said as ropes of fear strung around my lungs, no matter how my son’s eyes already narrowed at me again. “She’s too—”
“Beautiful to pass her up.” Jessica placed her hand onto mine where it rested on her belly, and squeezed slightly. “Maybe adi has some tips as to how to get onto her back easily?”
When Kamenji’s vibrant eyes locked with mine, so full of hope and excitement, all I could do was nod. “She’s too tall to jump for you. Work around that by offering her the meat close to the ground. Get her to lower her head some, push the yalat in, and swing yourself onto her neck instead. Work yourself back behind her shoulders as quickly as possible before she starts tossing her head.”
“Got it!”
He slipped off Faruk’s yuleshi and gripped into one of the saddle bags, retrieving the sealed pouch of meat. Rotten and grayed, the three chunks he pulled from it sent a sour whiff into the surrounding air that wedged a gag from Jessica.
“What on Earth is that?”
“Yuleshis are carrion eaters,” I explained. “We let the meat decay for a few suns before we soak it in brine. Nothing tastes better to them, especially a female who nursed cubs not too long ago and needs nourishment.”
Kamenji transferred the meat into the pouch attached to his loincloth, but kept one to prepare the yalat. He smeared the sticky residue of the meat across the mouthpiece, nothing but uri ropes he’d softened and braided, with a loop of reins attached to it.
He looked up at me with a curt nod. “I’m ready.”
A tr
emor went through me. I hadn’t realized how tall he’d become until he stepped up beside us, the tip of his horns almost reaching Rogon’s shoulder. My beautiful boy with a heart that contained enough courage for the both of us.
Jessica brushed her hand over his hair. “Good luck.”
He walked off to leave us all behind, approaching the leap of wild yuleshis the way I’d taught him: with his gaze averted, shoulder and hip pointing their way as he rounded toward them.
Jessica stroked over my hand, each caress like a gentle breeze of calm across my soul. “They’re not aggressive, are they?”
Was she nervous? Growing concerned as she watched Kamenji’s careful approach, the yuleshi’s pointed ears already turning toward him, green eyes fixed on the treat in his hand?
“They’re generally friendly in nature, unless they have cubs to protect. But they’re powerful animals if something upsets them.”
“Like a yalat pushed into their muzzle,” she said, her gaze focused on Kamenji’s bent spine as he offered the meat from a hand hovering a few inches above the ground.
Perhaps she didn’t notice it, but the strokes of her hand morphed into fingers clasping around mine. I placed my other hand atop hers, doing my best to remain calm while my pupils watched Kamenji’s every move.
The yuleshi stepped up to him, first sniffing his hair before she sunk her head. When Kamenji lowered his hand further, luring her short neck to stretch, my heart hit every rib once before it thrummed inside my ears. Too low. Too much leverage in that neck. Too many muscles contracted and ready to act.
Time slowed to a grinding halt, amplifying each pump of dread infesting my veins, each pearl of sweat forming at the back of my neck, each toe arching with worry. If he didn’t grip her neck hard, she would toss him straight against a boulder.
The yuleshi nipped for the meat.
Kamenji pushed the yalat into the beasts muzzle, tossed the reins over its neck and, with a thrust of his legs, jumped onto her neck. He gripped the reins tightly before he slung scrawny arms around the yuleshis’s neck.
