6
CASHOL
M eh-gan and I lie in the furs in silence, listening to the chatter in the main cave and the endless
beat of the drum. The celebration sounds like a good one, and delicious smells waft through,
teasing our noses in our “private” cave. I should not be thinking about food. I should be claiming my mate in every way possible, but since I am not, I wonder what they are eating. I wonder if there will be extra left over for me for when I go out to hunt tomorrow.
Then I wonder if I am even going to hunt tomorrow. It might be impossible to do with my aching, still-hard cock erect between my thighs.
Meh-gan lies on her back, staring up at the ceiling. Her fingers drum on her abdomen, and she seems lost in thought. I watch her for a moment, enjoying the sight of the small, rounded tip of her nose and the point of her chin. She glances over at me, and then blushes when she catches me staring.
“What is it?” I ask.
“Do you think everyone thinks we’re making out?”
‘Making out’? I do not know what this means, but I can guess. “I am positive that they think we are mating feverishly, yes.”
Her cheeks grow pinker. “How long do you think we can hold out? Before it affects us?”
Before it affects us? I am already feeling affected. It feels as if I have no blood left in the top half of my body. I adjust myself again under the blankets, thinking. How long has anyone ever lasted before giving in?
Most do not even bother to fight. There was Zalah and Haeden, but that did not end well and I try not to think about it. “I do not know.”
“We’re probably not going to be able to take it that slow, then.”
I cannot tell if this makes her happy or not. “True, but it does not have to happen tonight. We can relax for a bit.” I reach out and cautiously put my hand on hers, wondering how she will react to that small touch.
She squeezes my fingers, and my cock near spills in my loincloth. “You’re a good man, Cashol.”
“You have not spent much time talking to Haeden if you think that,” I tease.
Meh-gan chuckles, glancing over at me, and I am filled with such hot yearning at the sight of her face that I lose my breath. She watches me, her expression uncertain. Her gaze dips to my mouth, and I remember how she pressed her lips there. A mouth-mating, Vektal has called it. Humans like to do that, to press their tongues inside the mouth of their partners. I received no tongue…and I decide I am sad about it.
“What are you thinking about?” she asks suddenly.
“I am thinking about when you put your mouth on mine earlier. Vektal has told us that Shorshie uses tongue and I have not yet decided if I should tell him that she did it wrong.”
Meh-gan rolls onto her side, propping her head up on one hand. “How do you know Georgie’s the one that
did it wrong? Maybe I did.”
“Impossible. You can do nothing wrong.”
She snorts.
“Besides, it felt really good,” I tell her. “I am not sure that adding tongue would improve upon it.”
“Oh, it does.”
“It does?” I sit up. “Are you sure?”
“I’ve done it lots of times.” Meh-gan hesitates, then sits up as well. “Cashol, you should know that I’m not a virgin. I’ve had sex.”
I stare at her, the blood pounding through my veins once more. Never have I heard anything better than the sound of my name on her lips.
“You could say something, you know,” she whispers.
“Say it again,” I tell her. “My name.”
“Cashol?” She is soft and breathless this time.
I groan, closing my eyes, and my hand goes to the front of my pants. I clench my cock in my grip, trying to control myself. I want to hear her say it over and over again, but I know I will not last if she does.
“I’m trying to tell you that I’m not a virgin—”
“It does not matter,” I manage to choke out.
“But you waited for a mate—”
I laugh. “Only because there were no options. My hand received quite a lot of attention, though.”
Her eyes widen, and she giggles. Relief crosses her face. “You…you don’t care?”
“No, why would I?” I do not like the thought of another male touching her—not at all. She is mine. But humans are very different. How can I blame her for something she did in another life? “All that matters is here and now.”
“No, that’s not all that matters.” Her mouth presses into a firm line and she rubs a hand over her brow. “I… have something else to tell you.”
“Do you promise to say it like you did my name?”
Her mouth twitches. “Are you ever serious?”
“Sometimes. Not when it means I can make you smile instead.”
“I’m trying to tell you something important.” She gives my shoulder a nudge. “Something that might make you look at me differently.”
“Then say it and let me be the judge.” I suspect I already know.
Her hands fall to her lap and twist in the blankets. “I was pregnant when I got kidnapped. And…I was going to keep it.”
“Of course you were going to keep it.” I am confused.
“No, I mean, I was going to have someone else’s baby.” Her eyes fill with tears. “It was just some guy I met at a club. A meaningless fling. I didn’t expect it to be anything, but then I found out I was pregnant and everything changed.” Her chin drops and she stares at her hands. “And then they took it from me.”
I hate her sadness. I want to say a million silly things so she will look at me and roll her eyes. I want her to not be sad. I want her to smile. I do not know how to do any of these things, though, but I remember how my father used to hug me when I was a kit, and how Sevvah hugged me when I lost him. She was my parent when I had none, and I could always go to her for a warm embrace. So I give that to Meh-gan now. I pull her in my arms and stroke her mane, just like how Sevvah did to me when I was sad. “How can I make it better for you?”
Something inside her breaks. A muffled little sob escapes her and she clings to my vest, holding tight to me as she weeps. I tuck her under my chin and rub her back, wanting more than anything for her to stop crying.
For her sadness to leave her. I cannot fix it for her, but I can at least hold her. So I do.
Eventually, her sniffles subside and she swipes at her face. “You’re really nice, you know.” She sniffs again.
“My cootie made a good pick.”
“I think there are several males in this tribe that would argue that point.”
“It doesn’t matter what they think,” she tells me earnestly, sitting up and meeting my eyes. “You are the nicest, kindest alien I have ever met and I feel really lucky that if I had to resonate, it was to you.” Her gaze flicks to my mouth again for a moment, and I wonder if she is thinking about when she pressed hers to mine.
I have to ask. I cannot help myself. My cock is too heavy with seed to let the issue slide. “When you put your mouth on mine earlier…why did you do it?”
She raises her shoulders ever so slightly. “It was a kiss. Humans do it when we’re happy with a partner or
in love.”
“Then why did you do it to me?”
“Because it’s expected. We’re mates.”
This does not fill me with confidence. “Is that why you did not give me tongue?”
Meh-gan lets out a horrified giggle. “What? No, I just…it’s impolite to start tonguing someone in front of a bunch of people.”
“Not to me,” I tease. “I would welcome such a greeting.”
She chuckles again, and I can see her mood lightening. “I’ll keep that in mind for the future.”
I like the thought of a future with her. I keep my arms around her, because she feels good in my arms. She fits there perfectly. “So then, may I ask you more questions?”
“It depends. Are you going to ask me about more leather?” She arches one pale brow at me.
“I promise I shall not.” I rub a hand up and down her back, and I notice she does not pull away from me as I do. “Will you tell me what you like in a mate?”
“What I like?”
“Yes.”
She wears a puzzled expression. “Why does it matter? We resonated.”
She does not understand that I am trying to go slow. That I am trying to find things about me that she might like, so that I can entice her into looking at resonance as a good thing, instead of the resigned look on her face. “What is your favorite body part?”
Meh-gan sputters, laughing. “My favorite body part?”
“I am serious,” I tell her, but I smile, too. “I wish to know. What is it that my pretty Meh-gan finds appealing?”
Her expression softens. “Do you find me pretty? Even though I’m not sa-khui?”
“Very much so. And I do not say that simply because I resonate.”
She chuckles. “What’s your favorite part, then?”
I consider this. “Perhaps your ears.”
“My ears?”
“They are so tiny.” I reach out to touch one with a fingertip. “And they go pink when you are embarrassed.”
Meh-gan giggles, ducking her head when I touch her earlobe. “I’m ticklish.”
“And now I am wanting to touch them more,” I admit. The realization that she is ticklish just makes my cock harder. But I drop my hand, because I must go slow, even if it is torture.
“If it helps,” she offers after a minute, her cheeks charmingly pink, “I like your feet.”
I glance down. “My…feet?” They are big, sure, but they seem normal to me. They are just…feet. “You like them?”
Her face grows even pinker. “I just…like feet. And you have nice ones.”
“You can touch them if you like.” I wonder if it is possible for me to come just from her hand on my feet.
Probably.
But Meh-gan only ducks her head, burying it against my shoulder. “Not yet.”
“Of course not. Can I see your feet?”
I notice that her breath speeds up and I suspect that Meh-gan’s ears are not the only thing that is sensitive and ticklish. She hesitates for a moment, and then nods, scooting away from me on the furs. I expect her to undo her boots herself, but she lifts one foot and holds it in the air, indicating that I should take care of it.
I grin. She is bossy. I like this. I much prefer a demanding mate to a terrified one.
