“He told me. Just now.”
“All of it?” Vek crouches, still maintaining careful distance but close enough that I can smell his citrus-and-ozone scent. “Did he mention what happens if a claimed female gets stolen?”
My head snaps toward him. “What?”
“Ancient law. If another hunter successfully breeds an already-claimed female, original claim is void. Original hunter loses all payments. New hunter inherits the female.” His throat scales shift, creating patterns I'm learning mean amusement. “Why do you think I stay so close? Not just wanting. Strategy.”
“You're lying.”
“Ask him. See what his spines do.”
Footsteps behind us. Heavy, deliberate. Khor's shadow engulfs us both.
“Young hunter should find other territories to explore.”
“Just educating your female about her options.” Vek stands slowly, no sudden movements. Smart. “She should know all the rules before making choices.”
“She knows enough.”
“Does she know about tomorrow's harvest journey? About what you need to collect to finish paying for her?” Vek backs away, but his words hit their mark. “Does she know how dangerous crater creatures are during mating season?”
Khor's growl is subsonic, felt more than heard.
Vek raises his hands, mock surrender. “Just concerned for her welfare. Would hate for her to be widowed before even bonded.” He looks at me one last time. “When he leaves tomorrow, remember you have options.”
He disappears into the rocks, but his scent lingers. Threat and promise mixed.
“Is it true? About stealing claimed females?”
“Yes.” No hesitation, no softening. “But requires successful breeding. Young hunter has never bred anyone. Does not understand the difference between wanting and accomplishing.”
“And tomorrow? The harvest journey?”
“Must go. Second payment is due soon.” He picks me up, apparently done with me walking on my own. “Tonight, we prepare.”
“Prepare how?”
“By filling you so full of my seed that no other male's could possibly take root.”
Back in the den, he sets me on the furs. The evening light slants through the entrance, painting everything in shades of fire. His breeding cock is already emerging, but something's different. Less urgent. More deliberate.
“No roughness tonight.” He stretches out beside me, one hand tracing the marks his mud treatment healed. “Tonight, gentle. Make you want to keep me.”
“Gentle? You?”
“Can be many things when necessary.”
He proves it. The next two hours are different from everything before. Slow exploration instead of violent claiming. His forked tongue maps every inch of skin, but without the desperate edge. When he finally enters me, it's gradual, letting me adjust to each ridge.
The pleasure builds like tide instead of storm. When I come, it's waves instead of lightning. When he knots, it's connection instead of conquest.
“The bond,” he says against my throat as we're locked together. “Would make everything certain. No other could claim you. No payment could separate us.”
“I can't.” The words hurt coming out. “Not yet.”
His teeth graze my throat, and I feel how much he wants to bite. How much control it takes not to. “Every day you refuse increases danger.”
“I know.”
