Page 29 of The Hunter

The thornskulls were speaking to each other softly now, but Telok didn’t take his eyes off Lacey as he strode toward her. She didn’t back away. He grasped her upper arm and pulled her aside, away from the others, painfully aware of the press of his fingers against her warm, soft flesh.

“Telok, what are you doing?” she demanded in a low, harsh tone.

He stopped and turned to face Lacey, leaning over her. “You cannot come. It is too far, too dangerous.”

Scowling, Lacey yanked her arm from his grasp and glared at him. “I will be fine.”

“Here.” He thumped a leg on the ground. “You will be fine here.”

She planted her spear. “I’m coming, and you can’t stop me.”

A harsh breath escaped through Telok’s nostrils as he drew his mandibles in tight and clenched his jaw.

She leveled a finger at him. “Telok, don’t you dare.”

He darted at her, snatching her spear in one hand and banding an arm around her middle. She kicked and fought as he lifted her off her feet.

“Telok!” she screeched, shoving at his chest. “You can’t go manhandling me every time you don’t get your way!”

“I am not a man.” He hefted her over his shoulder and locked his arms around her legs to keep her from kicking him.

“God, you’re such an ass. Put. Me. Down!”

“No.” Telok turned toward the stairs. If he had to bind her again and leave her in her den, he would do so.

Lacey shoved herself up, grasped the hair gathered atop his head, and yanked. He snarled and reared back as pain shot through his scalp.

Despite the pain, something sparked low in his belly—a ravenous fire that poured into his blood and awoke his deepest, wildest desires, reigniting his instinct to claim her. Just like when she’d bitten him at the waterfall.

And by the Eight, he wanted more.

Fuck!

Another moment of contact would be his undoing. Gritting his teeth, he quickly set Lacey on her feet and released her. She stumbled backward before regaining her balance.

Swiping the strands of hair that had come loose from her braids away from her face, she strode back to Telok, utterly defiant, green eyes flashing with anger. “So why can’t I go, Telok? Huh? Is it because I’m human? If that’s the case, why can Cole go? Oh, or is it because I’m female? Funny, since you have no issue with her coming along.” She threw an arm in Ayali’s direction.

“They are hunters, Lacey.”

“And so am I!”

“You—”

“How am I going to get better if you won’t let me learn? All the things you taught me on the way here, all the skills I’ve developed, and now suddenly you want to act like it was for nothing? Like I’m not good enough?” She crossed her arms over her chest, and her eyes took on a watery sheen. “I know I’m not as experienced as you, but I’m a survivor. And I have plenty to contribute to our home, whether I’m up there or out in the jungle.”

Though her tears didn’t fall, seeing them gathering was a blow to Telok’s hearts. Lacey and the other humans had journeyed farther than he could ever understand, leaving everything they’d known behind, and they’d fought so hard to survive here. Who was he to hold her back now?

How could he behave so selfishly?

But by their eightfold eyes, how could he bear traveling with her again? The threads of his self-restraint were already frayed. How much longer before they snapped under the strain of this temptation, how much longer before he succumbed to instinct?

How much longer before he gave in to what his hearts demanded?

Deliberately heavy steps approached.

Telok’s fine hairs stood, and furious heat crackled through him. Another male was approaching his female while she was vulnerable. Another male was challenging him and⁠—

No.