Page 66 of The Hunter

Though infuriating, the interruption had been fortunate.

Perhaps he wouldn’t harm Cole after all…so long as the human kept his hands and eyes off Telok’s mate.

Telok strode to the bank, retrieved some cleanleaf from his bag, and returned to the deeper water. As he crushed the stalks between his fingers, Lacey made her way toward the shore. His eyes immediately fixated on her rounded ass, watching it sway as she waded out of the water and walked onto the rocks.

When she bent over to open her pack, Telok glimpsed her pink slit between her legs. His fist squeezed the remaining cleanleaf as red fog once more swept into his mind. His legs tensed, preparing to shift his weight and carry him to her in a rush of need, and his stem again pushed against the inside of his slit. His traitorous claspers loosened by a thread’s breadth, threatening to let his cock extrude.

Shaper, unmake me.

She took out a folded blanket, shook it open, and wrapped it around herself.

It was enough for Telok to tear his gaze away from her.

Turning his back toward her, he scrubbed himself with the cleanleaf, welcoming the abrasion of the rougher chunks he’d not sufficiently mashed; it was something to focus on apart from Lacey. Something to ground him. The soft inner parts of the cleanleaf fizzed in the water and on his hide, washing away the grime of long travel.

But it could not wash away his desires.

He tore his hair from its knot before plunging fully into the water. As the stream flowed around him, dominating his senses, he raked his claws through his hair. If only it were cold enough to snuff out the flames within him.

Telok blew air from his nostrils before rising. Emerging from the water, he whipped his head back, flicking his hair behind him.

His desire did not matter now. He and Lacey were in the Tangle, surrounded by danger, with far to travel before sunfall. They’d spent too much time away from their companions already. He had ignored his duties for too long.

Gathering his hair in his upper hands, he squeezed excess water from it, breathing slow and deep as he did so.

It is not yet time to mate. This hunt must continue.

When he turned back to Lacey, she was sitting on the rock with her elbows on her knees and her chin cupped in her hands, watching him. That red hair hung loose around her shoulders, beckoning him to run his fingers thr⁠—

Damn my eyes, no!

Had he really expected a few heartbeats of focus to somehow make this easy? Every time he looked at her, temptation eroded his will to resist. Before long, nothing would remain of it but dust, which would be blown away the first time the wind carried her scent to his nostrils.

But he had to hold out. His instincts would have to wait.

He’d told Lacey he would tend to her, and there was one more thing he needed to do for his mate before they rejoined the others and resumed their journey.

Telok stalked toward her. Her eyes remained on him as he retrieved the jar of vineroot oil from his bag and sank down in front of her, folding his legs on either side of himself. “Let me see.”

Lacey sat up, hands falling to her lap as her brow furrowed. “Huh?”

With his upper hands, he peeled back the cloth covering her knees and thighs. “Your scars.”

“Oh…” Pulling her bottom lip into her mouth, she chewed on it, and her cheeks flushed to that delectable pink as she parted her thighs by barely a handspan.

Curling his hands over her knees, he guided Lacey’s legs wider.

She gasped and shoved a hand between her thighs, pushing the towel down to cover her slit. “Telok!”

He growled. Releasing her legs, he grasped Lacey’s wrists with his upper hands and leaned over her, forcing her arms back until her palms were on the stone behind her. “Hands here.”

“But—”

Telok silenced her with a sharp hiss. “Hands. Here. You will let me tend you, and you will not move unless I say.”

Lacey stared up at him with wide eyes. “Oh fuck…”

“Say you know my words,” he commanded.