Page 11 of Betrothed

Fawn laughed. It sounded high and shocked, and she looked away shortly after.

“Thank you,” she said.

Then she smiled.

Zax stared, spellbound. He had never seen her smile before. In the back of his mind, he suspected that it was not good that his wife had only smiled once after he had known her for a whole night. But it was difficult to focus on anything except that smile. It was small and tentative, but it was the start of something amazing. It was the start of their life together, full of smiles and companionship.

Then Fawn shifted, and her smile turned to a grimace of pain.

“Your ankle,” Zax remembered. He picked her up carefully, ignoring her protests as he carried her to their nest and set her down. He arranged her coat around her shoulders. Then he came back with a handful of berries and a small strip of deer meat.

She took the food, chewing dutifully. Her scent was more relaxed this morning. Zax wondered if he should ask about mating again. She was only in pain if she moved her foot, and they did not have to do that. If he did it well, maybe he could cheer her up. Or convince her that she would be happy here, no fear required.

“Do you want me to mate you now?” Zax asked.

Fawn stiffened. Something flashed through her eyes, panicked.

“It will not hurt,” Zax said quickly. “I cannot mate you properly because we have not done the spell, but I can make you feel good. I can use my tongue. My brothers say it will fit, and that women particularly enjoy it.”

“Oh,” Fawn stuttered. “I’m….”

She trailed off as Zax stuck out his tongue. He let it fall out of his mouth, long and curling and flexible. He did not touch his tongue-tip to her good leg, even though he sorely wanted to.

Fawn’s lips parted. Her freckled cheeks flushed a pretty red, and Zax had to fight the urge to lick them, too.

“My brothers explained what to do,” Zax said, leaning closer. “Where it feels best. Can I?”

He laid his hand on the nest next to her good leg. There was a new scent mingling in the air between them, sweet and tantalizing. Desire. Just as his brothers described.

Fawn stared at him, her eyes so huge and brown he wanted to sink into them. There was a small part of him that thought of that deer he had brought for her, its deep eyes staring into his own before he pounced, the thrill of the hunt taking him over. But he pushed it away for now. This was not the moment.

“Fawn,” he said.

She shivered. The hot scent of her desire was so thick it almost drowned out the bitter taste of her fear.

“A-alright,” she said. She cleared her throat. “Okay. Yes.”

Zax knelt lower and pushed up her dress. Her legs were covered in thin, downy hair that got more sparse the higher he got. Then he reached the apex of her thighs and revealed her underclothes, and his mouth watered at the coarse hair poking out from the fabric, which was damp as it stretched over her mound.

Zax’s two cocks stiffened under his loincloth. He leaned in, eager for a taste…

“Wait,” Fawn blurted.

Zax looked up questioningly, his tail swishing with excitement.

Fawn eyed it for a moment and then looked down at him. “Surely we should kiss before doing all… that?”

“Yes,” Zax said automatically. He sat up, tail still swishing. “Kissing. Remind me what that is?”

Fawn narrowed those beautiful doe eyes at him. Then she laughed that same shocked, small laugh from before.

“Your brothers explained that,” she said. “But not kissing?”

Zax nodded. “I am sure they mentioned it. I might have been distracted. We often talk while we hunt.”

Fawn looked at him like he was something entirely new. But for once, not something she was particularly wary of. It was only for a moment, but it made him hopeful. He would win her over, given enough time.

Fawn hesitated. Then she reached up and gripped his half-horn atop his head, the one her Circle had broken.