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I’REC
F’lor looks at me with despair, her fists pressed to her face.
She is upset.
Of course she is upset. She resonated to me instead of R’jaal. We yet resonate. And now we must return to the beach, smelling of sex and singing with resonance, and A’tar has left to retrieve the female I have dreamed of for three full turns of the seasons.
It is a disaster.
I do not like F’lor’s worry, though. We will handle things, one problem at a time. I move closer to her and put a hand on her shoulder, rubbing awkwardly. “V’za will go back to camp and ensure we are not disturbed,” I soothe. “And we will figure out the rest later.”
“No,” she says, straightening her shoulders. She takes a deep breath and then puts her hands on her hips, her expression resigned. “R’jaal is at camp and he deserves to hear from me what happened.” She turns to V’za. “I appreciate the offer but we need to handle this like adults.”
V’za raises his hands in the air. “If you like. I will rejoin T’chai, then, if you do not need me.”
“We’re good.” She grabs my hand and hauls me forward, marching toward the distant camp.
I slow my steps deliberately, tugging on her hand. “This is a bad idea. He is not going to want to see me with you, F’lor.” R’jaal is not as quick to anger as I am, but even I would not prod him on this. It seems cruel. “Leave it be for tonight.”
She turns and gives me a strange look. “You’re not going with me. You’re going to go do something else, and I’m going to talk to him and let him down easy.”
The small hairs on the back of my neck stand up and my tail lashes behind me. Leave her alone? With R’jaal? With her body singing of resonance tome? With her cunt drenched with my seed and still begging to be filled again? “Why would I do that?”
“Because I don’t want you there.”
“We are resonating,” I say, as if that explains everything…because it should.
F’lor shakes her head, marching ahead of me toward the village. “It’s something that should be discussed in private between him and I. You know he’s going to be hurt. The last thing he needs is you glaring at him the entire time while I’m trying to be kind.”
While it is true that R’jaal and I have never been less than fierce rivals, I would not gloat. Not over this. “I do not want to leave you alone with him. You belong at my side.”
“Diyusko,” F’lor exclaims, turning to look back at me. She turns and grabs my hand, placing it under the loose collar of her now-tattered tunic. My fingers brush between her teats against her skin, and she holds me there. “Do you hear that, I’rec? I’m still resonating. We are still resonating. I’m not going anywhere. Not when it’s hard to walk in a straight line while this is going on. Okay? But R’jaal is a friend and deserves to be treated like a friend. I’m going to talk to him quietly. In private.” She lets go of my hand and gives me a chiding stare. “You won, all right? Don’t be a dick about it.”
I am not being a dick. I just…do not like the thought of another male alone with my resonance mate while she yet sings for me. Scowling, I reach for her hand when she turns away and clasp her fingers in mine, walking at her side. We are quiet as we head towards the village, and I can see F’lor will not be moved in this. She wishes to speak to R’jaal alone, and nothing I say will change her mind. “If you go and talk to him, what am I supposed to do?”
She gives my hand a squeeze, and for some reason, that small bit of affection eases some of my frustration. “Go get your things and put them in my hut?”
I like that idea. I like the thought of adding my furs to hers.
F’lor continues, “You can stay with me until we stop resonating, and then we’ll figure everything out.”
That makes me want to frown anew. “What is there to figure out?”
“You, me and Tia,” she replies, not meeting my gaze. Instead, her eyes are fixed on the plumes of smoke up ahead, the ones that mark the settlement on the beach. “I won’t stand in the way of the two of you.”
My hackles rise again and I scowl at her, tail thrashing with annoyance. So she thinks to just mate me and then toss me aside once she has drained me of my seed? She will give me up so very easily? I wait for her to speak again, and when she remains silent, I realize she is done talking about this. Irritated, I keep holding her hand, but it feels more as if I am clinging to try and keep her at my side, when it is clear that she has no intention of staying.
This angers me, but what can I do? I am not in control. The khui is, and when it is done with us, F’lor will have my heart in the grasp of her small fist, to squeeze or toss aside as she chooses.
We are silent as we return to camp, and the moment we hit the outskirts, she releases my hand. “I’m going to grab pants and then I’ll go find R’jaal. See you soon.”
She turns and walks away, leaving me alone and full of annoyance. How can she walk away from me so easily when it takes everything I have not to chase after her and bear her down to the sand so I can cover her once more? Even now my mouth wants to kiss hers. My hands itch to roam over her soft skin. My cock certainly misses her.
And I cannot stop thinking about her. Or staring after her, like a lovesick fool.
I remain where I am, frowning as she darts towards her hut, waving at a few people as she does. She emerges from it a brief moment later, with a long skirt covering her legs now. She moves around the edge of camp, avoiding the cluster of huts, and heads down toward the beach and the violent waves instead. I clench my hands until the urge to follow after her fades, just a little. Then, I stare at my surroundings as if just now seeing them. The encampment looks as it always does, with a few kits playing on a blanket near females working hides. One of the Strong Arm hunters scrapes fish clean of their scales at the edge of camp, and there is a cluster of curious people near the main fire, watching me.
I do not head toward them. I breathe deep, filtering the scents that drift through camp. Shadow Cat scents are faint, but nearby. They are inside one of the huts, then. I glance over at F’lor once more, my khui giving a painful thrum at the sight of her walking away. Rubbing my chest, I force myself to head towards my hut.
