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A possessive snarl rises in my throat, and I pull F’lor a little closer. They need to realize she is mine. That even now my mating scent is between her thighs, and that she carries my kit. Theydo nottouch her.
“We should get them khuis,” F’lor says, unaware of my possessive turn.
“Tomorrow.” I wind my tail around her waist. “Tomorrow will be soon enough.”
“Right. Tomorrow.” She presses her brow to my chest and yawns. “Lord, I’m tired.”
It reminds me that I have not yet fussed over my mate enough today. There has been so much to do that I have neglected her. I pull out the last of my kah,the pouch light in my hand as I hold it out to her.“Have you eaten?”
“Feeding me again?” she grumbles, but she takes the pouch and eats a few bites, remaining in my arms.
“I will always feed you.” I stroke her mane again. “Once you have eaten, you should rest with the other females. Your presence will relax them.”
She fights back another yawn, taking a hunk of the peppery trail rations and holding it to her lips.“What about you?”
There will be no sleeping for me this night. “I will remain awake. The males do not sleep. I will talk to them. Keep an eye on them.” I lower my voice. “But you must be alert and well-rested in the morning, my mate. The females will need you and there are a great many of them.” I want to touch her stomach, but I do not want to show the other males that she carries my kit. I do not want to make her seem vulnerable. “You need your rest.”
“I would love to argue with you, but I’m too tired. Are you sure you’ll be all right if you don’t sleep?” She blinks up at me, her eyes bleary. “I know you’re tired too.”
Stroking her jaw, I smile down at her. “I will be fine. I am used to long hunts where I do not sleep for great stretches of time. Go and rest. You are safe with me.”
“I know,” F’lor says and tilts her face up for a kiss.
I give her a light one, and the sly female nips at my lower lip, sucking on it and then releasing it with a slow pop as I pull back. She gives me a wink and then smacks my backside. “Come get me if you need anything.”
I remain where I am until I am certain she is settled in sleep. She tucks herself next to one of the females shivering on the outside of the group, and I watch as the female immediately throws her arms around my mate and snuggles up to her. I cannot imagine what it is like to be so cold, but I remember L’ren wore nothing but leaves on the island and now she covers herself in layers of fur, so it must indeed be quite biting for the humans. I want my arms to be the ones around her, but I understand that she needs her rest…and I must speak with the newly arrived males.
So I crouch by the fire and stoke it with the butt of my spear. No one says anything, so I regard the males with a casual eye. “I have seen your kind before,” I say. “Fighters.” I try to remember what Gren calls it, what V’dis says. “Glad-taters?”
The one closest to me looks as if he might be one of my people, if not for his skin, which is more blue than gray, and his massive frame. He is very wide, his neck as big around as my mate’s waist, and his features are flat and unusual. When he moves his hands, I see webbing between his fingers. He speaks, and his voice is as deep as the oceans. “Does it matter? We are here now, as you say.”
“It matters because you are fighters,” I point out, keeping my tone mild. “And you are looking at my mate with interested eyes. I am telling you now that she is mine and if you so much as put a finger on her, I will gut you and drag your innards across the valley.”
One of the males—the one with greenish scales creeping up his arms—bares his fangs in what might be a smile or might be confrontation. “There are many females here. Who do we fight to be given one as a prize? You?”
“You do not have to fight anyone.” I suspected they would not understand. From what I know of V’dis and T’rand and their history, it takes time to realize they are no longer being forced to fight. “These females are not slaves. They are free to come and go as they please. Just as you are.”
The males give me puzzled looks, as if they do not quite grasp my meaning. “Then how do we win females?” the gray one asks. “If we do not fight?”
“You do not win them at all,” I reply and tap my chest. “Your khui decides. It will choose a mate for you. It chose mine for me, and it will choose one for you, too.”
One of the cat males rubs his chin. “So we fight this khui? And it rewards us with strong, healthy females to rut?”
I bite back a sigh. This is going to be a long night. “No. Let me explain…”
* * *
“It’s weird,”F’lor whispers to me the next morning as we feed the fire the last of our fuel. “I really thought the guys were going to act up more. They look a bit rough around the edges.”
I grimace, because I do not think she will be happy with my response. All night, I talked to the males. I explained resonance and the khui and how we do not fight one another, but we fight animals to make them our food. They seemed to grasp this well enough, and most of the questions were about, unsurprisingly, females. They are stunned we will let them live amongst the females. That we have no plans to separate them and keep them apart. That if any female should wish to show her affections upon a male, she is free to take her pleasure with him.
They asked a great many questions about pleasuring. Far too many. I tried to be patient with them, remembering what it was like when we first arrived on the beach and saw so many unmated females. I remember the giddiness of those moments, amplified by T’ia’s flirty actions. I remember how excited I was to play the kissing games with her. How irritated it would make me when she wanted to kiss on other males.
It feels like a very, very long time ago. Now when I think of those days, I do not feel anything but a vague amusement. Thoughts of T’ia kissing other males does not bother me. Perhaps her mate is amongst these males here. If so, I am glad for her, because I am quite content with mine.
“You do not need to worry about them,” I tell F’lor. “I explained resonance to them. They await their khuis to see if they will acquire a mate.”
Her eyes widen. “Oh boy.” She glances over at the females, still huddled under blankets near the fire. “I guess I should break the news to them, too. They’re probably not going to take it as well as the men.” She thinks for a moment and then glances up at me. “So we need one of those big things, right? A sa-kohtsk?”
