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I glanced down at the tiny female in my arms. Clara was a gift from the Stars, and now it was my job to do everything in my power to keep her. Their colony had added the stipulation that if any females decided not to stay at the end of the rut, we had no right to them. Agreeing to that had been a mistake.
The thought of losing my Clara now was unbearable. Perhaps it was time to renegotiate the contract, having the females live with us for the entire year before deciding.
The first time new females had witnessed our behavior, they’d cringed and shied away from us, as if we’d finally shown the monsters we were. Men in their culture were supposed to be meek and gentlemanly. We were violent, rutting beasts.
That first year, however, when they’d realized that they were ultimately the ones with all the power, things had changed. Not every female recognized their power at first, but some did. They had the power to either let us die fighting among ourselves or to save us.
Many had chosen the latter. What could have been a massacre had ended better than we’d thought possible.
Some of the females, however, never came around. A few had chosen to return to their colony—to their civilized males—despite having nothing to their names. Others stayed here with us because there was food and a place to live, but they hid during the rut. I hoped those females would eventually come around, though.
I looked up at the lights strung overhead. Dimmed from their usual brightness, they did remind me of stars in the night sky. I stretched, pushing off the fur covering my legs and letting the cool mountain air refresh me.
Then, with the heat of the rut calmed and my mate in my arms, I closed my eyes.
I woke to Clara climbing out of bed. It was late in the evening, and our nest was only lit by the tiny lights. We’d missed dinner, though my body felt no hunger except for hunger for her.
“It’s chilly.” She rubbed at her arms. “Where can I use the bathroom?”
The translator told me that she wasn’t looking for a place to bathe but rather a place to do her natural business. I led her around the corner to the separate room.
“When you’re done, we can clean up in the hot spring,” I offered. The spring evening air was cool, and a dip in the hot mineral-rich waters would be ideal.
“Hot spring?” she asked, her eyes wide.
“There is one nearby. I’ll need to fly us there.”
“Great! I’ve never been in one before.”
A few minutes later, we were ready to go. I lifted her, still naked, into my arms and leaped from the ledge, careful to control the initial drop so it wasn’t as severe. She clung to me and squeaked. The hot spring was just on the other face of the peak, and we arrived shortly. I landed and walked into the water with Clara still in my arms.
“Oooh.” The look on her face as the water, heated to just the right temperature, hit her skin was worth flying many more miles to get here. “It’s wonderful.”
I found a ledge and sat down, bringing her into my lap. The mineral-rich water was buoyant, and she floated back up to the surface with a laugh. She turned her body to face me and planted a loud kiss on my lips.
“Thanks for bringing me here. It’s wonderful. This whole mountain is full of wonders. I can’t believe I could’ve spent my entire life not experiencing it.”
I collected her floating body back into my lap and locked her in place with my arms. “Stay with me after the rut, and I will show you many more wondrous things and places.”
She looked up at me through dark lashes. “When I first decided to come here, I was sure I’d leave at the end of the rut, but now I’m not so sure.”
I recalled her talk with her brother. I hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but my hearing was good, and despite her speaking into the device for privacy, I’d heard every word. Her brother had offered her a place to stay when she returned to the colony.
“Surely what I can offer you here is much better than the colony. You do not enjoy your life there.” I failed to mention what I’d seen in her file; she had less than nothing to her name.
She blew out a breath, her face halfway under the water so that bubbles rose to the surface. “It is better here. And you’re right. I don’t like the way the colony is run.” She didn’t say any more, leaving the possibility of her leaving open-ended.
Not wanting to push her, I focused on the here and now. With her naked body so close to me, I was ready to fuck her again. Clara must have had the same idea, because her hands were all over me.
I stood from the ledge I’d been sitting on and guided her to it. “Get on your knees here.”
She did, wiggling her hips, with her hands on the green moss padding the edge of the spring. I pushed her chest down onto the soft moss, and the sight of her ass up in the air was enough for the heat to return full force.
I gripped a rounded check, giving it a squeeze. “This is mine.” I reached around her body to cup her pussy, careful to press with the pads of my fingers and not my claws. “And this is mine too. All mine.”
“Yes,” Clara hissed.
She might not want to stay with me forever now, but by the time I was done with her, she’d never want to leave.
