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His gaze flares with interest when I touch him, and his tongue slithers out to caress my fingers.
I jerk away…but I didn’t hate that. Not even a little. And that makes me even more messed up inside. “Just…just stay away from conversations about virgins, okay? When they talk about that, they’re talking about sex virgins, not battle virgins.”
“Why would I touch an inferior female when I can touch you?”
But he can’t touch me. Or can he? Because the longer I stay around him, the more resonance pulls me toward him. “I need to go,” I blurt out. “Don’t follow me back to camp.”
“What if I walk at your side—”
“Still no!”
ChapterEleven
SKARR
This female is impossible.
I love it.
She challenges me, and there is nothing I love more than a good challenge. Of having to utilize my wits as well as my brawn in order to conquer a fierce opponent. And truly, Vivi is the fiercest of opponents. Any other female would surely be impressed by my prowess and fling herself to the ground to allow me to breed her, but not Vivi. She requires more from me. She knows she is the most worthwhile female ever, and thus I must work that much harder to win the privilege of touching her.
I smile to myself as I return to camp. Every time she tells me no, it just means I must dig deeper.
Ah, I love the hunt.
She avoids me for the rest of the day, but that is fine. I watch her furtively, noticing her movements. She ties the laces of her boots once and then wraps them around her ankle and ties them a second time. Her dominant hand is right. She sometimes squints when an object is far away. Her long mane sometimes blows free from the knot at the back of her head and bothers her, so she tucks it behind her ears.
I memorize all these details, and they all delight me.
“No breeding yet?” Valmir asks.
I shake my head. “She is still having me hunt her. It is like she knows all the things that arouse me. Truly, there is no greater female.”
“If you say so.” He seems less impressed with my mate, but he does not know her as I do, does not watch her as keenly as I do…and if he tries to watch her as keenly as I do, I shall gouge his eyes out.
Flor watches over the females closely, and I am content to stalk my female from afar. She listens intently as the female explains how to skin a kill, and watches with close attention. It is as if she wishes to learn everything about how to survive on this world, and I could not be more pleased. Vivi is smart enough to know we must have knowledge in order to thrive.
The lessons are interrupted when Kyth’s newest khui dies and a new one must be attained, this time from a larger creature. Valmir and Chalath go hunting for it, but I stay near camp, watching Vivi and enjoying the thrum in my chest that reminds me at all times that she belongs to me. My nearness bothers her, because I catch my female touching her chest and frowning, and then her gaze seeks mine.
It is hard not to smile at that, especially when she scowls in my direction. She plays a challenging game…but I like competition.
A creature called a dvisti is brought into camp and slaughtered for Kyth’s second khui of the day and the meat is butchered and roasted over the fire. Newcomers arrive—two of them—and both Flor and I’rec recognize them. One is a male that looks similar to I’rec. Like I’rec, he is strangely hairy with coloring all wrong for mesakkah. The other is another human female, this one the softest-seeming of all. I compare her to my Vivi and find her lacking. Even the clothing she wears is all wrong for stealth. Her leathers are trimmed with pink fur, as if that is a thing that occurs in nature, and she is loud and giggly. Her name is D’see or Day-see or something. I care not. What is interesting is that she is the mate of the male, O’jek, and he watches her as if he wishes to both devour her and behead anyone else that gets near her. They resonate, but their sound is subtle, like Flor and I’rec’s.
Their resonance is finished. It does not have the demanding rumble that mine does. This means O’jek knows how to lure his female into his furs with promises of pleasure. I can learn strategies from him. This is excellent.
It is decided that we will stay one more night out in the open, and then will journey back to the beach village, the Icehome, starting in the morning.
I do not care, personally, where we are—be it mountains or beach (though I have never seen a beach)—because my focus is entirely upon Vivi. Do I try to get her to challenge me this night so I can conquer her and breed her? Or do we enjoy the chasing games for a bit longer?
Choices, choices. I stroke my chin and consider.
“Are you going to stand around all day like a bump on a log, or are you actually going to help around camp?”
I turn to look at the speaker. It is Jason, the human male. He is larger than the females, but scrawny compared to my own impressive build. He is giving me a look of disgust that I will not tolerate, so I hiss at him, baring my fangs. “I am contemplating.”
His brows go up and he gives me a derisive look as he moves to stand at my side. I notice he has a satchel slung over his shoulder, and I realize he has been going around the canyon, collecting the dung cakes for fuel for the communal fire. He has not hunted like the others. I am certain he is capable in his own way, but there is no question that he cannot go toe-to-toe with myself or the other gladiators.
Again, my mind classifies him as “prize” and not “competition.” I flick a hand at him. “Go away.”
