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A shudder ripped through her, and I tightened my hold, showing her that she was safe—for now. “Will they come back?”
“Not for a few months. Their next attack will come once they’ve added adult creatures to their legions.” Or when hunger overwhelmed them.
“I’m glad you survived.” Her words whispered across my skin; so soft, I barely heard them. Her hands spread wide on my chest. Like I’d been struck by lightning, electricity jolted through me. My pendant flared before dampening, reminding me she was my fated one.
“Thank you.”
She shot me a true smile, and it made me want to take her to my bed and curl my body around hers. Stroke her. Kiss her.
Taste her.
“Did you find something to eat?” I asked as I strode inside. Holding her with one arm, her bag hooked over the other, I barred the door and continued into my quarters. After tossing her bag onto a chair and hanging my cleaned mace on the hook mounted on the wall, I sat on the sofa and held her, savoring how well she fit in my arms.
Just as I’d grown tired of fighting dresalods, I was weary of battling with my tiny mate.
“Please know that no woman has been forced to have orclings with any of my kind,” I said.
“I believe you. I spoke in anger. I’m sorry.” She looked up at me, and she didn’t struggle to break free. What would it be like to have this female want me? Not because I’d clothe and feed her but have her wantme, Jaus, the hardened commander who sometimes wished to let down his guard and speak from his heart?
As I’d fought off one dresalod after another, killing or driving them back into the sea, I kept thinking about what might happen to Rhoslyn if I died.
I’d held myself back from others for many years, fearing if I gave myself like my mother had to my father, I could also be hurt.
With each dead dresalod, I kept thinking of this tiny female. Her beauty, her spirit, and the way she made my skin sing.
“We’re a simple people,” I said. “We only wish to live. Without young, our species will die.”
“You raise them to fight the dresalods.”
“None have matured enough yet for battle. But I imagine they’d be as eager to protect our city as their parents. We either fight or we allow the dresalods to overrun us.”
“There must be something permanent you can do.”
“We haven’t discovered it yet.”
Her face went pensive. “You chased me in the forest. Grabbed me and brought me here.”
“I didn’t come to your village to find a mate. The high prince wishes to continue his line and his father treasures his son.”
“Ah.” She looked pensive. “You were there to guard him.”
“And then I heard your voice.”
“You were overcome with lust?” She held up her hand. “No, that can’t be true. If you were, you would’ve . . .”
“Fucked you right away?”
Her snort rang out. “You’re using my words.”
“I imagine everyone in your village believes this to be true. They must see us as beasts like the shaydes.”
“We have no reason to think anything else, though no one believes you’d kill us. Why would you when you need us to produce young?” Her fingertips traced across my chest, and my heart thudded once. Twice. Then galloped.
My pendant flickered, but like me, it watched. Waited. Once I claimed her fully, it would no longer glow. Not until I handed it down to my eldest, and it lit up when they found their fated mate.
“Each female claimed in the woods is treasured,” I said. “Cherished. How can we do anything else? You’re here to give us something we ache for above all else.”
“Do my wishes play any role in this?”
