“Zeezee,” she said, hitting her chest. “Buroudei.” She pointed at me. Then she pointed at the wall of the tent.
She was trying to learn more words. Pride swelled inside me. My mate certainly was intelligent. She wanted to understand this place, wanted to understand our language. Then I remembered that she already knew some words, like ablik and valok. Fierce jealousy pierced me as I thought of another Sea Sand man teaching her those things. Not for the first time, questions about who she was and where she’d come from burned inside me. But I had no way to ask.
She was still pointing at the tent, her slim finger poking at it as she watched me questioningly.
“Dakrival hide,” I said. “Tent. Tent.”
She repeated the word, scrunching up her face as she garbled the pronunciation. I could not help but smile. It was adorable. I moved forward almost without noticing, like a drizelfly drawn to flame. She was pointing at other things now, and I indulged her demanding finger. It felt good to be able to give her something, to understand what she wanted.
“Bone shelf. Shelf. Axe. Valok candle. Sand.”
She nodded, her face drawn in concentration as she took in each word, repeating it all dutifully. Then she started miming various actions. She brought her hand to her mouth as if eating.
“To eat.”
She took that in, working her mouth around the sounds.
“To eat valok,” she said, and I wanted to burst with admiration for her intelligence.
“Eat valok. You eat valok. I eat valok,” I corrected her gently. She nodded, repeating my sentences. Then she started walking back and forth, before stopping and looking at me expectantly.
“To walk. You walk. Zeezee walks.”
She nodded again, then started to run, her breasts bouncing beneath the woven peet grass tunic.
I cocked my head, as if in confusion. I knew what she wanted. But I wanted to see her body bounce more as she ran. She ran a little zigzag around the tent, and as she passed by me I caught her arm.
“To run.”
Before she could repeat after me, I brought my mouth down to hers.
This time I opened my mouth to her right away. I did not hesitate.
And neither did she.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN Cece
OK, Buroudei was definitely getting the hang of the whole kissing thing. But then again, how could he not be good at it with three tongues? The centre part of his tongue lapped against mine, the outer ones swirling against my teeth and the insides of my cheeks. When his fangs grazed the inside of my lower lip I couldn’t help but groan into his mouth, sensation rocketing down my body and between my legs. His skin was so warm under my hands. Hold on. When had my hands moved to his waist? Apparently my body was just doing whatever the hell it pleased now.
Maybe it’s not just your body that’s pleased.
My cheeks burned with the realization. There was no denying the raw, animal attraction that existed between us. And I couldn’t even pretend it was just that. Outside, when everyone had been going crazy and drawing weapons left and right, I had been worried. Really, truly worried, that he would get hurt. I was starting to care about my alien gladiator. And caring for him seemed like a very bad idea.
But then again... was it that bad? It’s not like I had a hope in hell surviving this planet without him. It made sense to try to form a connection with him. So far he’d proven himself to be protective of me and even sort of kind. So what if he was a bit scary, and apparently super horny? The wetness building between my legs told me that he wasn’t the only one.
Maybe we’re more alike than I thought.
But when he once again pulled aside his loincloth, the idea that we were alike shattered into a million tiny pieces. That was absolutely not a human cock.
For one thing, it was huge. And Buroudei’s whole body, besides his head, was hairless. The copper sheen of his skin faded into rich brown and black at his groin, the same way it did at his forehead, feet, and the tip of his tail. There didn’t seem to be any foreskin that I could see – the whole shaft and head was one smooth, dark organ. It thickened at the base, with two smaller spikes of flesh on either side, mimicking his three-part tongue. It was almost trident-like. Not going to lie, it was an extremely impressive setup. But not one that I was ready to have inside me just yet.
Um... Yet?
Buroudei was growling something against my neck, his hands squeezing my ass. The first time he’d done that, when we’d just met, it had seemed abominably rude. Now, apparently I couldn’t get enough, and my hips arched against him hungrily. Before I could talk myself out of it, I let a finger slip down his hard chest and abdomen, gently touching his tip. God, the skin there was hot. And just as hard as the rest of him.
The glimmers of his eyes were spread wide across his eyes. His nostrils flared as I stroked his tip lightly.
He was staring at me silently, totally still, his hands frozen and tight against me. The fact I had brought this monster to a total standstill with just the touch of my hand was totally insane. And totally hot. I moved my hand faster, and watched in fascination as his lip drew back from his fangs.
I moved my hand down to explore the two smaller spikes of flesh on either side of his cock. For academic purposes, of course. They stood upright, alongside his cock, but they weren’t nearly as hard. The flesh was pliable yet firm, almost like cartilage. I had both my hands down there now, each hand gently stroking and pressing on the small spikes. Buroudei groaned something unintelligible, and I watched his tip grow wet, the shaft twitching as his dark balls grew tight against his body. Well, that’s something like human men, at least.
I thought about things I had done with human men, wondering how they’d translate. I wondered if I could make him come like this, just from touching. Heat pooled between my legs, and my breath came in ragged pants as I tightened my grip on his main shaft, beginning to pump my hand.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN Buroudei
Curse me one hundred thousand times.
I did not know what I had done to deserve it, but apparently my fate was to have a sadistic mate. Zeezee did not seem to want to me mate her, and instead tortured me like this, running her small, smooth hand against my hardness. It was a beautiful sort of torture, and I’d endure it forever, but it took everything I had not to throw her to the ground and rut her right there.
But no, I would control myself. My Zeezee was breakable and soft. And I would only do what she wanted, no matter how it pained me. Though it certainly pained me now. My whole body ached to claim her, my cock pulsing with need. And still she moved her hand maddeningly slowly, down to press on the cock spears, then back to the centre of my shaft. She gripped me harder, moving faster, and I clenched my fangs together, jaw clicking.