ZOHR

There is no pleasure like kissing one’s mate, to feel her tongue brush against my own, her lips giving as I conquer her mouth. Despite the terrible perfume that blankets us, I can smell her unique scent, faint under the other masking smells. I do not need it to know that she enjoys my kiss; her little moans tell me that she does. Her thoughts encourage me to kiss her even more.

Humans are not all bad, it seems. They gave me my Emma. And they kiss, which is a sharing of mouths unlike anything I have ever experienced. Emma boldly mounted me that first time, and I can only imagine what other pleasures humans have created with their imaginations. She will show me all of them, and we will discover their pleasures together. I like the thought of this very much.

My sweet mate, I send to her as her mouth opens under mine and her little tongue pushes into my mouth. Odd how she can be so bold in all aspects, but when it comes to mating, she grows shy, as if I would somehow refuse her kisses or caresses. Does she not realize I would refuse her nothing? I love everything about her. I want her to be as hungry for me as I am for her. So when she seeks to end the kiss, I lightly suck on the tip of her tongue, and I thoroughly enjoy her little moan of response.

This fortress of yours, I send to her with a fierce kiss. Do you wish to find it today?

“Oh.” She stares up at me, dazed and panting. Her cheeks are no longer wet with her water-making, but her eyes are still red, her lashes thick, her expression soft. She sniffs and then shakes her head. “No, it can wait a day.”

Good. Because I am going to claim you. I lean in and bury my face against her neck, breathing in her scent. I will fill you with my seed this day and mark my scent on you so that all will know you are mine.

She gasps, startled by my strong thoughts, but she holds on to me tightly. I can tell by her thoughts that she likes the idea.

“We should remake the bed, then,” she murmurs. “I’ve put away all the blankets.”

In expectation of her leaving, she has packed her bags. I can tell by the images in her mind that she prepared to leave, and it makes me growl low in my throat. I release my mate, walk away…then turn around and give her another fierce kiss of claiming. When she is breathless and staggering, I end the kiss and move to her bag, the one that she carries all her goods in. The blankets are stored in there, neatly rolled in bundles atop her back. I use my claws and slash the ties open, the blankets spilling out and unraveling. I do not stop there, though. I grab her pack and shake the contents onto the ground, then tear the fabric of the pack apart, rending it to pieces. You are staying. Your place is with me.

“Okay, okay,” she calls out, laughing. She’s both exasperated and amused at my tantrum. “I’ll have you know you just ruined a perfectly good backpack.”

I will get you more as long as you promise to never leave me.

Her expression goes soft, and she nods. “I won’t. I’m sorry, Zohr. Like I said, I’m not used to needing anyone, and I hate the thought of what it could mean for your safety if we stay together.”

I do not care, I tell her, stalking back to her side. I am far more miserable at the thought of losing you. I pick her up and carry her the few steps over to the spilled blankets scattered on the hard floor. Does this bedding please you? Or do you need more to mate upon?

She pats my shoulder, her lips twitching with amusement. “How about you let me fix the bed up, all right?”

Very well.

I set her down and she immediately goes to her knees, smoothing and straightening out blankets. I find it odd that humans are so fixated on extra skins on their bodies and blankets to sleep under, especially when it is so very hot. But then again, my Emma does not have hard scales to protect her from the equally hard flooring. It is painful under her softer body, and it reminds me that above all, my mate is vulnerable and not like a drakoni female.

I must be very careful with her, even in mating. She is strong and fierce in spirit, but in flesh she is so very fragile.

When she is finished with the bedding, she takes her shoes off and sets them neatly beside the blankets, then peels off her foot coverings. I can tell the blush has returned to her face, because her thoughts grow increasingly awkward as she undresses.

If your coverings embarrass you so much, stop wearing them, as I do.

Emma giggles and shakes her head. “That’d be a tricky one to explain to anyone we meet up with.”

Then we shall meet no one. We will avoid all others—both human and drakoni.

She raises an eyebrow at me. “Not a bad idea.”

I watch her as she makes herself comfortable, taking her time removing the layers she wears. My thoughts are hungry as she exposes her body, bit by bit, and when she slides off the thick blue skin that covers her legs and reveals the tiny tuft of dark hair between her thighs, I growl low in my throat, full of need.

Mine, I tell her.

I can feel her skittish embarrassment—and the excitement she feels, too. “Your thoughts are very…intense,” she tells me.

They are. I do not disagree. I feel very strongly for my sweet mate. It is time for me to claim her, to taste her again. Already it feels as if lifetimes have passed since my mouth was on her.

“Or yesterday,” she teases, hearing my thoughts. “Pretty sure it was just yesterday.”

Too long, I tell her. Can you blame me for being hungry for my mate? For loving her taste and the way she sighs when my mouth is on her?

She shivers and pulls the last of her layers of clothing off. “No.”

Then let me taste and enjoy you, I demand. I lower to the blankets and prowl over the short distance to her side.

She chuckles. “You know, when I decided to mind-link you, I had no idea you were going to be so very…playful.”

What did you think I was going to be? I lean in and press my face against her shoulder, to her delicious skin and breathe deep. She smells so good that it makes my cock ache.

“I don’t know. Quieter?” Emma smiles to herself, even as she reaches out to run her fingers through my hair. “I didn’t realize we’d be inside each other’s heads all day every day. I guess I didn’t think it through very well at all.”

Her words give me pause. Do you regret your choice?

“No,” she whispers. “I’m really glad. It’s like…I found my best friend.” She gazes at me with such intense emotion. “I love you, Zohr. I’m just…scared this will all backfire and we’re going to lose each other.”

I will not allow that to happen, I promise her. I will die before I let anyone take her from me. But it is clear she needs reassurance, my mate. I lean closer, my face toward hers, and give her a gentle kiss. She puts her hands on my jaw and holds me, deepening the kiss and giving me all the urgency she feels.

It is time for more than kisses, though. I pull my mouth from hers and bury my face against her neck. With one hand, I cup her breast and caress the nipple the way she likes. She whimpers and leans into my touch, her hand locking in my hair.

“Zohr,” she breathes, and it is the sweetest sound I have ever heard.

My mate, let me touch you. Let me give you pleasure. I can tell that she finds my mouth against her neck ticklish, so I lick at her soft skin even as I rub her nipple with the pad of my thumb. She pants, and then sends me a mental image of my mouth on her breasts.

I love the thought—more than that, I love that she is sending me suggestions, telling me what she wants. I move lower along her body, kissing and licking as I do, and when I reach her breast, she arches, pushing her nipple toward my mouth. I give in to her silent request and lap at the peak with my tongue, and she moans loudly and clings to me as if she will lose all control if she lets go.

I tease and tongue her nipple, toying with the stiff little bud of it, enjoying her soft cries. The noises she makes when I touch her are some of my greatest pleasures. My hand rests on her belly and she shifts her hips under me, clearly wanting more. The scent of her musk, of her arousal, roars through my senses, and I want to taste her. I dip my claws gently between the folds of her soft cunt and stroke, covering my hand with the evidence of her desire. Then I raise it to my mouth and suck her juices off of my fingers, drinking her in.

She moans again, writhing under me. My name is on her lips, panted between breaths, and I love how excited—and how chaotic—her mind is with passion. She loses control when I touch her, and her excitement matches my own. There is nothing that brings me more pleasure than touching her body and watching her responses. It makes me want to do more, to give her more touches that will make her go wild. Tell me where you want me to touch you, I demand.

Her mind immediately flashes full of visual images, of my hand between her thighs and stroking the nub she calls a clit. Of me sinking a finger inside her and caressing her from within.

I pause, because my claws will surely get in the way. I do not like the thought of hurting her, but I cannot touch her the way she wants with them. With my people, it is a sign of shame if a drakoni’s claws are removed…

But I am not in my homeland anymore. I am here, with my mate, who is human and different. She wants different things.

I remember her eagerness to touch me, to have me spill in her mouth. She did not understand why I found it shameful. Perhaps it is time I stop thinking like a drakoni and instead think like my Emma’s mate. She is my world, so why not ensure that everything I do is for her?

I raise one forefinger to my mouth and snap the tip of my claw off with my teeth. I spit it aside and examine my finger. The nail is blunted and short like hers, harmless. Weak.

“What are you doing?” she breathes, watching me with curious eyes.

I am pleasing my mate, I tell her, and lean in to kiss her. Even as I do, I slide my finger—now free of its claw—between the wet folds of her cunt and drag it against her clit.

She gasps, arching against me. I can feel the flare of intense need as it spikes through her. She likes that—and it pleases me that I can bring her such great pleasure. I want to do more.

She moans, spreading her thighs wider as I caress her clit, and I am fascinated by her movements, by how wet she gets from these small touches, how much she wriggles underneath me, as if desperate to get away but somehow wanting more. I move lower on her body so I can watch. I slide her cunt apart with my fingers, admiring how slick she is, how pink underneath the protective tuft of hair. Her scent is intoxicating, and I drag my finger lazily back and forth, circling the small bud of her clit. It makes her wild with hunger, and she pants and clutches at my shoulders, my name repeated over and over on her lips.

She quivers and trembles underneath me, and her cunt is glazed with wetness, but still she does not come. I am both fascinated and frustrated by this, because I want to watch her lose control. I want to feel her mind when she comes undone. She needs more. I stroke her cunt again, moving slowly, and then slide my declawed forefinger to the well of her core, where she is wettest and hottest.

She gives a soft cry, her hips arching. Her excitement intensifies, and mine does, as well. I use one hand to spread her cunt wide, even as I push my finger deep inside her with my other hand. She looks so juicy and tempting that I cannot resist a taste, and I swipe my tongue over her wetness even as I push my finger deep. Her cunt is tight around my finger, clasping me with her slick walls, but like this I can feel every tremble she makes. Her thoughts turn to a near starburst when my tongue flicks over her clit again, and her body jerks in response. Emma’s hands tighten in my hair, and her moaning of my name has stopped. She feels tense in my arms. Coiled. She is close, then.

I bury my mouth between her thighs, licking and sucking at the tender flesh of her clit, even as I sink my finger deep inside her again. I am using my hand as I would my cock, I realize, mimicking the thrusts of my body. This is what she needed to come, I realize, as she pants, and the urgency in her thoughts grows desperate. It pleases me.

I send her an onslaught of images as I lap at her clit and fuck her tight cunt with my finger. I let her know what she tastes like, how tight and wet she is, how much it pleases me. Over and over, I share what I am thinking and how erotic I find her as she writhes under me.

She gives a wordless little cry and her entire body quakes. Her thoughts burst and then contract, and she goes tight under me, her cunt sucking on my finger as she comes. Her core grows even wetter with her release, soaking my hand and flavoring the air with her scent.

I growl low in my throat, utterly pleased.

“Oh god,” she pants, breathless. “You’re pleased? I don’t even have words.” She is still shaking inside, her body reacting with little jolts. Aftershocks, she thinks of them. She is satisfied—and dazed—in the aftermath of her pleasuring. Good.

I give her a few moments to recover and then begin to slowly kiss my way across her soft belly and thighs. Perhaps I will tease her again like this. I like that her scent is all over my hands and my lips. I do not even miss my claw. I suspect other drakoni would nip theirs if they knew what joy it would bring their human mates.

Her hands stroke over my shoulders, her movements languid. “That was…really intense. Thank you.” She still sounds breathless.

Why do you thank me? You are my mate. It is my job to make you call out with pleasure.

Her thoughts have a tiny flare of embarrassment, but she tamps it down quickly. “It’s not your job.”

Is it not? I am your mate. Who will pleasure you if not me?

“Mmm, you’ve got a point.” She caresses my cheek, then lets her fingers glide along my jaw. “Can I…touch you for a bit? Just until I get my breath back?”

I gaze up at her, curious. Touch me? You touch me right now.

“You know what I mean. Explore you. All of you.” Her thoughts are full of her hands on my cock, learning my length, my girth. Touching me.

I cannot stop the rumble of arousal that moves through me at the realization of her thoughts. Her hands on my cock? The idea is enticing. Do you not want me to mount you now?

“Mount me?” She blinks, then shakes her head. “Plenty of time for that sort of thing later. Right now can’t we just enjoy ourselves?”

She wishes to enjoy…me. It is another way she is different than a drakoni female, but I cannot find that I dislike this idea. What would you have me do?

Emma’s lips curve in a smile. “Well, for starters, you can lie back. Unless you’d rather stand.”

I will lie down, I decide. You are small and will not be able to reach my mouth if you so wish.

Her soft laughter is appealing, as is the excitement I feel in her mind. She is looking forward to touching me. I am fascinated by this. Most drakoni females would take a mounting and expect the male to pleasure her. The female does not give to the one that defeated her. It is fascinating how different human females are from ours.

Emma gets on her hands and knees, her hair falling forward over one shoulder. She eyes me with fascination and then reaches out to slide one hand up one of my thighs.

I can feel my cock jump in response to that quick touch.

Her thoughts jump, as well, and then she chuckles. “Ticklish?”

Drakoni are no such thing, I tell her stoutly.

She giggles, pleased at my response. “Is that so?” Her fingers skate up my sides, along my abdomen, and then she flutters them against the muscle there.

I am surprised at how skittish it makes me feel—and how hard it makes my cock. I grab her hands, otherwise I will spill all over myself in a shameful manner.

She peals with laughter. “You should see the look on your face.”

I do not like tickling, I tell her, feeling strangely unsettled. It is too much.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she tells me, and her voice takes on a sweetly playful tone. “Is it okay if I put my hands on you otherwise?”

I enjoy your touch, I tell her. Do as you like.

“Except no tickling,” she teases again, and she puts one hand on each of my thighs instead, then begins to rub. Her voice is playful, but her touch is anything but. I find myself fascinated by the play of her small hands against my skin. She rubs back and forth, kneading my muscles, and I am reminded of the massage she gave my wings yesterday. It did not feel quite the same.

Now I am going to think of her like this when she touches my wings next. Of Emma straddling my thighs, her cunt wet from pleasure, her breasts pert and upthrust, her hair a tangle around her flushed face.

No drakoni warrior was ever so lucky as I am, I think.

Her attention focuses on my cock, and her hands slide higher up my thighs, until she lets her fingers play against my hips. “You have a really beautiful body,” she says softly. “Look at all this muscle. You’re all strength and no weakness.”

It is as it should be, I tell her, proud of her admiration. I must be strong and fierce to protect my mate.

“Doesn’t hurt that being strong and fierce also means you’re pleasing to look at,” she tells me, and I am surprised again. She likes to look at me? She gets pleasure from gazing upon me like I do her? It never occurred to me, but I enjoy the thought of her appreciating my appearance. Then you should be doubly glad I do not bother to cover my body with the silly coverings as you do.

She giggles again, and the sound makes my cock stiffen even more, makes my sac tighten in response to her pleasure. “Yes, well, if we’re ever around others again, you might want to rethink that.”

Do you want to be around others again? I ask her, curious.

She hesitates. “I don’t know that I do. Humans naturally cluster together for safety, you know, but I’ve always been taught that it’s smarter to be alone.” She shrugs. “Sometimes I think it might be wiser to go back to a fort and play with the devil I know. To hide amongst their numbers. But I’m not a big fan of people overall. They always disappoint you. I’ve only met a few who didn’t.” She thinks for a moment. “Jack, for example. You always knew what you got with Jack because he’d tell you to your face if you were being an idiot. And Sasha. That’s Dakh’s girlfriend. Or mate, I guess. I don’t think there’s a mean bone in her body. She’s very sweet and gentle.”

You are sweet, I tell her.

“But not gentle,” Emma admits, and grins. “All the gentle was beat out of me a long time ago.”

I prefer you as you are.

She smiles at me, and her hands play at my hips a moment longer before her gaze drops to my cock. She hesitates. “Can I…touch you?”

I groan. Please.

I can feel her moment of indecision, and then she slowly reaches forward to touch me. One hand curls around my shaft and she gives me a light squeeze.

All the breath leaves my body. I have never felt anything as good as that one small squeeze.

“Wow,” she says softly. “Doesn’t feel like I thought it would.” She licks her lips and then unwraps her fingers and lets them glide up and down my length. “It’s funny because I read a book that Sasha was gushing about, and the heroine went on and on about how the hero’s dick felt like velvet over steel. I thought that was crap, but now that I’m touching you, I kind of see what she means.” She has a fascinated look on her face as she lightly strokes me with one fingertip. “You’re really, really hot here, and very hard, but your skin feels really soft under my touch. It’s so strange.”

Do you not like touching me? My thoughts feel as strained as my cock does. Her caresses are small, teasing torments.

“No, I like touching you,” she admits. “Are you okay with it? You seem a little tense.”

It is…because…I am fighting my instincts, I manage.

“Your instincts?”

To force you down onto your belly so I can mount you and slam my cock into your cunt. To pump you full of my seed.

She gasps, her mind full of the visual of that, and I get a glimpse of what happened between us that fever-filled night. I groan aloud at her memories. I took her hard and fierce that night and she loved all of it. Unfair that I was so fevered I did not remember.

“We’ll make new memories,” she promises in a low voice, and wraps her fingers around my length again. “Starting right now, if you like.”

I like, I growl, fascinated by the sultry look on her face. I like very much.

“Good,” she whispers, and then squeezes my cock. She leans forward, her hair tumbling, and then licks the tip of my cock.

I growl. Pleasure and need flare through me, hard and fast. I have never felt anything so good as her small, soft tongue against the head of my cock.

“Oooh,” she breathes. “You taste different than I thought you would.”

How do I taste? I am finding it difficult to concentrate. Her breath plays along the head of my cock, tormenting me.

“Like cinnamon, almost. Hot,” she licks. “Sticky,” she licks again. “Definitely cinnamon.”

I groan fiercely, clenching my fists at my side. Her mouth is the most enticing torture ever. I am fascinated as she licks me again, the pink length of her tongue darting out to caress the head of my cock. Then she lowers her head even more and takes the entire head of it into her mouth. I feel hot, wet suction, feel the graze of her tongue against the underside of my cock, and I nearly come off of the bed. Emma!

She makes a little noise of pleasure in her throat, her grip holding my shaft tight. She sucks harder, then swirls her tongue over the tip, and her thoughts are filled with desire. Tell me if you want me to stop and I’ll stop.

I never want her to stop. I want her mouth to keep teasing me forever.

I will not last nearly long enough, though. Already the tease of her hair along my thigh is a reminder of what she does, and the hot suction of her mouth reminds me of the tight grip of her cunt. I can see why humans do this. I look down, and the sight of her face as she feeds my cock into her mouth is the most fascinatingly erotic thing I have ever seen. The image of it will be burned into my mind forever.

I nearly come right then and there. I can feel my body clench with the need to release, to spill my seed. But this is her mouth, not her cunt. I cannot. I want her to be on my shaft when I come. I want to be buried deep inside her. I want to fill her with my seed and give her my young. I want my scent to mingle with hers.

And that will not happen if she continues to milk me with her mouth.

So I can enjoy this pleasure, but I cannot let it overwhelm me. That is…not so easy. My sac feels tight with the need to release, and I can feel sweat breaking out on my body as I try to hold myself together. I must concentrate on enjoying this…but not too much. It is clear she is having a good time, and she likes my reactions. Let it be no more than that.

A pleasantry. I struggle to calm myself. Pleasant. Nothing more.

She sucks hard again and her fingers brush against my sac, sending a bolt of intense feeling through my body.

Pleasantry…

Her tongue drags against the head of my cock once more.

I cannot take it. Enough, I growl.

Emma immediately lifts her head, confusion on her face. “Everything okay?” Her mouth is wet and pink from her efforts, and I can feel more precum glide down the head of my cock just at the sight of her.

I need to be inside her. Now.

Everything is perfect, I tell her, and sit up. She backs off, surprised, and I get on my knees. Turn over on your stomach.

“Oh. Again?” she asks, surprised. “I thought we could…” Her mind fills with images of us, mating, our faces close together, belly to belly.

Humans do such a thing?

“All the time,” she tells me. “Do you not?”

A female is always mounted from behind.

“Oh. I just…” She shrugs. “If you want.” But she is bothered by the thought. She does not like the idea of being mounted. It feels cold to her. Uncaring.

I do not want her to think this way. We will do it as you like, I tell her. We will try it. I caress her cheek. You mounted me before and that was different. I can try different again.

She blushes, but it is clear from her thoughts that she is happy with this compromise. “I just thought it might be more intimate to try it that way. If you don’t like it we don’t have to do it again.”

I am sure I will like it, I reassure her, and I know it is true. I will like mating with her any way she likes. It is claiming my mate and filling her body with my seed, no matter how we do so.

She smiles and lies back on the blankets, then raises her arms to me. She looks lovely and soft this way, her hair spreading out around her head.

I run my claws lightly down one arm and then down her thigh, then push them apart. Are you still wet for me?

I sense her shyness at such a question, but she nods. I ease my body between her legs, getting on all fours and moving over her. She touches me as I do, her hands moving over my arms and on my chest. I take one of her thighs and run my hand along her smooth skin. She immediately hooks her foot behind my back and tugs me a bit closer, pulling me down until my cock rubs against the soft flesh of her cunt. She is as eager as I am, my Emma, and I rumble with pleasure at the realization.

My mate, I send to her, feeling a fierce, possessive pleasure at the sight of her under me. I like this, because I can see the soft expression on her face, can see her breasts rise and fall with her excitement.

I take my cock in hand to guide it into her warmth, but I cannot resist teasing her a bit more as she did to me. I drag the head through her folds, slicking it with her juices, and I love the sweet sound of her little cries. Are you ready to take my seed? I demand, the possessive feeling growing with every moment. I itch to claim her, to fill her soft cunt with my release. To let the soft clasp of her body milk me and take everything I have to give her.

“Please, Zohr,” she pants. “I need you inside me.”

The sound of my name on her lips is fascinatingly erotic. Tell me again, I order, and rub my cockhead along her folds once more, grazing it over her clit.

She squirms underneath me, crying out. “Zohr! Please!”

Do you want me to claim you?

“Yes!”

Fill you? Possess my mate?

“Take me,” she tells me eagerly. “I’m yours.”

I slick the head of my cock along her cunt again. You are my mate, I tell her fiercely, possessiveness overcoming my need to tease. No one touches this but me. No one claims this but me.

“Yours and yours alone,” Emma agrees eagerly. “You’re the only one I want to touch. Ever.”

Her thoughts tell the truth of this. She has never been enticed by another male before me. I am the only one that holds her fascination, and I growl with pleasure at the realization. I am the first to touch her, ever, and I will be the only one to claim the sweet heat of her cunt.

With that pleasing thought, I fit myself at her entrance and push deep with one fierce thrust.

She cries out as I do, pleasure bursting through her mind. She is overwhelmed at the feel of my cock, and I groan at the sensation of her thoughts, even as her cunt squeezes my length.

Did I think her mouth felt good? Nothing compares to the clasp of her body. I can feel how she trembles with the sensation of my cock inside her. The urge to spill nearly overwhelms again, but I concentrate on giving her another release instead. Once she screams her pleasure a second time, I can fill her with my seed. No sooner.

Do you feel good? I ask her, even as I pump slowly into her body again. The slick feel of her as I sink in is the most satisfying of sensations. She moans in response and raises her other leg to lock around my hips, and when I sink deep, I push even farther in than before. This time, my groan matches hers.

“Feels like so much,” she breathes, her lips parted in ecstasy. “Oh, Zohr. You feel so damn good.”

I growl, because her words fill me with enjoyment. I like that I can please her with my body, that she gets joy from touching me as I do from touching her. I thrust again, and her breasts bounce enticingly with the movement. Fascinated, I reach for one even as I begin a rhythm, teasing the nipple.

She arches and cries out, her body tensing under mine, and I can tell it makes her pleasure amplify. I snarl my own need and rock into her, over and over. The tension in my own body builds, but my concentration is solely on her. Only when she comes can I take my own pleasure.

Her cunt tightens around my cock, rippling, and she gasps as I continue to flick and tease her nipples. Her mouth opens and her eyes close, and she is enticingly close. I send her visual images of her breasts under my hands, the repeated, steady pump of my cock into her warm body, the slap of our thighs when they meet—

She comes with a cry, pleasure rippling and cascading through her. Her body bows and locks tight around me, and her cunt grips me more tightly than ever. The breath hisses from my throat, and I continue working into her, pushing over and over, determined to make her pleasure last for as long as I can. It ripples through her mind into mine, wave after wave of enticing physical pleasure as I thrust into her.

My sac tightens once again, and I give in to my release, pumping my mate full of my seed and letting the joy of claiming her wash over me. I shudder and then fall forward over her, our sticky skin pressed together as we both pant.

Her thoughts are as dazed as my own. Slowly, she eventually moves one hand and strokes my arm. “Was that okay for you? Doing it that way?”

I ease my weight off of her, not wanting to crush her smaller body. We will do that often, I declare to her. I enjoyed watching your face as you came.

She sighs happily, and when I lie down next to her, she leans in and puts her arms around my neck, burrowing close. I feel a surge of possessive pleasure and inhale deeply of her scent. I push my hand between her thighs and feel how wet and sticky she is with my seed, and push it back inside her, where it belongs.

Mine.

* * *

Sometime later, we wash with a bit of water and then laze about in the blankets, drowsing and talking. My Emma is sleepy, her head resting on my thigh as she sucks on one of her candy canes and makes plans. She scribbles her human words on a pad of paper with a small stick. “Definitely need bottles,” she says around the candy cane. “And a book on homemade weaponry. Oh, and I’m making a list of all the places we need to hit up to set up our fortress. Army Navy store, a hunting supply store, a grocery store, camping.” She thinks for a moment and then writes again. “We might be able to find another big box store around here, but I’m not sure we want to go out that far.” She pauses and then scribbles it out. “Safety’s best. We should travel by night. Oooh, and oil. We can use a lot of oil provided we can find a way to heat it.”

Oil? I ask.

“Yup. I read in a book that medieval castles would raise the portcullis long enough to trap the enemies at the gate and then pour boiling oil on them. If it’s good enough for knights, it’s good enough for us. Plus it’s very low tech.” She twists her candy cane in her mouth, then thinks. “Maybe I don’t need a book on prepping as much as I need one on how to get medieval on their asses. Hmm.”

You wish to do this? I ask, curious. I stroke her hair away from her face, unable to resist touching her. Her mind is abuzz with thoughts, all of them enticingly vicious. The things you speak of are slow, torturous methods of harming your enemy. Are you sure you are comfortable doing such a thing?

She turns and looks over at me. Her mouth is a bright pink from the candy and her breath smells sweet. Her eyes glitter with enthusiasm. “Are you kidding me? Azar’s men think to come after us? I’m not gonna simper and wait for them to take us over. I’m gonna burn those motherfuckers to the ground.”

Ah, my sweet, bloodthirsty mate. I am pleased.