Chapter Thirty-Four
Mary woke to the sound of female voices out in the hall, voices she didn’t recognize.
She crept to the door, careful to stay behind the curtain and listened.
“Are you certain he has not mated with her?”
There was a pause and then, “Of course, I am certain. Rykaur would not mate with a human. Especially not one as homely at her.”
Mary self-consciously touched her hair. She’d been the brunt of carrot top jokes her entire life.
“Come now, Kaura. If you are wrong, you will end up making a fool of yourself.”
Kaura, Mary thought with a surge of jealousy. The female that broke Rykaur’s heart.
He’d loved the Bracadyte female. He’d not only admitted it, but Mary had sensed it in his memories.
Did he still care for Kaura? Mary couldn’t be sure. She was new to the whole Bracadyte way of communication and wasn’t sure how to access his deep-rooted memories.
“I do not believe I am wrong,” Kaura shot back. “There has been no mention of a mating from anyone in Aukrabah, so if he has bonded with her, he is too ashamed to announce it.”
Mary’s heart lodged in her throat. If what Kaura said was true, Rykaur very well could be embarrassed of her. And who could blame him? He was tall and beautiful while she had red hair and a few extra pounds.
Mary had never been insecure about her body until that very moment. Next to Kaura’s tall, muscular frame, Mary felt she paled in comparison.
Kaura had long, silky black locks, emerald-green eyes, and legs that went on for days.
“But you are mated yourself, Kaura,” the other female pointed out.
A loud sigh ricocheted throughout the hall. “I am not blood bonded. Our union was formed out of convenience. We decided not to bond since we shared no love for each other.”
Nausea rolled through Mary at Kaura’s words. She wasn’t mated, which meant that she was free to mate Rykaur.
“What troubles you, my love?” Rykaur’s voice inside her head nearly doubled her over in relief.
Clearing her mind of the bitch in the hall, Mary answered him back. “Just feeling a little blue. When are you coming back?”
“I am on my way now. I will be there in another minute or two.”
Mary didn’t want him to see her in such a state, her hair a mess and sleep still in her eyes. She sure as hell didn’t want him to run into Miss Needs a Mate out in the hall, probably looking like Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love.
“I can feel your pain from here,” Rykaur persisted. “Tell me, what has you vexed?”
Rushing to the bathroom, Mary splashed some cool water on her face and snatched up her brush. “I’m fine. Just missing you is all. Will you do me a favor and check in on the children?”
“Of course,” came his hesitant reply. “If you are sure you are all right.”
“I’m fine. I promise.
Pinching some color into her cheeks, Mary hurried back to the kitchen only to find the two Bracadyte females gone.
How was she supposed to live in Aukrabah with Kaura walking the halls? Not only would Mary have to see her from time to time, but Rykaur would as well.
Dropping heavily into a chair at the kitchen table, Mary propped her chin in her hand. If she was going to compete with someone as beautiful as Kaura, she would need to make some changes.
Rykaur suddenly jerked the curtain back and stepped into the room. Worry reflected in his emerald-green eyes along with no small amount of pain. “You compare yourself to Kaura?”
“I’m not so sure if I like you being inside my head all the time, Rykaur. People need a certain amount of privacy.”
He waved off her words, stumbled forward, and knelt at her feet.
Taking her hands in his, he brought them to his lips. “It hurts me that you do not trust me where Kaura is concerned, but not nearly as much as the insecurity you feel about yourself.”
He stood, lifted her from the chair, took a seat, and pulled her onto his lap. “Mary? You are the most beautiful female I have ever encountered. More beautiful than all the females in Aukrabah combined.”
Turning her to face him, Mary had no choice but to straddle his lap. He took hold of her hands and brought them to his face. “Look through my eyes, Mary. And see what I see.”
Mary cupped Rykaur’s face with trembling fingers, afraid to know how he saw her, yet more afraid not to.
The moment her palms touched his cheeks, his hands came up to cover hers. “Relax your thoughts and feel me. I will guide you.”
Her eyes slid shut, and colors exploded behind her closed lids. Rykaur as a child, laughing and running through the halls of Aukrabah. Kaura, sitting across from him at a long table, staring at him in adoration.
More jealousy gripped Mary’s insides.
“Keep going,” Rykaur whispered, prompting her to dig deeper.
And then she saw herself standing at the corner of a blue house. Rykaur’s curiosity, his need to know the color of her eyes.
The scene changed several times, each memory filled with a different emotion. And then his fear slammed into her, his desperation as he ran in search of her.
The uncontrollable grief when he’d found Jefferies on top of her.
A bed flashed before her eyes. She saw herself lying naked on Rykaur’s bed, felt how beautiful she was to him.
Mary experienced his need for her, his longing, his love. It humbled her, made her feel delicate and powerful all at once.
She saw herself the way Rykaur saw her.
Her eyes flew open to find him staring back at her with raw emotion.
Rykaur lifted her, sitting her on the table before him, and pulled the giant T-shirt she still wore over her head.
He laid it behind her and gently pushed her back onto the tabletop.
Mary’s body came alive with need. She’d seen herself the way Rykaur saw her, knew how badly he wanted her.
Her hands automatically went to his hair to guide his face where she wanted it most.
He lifted her legs, rested her bare feet on his powerful shoulders, and buried his tongue in her wet opening. And she was wet. She had been since the moment he’d set her on his lap.
Mary wondered if it would always be this way with him, or if the passion would simmer as time went on.
Rykaur growled against her, telling her without words that he would never stop wanting her.
“Open for me,” he whispered through her mind.
She accepted him into her mind, even as his tongue penetrated her body.
Mary felt beautiful, desired, and on the verge of a release more powerful than the last one she’d had, if that were possible.
Rykaur licked and sucked her into a frenzy, bringing his fingers into play.
His mind connected with hers in such a way, she wasn’t sure where her thoughts ended or his began.
Mary’s release went deeper than the physical. She felt her soul shatter, only Rykaur was there, piecing it back together.
Tears slipped from her eyes, so beautiful was the experience.
Her orgasm seemed to go on forever, when suddenly Rykaur stood, jerked his shorts down his legs, and penetrated her with one deep thrust.
Mary came again.