GREN

Much later, when the fire dies down and most of the food has been eaten down to the bones, I hand a sleepy Aayla back to her father, Raahosh, and take my equally sleepy mate back toward our tent. We have had many offers to stay with the other “clans,” but I like Strong Arm. J’shel will be a good friend, I think, and Vaza can teach me much. My Willa enjoys the company of the human called Lauren.

And I will always remember how they welcomed me to their fire without hesitation. We will stay here, I think, unless Willa objects. I think we will be happy.

My mate yawns sleepily as we crawl into our tent. “That was a nice party,” she says, pulling her tunic off and tossing it atop a bag of supplies. “Did you enjoy yourself?”

“I…did. It is still strange to me to be welcomed.” I tug off my loincloth, relieved to get rid of it. That will be one change I do not like about living in the tents, but I will deal with it.

“I hope one day it’s not strange for you at all,” Willa murmurs, and moves to my side, taking my hands in hers. She smiles up at me and then presses a kiss to my knuckles. “Are you…tired?”

“I am weary,” I answer, not entirely sure what she is asking. “It was a long day, but a good one. We caught much meat.”

“Not exactly what I meant,” Willa says, and there’s a low, husky note in her voice. Her khui is humming low, not as ravenous as before but still noticeable, and I smell her sweetness on the air. “Because I’m thinking about how much I missed you today.”

“I missed you, as well,” I tell her, caressing her neck and leaning down to lick her delicate jaw. “You wish to mate? You are not too tired?”

“I’m tired, but not that tired,” she admits. “And it’s nice to be able to choose to touch each other instead of the cootie demanding it.” She looks up at me with a sultry smile. “We can be more…creative.”

“Creative?” I think of my Willa and all the ways we have mated—slowly, quickly, with my hands upon her teats, with my mouth on her cunt, and I cannot imagine it being better than it has. “I do not follow.”

She grins up at me and drops to her knees, putting her hands on my upper thighs and letting her breath fan over my cock. “I mean…creative. Now that it doesn’t matter where your seed goes.”

And she takes me in her hand even as she looks up at me.

I groan, amazed at my female. “Willa,” I growl. “You are going to taste me?”

“Oh yeah,” she whispers, and then gives my cock the most obscene, intensely slow lick from root to tip as she gazes up at me.

“You are incredible,” I tell her, wanting to touch her hair and face and not daring to, in case she moves away.

“I love you,” she tells me softly, even as she licks the head of my cock and laps up the wet beads of my seed there. “I love you so much that it hurts, and I want you to be happy. That’s why we’re staying here. If you’re willing to give them another chance, I am, too.” She moans and squeezes her hand at the base of my cock’s head. “How did we manage to go an entire month without doing this?”

I have no words. My mind is blank as she takes me into her mouth, feeding my length between her soft lips and sucking on me until I am shuddering. Her hands move all over my shaft, then caress my sac and I am lost in her caresses. I thrust against her hot, teasing mouth, moving my hips in small circles, trying to fuck her face as I would her cunt. I worry about hurting her, but she makes little noises of encouragement and before long, I have a hand on her head, thrusting into her tight, wet mouth as she whimpers pleasure, the scent of her sweetness perfuming the air around us.

When I come on her tongue, I think there cannot be a more perfect female that exists.

She pulls back, swallowing, and wipes at her lips as I shudder through my release. “We’re going to have to do that more often,” she tells me, panting. “I loved watching you.”

I groan, dropping to my knees and pulling her against me. She has made me weak, sucked all of my strength out with her teasing mouth. I stroke a hand over her braids. “You wish to do this?”

“Blow you? Well, yeah—”

“Live in the village,” I tell her, distracted at the thought of her on her knees in front of me over and over again. Was any male so lucky? “I will leave with you if you do not feel safe here. I want what you want.”

“I want your happiness,” she says, reaching up to cup my face in her hands. She gazes up at me, her glowing blue eyes serious. “I think I would be happy wherever we go, but I think you need these people. You need to belong. It feels good to be part of a group. And if we ever feel unsafe or unsure, or they treat you badly, we’ll leave. For now, though, I think we should stay. Make friends, learn how to survive, and be part of the group.”

It is what I want…but only if she is with me, and happy. “If you are certain…”

“I have only been more certain of one thing in my life,” she tells me, a wicked smile on her face. “That we’re going to have to do that again very, very soon.”

Now we are talking about my cock again. She wiggles against me, rubbing her teats against my chest fur, and I growl low in my throat. “I will always give my mate what she wants,” I tell her, and then slip an arm around her waist and drag her down to the furs. When she’s on her back, I slide lower and push her thighs apart. “But I must taste you first.”

“You won’t hear a peep of argument from me, sugar,” my mate tells me with a happy sigh.

And when she comes on my tongue a long, glorious time later, we fall into the furs and curl in each other’s arms, content. I put my hand on her belly, thinking of the young—the kit—that will be coming. I think of the others in the camp, and of the plans to build better dwellings, and more food. I think of learning more skills with a bow and of friends around campfires and my Willa’s eyes shining with delight as I come home to her every day.

Here, I am no longer a beast. I am just Gren, Willa’s mate.

And I am home.