Page 111 of The Hunter

As the rest of the group spread out, warily watching their surroundings, Cole hurried toward Telok. He carried his bow in hand, an arrow nocked, with Sophia beside him, her spear in hand. The human male’s rounded eyes swept over Telok, his eyebrows rising so high they risked getting lost in his hair.

“Holy shit. Uh…wow.” He shook himself, clearing his throat and lifting his gaze to Telok’s. “Are you… Are you guys okay?”

Lacey groaned, her already warm body heating further as she buried her face against Telok’s neck. “Look away!”

Cole spun around. “Sorry!”

Growling at Cole, Telok turned away from the others and strode back to where he’d left their bags. Each thump of his hearts resounded across his being, instilling him with a pervading, intensifying ache. Hints of pain buzzed over his hide as his wounds made themselves known. But none of that mattered. Not if Lacey had been harmed in the chaotic fray.

As worry clawed at his soul, his stem finally began to ease, its vibrations and the fluttering of his tendrils fading with every heartbeat.

“That wasn’t an answer,” Cole said. “You look like you’ve been dragged over a cheese grater!”

Sophia made a shushing sound and whispered, “You should probably leave him to it.”

Telok dropped the bloodied spears and hooked his hands beneath Lacey’s thighs and around her waist. She flattened her palms on his shoulders, and he lifted her.

They both drew in sharp breaths as her slit refused to relinquish his stem, tugging on his cock and creating more of that tantalizing pressure, more of that tormenting pleasure.

She curled her fingers into his hide, brow pinching. “This can’t be happening…”

Telok felt the gazes of the others upon him as clearly as he felt the delicious squeeze of her pussy. He clenched his jaw to silence a growl and pulled harder.

His stem popped free with a squelching gush of hot essence, which poured from Lacey to run down his pelvis and rain on the ground, pattering on the vegetation. It was ridiculously loud in the relative quiet.

Her skin heated impossibly more, turning a bright shade of red he’d only seen when she’d been badly sunburned.

“Put me down!” she said frantically.

He set Lacey down on her feet, positioning his body to shield her from the others’ view. She stumbled back on shaky legs, but rather than fighting for balance, she quickly covered her breasts with one arm and her pelvis with her other hand.

Telok caught his mate’s shoulders to steady her. He felt the tremors coursing through her, each one constricting his hearts.

She looked up at him, features stricken. “Tell me that seriously didn’t just happen. Please, Telok. Please tell me I’m not standing here with cum running down my legs after being stuck on your cock while you fought a pack of rabid beasts. Tell me I’m dreaming and wake me up.”

His mandibles sagged. “You ask me to lie?”

Lacey groaned, shoulders curling inward as she covered her face with a hand. “Can the ground just open up and swallow me?”

“I will not let it take you.” He swept his gaze over her, checking her for wounds from head to toe, front and back, ignoring her muttered insistence that she was fine. Her skin was spattered with blood, and though they were not the source of that blood, he found wounds aplenty. Newly forming bruises on her hips, waist, and backside, claw pricks in the same spots, and a bite on her shoulder.

All inflicted by him.

A low, unhappy buzz sounded in his chest. He never wanted to hurt Lacey, and he hated that some part of him thrilled at seeing the marks he’d left on her because they would declare to all who looked upon her that she was his. That he had conquered and claimed her.

His gaze dipped to the moisture flowing down her inner legs. Telok’s fingers itched with the urge to gather his spilling seed and press it back into her slit, letting none escape, to ensure it took root. His lower hand reached for her.

“Here, human,” said Gai’Tahk Var from behind Telok.

With a snarl, Telok spun toward the winddancer, fingers hooked to put his claws to use, but Lacey grabbed his extended wrist, halting him before he’d made even half a turn.

Var flinched back, purple eyes wide. A brown silk blanket dangled from his raised hand.

“No,” Telok growled, mandibles spreading. “She is mine.”

Heat skittered beneath his hide as he watched Var slowly lay the blanket on the ground and back away, arms pressed together in apology. Telok slid a rear leg back, snagged the blanket with its tip, and flung it at the retreating vrix.

When he faced Lacey again, she was looking at the ground, squirming uncomfortably in place as she pulled her hair forward to cover her breasts.