Page 58 of K'Vella

"How long has my perfect, wonderful, beautiful mate been carrying my babe?"

I clear my throat, my eyes avoiding his because I don't want to see a look of betrayal, if there is one. "The rutting stuck."

Holoth purrs long and hard as the words slip from my lips. He pulls my attention back to his face, where a smile is cutting through the crazed look. He places his lips against mine, soft at first until my arms start to wrap around him, and then he deepens the kiss, opening my lips with his tongue, claiming me, tasting me, devouring me.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Holoth asks, stumbling backward with me.

I follow his lead out of the bedroom door, plastered to him. I don't want to give up his touch. Not for anything.

I take a short, shallow breath as Holoth steals the air from me again, and then I push at him, getting him to give me some space so I can tell him, "I didn't want to leave you."

Holoth's smile is even wider somehow, and I can practically feel his body buzzing with the lust he needs to sate. I grab his face between my upper hands and hold him close to me.

"I was so adamant about leaving as soon as I found out I was pregnant. But then I was, and I didn't want to leave yet." I press my lips to him, letting him stumble backward until we're on his front porch. "I wanted more time with you, to get to know you, because you, Holoth, make me feel safe. You make me feel desired and accepted, and more than anything, you make me feel loved."

"I would've never made you leave," Holoth purrs.

His teeth nip at my bottom lip as he guides us slowly back through the clan. Others are out and about as well, but none of them pay us much attention. They're all focused on getting their partners somewhere soft and comfortable so they can do more with them.

"I would've made myself leave," I admit, hating how uncertain I was of this when I first found out.

Holoth's been in it from the beginning and given me no reason not to trust that he would do anything to stay with me. It's been me who's been unsure and who kept us from being with one another.

He growls his displeasure at me telling him I would've left. I stop moving but keep my hold on him firm so he focuses on me.

"Can I bite you?" I ask, the words so quiet because this is big for my people.

Holoth has marked me repeatedly all over my body, but they don't have the same meaning as a Varon biting me would. He does it because males mark females in moments of passion. I want to mark him as mine, forever, for everyone to see.

"You want to bite me, K'Vella?" Holoth asks, taking my lower lip in his mouth and tugging on it while I whimper. "You want to make sure all these females know you've claimed me?"

"Yes, please," I whine, grabbing his shoulders to pull his lips back on mine.

This time, I lead, wrapping my fingers in his braid, pulling it from its tie until his hair falls around his shoulders. He groans into my mouth as I fist his hair and pull his head to the side. This time, it's my teeth scraping along his flesh, causing bumps to spring up across his skin.

"Not here," he growls, the authority in his voice sending a shiver down my spine. "I want you to claim me like a Rytharian." He grabs my hair just as hard, pulling me off his neck and smiling down at me when my lips pull back in a snarl. "You're going to be my good little Rytharian, aren't you?"

I growl at him, my teeth gnashing close to his face at being denied what I want. My lower hands go to his pants and start working on the strings of his leathers. His eyes narrow before he tugs me along, making our way toward the great hall where the party is still happening and sounds of pleasure are filling the air.

The doors are already propped open, so Holoth doesn't need to break our embrace as we stumble inside. One of his hands is on my lower back, keeping me close. The other is in my hair, keeping my teeth from sinking into him.

Now that I've got it in my mind to mark him as I would a Varon mate, I can't stop thinking about it. My wrists tingle, and my neck tingles even more. I go to rub at the sensation, and it draws Holoth's eyes to my neck.

"You're going to sink those teeth into me soon," he murmurs, pressing his lips against mine.

He stumbles backward, and everyone else gets out of our way. It isn't until we make it to an open spot at a table with no food or drinks on it or another female that Holoth backs me up againstit and presses me against it until I'm falling on it. I tug him between my legs as I sit on the table.

"I have plans, K'Vella," Holoth growls.

He removes my hands from his neck even as I snarl up at him. He grabs the ties of my halter and pulls them both so the fur falls to my lap. I don't shy away from his gaze or the way his hands move to cup my breasts now that I'm bare for him. The part I'm not prepared for is the soft way he places a flat palm on my abdomen and the way it has his gaze softening.

"I have so many plans," he whispers before falling to his knees and wrapping my waist in his big hands. "Legs over my shoulders," he prompts, and I follow.

He places a kiss against my abdomen, and then another, and another, until there's not a spot on my pelt that his soft lips haven't marked. When he's happy with adorning my abdomen with kisses, he works his way lower, tugging at the ties of my lower garment to free the furs from their place around my waist.

"I'm going to let you bite me, sweet mate, but you have to come on my face first."

I stare down at Holoth as he pushes me back down on the table with one hand. I prop myself up on my upper arms, my lower hands moving to his head, running my fingers through his hair as he smiles up at me.