Page 36 of Theirs to Crave
“Perhaps,” Litha answered. “They might be connected to the storm, somehow. We might be safer waiting until it passes to try to remove them.”
“No. We do it now.” Estrayuh’s flesh was raw and bruised, and I could smell her panic. I would not stand by while my kin suffered.
My mates nodded. Wisest choice or not, our honor would stand for nothing else.
Litha traced a fine crevice with a claw tip, turning the ring gently to confirm there was a matching crack opposite the first.
Zaf tried to pry the halves apart, but the crack was too small. His claws slipped. But his healer’s hands were quick and sure, and though Estrayuh gasped, he didn’t so much as scratch her.
Still, it had been too close.
I grunted. “Zaf, hold her fur.”
He bundled the dark length in his hands, and I nodded to Litha, who moved behind Estrayuh. She braced herself and took hold of the back of the ring. I did the same in front, locking eyes with the small Hyunan woman. I could feel her pulse pounding against the backs of my fingers.
I set my feet andpulled. My muscles bunched, and I snarled. With a painful screech and a small spark, the ring tore in two. I tossed the broken half aside, catching Estrayuh as she slumped.
She let out a noise that had me fighting to keep my cock in its sheath as her warm, round body pressed against mine. I set her on her feet and backed away before I embarrassed myself.
Litha curled a hand around the other woman’s waist, cooing softly as Zaf looked over the ring of painful looking marks around her neck.
I shook my head. This tiny Hyunan had all three of us jumping to please her. If the others had the same powers, loosing them on the village would be interesting indeed.
Zaf smoothed salve onto the worst of the wounds and Estrayuh moaned again. I turned away, anger and desire warring within me. I hated that I’d allowed her pain to continue, but if she kept making those sounds...
The other strangers were all standing now, fairly buzzing with excitement. I jerked my head at them.
One by one, they came forward. Together, my mates and I removed each of the rings without incident, cleaning and soothing the wounds they left behind.
I waved away their gratitude. When they were all freed of the tools of the enemy—which Litha and Zaf gathered to bring with us to the village—I returned to the abandonedshej. The strangers’ bodies needed food to heal.
I felt Estrayuh’s eyes on me several times, but when I looked up, her gaze would dart away. By the time the savory aroma of roastingshejandlellekfilled the air, my tail lashed with agitation.
Chapter 11
Estrella
“Am I hallucinating right now?” I asked, sniffing the air as my stomach rumbled.
“If you are, I’m right there with you,” Ria said.
“Salmon,” Shane moaned, sounding almost orgasmic. “Damn, that smells good.”
The Quoosalk were focused on the cooking fire with laser precision. Therry’s black tongue flicked out as if tasting the air, and xe made a breathless sound.
Mariano—who’d never been a big fan of seafood, unlike me—was paying more attention to Therry than the delicious smells. He caught me watching him and flushed as he shifted his gaze to Svixa.
We’d spent the day learning vocabulary with the adorable child—then with Litha when she and Revik returned from gathering food.
I’d felt stupid when they came back with baskets of food. Of course, that’s what they’d been doing. It wasn’t as if they hada walk-in refrigerator stocked and waiting to feed eight extra people. Then I’d felt terrible that they’d had to go out in the storm for our sake.
But they showed no signs of resentment, so I tried to set the worry aside and just be grateful.
We’d shared a couple meals now. That first one was a blur, but everything since had been delicious. Simple dried meats, fruits, berries, and nuts. Simple, but alien.
My favorite so far was thesoru. The melon looked confusingly like a blue butternut squash, but the flesh inside was tender, juicy, and delicately sweet. I just thought it tastedgood, but Cass and Shane—our resident food snobs—agreed it had a flavor between lychee and apricot.
But judging by the smell, whatever Zafett was cooking was going to push it to second place. When Revik had pulled the first one out of his basket, I’d felt a bit faint. Some kind of monster eel, easily three feet long and wider than my hand, with jagged, deep-sea teeth, and spines. Now that they were skinned and roasting, though? My mouth watered.