Page 88 of Theirs to Crave

Zaf

Irested my head against Litha’s neck, shaking like the crest of an ikfrit as my pounding heart slowly steadied. I was limp, drained, my head fuzzy like I’d downed an overripe a’hoyv on an empty stomach. Revik’s hand cupped the back of my neck, connecting the three of us, and I worked up the energy for a weak, trembling purr.

Litha arched, stretching, and laughed at my indignant grumble. “We can’t stay here,sha’vail. Estrayuh will wake soon. Besides, I need to wash before yourahzdries in my fur.”

I slipped my hand between her thighs, playing my fingers through the wetness there, and reached farther to find the evidence of Revik’s passion dripping down her crack. My mouth watered. “I can clean you up.”

Revik chuckled, the sound almost masking Litha’s eager moan. His fingers pushed mine out of the way, and at my whine he slicked them wetly over my lower lip.

“Don’t pout. Your tongue is too skilled. If you start that, we’d never stop. Go to Estrayuh. I think she would welcome you,if you were to crawl in beside her.” He grinned over Litha’s shoulder, flicking my ear. “Cuddle and rest. We’ll clean up and begin the morning meal.”

That was too good an offer to refuse. I nipped his fingers, slid my jaw against Litha’s in a lingering caress, and we parted ways.

I walked back to the den—a shorter distance than usual, since my mates had ambushed me when I’d sought to pleasure myself—and basked in the loose, warm feeling that came from complete satisfaction. A dozy snuggle wrapped in Estrayuh’s softness sounded almost too good after the morning I’d already enjoyed.

Blood.

The purr that had started as I imagined her small fingers playing in my fur died in my chest.

I covered theerr’laytuhin two leaping strides. Had something come into the den and hurt her? With us so close? I would never forgive myself if she was badly injured. If she—

I snarled and shoved the fears aside, ripping past the door hanging. My nose finally identified the second scent I’d ignored in the rush of fear and rage, and I stumbled to a halt, stunned.

Arousal. Thick, heady, and intoxicating.

I swayed, searching the dimness of her nook beyond the screen. She wasn’t there.

“Good morning, Zafett.”

I whipped around. At the sight of Estrella, bloody and bare, her legs spread and chin lifted, my body collapsed. At the same time, it tried to leap forward, and I ended up in an ungainlysprawl at her feet, every bit of my focus locked on the glistening, swollen paradise between her blood-smeared thighs.

A low growl trembled in my throat as my claws scored furrows in the floor. My gaze flew to hers, my teeth bared in a snarl. I didn’t recognize my own voice, guttural with need.

“Tell me no,Lelesha.”

Estrayuh’s head turned slowly side to side.

I gulped, closing my eyes against the strangling urge to devour her. A rustle of movement made me open them again. Every glimpse of her tore at my control, but I couldn’t stop myself from looking. She was too beautiful.

Estrayuh spread her legs wider, arching, those glorious breasts overflowing her hands as she offered them to me. “I no say no,” she said, her half-lidded eyes dark on mine.

I didn’t remember moving, but my hands were full of her plushness with her legs draped over my arms before the words faded from the air. This close, her scent filled my head, pushing out any thoughts beside lick, taste, feel, mate. I kneaded her ass, letting her feel my claws. She clearly didn’t mind a little sharpness.

She gasped, the sound shivering into a groan as she melted in my arms.

I dragged my tongue from her knee to the crease where her thigh met her body, laving the wounds she’d made. Her blood was sweet enough I had to fight back the urge to bite, hungry for a bigger taste.

Her sex was different than I was used to, but recognizable enough. Below the small patch of fur, her outer petals were fat, plump and delicious, a perfect cushion for the rough fucking Iwas desperate to give her. The inner ones were barely ruffled and still, but the opening they protected and the wetness that glistened on them were achingly familiar.

I flattened my tongue, drawing it in one long stroke up the length of her slit.Rek, her taste! If she’d let me, I’d lick her every day.

Her petals gave beneath the press of my lapping tongue, just as decadently soft as the rest of her.

Estrayuh hummed, petting my head, but some of the urgency had left her.

Unacceptable.

If her petals weren’t her pleasure point, perhaps her channel was more sensitive. I circled the tip of my tongue around her opening and was rewarded by a small pulse and her fingers tightening in my head-fur.