cry of a hunter subduing his prey, as his world narrowed to the small body rising to meet his, to his female, his mate. He heard her cry out, felt her cunt fluttering wildly around him, and thrust harder, deeper. One final stroke and his seed erupted in endless pulses, leaving him limp and drained as his ring locked them together.
He pulled her even closer and buried his face in her neck as he waited for his heartbeat to slow. His game had only proven what he had known all along—that she was the one who had captured him.
“All right. You convinced me that you’re a good hunter,” she admitted when his ring finally subsided and he reluctantly pulled out.
“I promise that I will return to you, my aria.”
“You had better,” she said fiercely and pulled his head down so that she could kiss him.
“They have been gone so long,” Izzie complained as she paced around the living space once again.
“As I told you, it is a long way down to the underground river.” Zemma rolled her eyes. “Stop worrying. And stop pacing—you’re making me dizzy.”
“I can’t stop worrying. Baralt went off to fight some type of prehistoric fanged fish in the dark. It’s completely insane.”
Zemma shrugged. “It’s a male thing. You have to let them have their games.”
“It’s not a game!” she yelled. “What if he gets hurt? Or…killed.” The last word emerged in a horrified whisper.
“You do care for him, don’t you?”
“Of course I do. Why would you think otherwise?”
“I saw your face when he called you his mate. You didn’t look happy.”
“I wasn’t sure what it meant,” she said truthfully but evasively. Baralt’s declaration had thrown her off-balance. She did care for the big warrior, and the thought of being separated from him made her heart ache. But married—mated? They hadn’t known each other very long, and she was still technically a slave. Was this just another form of ownership? Even on Earth, she had avoided any serious relationships, unwilling to give up her hard-earned freedom. And yet she had never felt the way she felt about Baralt.
“Do you want to go for a walk?” Zemma asked. “It might be more productive than trying to wear a hole in the floor.”
“I don’t want to leave. I want to be here when he returns.”
“You do have it bad.”
“What about you? Do you worry about that other male you told me about?”
“He’s a warrior,” Zemma said firmly. “He can take care of himself.”
“You really don’t worry about him?”
Zemma started to nod, then her face crumpled. “Of course I worry. I worry that he will be hurt. I worry that he will get tired of waiting for me. I worry that he will find someone else.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. The last time I tried to leave the tribe, it didn’t work out very well. I think this time is different, but what if I’m wrong?”
“I guess it comes back to how much you care for him—and how much you’re willing to risk.”
“It’s not just that. With Chotgor, I never expected it to last. I knew that I would be returning here—or at least I did until I realized what type of male he truly was and that I was under his control.” The familiar shadow crossed Zemma’s face, and Izzie squeezed her hand. Zemma forced a smile and returned to the original topic. “But if Strax and I are mated, I’m not sure that I will ever be allowed to return.”
“They allowed me to stay,” she pointed out.
“Temporarily,” Zemma reminded her. “I’m not even sure that I would want to live here, but I don’t want to feel as if I’ve left my tribe behind.”
“Are you still close to your mother’s family? What do they think?”
“They pretty much washed their fur of me when I went to live with Chotgor.” Zemma shrugged, but Izzie saw the pain in her eyes. “Everyone was so happy to see me when I returned—everyone except them. They told me that I had damaged the family name by going to live with an offworlder.”
“Did they know what happened to you?”
“No, thank the gods. That would have made it even worse in their eyes.”
“Why? It wasn’t your fault.”
“A true Hothian would have fought him off,” the girl said bitterly. “They would have expected me to defeat him.”
“That’s ridiculous. I know that you would have done everything you could. It’s not your fault.”
As she said the words to Zemma, she felt them echo