from Kaos’s relaxed form, though my ears still prick with every sound. Being so high up on the slopes helps, I realize. We don’t have to worry about crocodiles here, at least.
Our second night together. It feels like we’ve known each other forever. I can’t remember what it was like not being bonded to him, not feeling this warmth and contentment, not having his body so close to mine.
I was cold. Lonely. Wishful. Before this. I’d long since given up having a mate myself, focusing on my baby brother Leith instead, ensuring he would make a great and worthy male to another someday. Pride fills me, knowing he will be just that. And though there is still sadness lingering for Aida, having lost her hope of a mate so abruptly, I remember Kaos mentioning another dragon nearby…
Maybe Aida isn’t as lost as I thought I would be. If I know her at all, she’s already seeking a dragon of her own.
Kaos’s chest bumps my back several more times, and pushing back against him further, I relish his warmth in the coming night chill.
Then my stomach growls, and he stiffens.
Suddenly, I’m on my back and he’s above me, pinning me with his eyes.
“Hunger,” I remind him.
A low noise answers me. His teeth flash. My legs spread for him in answer. My core flutters. The pain of his initial penetration has long ago vanished, soothed by his seed.
“Or a baby dragon,” he rumbles, rising up to stare at my belly. He pushes his face right up to me.
Shivering, my hand slides over my belly. “A human,” I whisper. “We will have a human, and they do not growl in the womb as far as I know. It’s only hunger…” Though saying it makes me wistful. I want more than anything for it to be a baby, even a dragon baby, something of both of us growing in my belly, making noise. “It’s just hunger.”
Rising up on my elbows, his eyes snap back to mine. “Should I seed you again?” His voice is deep and sly.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
“Yes,” he says, his voice lower still. A rush of warmth courses through me.
My stomach growls again. My face flushes. “We should eat. I haven’t seen you eat once since…”
“Since you first saw me?”
“Y-yes.”
Kaos rises off me, pulling the sack of food toward us from where it rests at our side. He pulls out two fruits and hands one to me. Even in the waning light, I can tell they’re bruised. But food is food and should never be wasted unless rotten or diseased.
He watches as I bring the fruit to my mouth and bite in, moaning as juices sluice over my tongue. Lifting my hand to my chin, I catch a couple drops. His gaze follows it.
He groans. “I am very hungry.”
An embarrassed sound escapes me as he leans forward and licks my chin. “What are you doing!?”
“Eating.”
For the next few minutes, we share the fruit. When I bite, he bites the same fruit, his face directly before mine. It’s so intimate I don’t know what else to do but finish quickly. His tongue slides out between swallows and licks my face, cleans the juice off of me, before another bite is taken.
Never have I ever shared food like this with anyone. Nor have I seen anyone, not even the merfolk eat so closely. Sensations run through my body, and his mossy scent returns to my nostrils. Sharing food with Kaos is making me wet. When we’re done with the first, he puts the other fruit to my lips and we start anew. But this time, his hand presses against my throat, caressing it each time I swallow.
“Mine,” he rasps. “I will fill you with food as I have filled you with my seed.”
Licking my lips, all I can do is nod. After throwing aside the second fruit core, all that’s left between us is a hand’s width of space.
Is this what it’s like having a male? Is this what it’s like mating? It can’t be so. I’ve never seen the males act like Kaos does. His mouth moves closer to mine…
Please kiss me. I suck in a breath. Please.
But he stops his lips a hairsbreadth from me, his hot breaths fan my mouth. My soul is ready, my body willing, and all else fades from my mind.
He jerks back, his stare grows angry. He’s on his feet with my spear in his grip, glaring down at me with fury, as if I brought this