Sarazen's Claim, Book One (21 page)

His lips twitched, ticked really, and over his chest went his big arms, muscles bulging and rippling, which was just annoying. Like he knew just how to stand and pose to garner her maximum arousal. Jerk. “There are several facts, evident by our situation, though the most important are these: Firstly, a blood transfer must be made for this miracle to occur. Secondly, now that we know this is possible, we also know it can be, will be, voluntary. Thirdly, this now nullifies your fears that you will be unable to participate in the hunt. Your beast will guide you to me with ease. I confess, I am eager to see you run among the trees of my homeland. And lastly, there is now sense to why my beast chose you. Why your kind is compatible with mine, when your species is physically inferior. We can share our beast with you, your males can mate with our females, and per the study Ga’rae has been working on, it is very likely that a mating between our two species could produce viable female offspring even stronger than generations before.”

“You give facts, but that wasn’t what I asked for.”

He paced them, went so far as to peel his shirt off and reach up to rake his hands through the stripe of his hair. Which made her wonder if all her hair was going to fall out in reaction to her mutation. Her new friend snickered in amusement inside her, and got mentally shushed. She tried not to fixate on how his body rippled and flexed, realizing rather belatedly that her vision was so sharp, she could see the individual muscle groups flex and move with him, the way his blood pulsed under his swarthy tanned skin. Her jaw ached suddenly, and she touched her mouth, tasting blood, startled to realize that she now had an upper and lower set of dainty fangs, “I tell you truthfully, Clary, I am to on edge at this moment to think beyond the fact that you are unharmed. I am aware you are angry with me, but I need to…what is wrong?” She shook her head and wiggled her finger at her mouth. “Teeth.” She said, clenching them to keep from cutting her lips or something. 

He came and sat on the edge of the bed, lifting her chin and rubbed at her mouth until she showed him her teeth. Why it made him smile faintly, she wasn’t sure. His voice dropped to an even deeper rumble, and a sharper, acrid scent wafted over her, his desire tainted by something that smelled like charcoal and fire. “When our cubs shift for the first time, they are surrounded by family and mentors, people they trust. It is a time of pride, a passage from youth into maturity, the elders in the family sit near and explain to the cub the sensations that will come, how to welcome his beast. He is not frightened, but eager to experience his change. He is not isolated, not alone, and in the first few moments when skin gives way to fur, the hands of those who love him are gentle on his coat, soothing his pain and disorientation. He is surrounded by his pack mates, supported while he takes his first run through the forest to hunt and bond with his new senses. I do not regret that you have a beast of your own, but I deeply regret how your shift occurred, I would not have wished such torment on anyone. It eats at me and has, ever since you hit the deck on four paws, that had I not the power to have forced you to listen to me, you would have continued to fight the change and perished, mere handspans away, just as quickly as you had come to me. Do your teeth still hurt?”

She ran her tongue over her teeth, and just like before, he’d used the sound of his voice to distract her and make her relax enough that the little fangs had slipped back into place. His lips kicked in a tiny smile and his thumb swept her cheek, “No. What is it you need to do?” She stiffened when he lowered his head, but he only rested his brow on hers and made no further moves to kiss her. “Just a while longer to assure myself you are well and in no further danger.” She struggled with how to respond, but could clearly hear the irritated huff of her cat, and the image of two massive cats, the slightly smaller of the two rubbing her face under the chin of her mate in order to soothe and reassure him.

She struggled for a moment, but her body was already softening to follow through with her new instincts. She scooted forward and turned her cheek so she could rub her nose up the side of his face, rolling the other way to nuzzle at his shoulder. His powerful body shuddered, his arms snaked around her and hauled her into his lap, holding tight as a sound rumbled free of his throat to vibrate down her spine. “Do I have your forgiveness for failing you, my one?” He murmured, that charcoal scent growing stronger, but she didn’t have enough experience with scent to identify it. “Failing me?” His fingers kneaded deeply into the muscles of her shoulders and back, his bare skin sliding on hers with a whole new sensation, hard steel covered with hot sued. Her fingers hungrily rubbed at his arms, testing the texture with her heightened senses. “It has not happened often in my life, but today I was helpless to act in your defense. I could do nothing but watch.”

“I believe the fact that I’m currently alive and sitting in your lap, speaks to the fact that you did more than watch. What else could you have done?”

“Been with you, the moment the change began, to soothe your fears and prepare you for what was to come. I was not, because I made assumptions that I had explained sufficiently enough for you to understand. It is no excuse, but I am a warrior, my one. It has become second nature for me to give orders without explaining the intricate details as to why I give them, and that my warriors would trust in my command to obey. I command thousands, and while I give you my vow to do better with you, I will never stop being a commander.” She sighed as the rest of her resistance drained away, because all reasons for his behavior considered, that was a plausible one. “I’m tired. Stay with me?”

“Always, my one.”

She scooted slowly off his lap and got up to untangle herself from the med lab sheet, tasting that sweet honeyed scent in her mouth again, Tarek’s lust rolling over her senses. She stood totally nude for his appraisal, and the slit pupils that stroked over her were evidence enough to match that scent. “Do I smell like candy to you?” She asked, hearing the husky purr in her own voice, taking the hands he held out to her to draw her down under the much softer sheets, “Candy?” She nodded, undulating just to better feel all his hard flesh rubbing against hers, “I can smell your desire, taste it. It’s sweet, rolling over my tongue with a flavor that reminds me of a treat made of honey.”

“Honey?” His fingers tangled in her hair, kneading at her scalp, tugging gently until she tipped her head back and met his gaze. “Mm hm. A substance made by insects on earth. They feed on the nectar of flowers, carrying it back to the hive to be turned into a sticky liquid used to feed the rest of the hive. Humans discovered its sweetness and used it as a sugar substitute, or to make alcohol, lots of stuff. Keeps forever. But point is, it tastes delicious,”

Tarek made a rumble of sound, his hand pushing down her body unerringly to curl down between her legs, her gasp making his rumbles deepen while he cupped her pussy and spread the gush of her arousal with gentle strokes. “Like this, then.” She shuddered, clenching her fists just in case she lost control of her claws and hurt him, the pleasure of his thumb rubbing gently at her clit almost more than she could bear. “Ahh, um, n-no. Sweeter,” She managed to whisper out on a sigh, “There is no sweeter taste, than that of your mate.” She made a sound of pained denial when he took his hand away, watching him lift his fingers to his mouth to lick the taste of her off his skin. “To answer you, the scent of you is intoxicating. It doesn’t just roll over my tongue, it is overwhelming, fills my senses until I reel. And your taste, mate, is addictive.”

He shared it with her on a hungry kiss, his hands finding hers to uncurl the tight fists she held, not letting go when she pulled back with a quick gasp. “My claws,” He smiled, rolling over her to tuck her beneath him, urging her to slide her arms around his shoulders, touching a sweet, soft kiss to her mouth. Licking at her lips, “Your cat knows me, unless I incite her wrath, she will not harm me.”

“They cut through metal. You’re strong, but not made of metal. You’re willing to risk it?”

“I am.”

“Tarek, I don’t know-“

“It’s alright. Just hold onto me.”

He took a few more slow, leisurely kisses, as though he was savoring the taste of her lips, the feel of her under him, and truth be told she was intensely comforted by the heavy weight of him pressing her down. “I will give the command to my warriors, to Brennaugh’s, none of them will be permitted to exchange blood with their mates unless they are mortally wounded, dying, or have given recorded testimony stating they understand what an exchange of blood with a Sarazen may cause. Tomorrow, I will accompany you to speak to your crew, they will be made aware of all knowledge that we have thus far. Will this satisfy you, my one?”

She nodded, but a different kind of dissatisfaction was building up inside her, an ache that permeated her blood and made her skin feel like it was stretched too tight over her bones. The smell of him was overwhelming, the heat of him soaking into her pores, and she wasn’t thinking about her crew right now. She was thinking of the need that never really went away when she was with him. The need that made her pussy clench around nothing, she could feel how her clit swelled and pulsed with blood, her breasts actually throbbed, making her undulate and move her body to rub herself against him in an effort to get some relief. But it only enflamed her more and made the need that much worse.

She might later be embarrassed by how she so readily spread her legs to try and get enough friction to relieve the ache. She growled at the slick surface of his leathers that didn’t give enough, a hiss of sound when she found the hard ridge of Tarek’s shaft, because that was perfect. That was what she needed. “Clary,” His voice was thick and coarse, laced with restraint, but she didn’t want that, “Please, I need,” She moaned, and even the vibration of her own voice made her skin prick and ripple with the building pressure. “I cannot, the festival-“

“I don’t give a fuck, about the festival. You keep giving me just enough to make me starving for more, leave me needing more, and you stop because of that same stupid excuse. So either you help me make this ache go away, or you get off me and let me do it myself.”

Twenty Two

He hesitated long enough to piss her off, which meant he pissed off her cat. She bucked her hips up hard, surprising him enough that he jostled, giving her enough room to get her hands under his broad chest and push, heaving him off her so she could touch herself. The cool air felt so good, her hand between her legs rolling the hard knot of her clit…it hurt because she was so aroused, snarling when Tarek tried to take her hands away, rolling to her side to keep him from trying. He snarled back and almost leapt on top of her, grabbing both her hands to jerk them above her head, flat on her belly. She thrashed, hips seeking back, the breath seizing in her lungs when he bent his head and sank his teeth into the skin at her nape. The bite didn’t hurt like it should have, and the growl that he gave vibrated down along her spine, brought the strangest sensation of relief.

Not relief from the ache, that didn’t go away, but the fury and desire to fight him blinked out. Like he’d flicked a switch, and now she lay under him, her cat giving a submissive purr. His teeth dug in tighter, a warning before he released her neck and lapped that the punctures, his own purring an even deeper rumble.  “Heat, you’re going into heat, my one. I need to contact Ga’rae.” She saw red at the very suggestion that he would leave her like this and bring another male. She made a sound she’d only ever heard on an audio file while researching cats, a slow, furious yeowl that came before she started kicking her legs and fighting Tarek’s hold on her. He bit her again, the sounds he made changed from growling to deep body rocking rumbles, and all the fury drained out of her on a confusing rush. It felt like she’d been drugged, felt like her cat gave a grudging huff and gave in without any more fight.

His teeth slowly slid out of her skin and like she was hearing him from the far end of a tube, his voice rolled over her while he shifted his weight, one hand pressing hers tighter into the bed. She shivered at the stroke of his hand down her side, at the reverence in it and how he kneaded at her flank and slipped that big paw of his under her belly. He touched kisses up her spine, rolling his face to move her hair aside so he could lick at her pounding pulse. “Alright,” He whispered in her ear, sending off another flurry of sparks down her spine, she could feel the arousal dripping from inside her, the slickness of her inner thighs, the nearly painful rasp of her nipples on the bedding.

She moaned at the barely there sweep of his fingertips over the top of her pussy, just a little bit lower and he’d be touching her where she needed it most. Surprise flickered when he didn’t seek lower, but instead pulled her hips up so that she was on her knees, ass in the air with her shoulders still pressed to the bed. The anticipation was killing her, and when she tried to wiggle her ass back to find him behind her, his palm cracked over her soft flesh with a breath stealing sting. “Behave, my one.” He growled, rubbing the burn deeper into her skin, fingertips pressing firmly, “Tarek, don’t do this if you won’t finish, please.” Her voice was hoarse with need, pleading, “Don’t do what? This?”

She keened at the firm stroke of his fingertips that cut through the embarrassingly wet lips of her sex to rub at her clit, circling it with just the right amount of pressure to make her eyes roll back. His thumb pressed inside her, there, building the need higher, his chuffing growls and the scent of his own desire and need making her crazy for more. “You want this?” He bit out, and she almost screamed, tilting her hips back higher, tugging at the hold he had on her wrists, but his grip was like a damn vice, “
Tarek
! Please,” He rubbed at her clit while working his thumb in and out of her, her body vibrating on the edge of a much needed release, and he stopped. She shrieked her denial, her fury, and he spanked her again, right on the crease of her thigh, commanding her to look up.