Page 37 of Claimed By the Krijese

“You’re not sleeping outside.” If I wouldn’t let Sorin sit on the ground and eat a meal, I’m certainly not letting my almost mate sleep out there.

“It is best that way.”

I fist one hip. “Says who?”

“We have spoken of this and the kind of mating that is not possible between us.”

“Having sex and sleeping beside each other in the same bed are two completely different things. I’m supposed to be your mate, which means we’re supposed to share a bed. What will Sorin think if his parents sleep separately?”

Kala stalks forward until he’s in my personal space. I take a step back, but stop myself from taking another. Kala moves again until his chest presses against my breasts. Beneath my shirt my nipples harden. Damn him. I tip my head back and stare up, daring him to argue.

Against my belly a hardness grows and my knees tremble. Kala breathes in deeply and closes his eyes, blocking me from viewing the dark shadows that dance and swirl in their depths.

“How can I sleep beside you and not touch you? I have become addicted to your flavor and your scent. If I lie beside you, I know we will touch, and I will become addicted to that as well. It will be torture for me knowing it can go no further than a single instance.”

Kala’s become addicted to me? Tome?From the tightness in his face and, in fact, in his entire body, maybe it’s already torture for him. I hate that he might be hurting, but deep down, I’m also reveling in the fact that I might be able to make him lose control.

“Why does it have to be only once? I may not be experienced, but I know there are ways we can touch and bring each other pleasure that don’t include sex. At least there are for humans. Krijese can’t be much different. Why does it have to be all or nothing?” My face is so hot I’m worried I’ll burst into flames, but I feel like my questions are valid.

Kala’s eyes open, and for a second I swear there’s a small fleck of shiny silver similar to Sorin’s but then it’s gone. “You tempt me like no other female ever has.”

I circle my arms around his neck, rising on my tippy toes to reach. “That doesn’t have to be a bad thing. How about we make another deal?”

His brow bones shift. “I am listening.”

“We start slow. Kisses and some exploration. Find out what gives the other pleasure. Then we can progress to a place where we’re both comfortable. What do you think?”

“Kisses and some pleasure?”

I nod.

Kala narrows his gaze.“And that is all?”

For now. “We can reevaluate things later, how about that? Do we have a deal?”

He’s silent long enough that I think he’s going to turn me down, but finally there’s a shift to him, a kind of resignation that I know he’s going to say yes.

“Deal.”

“Excellent.”

“Should we not shake hands on this deal? That is how it is done, yes?” he asks.

“How about we seal the deal another way?” I can’t believe how bold I’m being. I’ve never been a seductress, but Kala apparently brings it out of me.

“In which way?”

I try not to grin too broadly. “I’m so glad you asked.”

Chapter 18

Kala

There is a look on Iris’s face that despite what I’ve come to expect it to mean—that she is happy—there is a devious element to it. Which makes me believe I am going to regret—in some way—whatever she has planned. She presses her lips to my mouth slit. Having learned my lesson from the last time, I do nothing but let Iris give me whatever kiss this is.

I expect her to be done after several moments, but she is not. There is caution in her touch, but she softly bites at me with her blunt human teeth. I would never have believed being bitten—even as gently as she does—would bring me to the edge of control. My cock aches with the need to bury itself between her tender thighs. This must be her plan. To tempt and tease me until I give in. I cannot.

My head says this, but my body says something different, because I carefully part my mouth slit. Just barely, but enough that it feels as though I too am participating and not just a passive recipient. It is not quite the way Iris kisses, but it is mostlikely as close as I will be able to get. It will have to be enough. I don’t dare risk hurting her again.

---