Page 50 of Claimed By the Krijese

There has been little I fear, other than losing Sorin. Nothing could be worse than that. However, the thought of losing Iris is just as devastating. I do not know how I could go on breathing without her. My hearts would stop beating all together. Yet, I cannot deny her.

I know it is not only kits she wishes for. It is much deeper than that. It is a true mating. It is a coming together of two souls. Three hearts. It is expressing our innermost emotions. The ones we have buried because it was easier. Less painful. I want a true mating with Iris, because sheismy mate. I knew that the moment she tumbled into my arms that turn and stared up at me with fear in her eyes. With that single touch, I was changed and she had been the one to do it.

This is more than love.

“I, Kala of the Krijese, claim you, Iris of Earth, as my true mate.”

Tears fill her eyes. “I, Iris of Earth, claim you, Kala of the Krijese, as my true mate.”

“You must teach me how to pleasure you. I do not know the places to touch other than you enjoyed what I did with your chest mounds.”

Iris’s lips curl slightly and she takes my hand. “They’re called breasts.”

“Breasts.” It does not sound the same as when she says it, but I like this word. I like it better when she places my hand beneath her shirt and lays it over one of these breasts.

Despite the under covering she once again wears, the weight is perfect within my palm and the hardened tip presses sharply into its center. I gently pinch it. “Does this have a different name or is it also called a breast?”

Iris draws in a breath and shudders. “That’s a nipple.”

Nipple. “Does it serve any other purpose besides pleasure?”

“When a human female is pregnant, our breasts fill with milk that provides nourishment to our babies. They suckle from us by latching onto the nipple.”

I do not wish to recall the bad turns when the stolen females withered and died, but I do not have any memories of them providing this nourishment to their kits. In fact, once they gave birth, King Armik separated the momos from their kits. Could that be why they were small and weak and did not survive? It is because they were not eating properly?

Their deaths could have been prevented.

A soft hand strokes my chest and I focus back on Iris.

“Are you all right?” she asks.

“We did not know chest mounds—breasts—provided nourishment for kits.”

She moves her hand and brushes a stray flok off my brow. “How could you? Don’t blame yourself for what happened in the past. It’s not your fault.”

“What if you are unable to provide this…milk for our kit because it is too much Krijese?” Will it too suffer?

“That’s not going to happen.”

I remove my hand from beneath her covering. “We—I—cannot go into this blindly or not fully accepting the possibility that itcouldhappen. There are no guarantees, Iris, and you cannot just make a decree and it will come true.”

She sighs. “You’re right.Iffor some reason, I can’t produce milk, or if our baby can’t drink it, then we’ll figure out another solution. The Tavikhi-human hybrids are perfectly capable of accepting milk from their mothers. If we need to figure out an alternative, we will. Together.”

“What if we are unable to ever have a kit?” I want her prepared for all scenarios.

Iris strokes my chest. “We still have Sorin. I’m not mating with you just so you’ll give me a child. I have one of those already. I want to make love with you because you’re my husband—my mate—and I want us to have a true mating.”

She says all these things and I also think she believes them. For now. I can only hope that if the time comes she still feels the same way.

“Hey, look at me, please.”

I shift my gaze to hers.

“I’m just as scared and worried as you, but I believe I’m on Tavikh for a reason. That I metyoufor a reason. It’s because we were meant to heal each other. To bring each other exactly what it is we need.”

That is what Sorin said he prayed for. “I believe you are my true mate. Which means I must also believe that you were not brought here only to be taken from me.”

“Exactly.”

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