Page 11 of Taken to Nobu
“Then please, just do it. I know that’s what you brought me here for. Ithurts.” I understand her meaning, even if I do not understand her words.
I swallow, for the thought of what she has asked of me leaves me dangerously close to trembling. “Lie back.”
She does, body flopping down as if it has no elasticity. She tries to turn her face from me again, but with my finger — blunted and still covered in her juices — I tilt her face up. I lower her hips to the ice and cover her body with mine. Releasing my xora, I position it at her entrance, her wet heat scoring me like a candle pressed directly against flesh.
I cradle her face in one of my hands and hold her hand in my other. I twine our fingers. I stare deeply into her glossy, haunting eyes. And yet…I find myself unable to proceed. I do not know enough about her anatomy and Ineed to know…
“Will I tear you?”
She whimpers but does not answer me. I know she knows what I mean.
“You will answer my question.”
“Why do you care?”
Shock.What could she mean by this?I do not know. And so I harden my grip around her. “Answer me.”
She blinks quickly, breath puffing in white clouds between us. I fight the urge to taste it, to taste her mouth. The pillows she has there call to me on a primitive level, the sensation akin to the urge to rut. I do not understand it.
“No. You won’t tear me.” Her voice croaks quietly, lodged as if from disuse or extreme emotion. That is when I notice that she is not fighting. Quite the opposite. Her small, five-fingered hands are holding me back.
“Are you certain? I have read that untried females often feel pain.”
She shakes her head, and a single droplet of water escapes her gaze and winds its way over the curve of her cheek. “I am not untried.”
I do not feel disappointment, but rather, a seed of doubt. She is so strong. Worthy of an Okkari.But am I worthy of her?I have not mated before this, but I hope to honor her. I nod once, firmly and assuredly on the outside, while inside I can hope only that she is right and that she will feel pleasure from this and no pain and if there must be pain, then only for an instant.
Just before I press forward, I hold for one final moment so that I may hold it in my memories for all of time, crystalized. I wish to forget nothing. From the smell of the mud freezing in her hair to the snow crystals balancing on the tips of her curling eyelashes.
I then speak the ancient words and I do so slowly, knowing that she can understand them but that she will not understand their significance. She cannot. Not yet. “I cover your flesh with my flesh. I cover your heart with my hearts. With this union, you are claimed. To serve as Voraxia’s Va’Rakukanna. To serve as Nobu’s Xhea. To be my Xiveri mate. With this union, I am yours. To be your Okkari, to be your sword, to be the sire to our unborn kits, but to be your servant above all else.”
“Are you ready, my Xhea?”
She nods jerkily. “Yes.”
“Do not break my gaze.”
So softly I almost cannot hear her, she replies, “I won’t.”
With nothing else between us, I press my hips forward to meet hers. My xora shifts past the first of her folds, driving deeper…and deeper until I can proceed no further. Something isblockingmy forward progress and as soon as I reach it and test its elasticity, my Xhea gasps, surges back over the ice and grabs my shoulder with her free hand. Fear passes across her face and it is so violent, I feel my hackles rising, as if there is an opponent before me I could slay.
Steeling myself, I take a deep breath and press one hand to her forehead to calm her while the other continues to grip her trembling fingers.She said she was not untried. Why would she lie about this?And then I remember… “It must be the merillian. It healed you inside and out. Your barrier will have grown back, so I must break it if we are to continue. You will tell me if you wish for me to continue or stop.”
She doesn’t say anything, just watches me with an expression I cannot put name to. I feel frustrated in these humans’ lack of ridges, but there will be time for questions and understanding later. For now, I struggle to hold true to my words. I struggle not to slam into her and break her apart.
“I’m a…virgin again?” She stutters.
“Hexa, you are untried. As am I,” I tell her, though I do not know why. “This will be a first for both of us.”
Her eyes close for longer than a standard blink, and I feel something small burst in my chest at the realization that her eyelids do not close left to right, as mine do.So alien. How could I have ever wanted anything other than her?“I want you to continue,” she says in a small, pinched voice.
I exhale, relieved.Exhilarated. Frightened in my own right.“Xhivey, my Xhea. I will break it now.”
I push forward as gently as I can, but realize quickly this causes her more pain. Her eyes close but I command her to open them, and as she does, I thrust forward, impaling her cleanly. I feel the barrier break as my xora slides home and bellow out a moan. Gasping and whimpering, she grips my upper arms in her hands and I hate that I cannot feel her hands on my bare flesh.
I hold her steady as she squirms, trying to get comfortable. I press my forehead to hers and exhale heavily. “You are safe. It is over. From now, there is only pleasure.”
Her voice catches. More gloss builds in her eyes as she watches me. And as she watches me, her hands come down onto my shoulders. Her touch turns tender and with that encouragement, I feel a multitude of colors blast over my ridges. I thrust again, moving as gently as I can, even if this defies all of my instincts to mount and rut and breed so savagely.
