Page 78 of Pulled By the Tail
“No! I will not hire a stranger to raise my child,” he said, genuine anger seeping into his voice.
“I mean ask for help, fuzzy britches.” She nudged his shoulder. “We’re not alone. Bright raised you. For all intents and purposes, she is your mother.”
“I suspect she will monopolize the kit.”
“And Quil will be a good uncle.”
He huffed.
“Not for discipline. Can you imagine? He’s going to teach our kid to cheat at cards and then drag them to every garden and arboretum on the planet.” She placed a hand on her stomach. “But no one is going to love this kid harder than Quil.”
“This is true and Charl is a suitable challenge for a curious kit to climb.”
She grinned, imaging Charl as a very surly, four-armed jungle gym. “We got this.”
His communicator chimed and he checked the device. “Five-minute warning. Ready to be my mate, officially?”
Yes.
Talen
Later,once he became a properly married male, he stretched out in the hotel’s bed next to his mate. The room felt stiff and formal, the bed too soft, and the blankets scratchy. It wasn’t home but as long as he heard the beating of his mate’s heart, he was home.
Georgia propped herself up on one elbow. Her hair, a delightful, bed-rumpled mess, framed her face. “Why do the Tal kiss?”
“We like it. Why do humans kiss?”
“Was that a rude question? Sorry.”
“Not rude.” Unexpected, not rude, considering he had first kissed her months ago.
“I was curious, because some cultures don’t,” she said. “So, is kissing a thing that Tal do or is it something you picked up on the street?”
Moonlight spilled through the window, casting a soft glow over half her face. He searched for some hint of amusement or an indication that she teased him.
“You’re serious,” he said.
She flopped down onto her back. “Never mind. Ignore me. I get all goofy and day-dreamy after sex. I got to stop blurting out everything that pops into my head.”
“No, I like that about you.” He pulled her to him, her back to his chest, and nuzzled her hair. The scent of sleep, sex and dreams clung to her. “It’s biology,” he said, rubbing his jaw and pheromone glands along her bare shoulders. “Your poor human nose is completely blind but mine detects pheromones. I want to mark you with my glands.”
“How delightfully savage of you,” she said and squirmed. He growled a warning for her to stay put until he was done marking her.
“Kissing is one way to mark you,” he said, placing a light kiss on her shoulder. “And it’s pleasurable.”
“I just thought the fangs might get in the way.”
His fangs… might get in the way? His mind blanked on a response. “I have not been that clumsy since I was an adolescent.” And even not then, not really. “Do humans have that problem?”
“Oh yeah.” She rolled to face him. “First kisses are notorious. No one knows what they’re doing so it’s like they’re trying to eat your face.” She snapped her blunt, harmless human teeth.
“You jest.”
“I’m not! My first kiss was terrible. Our teeth kept bashing into each other and there was way too much tongue and it was gross and slobbery.”
He hated that someone else had her first kiss and possibly shared in other first experiences with her. Such jealousy served no purpose. His mate was a grown female, beautiful, clever and desirable. The male before him had been a fool to toss her aside—and he distinctly ignored that his brother had been the male before him—so he should not feel jealousy over the opportunities the fools had squandered. He should be thankful.
All he could manage was a growl.
