"To fulfill resonance, my pretty one," he tells me. "We will find a private cave and become mates."
Well, that was rather sudden and decisive. I like it, though. "You didn't even ask me," I point out, a little amused. "Shouldn't you have asked?"
"What is there to ask?" He looks puzzled as he carries me away. "It is resonance. Our khuis have decided we are mates. There is nothing else to be decided."
Well, he’s very confident about that. “You’re lucky you’re cute, then.”
"Cute?" He makes a face as he heads toward the fire that’s been built for us humans. He settles me onto my feet, lays out a fur for me to sit on, and then gives me the cloak off his back.
I curl up under it as others begin to trickle toward the fire, and I’m not entirely surprised when Dagesh sits next to me and pulls me against him. I want to keep touching him. I want to feel what it’s like to have sex while resonating. I want a lot of damn things, and right now, they’re all tied in to him.
“No-rah,” he breathes, his hands roaming over me. A moment later, he’s got them under my tunic and he’s pushing at my pants. Others sit down nearby, but no one’s looking over at us. It’s like they know exactly what we’re doing, and they’re giving us privacy by deliberately not looking in our direction.
Part of me wants to tell him that I want to go somewhere quiet where we can be alone, but the other part of me is far too hot and bothered to care. Under the furs, I shove my pants down to my ankles and slide to the ground. Dagesh is immediately on top of me, tugging my feet free from the too-big leggings and then spreading my legs.
A moment later, he’s inside me.
I let out a gasp of surprise, because he’s big. Not that I mind big. I like big. I was just hoping for an ounce of foreplay. It doesn’t seem to be in the cards, though, because he pumps into me twice, grunting, and then collapses.
And…okay. It’s not exactly a stellar start for my life on an ice planet.
My new mate groans, burying his face against my neck. “I am sorry. That was too quick. I…I did it all wrong.”
“It’s all right,” I murmur, glancing over at the people near the fire. I stroke his long braid, needing to touch him. Needing more than a quick pump and dump. “Maybe we…maybe we go someplace quiet and get to know each other better?”
Dagesh looks up at me and our eyes meet. I can tell he’s chagrined by how fast that was, and how it’s obvious I didn’t enjoy it like he did. He nods, then fumbles with my pants under the blankets. I help as much as I can, and when I’m dressed, Dagesh gets to his feet and adjusts his loincloth, then picks me up, blankets and all.
Without a word to the others, he turns and begins to head away from the group, heading for a distant snowy hill.
“Should we say something?” I whisper. “Tell them we’re going?”
“They know we are resonating. We will be back later. They will not wait for us.”
“Oh, okay.” I watch his face as he carries me like a bride over the threshold. He seems…a little stiff. Embarrassed. It wasn’t exactly great sex. In fact, it might hit a record for the fastest sex I’ve ever had, but I’m not upset. I don’t want him to feel ashamed. If what I’ve been told about the barbarians here is true, they don’t have many females. I’m guessing Dagesh doesn’t get a lot of chances to fool around. I reach up to skim my fingers over his big chin. He really does have great big features. I mean, he's supersized compared to humans, so they don't look strange. I just find his face…fascinating. I find all of him fascinating, really.
Resonance means having sex, Georgie explained to us. It's a mating call set up by our khuis in order to get us to fuck until we get pregnant. I should probably be mad about this, but I'm secretly thrilled. My khui has absolutely picked out the guy I would have picked for myself, and the more I gaze at that big strong chin and wide mouth, the more I want to bite all of it.
And the more I want him to bite me back.
I am absolutely horny for this big alien man and I need more touching. Lots more.
"Have you done this before?" Dagesh asks me, slightly breathless as he storms over snowy hill after snowy hill. His grip doesn't ease on me in the slightest, which means that the breathlessness he has is from my nearness, and that sends another thrill shooting through me. “Before now, I mean?”
"Resonate?"
He laughs. "Resonance is only ever between one pair. Once a khui has chosen, it has chosen its mate for life." He glances down at me briefly, and I'm entranced by those fascinating, deep eyes of his. "I meant mating."
"Oh." Is this a conversational lead-in to some slut shaming? Because I've definitely gotten around in the past. I had a few wild teenage years, much to my family's chagrin, and well…I just really like dating. And sex. I've never had a guy ask me how experienced I was. Usually when we established a safe word, it was kinda understood that I knew my way around a dick. "Is…this a trick question?"
I'm afraid to answer. Because what if I say "Yes, oh yes, I love cock!" and Dagesh hates the thought that his precious mate isn't a virgin? What if he wants his junk to be the only resident to my lady town, ever? Our resonance—heck, our happy ever after—will be over before it even began.
"There is no trick," Dagesh says easily. He continues to move over the landscape as if he knows exactly where he's headed. Which is good, because it all looks the same to me. "I merely wish to know if that is your first time as well."
"It was your first, then?" I don’t feign surprise. There’s no point. We both know that quick two-thrust interlude wasn’t how things were supposed to go.
He nods. "My tribe does not have many females. They were able to choose the pleasure-mates they liked amongst all of us, but I am not nearly as interesting as others."
"Then your ladies are blind." I put a hand on his broad chest, because goodness, they must really be picky women if he's considered “not exciting enough.” Just looking at him is making my mouth water.
"You are influenced by resonance. If we were not singing to one another, you would not notice me either." He says this in a cheerful voice, as if it's a given.
I think he's wrong. I've been eyeballing him ever since I woke up. But I also don't want to argue over something as silly as how hot someone might or might not be to alien eyes. "Their loss is my gain."
My answer seems to make him happy. Dagesh's smile broadens, and his hands squeeze me to his chest a little tighter. I drag my fingertips over his bare chest, learning the texture of his skin as he walks. "I like the way you feel," I tell him, fascinated. "Your skin is like the softest velvet here." I trace invisible lines across his skin. "But you're plated and hard here." I touch the hardened, textured spots on his skin, one right over his heart. "My skin isn't like this."
"You look soft everywhere." His words are thick, husky, and he glances down at me. There's such hunger in his eyes that it takes my breath away.
"I am." I want to squirm in his arms. Our conversation has taken on a decidedly sexual tone, and I'm absolutely into it. "Can I keep touching you? Or is this bothering you?"