“I started a tea in the pouch,” he tells me as I strip off my cloak.

I beam at him as he moves the privacy screen in front of the cave entrance and pushes it into place. “That’s wonderful. I appreciate it.”

“I know. You washed your hands? I don’t want you getting sleep-leaf all over yourself.” He moves to my side and pulls one of my boots off when I raise my foot. “I plan on licking your cunt at least twice and I don’t want you falling asleep on me.”

“As if I could fall asleep when you’re doing that,” I tease, my lower belly fluttering at the thought of him going down on me. “I should probably wash up first.”

“I can wash you.” Skarr gives me a lascivious look. “It will be my pleasure.”

That makes me smile, because it’s a blatant attempt to get me naked and touched. “Will you, now.”

“I will. Am I not the most generous of mates?”

“So generous,” I murmur, lifting my other foot for him to pull the boot. He tosses it aside, and a loose dark curl falls over his forehead, making him seem boyish, and my heart melts at the sight of it. This man is mine tonight, I decide. Ours might not be a conventional romance, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s going to be ours. He’s my mate and I’m his. “Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Anything.”

“If we had a baby, would you want a boy or a girl?”

Skarr pauses, thinking. After a long moment, he states, “That is difficult to answer.”

My heart freezes in my chest. Is he having second thoughts, then? “Why?”

He considers this, expression lost in thought as he gazes at the fire. “Either could learn my fighting tricks. It would be impossible to choose…but I might like a female. I like the thought of another fierce female in our hut.”

I laugh with sheer relief. “So you still want a baby?”

His expression becomes uneasy. No, I realize. Not uneasy. Shy. It’s not something I’m used to seeing on Skarr. He picks up one of the furs and runs his fingers through it, avoiding my gaze. “I never thought I would be chosen for breeding,” he admits. “A ssethri splice is not a common splice. Audiences do not like us much. We are weaker than moden or praxiians. I know I am an excellent gladiator now but…I had to work very hard to be that much more aggressive and clever than others because I was not always successful at combat.”

My heart squeezes. No wonder he’s so fixated on being the best. He’s worried about letting me down. “Well then that settles it,” I say softly. “We’ll make a baby, and it’ll be the best baby on the beach, and everyone will wonder how we managed to make a being so damn perfect in every way.”

Skarr grabs me and hauls me against him, kissing me fiercely. I wrap my arms around his neck, returning his kiss with equal enthusiasm.

“Now?” he asks between kisses. “Here?”

“Yes. Here. Now.” I curl my fingers in his ridiculous, soft hair. “I want to be your mate. Do you still want to be mine?”

His hungry gaze roams over me. “More than anything, Vivi.” He leans in, kissing me again, but this time with more gentleness. “I can’t wait to stuff you with my cock…and then stuff you with my other cock.”

I moan, because it’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard and yet I want that, too. “I want both of your cocks inside me at the same time.”

He tears at my clothing, a ragged sound escaping him. “I want you bare. I want to suck on your teats and rub your cunt until you are dripping with arousal. I want you to come on my hand…and then I will give you my cocks.”

Dirty talk. I whimper, loving what he’s whispering to me. “I want you naked, too.”

Skarr grins at me and rubs his nose against mine, then gives me a lingering kiss. “This planet has far too much clothing,” he confesses. “I would rather it be as it is in the gladiator arena, with your form as bare as my own.”

The thought is titillating, but I rather like this planet, snow and all. I like the mountains, and I love my cozy hut, and even the cold feels invigorating. Best of all…he’s here. I put my hands to the neck of his tunic and start undoing laces. “I don’t know. I like the thought of unwrapping you each day like you’re a present.”

He grunts. “I think I like that idea.”

I smile up at him, loosening his tunic and then helping him pull it off. It does take time to undress, true, but I skim my fingers over him as I do so, teasing him with light touches until we’re both panting by the time he’s fully naked. Then it’s my turn, and he deliberately runs his hands over my breasts the moment my tunic is open, cupping them and teasing the tips as he kisses me. I love the devotion on his face, the intensity as he touches me, as if I’m the most important thing in the universe.

The khui in my chest sings wildly, as if it knows it’s finally about to get its wish. Skarr’s is singing just as loud, the small cave filled with constant thrumming.

He falls to his knees in front of me, tugging my pants down my legs, only to get stuck at my boots. I chuckle at his impatience, and we sink to the furs together, trying to extricate my lower legs. When I’m finally naked, Skarr pulls the blankets over both of us and hauls me against him, our bare bodies rubbing against one another. It feels incredible to press skin to skin, to kiss and rub up against the heat of him. He hasn’t extruded quite yet, but I feel the bulge of him protruding against his groin. Soon, he’ll be too hard to contain it all, and then he’ll extrude both cocks out and I’ll get to enjoy them.

Skarr kisses me, one arm locked around my waist, keeping me pressed against him. His hand goes to my pussy and he slides a finger through my folds, testing my wetness. He doesn’t need to worry about that—I’m soaked. I’ve been in a constant state of near arousal since we first started to touch each other. “My mate,” he whispers against my lips. “My fierce Vivi.”

He rubs a delicate circle around my clit, and I whimper with pleasure at the sensation, sliding my thigh onto his hip so I can keep my legs parted for him. Immediately, he extrudes, his cocks easing out of his body with a wet slide. Skarr’s breath hitches and then he lifts his hips, pressing them against my thighs even as he teases my clit.

“I want you inside me,” I tell him, arching my body against his fingers. “Please, Skarr. I want to come with your cock in me.”

“Bossy.” There’s a wealth of affection in his voice. He rolls us until I’m on my back, his weight pressing over me, and his fingers work my clit faster, until I’m biting my lip with my efforts not to cry out. How did he get so good at touching me so quickly?

Then, he presses his cock to the entrance of my body, and I gasp at the sensation. The thick head pushes against my skin, sending flickers of hot need all through me. I nod when he pauses, waiting for approval, and then sinks in slowly.

It’s like being completed. I dig my nails into his arms as I hold onto him, my face tight with sensation. It’s a ridiculous thing to think—that Skarr feeding his cock into my body should make me feel like that. But it’s as if a puzzle piece has suddenly been slotted into place. Everything feels right. Like this is how it’s supposed to be.

And even though I’m his fierce Vivi, I want to cry with the strange beauty of the moment.

Skarr groans, pressing his mouth to my forehead as he pushes deeper into me. He adjusts something between us, and then a heavy length presses between my labia. Oh. He’s inside me with his secondary cock, the primary’s thick heft slicking along my folds. “Kef me, you feel incredible, my warrior.”

I rock my hips in silent agreement.

He pushes his primary cock against me, dragging the length of it against my clit as he pumps inside me, and my breath hitches at how good it feels. This wasn’t how I expected him to use his cocks on me, but I love it. I love how he’s pumping into me, driving his secondary cock into my body even as the heavier, thicker one rubs through my sensitive folds and drips pre-cum all over my skin, adding to the slick wetness between us.