I consider this. I do want to return to Hemalo, but the thought of talking to Claire is both soothing and fills me with excitement. I can tell her what happened and hear her opinions, and she can tell me what I have missed in the vee-lage while we were gone. And Hemalo will probably be asleep for a few hours yet… “Do you have something to eat at your howse?”

“Eggs,” she says triumphantly.

I struggle to keep the smile on my face. Well, it is the brutal season and I cannot be picky.

She erupts in laughter at my expression, then shakes her head. “I’m teasing. I have stew from last night, and I just laid out some fresh red meat I was going to smoke. Ereven and Farli are both out hunting, so it’d be just you and me.”

“Fresh meat sounds good,” I tell her, tucking the bundle under my arm. “So how did the haw-lee-deh go? Did you enjoy yourself?”

She makes a face. “Did I tell you I found out who my secret gift-giver was? It was Bek! He was trying to apologize to me. It’s sweet, but it still made me feel awkward.” She sighs. “We are working on being friends again, but I still feel like I have to give him a gift as a thank you.”

“You will think of something,” I reassure her. Claire is one of the most thoughtful people I have ever met. She will come up with the perfect present to make Bek happy. I think about my mate, sprawled in my furs, asleep. “I did not make a present for Hemalo. I wish I had something to give him.”

Claire pushes the screen away from her door and leads me into her cozy little howse. The fire is flickering in the pit, and it is warm and comfy in here. “Can you make him furs? Cook him something?”

“I am poor at both.” I sit by the fire as she heads to her counter along the stone wall and begins to chop something. “But I want to make him happy. To show him I care.”

Claire brings a small plate over to me, bits of fresh, juicy meat piled atop it. She sprinkles tea into her water pouch and then gives me a thoughtful look. “You could always blow his mind…do something surprising in the furs.”

I lean in, curious to hear what human tricks she can share. The mouth-mating is fun, and I would not mind learning more. “Like what?”

She shrugs, sitting on a stool next to me. “This is going to sound personal, but it depends on what he likes. Is he into blow jobs? I know Ereven had never heard of them when we got together, so I don’t think it’s a sa-khui thing.”

I tilt my head. “A below jab?” It sounds painful and not erotic. “Where ‘below’ would I jab him?”

“Blow job,” she corrects. She pats my knee. “Girl, let me tell you all about it, then.”

A short time later, I leave Claire’s howse with my bundle of fuel and dried meat, and my head spinning with ideas. We chatted for a while and I ate, and it was so nice to have a friend to talk to. I feel like my world is becoming slowly more complete. I have my mate, I am carrying another kit, and I have a good friend in Claire. I have a perfect little howse, and the tribe is full of kits and happy families. There is food—even if much of it is eggs—and I think of Shasak and his family and hope they are doing well in the plant-filled valley.

When I return to my howse, it is cold inside and Hemalo is on his back, snoring in the furs. I rebuild the fire and peel my leathers off, then slip back into bed with my mate. Instead of curling up against him, though, I begin to press kisses down his chest. Claire’s instructions on blow jobs are so simple, yet so foreign to me. Hemalo has put his mouth on my cunt many, many times and pleasured me, yet I have never reciprocated. It has never occurred to me that it is something that is done. Of course, now that I have been told, I cannot wait to try it.

Hemalo groans in his sleep, his hand going to my mane and stroking it as I lick at his navel. “Do you wish to mate, my Asha?” he asks sleepily.

“Soon,” I tell him, and continue to lick lower. “Right now I am giving you a present.”

“A present?” He sucks in a breath when I flick my tongue over his spur. “What is it you are doing?”

“I am going to pleasure you with my mouth,” I tell him, gripping the length of his cock in my hand and then licking the tip of it. The taste of him is salty and musky, but fascinating. Why have I not done this sooner? I watch him shudder when my tongue touches his skin, and I feel a sense of intense power and arousal at his response. “Do you want me to stop?”

“Never stop,” he murmurs. His hand tightens in my mane.

I chuckle and let my mouth explore his length, my lips tracing along the ridges of his cock, exploring his spur, and testing out what things he likes. My fingers stroke his sac as I drag my tongue along the length of him. He sucks in a ragged breath, and when I lightly suck on the tip of his cock, he jerks his hips, as if trying to mate my mouth. I am intrigued by this reaction and take him deeper into my mouth.

“Asha,” he rasps. “I might spill my seed. I am close. This is…too much.”

I lift my mouth off of him and give him a smile. “Then you spill it in my mouth and let me taste you, like you have tasted me so many times.”

His heavy groan tells me he likes that idea very much. I wrap my hand around the base of his cock again and take him in my mouth once more and begin to pump, like if my mouth was my cunt. I imagine him thrusting into me and try to mimic the action. Within moments, I feel his body shuddering, and then he hisses out my name. Hot liquid spills into my mouth, and then I am drinking him down as he comes.

When he is done, I give him a few moments to recover and drink some water to wash the taste from my mouth. It was not unpleasant, but definitely unusual. I am going to have to do that again many times in the future, just to enjoy Hemalo’s reaction. I smile to myself and crawl back into bed with him.

My mate pulls me against him, tucking my body against his. “That was…the best present I have ever been given.”

I chuckle.

“Next time, I should come in your cunt,” he tells me, stroking my cheek. “So we can help resonance along.”

“I do not think we have to worry about that any longer,” I say softly. I take his hand and put it on my chest, over my heart. “My khui is no longer singing as loud. Do you feel it?”

“I…did not realize.” There is a look of wonder on his face. “Then, we are to be parents once more?” At my nod, he pulls me close and nuzzles me. “That is the best present you could give me, my heart.”

I smile happily and realize for the first time, there is no fear in my heart about this kit. We will take whatever happens, and we will love, no matter what. If we only have a handful of days with our next kit, we will make sure they are the best, happiest days ever.

And then we will hold on to each other.

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Epilogue

ASHA

Three years later

“You lie,” Maylak says, a frown on her face as she stares at Claire. Then she looks over at me. “Asha, she lies, does she not?”

I shake my head, groaning as I squat over the birthing mats. Both the healer and my friend are here to distract me as I give birth. My long pregnancy has been a calm one, but as the birth nears, I have grown more nervous with every passing day. My kit has bounced around inside me, reminding me that it is well, but I cannot be calmed. I think of Hashala and all the things that could go wrong. Even my poor Hemalo has been beside himself with worry. Ereven has taken him hunting for the day, just to get him out of the howse so I can strain over the birthing without him hovering over me. “She does not lie,” I tell Maylak as another ripple moves through my belly, and the urge to push grows stronger.