I make a whimpery noise despite myself.

“Aspeth?” Lark has her weapons out, and she steps toward me. The others are behind her, ready to confront Hawk to save me from him.

I shake my head, clinging to him even as he sucks on my nipple, hard, under the cloak. “You…you all should go. Lock us in. Bar the door. Leave food. Come back…when the Conquest Moon is gone.” It’s hard to speak with his mouth being so distracting, and his fingers are driving between my legs, rubbing me through my pants.

“Are you sure?” Lark hesitates, about to reenter the crypt.

Hawk lifts his head from my breast and growls, low and menacing. I push his head down, back to my breast, and meet Lark’s gaze. I nod at her and mouth, “Go.” I’ve heard stories of the brutal rampages that Taurians in rut will go into, and it makes the ratlings seem tame.

I promised Hawk I’d be with him, and I mean it.

“Aspeth—”

“Get out of here,” I yell, even as his fingers tear a hole in my pants. “Lock us in!”

Gwenna surges back into the room, and for a moment I think she’s going to try to stop me. Instead, she tosses down her bag of supplies and then grabs the doors, shutting them behind her. I hear scraping and a bit of discussion on the other side as they try to figure out the best way to seal the doors, and—

—and then Hawk is pushing a finger into my channel and I suck in a breath, because I’m dry and his finger feels huge and invasive.

“Wait,” I tell him, squirming against his hand. “Wait.”

He growls, this time directed at me.

“Hawk,” I say, keeping my voice even. I have to stay focused, and hope that my calm bleeds over into him. I grab one of his horns and angle his head back, forcing him to look me in the eye. He thrusts his finger into me again, his features full of mindless hunger as his red gaze meets my determined one. “I’m here.”

“Mine,” he growls.

“Yours,” I agree. I squirm atop the finger that pushes deep inside me. “I’m here with you. I’m going to be with you every moment of the Conquest Moon’s passing. But I need to be prepared so it doesn’t hurt, understand?”

“Aspeth,” he rasps. “Mine.”

This isn’t going as I’d like. Time for bigger moves, then. I grab him by the face and kiss his nose. It’s broad and dry, and when he huffs like a charging bull, he huffs right in my face. If he can’t be in his own head enough to prepare my body, I need to take control. Maybe I can make him come at least once just to get the edge off. If nothing else, if I can get his cock wet with his dripping seed, maybe that will ease the way enough. “Hawk.” I make my tone as sultry and seductive as I can. “I want to put your cock in my mouth.”

“Aspeth.”

I can’t tell if he’s hearing what I’m saying or if he’s completely lost. “Aspeth’s mouth,” I say in a flirty voice, and lick his nose. “Your cock. My tongue.”

He groans, dropping me to the floor.

I’ll take that as a good sign. I slither out of his clinging grasp—not as easy as it sounds—and clamp my thighs together. He’s cored a hole right between the thighs of my pants and ripped my skirt. The buttons on my shirt have popped off. I need to get rid of the rest of my clothing before he leaves me nothing to wear at all.

So I make a tease out of it. I undo my cloak, twirling away when Hawk reaches for me again. He snarls angrily, lunging for me, his red eyes wild. I’m baiting him, but I can’t help it. I need a breath or two to strip down. “I’m yours,” I remind him. “You want me naked, don’t you?”

“Naked,” he replies thickly, and strokes his hand over his cock.

“Naked,” I agree. I shimmy as I kick my boots off and slither out of my pants, hoping they survive the next few days. Once my socks are gone, I give my arse a little wiggle and he reaches for me again. He grabs me, pulling me close, and buries his face against my neck even as he reaches for my pussy.

“You want my mouth on your cock, don’t you?” I ask, even as I hastily pull the remnants of my blouse and corset off. There’s not much left to salvage, and my thin chemise is in tatters. The sight of my clothing seems to frustrate him, and before he can destroy more, I hide it behind me. If he keeps this up, I’ll be left without a top, but then his mouth is on my breasts again and I forget everything else.

He’s ravenous with need.

Hawk’s mouth roams over my skin, and then he focuses on my nipple, sucking on it as if his life depends on it. His other hand strays between my thighs again, and I wait for him to tease my clit, to prep my body. He doesn’t, though—just goes straight for thrusting again—and I work my way free from his grasp again. “No,” I tell him when he tries to drag me back.

“MINE—”

“Yours,” I agree. “But you don’t want to hurt me, right? I need to get used to this. All of this.” And I cup his cock boldly.

It’s a mistake. He immediately hisses as if in pain, recoiling.

Oh. His knot.

I feel it, like a swollen ring radiating heat around his groin.

I’ve been thinking so hard about myself that I’ve forgotten that this isn’t fun for him. My poor, honorable Hawk. I run a hand down his chest and pet him, trying to soothe. “New tactic,” I whisper. “Wanna watch me get myself off?”

He groans, his gaze locked on me, and I’m going to take that as an affirmative.

All right, I’ve never performed this for another, but now seems like a great time to start. The last time I touched Hawk’s cock, it didn’t feel as…swollen is it did just now, so I can only assume that his knot is adding all kinds of terrible pressure and me mouthing things wouldn’t help. I need to prepare myself for this or it’s going to be a very long Conquest Moon.

I spread a discarded cloak on the floor of the crypt like a blanket and then sit down upon it. Every moment feels like a moment in which I’m waiting for Hawk to pounce on me, but as long as he’s still got his pants on, I can take things a little slower. I suspect that when the pants come off, so will the last of his control, and it’s probably a good idea that I’m not pleasuring him with my mouth.

I…I don’t know what I’d do if he pushed his knot into my mouth. Choke to death on his cock, I suppose. I bite back a hysterical giggle at the visual image and spread my thighs apart.

“Mine,” Hawk rumbles, reaching for me as he kneels on the floor to watch.

“Not yet.” I bat his hand away, living dangerously, and ignore his angry snarl. “I’m preparing myself.”

He reaches for me again, and then pauses when I brush over my clit. His wild red eyes focus there, and he watches as I strum my fingers over my body, trying to entice it into arousal. I’m nervous, not only at Hawk’s aggressiveness, but at the fact that this is the first time I’ve done something like this at all.

He tried to prepare me, though. If I hadn’t run off last night, determined to get the other half of the ring, we’d have had sex this morning. We’d probably still be in bed, and none of this would have happened. It’s too late to fret about such things now, and it’s certainly not going to help me come. So I lie back and try to picture things that I find arousing. Things like…Hawk’s broad shoulders. The way he rubs his muzzle over my neck, as if he can’t get enough of my scent.

When he rubs his muzzle over the curve of my hip, I moan.

“Aspeth,” he groans, and then he pushes my thighs apart with big, strong hands. “Mine.”

“Yours,” I breathe, even as I trace circles around my clit. I watch as he dips his head between my legs, his thick tongue snaking out and licking my entire cleft all at once. My toes curl and he clamps his hands around my thighs, holding them open as he pushes his tongue inside me. It feels enormous, but wet and hot and so strangely good. I whimper again, and touch myself faster, determined to climax at least once before we get down to business.

He works his tongue furiously in and out of me, thrusting with it in an imitation of mating, and it teases my very insides. I’ve never felt anything like it before, and combined with my frantic rubbing of my clit, I can feel the orgasm building inside me. “Please,” I whisper, arching my hips. “Oh, please.”