Page 39 of 20% Stud 80% Muffin
The sudden temperature drop improved my senses, but I missed his warm solidness. Although my heat wasn’t complete, the inferno and tunnel vision had abated for the moment.
How could I do this to myself again? I knew the strengthened bond after a mating frenzy didn’t equal love.
Geo filled the void of caring protector so well that I almost forgot that alphas could turn from loving to terrifying in the span of a breath. I shook the water from my fur, along with my dream of a soul-linked mate. That path only ended in pain. Determined to minimize the effects of our bond, I stood tall. “I’m fine, Archbuilder. Thank you for ensuring my safety.”
Geo’s forehead furrowed. “Back to Archbuilder, huh?”
I grabbed the sack of supplies and headed back up the tunnel toward the cave’s main entrance. “Yes. Thank you for servicing me, but we can keep it professional in between.” From now on, I would just use Geo as an outlet to satiate the needs of my heat and nothing else. We would not complete the bond—if that was even possible. The full moon would be over tonight, then we’d return to town, and with my hovery complete, Geo would be out of my life. A few more days and this would be over.
He walked beside me, scrubbing his beard before kneading his temples. The softness in his eyes was replaced by a cool blankness. “Whatever you need, Makir.
“Ow! Stupid-ass cave.” Geo staggered behind me.
“What are you doing back there? Hurry up so I can put together a meal for us.”
The more sex we had, the more the tether thickened and solidified our connection. It vibrated with its own life force. I didn’t need Bonic to tell me that humans and Lornians were compatible when my heart pulsed with the truth. But only the grand omega could confirm whether an omega and alpha wentbeyond compatible. If she blessed a couple as soul-linked mates then the full bond ceremony could happen.
“Oh, you know, just going for a jog with my eyes closed. What the hell do you think I’m doing?”
His night vision was terrible, and I’d forgotten entirely. I backtracked through the dim light. A check of my wristport confirmed dusk neared. My stomach growled. Usually, there was a fully equipped room prepared for my heat, complete with lots of water and high-protein food. I sucked on my lip, envisioning the luxurious swaths of fabric past alphas had provided—they made the loveliest nests.
“Here, take my tail.”
Geo jumped, one foot cradled in his hand. “Jesus Christ, you are part cat.” He yelped as he staggered back and bumped the wall again. “Make a sound, would ya? Let a guy know when you’re in the vicinity.” He groaned as he cradled his stubbed toe.
“Quit acting like a youngling.” I wrapped my tail around his wrist. “Come on, you big blind Earthling.”
Geo huffed but allowed me to tug him along. “Do you think JayJay left us anything good to eat?” He moistened his lips with his tongue and ducked his head as if hiding from his comment.
I’d seen annoyed Geo. Angry, passionate and workaholic versions of Geo had also shown their faces. But shy Geo was new and cute, and it poked at the edges of my resolve to keep our relationship at the acquaintance level.
His eyes flicked to mine, tracing my face and following the trails of water running down my chest and stomach.
“Quit looking at me like that,” I groaned as my cock lengthened in its pocket.
Geo’s thumb brushed over my tail where it wrapped his wrist.
I snatched it away.
“Fine, little lion, I won’t touch your fluffy tail like that. Give it back to me, and I promise to be good.” His deep voice sparked a cascade of shivers along my tail that pooled at its base like hot lava.
“Behave,” I snapped at him, wrapping my tail around his wrist again. I was soaked, starved and horny. We could not go at it again until I had something other than Geo in my mouth. Plus, I didn’t want him to walk into any more walls.
Next morning’s light filtered through the pinprick holes in the cave’s domed ceiling. The moon had set, and the mating frenzy had come to an end. My eyes traveled over Geo’s thick body, peppered with bruises and scratches, up to his face where dark shadows lingered below his eyes. I swallowed hard as I took him in, splayed like an offering, unabashedly naked. Even in my pathetic excuse for a nest he looked magnificent when relaxed, so tired he didn’t bother with his belly sucking as he drifted in and out of sleep.
Mayor Yurst had mentioned the full moon lasted two nights on Tern when Bonic had questioned him during my orientation. With no Lornians on Tern, I shouldn’t have gone into heat, but my tether with Geo had been enough to trigger it. It would be hard to distance myself from Geo until my next heat. My womb already ached with emptiness.
I felt done in. Wrung dry. Lethargy and depression weighed heavy on my shoulders. Geo would know nothing about omega aftercare, and I wouldn’t be the one to explain it. My broken state hit me like a plasma hammer and I dropped to my haunches, burying my face in my hands.
The last alpha I’d mated with had ruined me. In Lorne, unable to bear children, I’d been left an omega with no purpose. Every omega’s instincts drove them to nurture a family, and mine would remain forever unfilled. I’d vowed to reinvent myself on Tern, but the burden of my lost purpose overcame me every full moon.
I shook Geo awake, longing for my luxurious Lornian nest. The desire to hide from the world while being pampered by a devoted alpha stirred beneath my skin. Instead, we’d have to manage a long, dusty trek back to our separate nests.
Geo stretched, his voice hoarse after our long night, his fingers idly scratched at the fur on his belly. I passed him the last of the dried mantu strips he seemed to adore. “Archbuilder, my heat is over. Let’s head back to Yurstille.”
I chuckled as he jumped, shocked at his own nakedness.
“Heat?” He plucked the jerky from my fingers, hunching over as if to hide his body as he searched for his overalls.
