Page 11 of Bred By Sor'en

“Don’t you dare,” I warn him from my pitiful little heap as he reaches out again.

He flinches. The terrifying death-touch giant alienflinches. I glare at him as I get to my feet, anger shoring up my steps. Agony ripe and pungent settles like stones in my gut. “You will get me off this planet now.”

He straightens himself, and for the first time, I notice the stained apron he’s wearing. The same vibrant colors from outside decorating what was once white. “No.”

“You cannot force me to stay with you.”

“Draya’la—”

“Stop calling me that.”

A soft growl slips from his throat, his hands clenching at his sides. I can see it there, the sheen of oil… a toxin. I take a step back. “Then tell me your name,” he counters.

“Take me back to Vortara.”

“I cannot.”

“You can.”

“Please, my mate… just—”

“Call me your mate again and I will impale myself on the nearest sharp object,” I snap as he steps closer, damn near making me slip over the stupid sheet again. I stumble, taking my eyes off him long enough to detangle my legs again. It was a mistake.

Vertigo hits me hard before I ever even realize I’ve been hauled up and over his shoulder. I scream, not out of fear, maybe a little out of fear, but mostly anger. My fists forget the sheet altogether, letting it fall, exposing my bare ass so I can whack him in the back.

“You touch me so freely, my stubborn little gift.”

“Eat shit, asshole!” I sob.

He huffs at that, his large oil-coated palm slapping down onto my bare ass with a pungent sting. I hiss at the sudden shock, my angry sobs silenced for a moment. The pain doesn’t last long because a warm tingle takes over… one oddly close to my sensitive center.

“There are few things I would deny you, Draya’la. Consuming excrement is unfortunately one of them.”

“Aw, what a shame,” I quip, my voice oddly breathy, before throwing all caution out of the window. Sor’en stills on his path to whatever horrible death he’s leading me to as I wrap my arms around his tapered waist. I can feel it the moment his entire body tenses as I give him what can only be described as an upside-down hug. He shudders, the odd feeling of his spine pressing my chest as I nestle my face deep into his hard garment.

“Draya’la…” he breathes.

And then I bite.

five

Sor’en

My mate's ineffectual attack doesn’t distract me from the way she’s clinging to me or the slick, hot heat of her center mixing with my toxins. Her small teeth gnaw my flesh underneath my top, but I can feel her frenzied heartbeat pressed in its upside-down form across my back. My shaft tightens, the ridges starting up their soft vibration. I know she does not want my touch, but I am quite certain her body does.

It is a lowbrow move to manipulate her so. To smear her soft, warm skin with my pheromone oils, but I am above nothing when it comes to my mate. The single point in the universe in which I was created to orbit. My balance. I drag her through my lungs one last time before heading for the entrance of our dwelling.

She stops her gnawing.

More than one part of me wishes she’d continue. I keep my squirming mate balanced on my shoulder, careful that the ridges there don’t hurt her stomach, while my other hand strangles my vibrating shaft into compliance.

“Put me down, or I’ll scream!”

“You may scream, although my people will find it highly disruptive.”

She stills at that, as if she hadn’t yet put together that there would be more like me here. Yes, there are more. Many more, but they keep their distance.

“You must remain balanced, Sor’en. Any slip within us brings great shame on the goddesses.”