I Married A Lizardman (Prime Mating Agency)

As soon as the door closed behind us, dampening most of the sound of the ongoing celebrations, Susan’s joyous mood faded, and she immediately looked intimidated. An awkward silence settled between us. I wanted the carefree and talkative Susan from the feast back. As much as I liked hunting prey, I didn’t enjoy my mate looking at me like she was one.

“I… I should go take a shower and wash off all this paint,” Susan said.

Normally, as mates, we would shower together. I almost said as much. But Susan clearly needed some time alone, maybe to gather herself.

“Very well,” I said, repressing a frown.

Her nervousness around me bothered me greatly. Still, the grateful relief she expressed upon hearing my answer convinced me I had made the right choice by indulging her request. My mate grabbed her bag, still sitting on the communal table and headed straight to the hygiene room. I almost offered to teach her how to use it, but I could only presume Mother or Luped had already shown her.

I headed for our nest chamber while removing the adornments on me. The glowstones in the room lit as soon as they detected my presence. I placed the adornments in their respective casings on the upper shelves near the door, then cast a glance at the room. It was smaller now that Luped had taken up a significant amount of space to build a ‘wad-robe’ for Susan.

Kayog had stated my mate would need such a space to store her clothes and footwear. As one of our best Builders, my sister had done high quality work in no time. However, it seemed too big to me. Luped insisted that she had performed research confirming some humans would deem it too small as it wasn’t a walk-in. She suggested we modify the divisions of the house, and maybe add an extension, so we could build Susan a proper walk-in attached to the hygiene room.

I would ask my mate in the morning.

In the morning as well, I would do what I hadn’t had time to do in the past two days since the Temern announced Susan’s impending arrival, and learn everything I could about humans.

I looked at the sleeping nest, hoping she would find it adequate. We didn’t rest in beds, but a large recess in the floor of a more or less circular shape—although some preferred a square one—filled with a large down feather cushion at the bottom and smaller cushions covering the edges. A thick nirka fur lay partially folded at the base of the nest. We used it to keep us warm during colder nights. A set of thin sheets of fabric called blankets and a pair of cushions called pillows that Kayog had sent covered the bottom cushion—that humans would call a mattress.

I didn’t see how such light covers could keep humans warmer than a nirka fur, but the Temern insisted that humans required their blankets. If Susan truly liked them, the Crafters would be happy to weave more for her.

To my surprise, I heard my mate coming out of the hygiene room in less than fifteen minutes. I had expected her to hide there a long time, while working up the courage to face me. The rules of the unions arranged through the Prime Mating Agency stated that the couple must be legally married according to both of their species’ customs that first day, and that their bond was to be consummated that same night. Failing to do so could result in the annulment of the union and severe financial penalties for the couple since the PMA shouldered all the expenses in getting the partners together. While I understood their need to ensure the mates were serious in making a success of their journey, it also placed a tremendous amount of pressure on us.

And even more so on the male to perform.

Having a few days to get to know Susan before moving to that step would have been nice. Technically, the Temern wouldn’t know if neither one of us revealed the truth. For a second, I even considered proposing to Susan that we wait a bit. However, I dismissed that thought. Not only did I not want to risk the penalty, I especially didn’t want my mate thinking I was avoiding my duty to her. I’d failed her enough for one day.

But what if she wishes I did offer?

Susan entering the nest chamber, looking just as intimidated, put an end to my musings. The short, translucent black dress she wore couldn’t offer any kind of protection. I could see every curve of her body underneath it—or would have if not for the bag she was clutching to her chest as if her life depended on it. Her long head fur was cascading down her back and over her shoulders. It curled in far more accentuated spirals than before the ceremony, now that she had removed the metal wires binding them in thick strands. It made it appear shorter, but it still looked pretty around her face.

“I have finished,” Susan said in a timid voice.

I didn’t know how to respond to such an obvious statement.

“I will go wash as well,” I said, not knowing what to do with myself, before remembering the ‘wad-robe.’ I pointed at it. “This is all for you to put away your clothes and personal belongings. Feel free to use the space however you see fit.”

Her eyes lit up, some of the tension bleeding from her shoulders.

“Thank you,” Susan replied.

I grunted in response, then made my way to the hygiene room. Of all the terrible things the Invaders had done to our people during the time they had enslaved us, commodities such as showers, hygienic toilets, and power stones had been a blessing. A part of me wondered how my mate would have reacted had I not been able to provide her with such basic comforts.

But the Vaengi were the last thing I wanted to be thinking about right now. After showering, I dried my scales using a fluffy towel before hanging it next to the one Susan had used. My stomach knotted as I slowly walked back to our nest chamber. I opened the door and found my mate standing next to the shelves of the ‘wad-robe’ where she had already hung her clothes. As soon as she saw me, she stopped brushing her head fur. Looking self-conscious, she made as if to pull the fur that had remained stuck on the brush but changed her mind. Instead, she placed the tool on one of the shelves and closed the door.

She wrapped her arms around herself, as if to hide her body, which the translucent outfit failed to cover. The extremely short skirt didn’t even reach the middle of her thighs. This time, no underwear covered the parts only reserved for my eyes. Despite the folds of her skirt, the exposed slit of her sex was visible. Through the flimsy dark fabric, I could see the round circles surrounding her two tiny teats in the center of the globe-like swells of her chest. What could possibly be the purpose of such a useless garment?

Susan cleared her throat, looking more nervous than ever.

“So… hmm… considering our earlier miscommunications, I was thinking we should discuss this next part to make sure we’re on the same page,” Susan said with a nervous laughter.

“That is a good idea,” I said, both relieved and grateful for her easing us into the topic.

Susan appeared to relax a little, and she smiled in response.

“Maybe we can sit in the bed?” she asked, gesturing at the nest.

“Very well,” I said, letting her lead the way.

My mate circled around the left side of the sleeping nest, which sat right in front of a large window. She removed her flat footwear and descended into the nest, sitting at the edge with her legs crossed beneath her. I settled on the opposite side from her, kneeling on the cushion before sitting on my haunches and curling my tail to the side.

“I tried to read up on Andturians mating rituals, but couldn’t find anything,” Susan said with that same nervous laughter, redness creeping up her neck and cheeks. “I know we are compatible, but just not how your people go about it.”

I frowned, unsure what she was really asking.

“Well, the female usually leans against a wall or over a low surface like a table. More rarely, she will get on her hands and knees. She lifts her tail and parts her veil to expose her slit, then the male positions himself behind and penetrates her with his stem,” I said, as if it was self-evident—which it should be. “The male pumps into her until she is pleasured, then he releases his seed.”

The way my mate stared at me with round eyes, her lips parted in shock, I couldn’t decide if she truly hadn’t known how people mated or if our ways disturbed her.

“You mostly have sex standing up and from behind?” she asked, stunned.

I blinked, taken aback by that strange question. “Yes.”

“Wow, okay. Hmmm… But what do you do before you penetrate a female?” she asked.

The hope in her voice further increased my confusion. Susan needed to hear something from me to reassure her about our mating ritual, but I had no clue what it could be.

“Well, we ask the female if she consents to the coupling. If she’s agreeable, she assumes the position, and we penetrate her,” I said.

Judging by her dismayed expression, that was not the response she had wanted to hear.

“That’s it? You guys go from yes to immediate penetration?” she insisted with disbelief.

“Yes,” I said, getting slightly annoyed. “What else would there be?”

“Well, foreplay,” she replied as if it was obvious. “Have you never heard of foreplay?” she asked when I tilted my head with a questioning look.

I shook my head. “No. What is that?”

“It’s… Damn, how do I describe that?” Susan whispered to herself, her eyes flicking from side to side as she pondered. “It’s pleasant and affectionate things a human couple does to each other to help the male get hard and the female get wet to make penetration easier.”

Wet? What a strange term for lubrication, but appropriate enough, I guess.

My eyes widened as I stared at her in shock. “You need help getting lubricated? Human females do not self-lubricate at will?”

Susan snorted and shook her head. “No, we don’t. We need to be stimulated and aroused by our partner to be ready. I mean, we can technically prepare ourselves,” she amended, her face reddening again, “but it’s more effective when done well by our partner. Some females can’t get natural lubrication at all.”

Spirits, why is everything so complicated with humans?

I stared at her, starting to feel overwhelmed again. How was I supposed to stimulate her? At the same time, it was nice of their females not to expect a male to be hard on demand but be willing to help him get there. That was undeniably intriguing.

“And how do you do four play?” I asked carefully.

The redness of her cheeks cranked up another notch.

“We caress each other’s bodies… and kiss,” Susan said in a small voice. “And our couplings are normally face to face, while lying in bed. Not standing up, and rarely from behind.”

I almost laughed at the sheepish way in which she had pronounced the word ‘kiss.’ I had not been too keen about this kissing thing the first time. But the feel of her mouth against mine had been unexpectedly pleasant. I didn’t mind doing it again. In fact, I’d been wondering when I’d have the opportunity to test it further. I welcomed this experiment. However, I couldn’t help wondering why it was called four play when she only mentioned two things.

“I can do that,” I said, relieved it wasn’t anything more bizarre. Coupling face to face happens sometimes among my people, although quite rarely. “Do you wish to start now?”

“Uh, just a minute,” she said, a sliver of panic entering her voice. “There’s… there’s something else we need to discuss.”

I slightly recoiled, wondering what else there could be.

“I’m listening,” I replied.

“There’s something you need to know about human females, so that you do not panic later,” Susan said.

That immediately set all of my senses on alert. Something had to be pretty bad for her to assume I would panic.

“The very first time a human female has sex with a man, she will bleed a little,” Susan said.

“WHAT?! Bleed?” I exclaimed, panic indeed setting in. “Why would you bleed?”

“It’s okay! It’s okay!” she said, raising her palms in an appeasing gesture. “We have this thin veil of flesh inside. It’s like a seal that says no one has ever penetrated us before. So, the first time we have sex, the veil—called a hymen—will tear, which causes a bit of bleeding. But it’s normal and stops right away. The tear will sting a little, but no more.”

I looked at her in horror. I was already worried about lying with a female as tiny and fragile as she. Now, I was finding out that no matter how much care I handled her with, she would bleed the minute I joined with her.

I do not like this, AT ALL.

“It’s going to be all right, I promise,” Susan insisted when I continued eyeing her with dismay.

Beyond the fact that she would be bleeding, something else troubled me quite a bit.

“Why has no male breached your ‘high man’ yet?” I asked, unable to hide the suspicion in my voice. “You are a mature female of mating age, right?”

Susan gaped at me for a few seconds before bursting out laughing. “Yes, Olix. I assure you that I am a fully mature adult,” my mate said with a smile in her voice. “Legally, humans are deemed old enough to ‘choose’ to mate as of the age of sixteen. I will be twenty-five years in a couple of months.”

That only made my brows furrow deeper, which appeared to confuse her.

“That means, you were able to couple for the past nine years,” I said. “Why haven’t you?”

I hadn’t meant for my tone to come out as accusatory as it did, but too many questions were firing in my mind. Was my mate defective? Did the males of her colony not deem her worthy of their attention that none would have attempted to pursue her? Had her temperament driven potential partners away?

She recoiled, her eyes widening at my reaction. “You know, on my homeworld, males would rejoice to find out I was untouched.”

It was my turn to recoil.

“In case Kayog didn’t tell you, Meterion used to have a religious colony classification,” my mate explained while tucking a few locks of her head fur behind her right ear. “The same way we don’t show our bodies in public, my people didn’t allow others to touch them intimately unless they were married. Back then, there were severe consequences, especially for women since the hymen was the proof whether or not they had ‘sinned’ whereas men don’t bleed their first time.”

“You are punished for coupling even though you can legally do so?” I exclaimed, shocked.

Susan laughed. “Not anymore, no. Today, we can sleep with anyone we wish, even if we are not married. However, we avoid it, mostly because of the risk of pregnancy,” she explained. “Birth control is frowned upon by our people. But land is everything on Meterion. If you let the wrong man impregnate you, the land will move to his bloodline instead of the one you might have wanted.”

“But Kayog said you needed to leave Meterion because you didn’t have land,” I challenged.

She nodded. “As a third daughter, I don’t have land or any real hope of making a good marriage on my homeworld,” she said with a sigh. “Because of that, pregnancy wouldn’t really be a concern as far as land was concerned. Many men asked me to have sex with them, but I refused them all.”

“Why?” I asked, surprised.

“I didn’t deem any of them good enough to breach my hymen,” she said, lifting her chin defiantly. “It is considered a great honor to be the first man to lie with a woman. None of them deserved it from me,” she added, scrunching her face.

“And you deem me deserving of it?” I asked, stunned.

“Of course! Otherwise, I wouldn’t have married you,” she replied matter-of-factly.

That gave me an oddly warm feeling in my chest. “You honor me, my mate,” I said, humbled.

She smiled timidly.

“Anything else, I should be aware of?” I asked, bracing for it.

“No… Well… not really,” she said, hesitantly.

What now?

I narrowed my eyes at her, and she squirmed on the cushion.

“Well, it’s just that since this will be my first time, I am pretty tight down there,” she said sheepishly, her face coloring again. It was ridiculous just how easily she reddened. “So, you will have to go slow and be careful depending on how big you are.”

The worried look she cast towards my groin would have been comical if not for her genuine concern.

“I don’t know what a human would consider big but, by my people’s standards, I am well-endowed,” I said, carefully. “You fear you won’t be able to take me?”

“Oh no! No, I’m pretty sure I will be able to… We stretch and adjust. It just might take longer and be a bit more uncomfortable until then,” she said, although I couldn’t say if she was trying to reassure me or herself. “But there’s no point borrowing trouble. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

I scratched the scales on my nape, feeling somewhat distraught. This was the most awkward mating night I could have ever imagined. Right now, I just wanted to gulp down a full jug of berry cider and go to sleep.

“Very well,” I said, swallowing back a sigh. “Do you wish to begin this four play now, or is there something else to be addressed.”

“No, nothing else. We… we can begin if you wish,” she said in a thin voice.

I waved my hand over the white stone near the edge of the nest to shade the window so daylight wouldn’t bother us at sunrise. I turned back towards my mate whose chest was heaving, her breathing becoming labored from what I presumed to be a mix of fear and anticipation. But the first order of business was to rid her of that useless dress that only highlighted her nakedness rather than cover it.

I advanced closer, walking on my knees on the fluffy cushion and stopped right in front of her. Moving with slow, non-threatening movements, I carefully placed my hands on her lap, right at the hem of her dress, and slipped them underneath to gently lift it up. She didn’t balk, lifting her arms to make it easier for me to get rid of it. I discarded the dress at the edge of the nest. The way Susan clasped her hands in front of her, I suspected she in fact wanted to cover her breasts and slit.

My gaze roamed over the strange texture of her scaleless body. Her skin was so pale, smooth, and flawless, I would have compared it to ivory if not for its slight golden tinge. I leaned forward and pressed my lips to hers. She responded in kind. It was as pleasant as I remembered. Except with that done, I’d exhausted my playbook—I didn’t know what else to do. I’d never felt so incompetent and clumsy. As I couldn’t stay indefinitely with my mouth pressed against hers, I straightened and looked at her apologetically.

“I’m sorry, but I do not know how to please you,” I confessed, my scales darkening with humiliation at my failure. “Will you show me what you would like from me?”

The disdainful and disappointed look I had expected from her never came. For some odd reason, my cluelessness appeared to please my mate. I couldn’t quite figure out why. Maybe it made her feel like we were on a more equal footing and that, despite my experience, I might as well have been a virgin. Whatever the reason, I was glad to give her the lead—something I’d never expected myself to do when coupling.

“Sure, I can try to do that,” Susan said with a nervous smile. “Lie down on your back, please.”

I complied, lying down in the center of the nest. Susan prowled closer to me on all fours. There was something oddly enticing in her doing that. Her gaze roamed over me with a curiosity filled with awe. Although I wouldn’t have called it desire, the possessive anticipation burning within her brown eyes sparked a pleasant warmth inside me.

Her palms settled on the thick skin covering my abdominal muscles and chest, roaming slowly in a gentle caress. It was pleasant. The soft heat of her hands stirred the first embers of arousal deep within me. She leaned forward and started kissing my stomach without stopping to caress me. Her mouth on my body felt strange and tickled a bit, but I took mental notes of all that she was doing so that I could reciprocate after.

I gasped and slightly stiffened when her tongue began to trace the grooves between my abdominal muscles. Susan paused, her head jerking up to look at me with worry.

“You licked my stomach,” I blurted out, stating the obvious.

“Humans do that,” she said cautiously. “Is that unpleasant for you? If so, I’ll stop.”

“No, don’t stop,” I replied instinctively, surprising myself. But, taking a second to think about it, I realized that her tongue on me had resonated nicely in my groin. “It was unexpected, but quite agreeable.”

My mate’s shoulders relaxed, and her relieved smile reminded me that she was an inexperienced female. I needed to be extra careful in my feedback to her not to severely undermine her confidence regarding intimacy going forward.

Susan continued tracing the lines of my muscles with her tongue, stopping only a short moment to tickle my navel that way, before moving up my chest. At the same time, she climbed on top of me, her knees settling on each side of my waist. She resumed kissing my body, now focusing on my neck, the curtain of her head fur cascading over my torso provided a silky caress of its own that was quite enjoyable. Tilting my head back to give my mate better access to my neck, I placed my palms on her rounded behind.

Spirits! She was so soft! Instead of the rough scales scraping my palms that I was used to, my hands felt as if they were rubbing over the most expensive Geruvian velvet. Susan shivered when my hands roamed up her just-as-silky back in a slow movement. She rubbed her face in the crook of my neck then her blunt teeth nipped at my scales there, sending a bolt of pleasure between my thighs. I nearly extruded. To think I had feared my mate wouldn’t arouse me! I could get used to this four play thing.

I purred in approval and tightened my embrace around my female. Susan immediately responded by biting me again and gently scraping at my scales with her blunt claws. I purred again, involuntarily. But it gave my mate the reinforcement needed to know her actions were pleasurable to me. With a will of their own, my hands went onto a more thorough exploration of her body.

But she was straying from her demonstration to me and starting to focus on my enjoyment of our encounter. Moving up to my face, Susan alternated between kisses and nips along my jawline before pressing her lips to mine.

This time, I took over.

She slightly gasped when I turned us around, laying her on her back before reciprocating. Careful not to crush her, I leaned partially on my side and started where she left off by pressing my mouth against hers. She wrapped her arms around me, her delicate fingers caressing my quills at the back of my head. A lovely sigh escaped her as I let my mouth roam over her face, while my hand did the same on her body.

I could already tell that the feel of her beneath my palm would become an addiction of mine. Like Susan had done for me, I paid attention to her responses as I touched and kissed her to understand what she liked. When my lips settled on her neck, it became quickly apparent that her crook and nape were particularly sensitive. Andturians loved to bite and to be bitten. It had turned me on so much when she’d done it to me. However, I didn’t dare reciprocate with her skin being so fragile. At least, her breasts also seemed to enjoy my attentions. The way her teats hardened under my palms fascinated me.

As much as I had found the round breasts strange, their cushiony softness made me want to squeeze and play with them endlessly. The way she arched her back to press her breast further against my face when I kissed it didn’t go unnoticed. Drawing from her playbook, I timidly poked my tongue out to lick at her teat. Licking one’s partner was the strangest thing to do, but the approving moan Susan rewarded me with spurred me on.

I went all out, swirling my tongue over her left teat and the pink circle surrounding it while my hand played with the other. The sound of her heartbeat increasing alongside with her breathing confirmed I was finally doing right by my female. But I couldn’t linger there indefinitely. While my mouth shifted its attention to her other breast, my hand traveled further down over her flat stomach. It quivered beneath my touch, and Susan appeared to tense when it moved past her navel.

Lifting my head, I locked gazes with my mate. Her lips parted, her brown eyes looking almost black, she stared at me not with fear but an anxious anticipation that alleviated my concerns. A delicate scent wafted to me, immediately setting my loins on fire. Despite Susan being of a different species, the musk of her arousal was unmistakable. Without looking away from her, I pursued my journey south, my hand settling over her exposed slit.

Susan’s breath hitched as I slowly rubbed her before my fingers parted the folds of her slit. Her breathing accelerated, and she opened her legs to ease my exploration. A triumphant growl rose from my throat at finding her slick with her natural lubrication. She could use a bit more, but my four play on her was paying off.

Despite the similarities with our females, Susan’s opening differed greatly. Aside from the scale veil naturally covering Andturian females’ slits, a thin layer of scales sheeted their inner walls. It scraped against the scales of a male’s stem, enhancing the sensations for both partners. But my mate was as soft outside as she was inside. Or at least, the short distance I could reach in. The thin sheet of skin called ‘high man’ she had spoken of could be felt about two centimeters past the entrance. The main difference was the warm wetness within. Our females also didn’t have a little nub above their slit. Whatever this was called, its sensitivity clearly procured my mate a great deal of pleasure. When she lifted her hips, as if seeking more friction, I started rubbing my fingers over it.

“Yes,” Susan whispered in a shaky voice, before closing her eyes.

That hit me like a punch in the gut, and pressure built in my groin as my stem began to throb with the need to extrude and claim my mate. Susan shivered and moaned as I accelerated the movement and pressure of my fingers on her. The scent of her arousal grew exponentially, and her lubrication flowed steadily. Although I now believed her ready to receive me, I couldn’t stop looking at her face, tense with pleasure.

Susan didn’t match an Andturian definition of beauty. Her features were strange to me and would probably continue to be for a while. And yet, right now, as she was trembling and moaning with pleasure under my touch, my mate was mesmerizing to me. She suddenly cried out, her body seizing, startling me. I’d been so entranced that I hadn’t realized she was peaking.

I continued massaging her nub until she appeared to come down from her climax. The body of a human female was turning out to be a wonder. Our species didn’t have those sensitive pleasure points and didn’t require four play. Coupling was a straightforward matter, concluded in a few minutes, with each partner finding their release swiftly. Although this was a much more complicated affair, it was also proving to be a pleasant one, nonetheless.

“Do you require me to pursue the four play?” I asked, my stem aching to be released from its confines.

Susan chuckled and shook her head with a tender expression in her eyes that I liked very much. I almost climbed on top of her, then hesitated, the unpleasant memory of the blood she would spill coming back to the fore. I took one of the blankets and folded it twice before laying it down on the main cushion. Some tension creeped back into my mate. I mentally kicked myself for not having done that first. Still, she smiled timidly once I finished and lay down on top without me having to say anything.

She spread her legs. I barely repressed a sigh of relief as I extruded while settling between them. My eyes flicked towards Susan when I heard her soft gasp. The scared—if not horrified—look she was casting on my stem almost made me deflate. Did it repulse her?

“You’re big,” she whispered, worry audible in her voice.

Oh! Right…

“Too big?” I asked, carefully.

Susan licked her lips nervously and eyed my stem as if it was some sort of vicious monster that had crawled from under the nest to savage her while she slept.

“No,” she said in a small voice that lacked conviction.

“You must be honest with me, Susan,” I said in a stern voice. “Is my stem too big? Will it harm you?”

She took in a deep breath and forced herself to look me in the eye. “No, it will not harm me if you are careful and patient,” she said in a determined voice. “It will hurt because you are big and I’m tight, but not too much if you go slow. Each time we will do it, it will get easier because my body will adjust to you.”

I held her gaze a moment longer to make sure she wasn’t just saying that out of a misplaced sense of pride or duty. But she didn’t flinch or waver, gesturing instead for me to proceed. Reassured, I complied, surprised my stem was still erect. Susan spread her legs wider, her arms wrapping around my back. For some odd reason, I stunned myself by lowering my head and kissing her lips. My mate smiled then closed her eyes as I began pushing myself inside of her.

The head of my stem barely made it past her entrance before meeting resistance. My female had been right saying it would take patience. I pressed myself in carefully, my gaze never straying from her face to make sure I wasn’t harming her. After another push, Susan cringed a little, and the metallic scent of blood stung my nose. I immediately tried to pull away, but she held me.

“It’s okay, I’m fine,” she said in a reassuring voice.

Although she looked like she meant it, I could feel the warm liquid around my stem. This felt like a lot of blood. I freed myself of her embrace and sat on my haunch to stare at her opening. My mate started closing her legs, her face turning red with embarrassment, but my hands on her knees stopped her.

“Olix, it’s fine!” she insisted, looking mortified.

“It’s a lot of blood, my mate,” I argued, worried.

“No, it’s a normal amount,” she said, sitting up. “See? It already stopped. Please, don’t ruin this.”

That last comment struck a nerve. I didn’t want to ruin her first time, but I had a duty to take care of and protect her.

“Do I look in pain to you?” she insisted.

I shook my head.

“I would not lie to you about this. Have you already forgotten how loud I scream when I’m hurt?” she said in a voice that was both pleading, but also attempting to be humorous.

I smiled, tension fading out of my back.

“Yes, my mate. I do,” I conceded, still struggling to silence the panicked voice at the back of my head. “Very well. But let me clean you first,” I said, using the blanket I had previously folded to carefully wipe the blood off her.

Although visibly embarrassed by it, Susan didn’t argue and allowed me to do so. She had spoken true. The bleeding had stopped and there wasn’t that much blood after all. However, as I looked at the stained fabric, it struck me that I was looking at the honor my female had bestowed upon me, the only male she had deemed worthy.

“Lie still, my mate. I will return shortly,” I said, rising to my feet before walking out of the nest chamber.