Perhaps especially a mating with a human, since many of her new friends expressed hope that adding a human bloodline would increase fecundity among the yan-kanat, as it appeared to have done for other crossbreed matings with humans in the past.
She traced the brand on her stomach, flinching at the memory of the agonizing pain her searing flesh had caused her. The scar was still pink, but had been treated in a way that somehow sped up the healing process. She never would have believed she’d agree to such a thing before she fell in love with Jotahan, but now, seeing the matching brand on his pelvis, she felt a possessive satisfaction. He was all hers now, and she never had to fear that he would change his mind and have the seal removed, or ever want to leave her side. Knowing that he would never be tempted to be unfaithful to her—not that she thought his sense of honor would allow it—made the sacrifice of some of her skin worth it. She felt completely secure in loving someone, for the first time she could ever remember.
Her fingers switched from tracing her own brand to stroking the lines of his scarred scales. He stirred in his sleep but didn’t awaken as she explored his body until she felt the movement of his erection beneath his slit. Aroused by the inhuman sight of this part of him, she traced along the slit, feeling it part as his tail flicked against her legs.
He moaned, his body tensing, letting her know she’d succeeded in awakening him. She smiled, dropping a kiss on his muscular abdomen that had him lifting his head to watch her, propping himself up on his elbows.
He hissed softly when she kissed him lower, closer to the opening slit. His whole body shuddered when she licked the ridge of his salavik that had begun to press through his scales.
“Sarah,” he said in a harsh voice, his claws delving into her hair. “What—” The strangled sound of his voice cutting off rewarded another long stroke of her tongue along his exposed length.
It fully everted from his slit, bobbing in front of her face. She licked her lips as she got her first good look at his “mating spine.”
It wasn’t human. There was no mistaking the alien appearance of it, despite the distinctly phallic shape. Muscle bulged on each side of his organ, giving it a thick, girthy size that was rivaled by an impressive length. The rounded tip lacked the mushroom head of a human penis, and was tipped with a single slit that wept a slick, clear precum intended to ease entry into a yan-kanat female, who did not produce the same lubricant a human female did.
He seemed to be holding his breath as she studied him, but released it on a low moan when she trailed her tongue along the head of his salavik, licking away the salty drops of precum. Then she closed her lips around the tip and sucked, sliding her mouth down his length as her hand curled around the base of his salavik, right up against his parted slit.
He made guttural sounds that weren’t words, bucking his hips upwards reflexively as she drew her lips along his length. The muscles of his salavik shifted, tensing as much as the rest of his body, tightening until she could feel them in her mouth vibrating like stretched rubber bands. Very large, thick rubber bands.
She loved having this power over him, and it was turning her on something fierce to see him so undone by her pleasuring him in this way. Not that she needed much help. She dripped with her desire for him.
She brought him to the brink of his climax, leaving him gasping, begging for her to let him enter her before he spilled his seed. She sat up, drawing her finger teasingly along her slick lips before slowly licking them. He shivered and closed his eyes. Then he pushed himself up onto his palms. She sensed he was preparing to grab her and pin her beneath him.
She quickly crawled onto his lap before he made his move, impaling herself on him.
He wasn’t pleased with her more dominant position at first. His hands gripped her upper arms as though to pull her off him and roll her beneath him, but after a few slow pumps of her hips had him shuddering, he allowed her to continue riding him, though he growled in irritation. That growl got deeper and harsher as he orgasmed.
He pulled her hips down hard on his length as he came, then rolled her onto her back in one swift move while his salavik was still twitching inside her with each spurt of his seed.
“You will dishonor me and have me begging to submit to you, human,” he growled in her ear as his salavik pumped into her. She knew he didn’t grow flaccid like a human male and could keep pleasuring her until she begged him to stop, even after coming.
She smiled up at him as he pinned her against their mattress with his hard body. “I still have so much to show you, Jotahan. I promise you, you will love every minute of being conquered by this human.”
He huffed and then lowered his head to nip at her neck, where he had bitten her during their ceremony. She recalled feeling nothing but pleasure when he did it, even though her blood had trickled down over her collarbone from his sharp teeth.
He didn’t go that far this time, his teeth barely grazing the scarred skin that must have been treated, like the brand on her pelvis, to heal it so rapidly. Yet, his message was unmistakable. Jotahan refused to be conquered, but he could be loved, and she intended to spend the rest of her life doing just that.
They only stopped mating to rest and eat during their seclusion, and since they were supposed to spend the entire time naked and easily accessible to their mate’s seductions, they didn’t spend much time outside. Still, she did wear his robe a couple of times to walk outside onto the terrace with him, reasoning that she remained nude underneath it, so it should still count.
Jotahan had no problem being outside without a stitch of clothing on, claiming he was very proud of his new brand and had no desire to cover it until he had to.
If their neighbors or the fishermen far out in the harbor spotted them, there were no scandalized cries from them. Not even when they didn’t exactly make it back inside before their passion overtook them, and Jotahan ended up pinning her against the railing to make love to her.
Friends and family and temple servants dropped off regular deliveries of food and supplies that were left on their doorstep, including many gifts in celebration of their sealing.
She couldn’t argue with spending fifteen uninterrupted days with her new mate doing nothing but eating, sleeping, and making love in every possible way as she taught Jotahan exactly why humans probably had so many babies. She wondered if humans ever had a honeymoon this incredible, but doubted it. Life usually intruded before their time was up. Here in this world, the yan-kanat didn’t allow it to.
As she lay in Jotahan’s arms on their last night of seclusion, breathless from a spirited and passionate lovemaking, she felt thoughtful. Jotahan would have to return to his new profession as a combat trainer at the training grounds soon, and Sarah would eventually return to helping the lore-keeper at the temple, but they would still have their evenings together. Jotahan promised her those evenings would always end like this, together in each other’s arms.
She prayed to the Ajda that her daughter would find a love like this someday. Prayed that there was a human out there who could make her feel cared for and valued and cherished as no one else could. She knew that she would never meet the child she had given away, but she would also never forget her and never stop wanting the best for her.
She also prayed that she had nestlings with Jotahan. Not just because it would make him blissfully happy to be a dad, but because she wanted a chance to prove that she could be a good mom. She knew she would love any children she had as much as she did the first, only this time, she finally had a home and a mate to help her give them the best life possible.