Her small brows furrow. “But you said you wanted a family. I wouldn’t deprive you of that.”
“Do not worry on my behalf, Sad Eyes. There are no children without resonance, and now I do not have to worry about another male snatching you out of my grasp.” I stroke her cheek gently. “A few moons ago, I had resigned myself to a lonely life of hunting and the only companionship that of my hand.” My crude words make a small, horrified laugh erupt from her, and I continue. “Now, I have met you and I see a life ahead of me of laughter, and caresses, and loving. Does it matter to me that we will never resonate? It does not. Just to have you in my life is enough for me. You are my heart, Kira, and you should be my mate.”
She starts to cry again. “I don’t want you to feel trapped with me.”
“Trapped?” I laugh. “Trapped with a beautiful, strong, smart mate in my furs every night? I welcome such traps.”
“But children—“
“If we have no kits, then we shall always have our cave to ourselves,” I tell her, pulling her against me. Her wet skin sticks to mine and creates a delicious friction between us. I can feel the small nubs of her nipples rub against my stomach and it makes my cock jerk, desperate to be inside her. “And we shall scandalize all of the others by being the loudest mated pair in the caves.”
A horrified little giggle escapes her, and I’m so relieved that I’ve made her smile that I squeeze her tight against me.
“If you’re sure…” she says softly.
“I was sure the moment I saw your face.”
She pulls back, surprised. “You were?”
I nod. “I saw you and thought, if ever there was a female that needed a male to make her smile, it was you. And that we would be perfect together.”
Kira bats at my chest in mock annoyance, but I can tell she’s pleased by my words. She’s softening against me, and the tears are drying. “I just…I never said anything. Your people were so excited about the fact that we could resonate and have children. I never wanted to admit that I was flawed. I didn’t know what would happen if I was. Would I be welcome any longer?”
“Of course you would be welcome. We would not cast you out simply because you cannot bear kits. Do we cast out Farli?”
She snorts. “Farli is too young to have children. That’s not even a fair comparison.”
“Then Asha? Whose kit died too young? Or my mother, Sevvah, who is now too old to have more kits?” I touch her cheek. “You bring more to the tribe than just your body.”
“I’m not so sure,” she says softly. “The only thing I was good at was translating, and I just had that removed.”
“Then you will bring new skills and joy to the tribe. We just have not seen them yet.”
Kira gives me an exasperated look. “Do you have an optimistic answer for everything?”
“Yes.” I grin at her. “That is what I bring to the tribe. Well, that and my carving skills.”
Another small giggle escapes her, muffled under the falling of the bathing waters. “Yes, I still have the present you made for me.”
“Ah. Because it is such an impressive likeness?”
Her giggle turns into a snort and she buries her face against my wet chest, her arms going around me. “Because I wanted to compare the sizes. I figured it was exaggerated.”
“Shall I show you just how accurate my carvings are?” I slide my fingers down her wet back, and then take her hand and place it on my aching cock. I hear her suck in a breath, but she doesn’t pull away. Instead, she caresses me and explores. “Be my mate, Kira.”
She looks up at me, hope in her eyes. “But the aliens—“
More excuses? “Let them do their best to separate us. They will fail.” I touch her cheek again. “And let us not predict doom for our future. Let us live for today, yes?”
I have always been a practical male. I have seen too much sorrow to let it guide my life, like Haeden does. If it means I must smile one day and weep the next, then I shall enjoy the day of smiles all that much more. I want Kira to realize this – that life is sweetest when we take what it offers with no worries.
She squeezes her fingers around the base of my cock and then gently glides her hand up, stroking me. “Today,” she says in a low voice, “Is a really, really nice day to be with my mate.”
My heart swells with affection. “Yes, it is.”
The water changes temperature from a delicious heat to an ice cold, and Kira yelps at the same time I do. She rinses the berries from her hair and then quickly jumps out of the water, and I follow a moment later.