Enthralled by Tiffany Roberts
Chapter 2
Ketahn staredat the den’s entrance. The sliver of morning light at the edge of the cloth-covered opening was dull gray, but it was radiant compared to the shadows lingering inside.
The rain was a subdued pattering that had neither intensified nor diminished since it had begun in the middle of the night. Normally, it would have been soothing, but it had yet to offer Ketahn any comfort.
He and Ivy had reached the den just before dark yesterday. It had felt like the shadows of what had occurred—and what might yet come—had followed them through the Tangle. Conversation had been sparse; exhaustion had claimed Ivy not long after they were inside, and she’d lain atop him to sleep. But Ketahn’s weariness had not been so merciful. It had tormented him through the night, had prowled on the edges of his awareness, taunting him, beckoning him repeatedly, but it had not accepted his submission.
And the muted rain had not been nearly loud enough to silence his chaotic, raging thoughts.
Ketahn shifted to lean his shoulders more comfortably against the wall. Ivy’s breath remained slow and even, fanning lightly across his chest, and her limp body remained tucked securely upon his. He smoothed a hand over her silky hair.
He’d been somewhat eased by having Ivy safe and in his arms, but even she could not banish the trouble in his hearts—because she was in danger. The threat to his life mattered only in that it was an equal threat to hers.
Through the night, he’d considered the situation. He’d struggled to explore every possible solution, to find some way to make it all work out without giving up everything he’d ever known—or rather what little he had left. Ultimately, it had become a matter of weighing all those things against each other.
Ivy won out. He’d known it even before he’d thought about any of it, had known she would always be his first choice. He cared immensely for his sister and friends, but Ivy—sweet, fragile, compassionate Ivy—was his mate. She was his everything. She came before all else.
There was but one thing to do. Ketahn only hoped it wouldn’t be too late, that they hadn’t already run out of time.
With a sleepy hum, Ivy stirred. She breathed in deep and stretched, the hand resting upon Ketahn’s chest sliding up to wrap around the back of his neck as she extended her legs down on either side of him. Releasing that breath in a sigh, she relaxed and caught the strands of his hair in her fingers, idly twirling them.
Her movements, however small, reminded him of her bare, warm skin against his hide, of her softness, of her comforting weight. None of that had been enough to lull him to sleep last night, but he doubted he’d ever sleep again without Ivy whether she was lying atop him or merely in his arms.
Since he’d claimed her, she’d taken to sleeping without clothing, bundling up upon him beneath a large blanket to share warmth during the colder nights. Without that, without her, something would always feel absent. Some piece of him would forever be missing.
Ketahn glided his hand down her back, sliding the blanket down along with it. The rasp of his rough palm across her skin was more welcome than all the jungle’s music.
Despite the heaviness of his thoughts, despite his weariness, despite everything, Ketahn’s stem stirred behind his slit. He covered her rounded backside with his palm and pressed her firmly against him.
Ivy’s breath hitched. Her fist closed on his hair, and she drew her knees up, opening her thighs wider in invitation. “Mmm… Morning.”
Ketahn drew in a deep breath. The air was already thickening with the scent of her desire, which was perfectly complemented by the rain smell that had filled the den through the night. His blood heated, his claspers curled around her hips, and his stem strained against his slit.
Resisting the urge to mate with her—resisting her—would not be easy. He wanted more than anything to sink into her hot, wet depths, to lose himself in her embrace, in their mating.
But each new drop of rain hitting the top of the den was another moment lost, never to be reclaimed. Another moment for the queen and her Claws to search for him.
He forced his claspers to withdraw from her and shifted his lower hands to her hips, pressing her even more firmly to his pelvis in the hope that it would keep him from spilling forth. All it did was coat his slit in her essence. A shudder wracked him.
Ivy lifted her head and met his gaze. His eyes must have revealed his turmoil because she frowned and scrunched her brow. Releasing his hair, she flattened her hands on his chest and sat up. Her long, pale golden hair tumbled over her shoulders. Ketahn’s eyes dipped to her breasts, lingering on her pink nipples, then trekked farther down her belly to the small patch of hair and her slit—which already glistened with dew.
His fingers flexed on her hips. To resist the urge to cup her breasts, to stroke her nipples and watch them harden, he settled his upper hands upon her thighs.
“I’m your mate,” Ivy said, calling his attention back to her face. Taking hold of his upper hands with both of hers, she removed them from her thighs and brought them to her breasts. “Take comfort in me, Ketahn. Use me. Let me be what you need.”
Her words, spoken so gently, smashed down the final barriers of his resistance, and his desire burst free like the torrential rain of a sudden storm. His thoughts and concerns were swept away, leaving only his burning need for his mate, his Ivy. His heartsthread.
His upper hands kneaded the tender flesh of her breasts as he lifted her with his lower hands, which remained clamped on her hips. The instant she was up, his stem tore free of his slit, throbbing with the frantic rhythm of his hearts and slick with secretions. He groaned.
As his need flared, he saw it reflected in Ivy’s eyes, their blue now fierce and passionate. Consuming. And he longed to be consumed.
Ketahn slowly lowered Ivy until the tip of his stem pushed inside her; then he pulled her down fast, burying himself in her tight, hot depths. Clutching his wrists, she threw her head back with a gasp. He hissed at the overwhelming pleasure of being inside her. It was unlike anything else. Her body welcomed him—her soft flesh clamped around him, quivering and drawing him deeper as her weight sank fully upon him. His claspers hooked around her thighs and strengthened their hold, pushing him in farther still.
It was bliss and punishment. The pressure in his stem would unmake him, would be his doom, but the pleasure was worth it. He longed to remain this way forever, to remain inside her, to keep their bodies joined as tightly as their heartsthreads were woven, and yet he craved more.
With a low growl, he dropped his gaze to the where their bodies were connected. She was stretched around him, and that tiny nub that brought her so much pleasure was clearly visible, beckoning him, begging his touch. Her dew mingled with his slick, covering his slit and glistening upon her thighs. Soon enough, it would be joined by his seed. He would fill her until she could take no more—and then he would give more all the same.
He braced his forelegs under her knees and forced her legs wider. The brush of his fine hairs against her skin gave him a fresh taste of her, of her sweet flavor and enticing scent, and sparked the frenzy within him. His chest rumbled with an anticipatory trill.
As he lifted her body, creating a wave of pleasure that coursed along his stem and straight to his core, Ivy released a soft moan and raised her head.
Their gazes met.
Whatever they exchanged in that instant was beyond words—it was not for his waking mind to know. Because some part of him, mysterious and instinctual, understood what was between them. Some part of him sensed the impossible strength and breadth of their bond. And that bond was all that mattered.
He slammed her down onto his stem. She moaned again, sex clenching and body curling forward, and threw her hands against his chest to rake his hide with her blunt nails. Ketahn growled and lifted her again, hammering her onto him with increasing speed and desperation. Fire swirled in his blood and flooded his loins as all his rage, frustration, and fear was burned into passion and desire.
One of his hands moved up to catch a fistful of her hair, and he tugged her head back, baring her neck. He dipped his head to trail his tongue along one side of her neck, greedily lapping the salty-sweet sweat from her skin, while the tip of his mandible fang grazed the other side.
Ivy shuddered. It rippled into him, drawing a raw growl from his throat.
“Ketahn,” she breathed. “Don’t stop. Oh please, don’t stop.”
“Never,” he rasped.
He quickened his pace, his breaths ragged and snarling and Ivy’s moans high-pitched and fevered as they raced to their peaks, their bodies moving in frantic but fluid desperation. Each time his pleasure seemed to reach is limits, he growled and pushed harder, faster, clawing for ever more—and Ivy did the same.
Ketahn’s release came like a lightning strike, and it drew out like rolling thunder as he roared her name. Ivy came at the same instant, her whole body tensing around him, and her nails pressing hard enough to spark tiny pricks of delicious pain on his chest.
She cried out and collapsed upon him, writhing as her sex clutched his shaft mercilessly. His stem unfurled within her and thrummed, pumping his seed into her, coaxing her core to accept what it was given. He wrapped his upper arms around her and clamped both lower hands on her backside, pressing her firmly onto his pelvis to keep himself buried as deep inside her as possible.
Even with him holding her still, the quivering of Ivy’s inner walls was more than enough to draw out more of his seed, to draw everything out of him.
He tipped his head back against the wall and closed his eyes, relishing the small movements of their bodies and the immense pleasure they created. He said her name again in a long, low rumble, letting it—letting her—devour his senses utterly as he drifted on the current of euphoria.
When the overpowering rush of ecstasy eased, and his Ivy lay limp and panting upon his chest, Ketahn purred and brushed his face over her hair, breathing in her scent. It was stronger and sweeter now, mixed with his own to create the fragrance that embodied their bond.
But as much as he longed to savor this moment with his mate, the fading pleasure quickly succumbed to the harshness of reality. He’d eluded his troubles for a short while, but they had not been resolved. The situation remained unchanged.
Memories flashed through his mind’s eye. Takarahl and the queen; the pit with its crashed ship; the Tangle and the battles he’d fought years before; all the blood he had shed. The images crashed over him like cold water poured onto a dying fire.
Lifting his head, he opened his eyes to look down at his mate. Ivy’s cheek was upon his chest, her lips parted as her rapid breaths flowed over his hide, and her thick, dark lashes were resting on her cheeks. The meager light was enough to make strands of her tousled hair shine a brilliant gold. She was as beautiful as always—even more so with each passing moment.
More than anything in Ketahn’s world, she was worth protecting. At any cost.
“We must leave, my heartsthread,” he said.
She hummed and wrapped her arms around him, rubbing her cheek against his hide. “We can gather food and water later. I like where I am.” As though to prove her words, she ground her sex against his slit and took his stem deeper still.
Ketahn tensed, releasing an involuntary trill as his mandibles spread. He still could not understand how such a seemingly insignificant motion could rouse such sensation—not that he would complain about it. But it was no longer the time for such pleasures.
He forced firmness into his voice. “We need to leave the den, Ivy.”
She raised her head and looked at him. Her hair was disheveled, her cheeks were flushed, and there was a small crease between her eyebrows. “What do you mean?”
“The Prime Claw will not be the last to search for me. This part of the jungle is no longer safe.”
“You said no one knows where your den is but your sister.”
“There are signs all around that will lead them here if they look. In time, they will find this place. We cannot remain here.”
With a frown, she placed her palms upon his chest and pushed herself up, making him ease his hold on her. “What about the others? The humans?”
Ketahn’s mandibles twitched, and his fingers tensed with the instinct to draw her close again. He only barely resisted. “They must be left to their slumber.”
Ivy stared at him, silent, but Ketahn saw the change in her eyes, saw the passion they’d shared only moments before hardening. She shoved against his chest and lifted herself. His seed spilled from her, dripping down her thighs and his stem to pool around his parted slit. She winced, but that didn’t deter her as she climbed off him, snatched up the silk blanket, and drew it around her as though putting a barrier between them.
His hide felt immediately cold in her absence, and he found himself fighting a new urge to tear the blanket off and throw it out of the den. He wanted nothing between him and his mate.
“No,” she said with just as much firmness as he had used—if not more.
His claspers drew in against his pelvis, and his stem retreated into the shelter of his slit. Flattening his hands on the floor and the wall behind him, Ketahn righted himself, moving his legs to the sides and rising to stand over Ivy. “This is not to be argued, female.”
She tilted her head back and locked her eyes with his. “It needs to be argued, Ketahn. We can’t just leave them there to die.”
“I cannot keep you and seven more humans safe, Ivy,” he growled, thrusting his arms to the sides. “With two, the jungle is bountiful. With nine it will be unforgiving.”
“And how many do you feed when you bring meat to your people?”
“It is not merely a matter of food. Clothing, shelter, tools—”
“All of which they can work for!” Ivy brought her hands to her face, covering it as she took in several deep, measured breaths. When she lowered her hands and spoke again, she did so calmly. “Humans are not useless. We can hunt, fish, build, and survive. We learn quickly. We adapt. We are different from you, physically weaker than you, but we endure, Ketahn. And they are people. My people. You can’t expect me to move on and carry the guilt of leaving them behind when there’s a chance to save them.”
Water was gathering in her eyes as she spoke, sharpening the emotion already filling them. Ketahn felt his heartsthread pull taut.
“So let the guilt be mine,” he said tightly, raising a hand to smooth down her hair. “I would rather that than the guilt of failing to keep my mate safe.”
“That’s not how it works, Ketahn. You know that’s not how it works.”
He dipped his hand to her cheek and brushed the pad of his thumb across her soft skin, trying to ignore the strengthening constriction in his chest.
Ivy grasped his wrist, turned her face, and pressed a kiss to his palm before looking back up at him. “I’m not asking you to choose between taking care of me or them. I’m…I’m asking you to just…give them a chance. Please? Thousands of the people on that ship have already died. These ones survived. Like me. They deserve a chance at life, even if it’s not the one they sought.”
All he could do was stare into Ivy’s eyes as her words sank into him. If the Eight had led him to that pit, if they had led him to find her—if they had put her there to begin with, knowing that Ketahn would one day come across her—then was it not possible that the other living humans were there for a reason, also? Ivy had been destined to be Ketahn’s mate. Believing that surely meant the other humans had some greater purpose.
If she had survived a journey across the stars, across a distance far beyond Ketahn’s ability to measure or comprehend, to arrive here in the Tangle for him…the other humans also had destinies awaiting them.
But it was so much. Too much. The risks of taking on seven more humans, seven more people who would require food, shelter, and teaching, who would be noisy and clumsy and, potentially, lack all of Ivy’s kindness and compassion, were immense.
She squeezed his wrist. “If we leave them, they will die. Once the power runs out on the ship, that’s it. The cryochambers will fail. They’ll just be gone.” Her eyes searched his. “Could you leave your people behind if you knew they’d die?”
That question was like a blow to his hearts. He clamped his jaw shut, mandibles drawing together, and lowered his head to tip his headcrest against her forehead. He could not lie to her. He could not pretend that he wouldn’t ultimately make the same choice she wanted him to make if their roles were reversed.
“I could not,” he rasped.
Ivy settled a hand upon his chest over his hearts. “Then please, Ketahn, just give them a chance.”
There would be no denying her—Ketahn’s ability to do so had passed and would never again present itself. But how was he to fulfill her wishes in this? How, while the Queen’s Claw would be searching for him, while he could not go to Takarahl for supplies?
He needed time to prepare, and that was not available in any abundance.
Ketahn slipped his fingers into her hair, cupping the back of her head. “I…must think on this, my heartsthread.”
“Thank you.” Lifting her face, she pressed her lips to the seam of his mouth.
A kiss. A sweet human kiss. He relished it for its simplicity, its intimacy, for the passion it sparked, and found himself wishing he had lips so he could return his mate’s kisses properly. He satisfied himself by wrapping his arms around her and drawing her close.
Something struck the outside of the den with a heavy thump. Ketahn released Ivy immediately, whipping around to face the entrance even as he spread his arms and forelegs to shield her. His hearts raced, but his mind was clear—protecting Ivy was all that mattered, and he would not lose of focus on it.
“What was that?” she whispered.
“A falling branch, perhaps,” he replied, though he knew that was wrong the moment he said it.
The sound repeated, this time striking a different part of the den—the underside. He felt the faint vibrations of the impact through his legs. Not a branch, but a rock.
Only one creature in the Tangle would throw rocks at his den.
“We are not alone, my nyleea.”