Page 16 of Pleasured by the Panther (The Monstrum Kindred)

KORRATH

Thryxis’s words echoed in Korrath’s head long after they left the workshop.

Her heat is rising, Korrath . You smell it, as I do. I can tell she’s been among the pleasure blossoms—they left their mark on her—her scent burns with it. If you did not cleanse her properly, their secretions will sink deeper, quickening her Second Heat .

Korrath’s jaw tightened as he guided Miranda toward the Transport Hub .

He had smelled it too—the heady sweetness of her arousal growing thicker in the air around her.

The way she had winced when Thryxis’s measuring tape brushed her breasts…

the restless shifting of her thighs. She might not know it herself, but her body was changing, the rhythm of her desire quickening.

And it was his fault.

He had urged her to surrender to the blossoms, to open herself to their touch. He had wanted to see her undone…to hear her moans…to watch her take pleasure with abandon. But now she bore the price of his selfishness.

The only way to ease her discomfort is to cleanse her, Thryxis had reminded him, all five eyes glowing with calm certainty. You must lick and suck the secretions from her nipples… and from her sex. Only then will the fire ease.

Korrath’s claws flexed involuntarily. The thought of putting his mouth on her…of tasting her sweetness…of soothing her ache with his tongue—he wanted it with every dark, hungry part of himself. His shaft ached at the very idea.

But what would she say?

She was shy still—uncertain—clinging to old human ideas of modesty and shame. Would she think him a brute if he told her the truth? Would she recoil if he admitted that to ease her heat, he must put his mouth to her tender peaks… and between her thighs?

He wanted her trust more than he wanted his next breath. And yet, if he waited too long, her discomfort would only grow worse.

Korrath’s purr rumbled low in his chest, half frustration/half longing.

Soon, he told himself grimly. He would have to find the courage to tell her soon.

For her sake. And , if he was honest, for his own.