Page 29 of The Delver (The Vrix #2)

Sharp, painful cramping and gnawing, nausea-inducing hollowness pulled Callie abruptly from her dreams.

Hunger.

Rude as hell.

She squeezed her eyes tighter shut and scrunched her nose, burying her face against Urkot’s chest.

Callie didn’t want to get up, didn’t want to move while she was so cozily cradled in Urkot’s arms. She was warm, and this was exactly where she wanted to be.

Yet other discomforts were making themselves known now that she was awake.

The insistent fullness of her bladder, the dull aches she’d collected since the cave-in, the faint sting on her shoulder where Urkot had bitten her.

Far more pleasant than all that was the soreness between her thighs, where Urkot had so deliciously stretched her.

Callie grinned. She’d never felt so full, had never experienced so much pleasure in her life.

My spider man used my pussy gooooood.

Why had she waited so long? She could’ve been having mind blowing sex this whole time. It was no wonder Ivy and Ahmya always had such dreamy looks on their faces.

Drawing in a deep breath, she took in both Urkot’s scent and the musky scent of sex that clung to them both. Warmth spread across her face; her body was covered in cum.

I’m thoroughly in need of a wash.

But that could wait just a little longer. She was content right here, and she didn’t want this moment to end just yet.

Turning her head to rest her cheek upon him, she smoothed her palm over his chest and down his side until her fingers met the mangled scar where his lower left arm had once been. Her heart squeezed.

She’d heard the tale of how Urkot had lost his arm when they’d first met Garahk and the thornskulls. Though the thornskulls and shadowstalkers had been enemies when the story had occurred, Garahk had spoken with great respect for Urkot’s prowess.

Urkot had been the last shadowstalker standing against a huge, dangerous female warrior who had killed many of his companions before facing him.

And Callie knew neither Garahk’s story nor Urkot’s humbler, more grounded account had done justice to the pain and trauma he’d endured during that encounter.

The female warrior had, with her bare hands and raw, unfathomable strength, torn Urkot’s whole arm off. And he, having already suffered a blow to the head that likely should’ve killed him, had picked up the limb and used it to bludgeon his enemy to death.

When she’d first heard the story, Callie had called it crazy. She regretted those words.

There’d been nothing crazy about what Urkot had done. He’d been placed in a horrible, desperate situation, and he had done everything he could, had pushed beyond all limits, to protect his surviving companions from a terrifying threat. He had faced his own death to help others.

Maybe he didn’t see the heroism in that, but it was undeniable. And the price he’d paid…

She couldn’t imagine the suffering he’d endured. He’d mentioned himself that he had expected to die in that swamp. Though he’d lived, she didn’t doubt that the injury had changed his life forever.

And yet she’d never once heard him complain. She’d never once heard him bemoan his situation. In fact, he’d openly joked about it, teasing the humans by pointing out that three arms was still more than they had.

Urkot was a rock for his dependability, his endurance, his steadiness, his toughness. But he was all that while being so gentle and uplifting. Though his scar undoubtedly carried deep trauma, he’d made it into something more—a symbol of the supportive, caring, selfless person he was.

Lightly, Callie caressed the rough scar.

He tensed beneath her, drawing in a heavy breath, and his arms tightened around her.

“You said you still feel it sometimes,” she said softly. “Does that mean you still feel the pain?”

“Sometimes,” he rumbled. “But it is…big far away. You know my words?”

Callie pressed her hand atop the large scar, wishing she could soothe it. “I do.”

“I know I am not…whole, Callie. That I am less, but?—”

“Stop right there,” she snapped, lifting her head to glare down at him. “There is nothing wrong with you. You’re not lesser or incomplete. You’re Urkot. You’re strong, brave, compassionate, funny, and sexy as all fuck. So don’t you dare put yourself down like that, or insult me by?—”

Urkot pressed his finger to her mouth, silencing her. “I am sexy?”

Callie huffed and rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t help smiling. “Of course you’d lock in on that.” Flattening her palms on his chest, she drew herself up his body and pressed a kiss to his hard mouth. “Yes, you are. Even though you’re a spider.”

He chittered and shifted his upper arms down, palming her ass cheeks with both hands. His eyes dipped to her chest, where her breasts hung heavy upon him. “You are sexy too. Much sexy.”

Pleasure whispered through her at his touch. His fingers were so, so close to her pussy as he teased her flesh, and the force with which he kneaded her ass ground her clit against his hard abdomen.

She moaned, digging her fingers into his hide as her hips instinctively undulated, her body seeking more of that pleasure. “Urkot…”

Her belly emitted a loud, rolling growl.

Callie and Urkot froze, his hands clutching her ass. His eight bright eyes flicked up to hers.

“Eh, heh heh,” she laughed awkwardly. “Terrible timing, but I’m kind of starving.”

“Shaper, unmake me,” he snarled.

Callie’s eyes widened as he grasped her hips, lifted her off him, and rolled, getting his legs beneath him.

“Should have hunted,” he muttered as he set her on her feet and pulled away. “Should have found food.”

A gush of liquid spilled from her sex, running down her inner thighs and calves. Callie gasped and clutched her legs together, pressing a fist to her pelvis.

What the fuck?

Oh, no, no, no. Had she just peed herself?

No, it wasn’t pee. That uncomfortable pressure remained in her bladder. This was something else. This was…

His cum.

Well, what did you expect after all the times he came inside you while you were stuck on his knot?

She shot a panicked look at Urkot, but he was already moving to the blanket hanging from the ceiling. His blue markings glowed in the crystals’ light.

Urkot continued muttering to himself, lapsing into his native language. She was only able to pick out pieces of what he said—something about failing, about not thinking. He yanked down the blanket, head swiveling as though searching the vegetation nearby for something edible.

“Um, Urkot?”

“Damn my eyes.”

“Urkot?”

He stepped out of the grotto onto the small ledge and surveyed the cavern, balling his fists with the blanket caught in his upper right hand, muscles flexing beneath his hide.

Sighing, Callie waddled to her bag, cringing as more seed seeped from her. Her feet left wet tracks across the floor.

There’s no stopping it, Callie. Might as well accept it for what it is.

With a groan, she crouched and grabbed her bag, trying to ignore the liquid splattering beneath her. She rummaged through the bag until she found the large leaf-bound bundles at the bottom, drawing out two.

Her face was aflame when she rose and strode to Urkot, thrusting one of the bundles in front of his face. “Ta-da!”

He started before snapping his gaze to her. Silently, he took the offering, loosened the binding, and peeled back the leaves to reveal thick strips of dried meat inside. His mandibles twitched up and sank. Grasping her wrist, he placed the leaf-wrapped food atop her palm. “You eat.”

She held up the other bundle. “I have more. You eat this one.”

Urkot shook his head. “This food is for you.”

“But there’s?—”

He caught her chin in a firm grip. “No, Callie. This food is safe for you. But when it is gone because I ate it, what will you have? We cannot cook meat here, and you do not want worms. This must be yours.”

“I would eat worms if I had to,” she grumbled, inwardly shuddering at the thought.

“If I eat this meat, you will have to eat worms in much small time.”

“Ugh, fiiiiine.”

He leaned down and pressed his face against her neck, nuzzling it and scraping her skin with his mouth. Callie chuckled, warmth spreading through her at his playfulness. He drew in a deep breath.

“You smell good.” A low purr rumbled in his chest, and his tongue ran over the tender bite marks on her shoulder. “If I get too hungry, I will eat you.”

“Stop!” Laughing, Callie nudged him away with her elbow. “I probably stink. I’m covered in your cum.”

His mandibles rose high, and his eyes narrowed in delight. “Our smell is the most good smell.”

“Enjoy it for now, because it’ll be getting washed off soon.”

“I will cover you in my seed again.”

Callie’s core clenched at the thought of his cock filling her once more. She wanted to repeat what they’d shared again, and again, and again.

Of course, it would’ve been a lot nicer to experience it in the safety of Kaldarak rather than being trapped down here.

Stepping closer to him, Callie rose on her toes and kissed the underside of his jaw. “I’ll hold you to that. Now go get yourself food.”

Just as she was about to step away, he banded an arm around her middle and drew her against him. With her bare breasts squished to his chest, and his lower right hand clutching her ass, he dropped his mouth to hers in a rough kiss.

And Callie parted her lips, sweeping her tongue along the crease of his mouth, coaxing it open and inviting a much deeper, more intimate kiss. For a vrix who had never kissed before, he’d learned fast, letting his tongue twine around and stroke hers.

It ended too swiftly as he released her and stepped back, his legs thumping on the ground. He shook his head, and in a gruff voice, he said, “Eat.”

She chuckled as her gaze dropped to see the bulge of his slit, kept shut by the claspers pinching it closed.

He wanted her. Badly.

She’d never known what it felt like to be so wanted until him.

Truly, unequivocally wanted. She felt it each time Urkot looked at her, his eyes burning with fierce yearning.

It was as though he needed her more than he needed food, water, or air.

As though she was the missing piece that made him whole.

You feel it too, don’t you?

Heart in her throat, Callie watched as Urkot tossed the blanket into the grotto, climbed down the ledge, and entered the water below.

I do.

Rushing to the edge, she peered down at him and hurriedly said, “Be careful.”

He offered her a vrix smile. “Nothing will keep me from you.”

Ah, fuck. I’m such a goner for this vrix.

As he dove beneath the water’s surface, Callie wandered back into the grotto, setting the dried meat down and digging through her bag until she found a spare piece of still-wet silk. She had other business to take care of before fulfilling her hunger.

Once she’d finished squatting in the back and emptying her bladder, nearly crying at the indignity of it all, she cleaned herself up and returned to her belongings.

Strangely enough, Urkot’s cum hadn’t crusted on her skin like she would’ve expected.

Instead, it seemed to have acted like a moisturizer.

She snickered as she brushed her fingers over her belly. “Wonder what Lacey would say to that little tidbit.”

Callie doubted her friend would be bottling up vrix cum and giving it out as lotion.

God, I’d love to see Telok’s reaction to that request.

Snatching up the leaf bundle Urkot had untied, she drew back the leaves as she settled cross-legged upon the fluffed silk bed. She’d finished an entire strip of meat and had taken a bite out of the second when she heard splashing near the ledge.

She tensed, only now realizing that her knife—the only thing she had to use as a weapon—was buried in her bag, out of reach.

Fortunately, it was a vrix with black hide and blue markings who climbed up onto the ledge a moment later and not one of those freaky ass spiritstriders.

Water ran from Urkot in rivulets, catching and reflecting the cavern’s light, as he stood upright. He used his upper hands to wipe excess moisture from his face and chest. A pair of long, pale fish dangled from his lower hand, his fingers hooked in their gaping mouths.

Callie smiled. “Success!”

He held the fish higher. “You want?”

“Not unless you can cook it. They’re all yours.” She bit down on the dry meat and tore off a chunk, drawing it into her mouth. Her jaw ached as she chewed the tough meat.

Chittering, Urkot eased himself down onto the ground beside her and ate. It felt so normal, so mundane, that for a little while, she almost forgot they were trapped in a seemingly endless cave system.