Jasmine was in awe of the spectacle that greeted her upon entering the large clearing in the forest. Kujhade was still leading the way. The trail they had followed had wound upwards, and had ended on a small hillock. It gave Jasmine an excellent view. Just below them a stage was set. A large square of packed dirt, was lined on the left and right sides with tall torches. On the left of the square, an old yautja crouched with age and wearing a large headdress, was going down the line and marking each seated male with what appeared to be paint or something similar. The males waited patiently until the elder was done. The elder turned around, and to Jasmine's surprise it was a female; an old crone from the way her pendulous breasts hung low. She was leaned heavily on a tall, gnarled wooden staff, as she made her way ponderously to the front of the square. Rows and rows of yautja both male and female sat in a wide semi-circle as if they were all in a theatre preparing to watch a show. Raising her long thin talons, the elder said something that Jasmine did not quite hear, but a rather large group of females got to their feet and stood a little closer to the makeshift stage. Kujhade led her a bit further down the small hillock to a fallen log where he took a seat, and motioned her to do the same. The old crone spoke to the females in a way that seemed motherly, as if she were giving them some advice. In response, the females clicked loudly in unison.
Suddenly, the males in the gathered crowd stood to their feet and began a slow rhythmic stomp, punctuated every so many beats with a pound of their fist to their chests. Jasmine stared in stunned silence as Kujhade joined in. Jasmine looked around to find that the only ones seated were females. One such female was sitting a few yards away. She happened to turn and spot Jasmine. A brief look of shock passed over her features before she openly snarled at the intruding human, and turned back around. Jasmine got up but instead of standing up, she crawled to the outskirts of the crowd to get a better look at what was happening on stage. What she saw not only shocked her, but impressed her very much. When the other males in the gathering began to stomp, one of the males near the stage stood up. He grabbed something from behind him and then ceremoniously placed it at the front of the stage area. He took a couple of steps back, and produced his spear. The marks that the elder had given him seemed to highlight scars and wounds, and now that he was in the light, Jasmine could see that the paint was a bright green. Perhaps it represented their blood? In any case, Jasmine stared at the scene. The male began to expertly twirl his spear. It wasn't quite a dance. It was more of an exaggerated fight sequence. He exhibited great skill with the weapon, and it seemed to Jasmine that he was in some way demonstrating his martial art. As he went on, the beat picked up the pace and so did the male. The beat reached a fever pitch, as the male suddenly leaped into the air and came down, spear point first, to the ground and struck a stance. The females reacted with loud clicks of approval, and the male stood up straight. He roared and pointed towards the paint which confirmed to Jasmine that it represented his wounds. He was showing them off proudly, and whatever he had killed had made lots of wounds across his abdomen and back. Once he was done, the males in the audience slowed the cadence of the beat. Three females stepped forward and touched the skull sitting at the front of the stage. The male stood proud as he moved towards the females and collected his trophy. He handed it reverently to the old crone who in turn placed it on an alter like table off to the side. The male then headed off into the darkness of the surrounding forest with the three females in tow.
The next male in line got up, and the process repeated itself again. This time he did not produce a skull, but instead was wearing the pelt of the beast he'd killed. The pelt was covered in an iridescent shimmer that wasn't fur. It seemed to be the actual skin, and the gruesome head and face of the creature sat atop the hunter's head. It was as if he'd found an old bearskin rug with the head attached, and decided to wear it like a costume. It must have been an impressive kill, because several of the young females came right to the edge of the stage before he even began to demonstrate his technique. Casting the pelt to the ground gently, the young male produced his wrist blades and showed off how he'd made his kill. As with the first, the cadence of the music reached critical mass as the young male performed the killing blow and the females went wild. Four more females joined the three already at the front, and they waited impatiently as he led them off to wherever they were going.
This scene repeated with only small variances until all the young males had put on their show. A few other yautja came to collect the trophies presumably for safekeeping somewhere else. Jasmine continued to watch as the old crone made one more announcement.
"The mating season has begun," her voice, strong but ancient boomed loud enough to shush the still cheering, hooting crowd.
"May Paya bless your coupling with strong pups to carry on our race, and our legacy!" She exclaimed, and the clamor of the crowd erupted again. She made her way off the stage into the darkness, and the crowd began to mill about among each other.
Standing now, Jasmine went back over to Kujhade who had been watching her reaction the whole time.
"Why didn't everybody do a show Jhade?" She asked in a hushed tone, not sure why she thought it proper to whisper it.
"That is for the younger males. By making exceptional kills, they have earned the right to woo females without competing with the older and more experienced males here. Otherwise, they must not only convince a female to mate, but possibly answer the challenge of an older male for her attentions. It can get complicated, and on rare occasion deadly," he said, grinning a little as she computed what she'd heard.
"So what about the other young males?" She asked.
"They have to fight for their right to mate. They either have to subdue the female, or also challenge a male for her first. Some will leave here tonight without having a chance to mate at all," he said, grabbing her around the waist as he sat back down on the log. She straddled him, and his hands took over from there. It was quite distracting.
"That doesn't seem fair. The young bucks need to be able to get their freak on too," Jasmine chuckled. Kujhade seemed not to be paying attention to anything but her breasts which were now in the palm of each of his hands. He had reached under her ornate breastplate to get to them.
"It's the essence of fair. If you are strong enough to mate, you mate. If not, you don't mate. Try again next cycle," he said, his speech slurring a little. He was really concentrating on her breasts which he was kneading harder and harder.
Jasmine was trying to focus on him, but her attention was drawn to a sudden outburst which Kujhade either didn't hear (she doubted that highly), or wasn't worried about. Just a few yards away a male and a female seemed to square off. They were both completely naked. The male seemed older, and the female seemed on the younger side, but she was fiery. Jasmine had never paid too much attention to Lijia or even Dteinou, but now she was staring at the female and making mental comparison between the yautja and herself. Like the males, from the neck down the females were built as if an artist had carved them from the finest stone. She was tall and muscular but not too much. Her breasts sat high and firm, and were huge as well. Her washboard abs led down to thick well-muscled thighs and calves. Her buttocks were perfectly round, and even her sex was visible in the bright moonlight. It looked just like a human more or less, but much larger. The young female was taller as seemed the norm, and the male although older, seemed to be trying to figure out just how to subdue her without getting hurt.
Realizing that Jasmine had never actually witnessed full blown mating between two of his own kind, Kujhade was content to let her watch. He kept his hands roaming all over her body. Jasmine watched closely as the male came forward, slightly crouched, hands up defensively. He was careful not to splay his mandibles or make any sign of real aggression. It was the female who was being extra aggressive, growling and hissing at him, but not turning away or dismissing him either. He inched forward cautiously like he was approaching a wild ferocious animal who would attack him at any time. Jasmine smiled at such an appropriate image. He rumbled a very low purr, one that Jasmine could barely hear but not due to volume. The frequency was at the edge of her human capability to hear. The young female shook her head a bit in temporary confusion, and that's when the male struck. With a grunt, he launched himself towards her, roughly grabbing her tendrils and spinning her around so that her back was to him. He took a knee and hit her on the back of her thigh in quick succession until her leg buckled. She flailed wildly but was hindered by the death grip he had on her hair. Now down on one knee, he released her hair and grabbed her by the back of her neck forcing her face down into the dirt hard. She was breathing hard. It was erratic and labored; too labored for what had just happened. He gave two or three quick grunts, and then penetrated her right there in plain view. A loud rumbling purr filled the air around them, and at first Jasmine thought it was the male, but the glazed over look on the female's face told a different story. Long trails of drool were running from her tusks to the ground, and she looked as if she were simultaneously in excruciating pain, and about to have the most mind shattering orgasm ever. The male meanwhile was pounding away furiously behind her. It was rough, fast-paced, and very straight to the point.
Jasmine thought she might have on some level been disgusted by it, but that wasn't the case. Quite the opposite, the sight made her unexpectedly horny. She turned around to see Kujhade watching the scene as well, and apparently, it had the same effect judging by the raging hard-on she felt pressing her inner thigh. Suddenly, she became a little nervous. This was happening. She was expected to have sex with him for the whole world to see, and the worst part was that she'd initiated it. What exactly did she expect out of a mating ritual? She cursed herself for also being turned on by this very fact, and so decided to focus her attention on Kujhade exclusively.
She leaned in to kiss him, while his hands went immediately to her core which he found hot and waiting. She circled her hips and licked down his neck to his collarbone. He purred as she grabbed two handfuls of his corded hair and pulled lightly. His eyes were closed and lost in the sensations and anticipation of mating, when there was suddenly a whoosh of warm air in his lap where Jasmine had been a moment before.
"What the FUCK?!" He heard Jasmine cry out angrily as he shook his head to clear the lusty cobwebs.
Jasmine found herself hauled out of Kujhade's lap, and slammed onto the ground by her hair. She was already pissed that a challenge had been issued in the first place, but snatching her away right when she was about to get some amazing mating ritual sex, was adding serious insult to injury. She made it to her feet in a huff, dagger in hand. R'ka gave her a quick once over, then dismissed her, turning her attention towards a still seated Kujhade.
"Hey bitch! Who the fuck do you think you are coming over here fucking up my shit?!" Jasmine demanded, marching up to R'ka with the intention of cutting her, but R'ka wheeled around on her and backhanded her hard across the face. Jasmine flew a couple of feet back, but managed to land on her feet in a crouch, rather than sprawled out on the ground.
"R'ka!" Jasmine heard Kujhade say, but she couldn't wait on him to retaliate. She was being humiliated in front of everyone, and only she could put a stop to it. Jasmine had jumped up ready to fight, but found that R'ka was now standing over Kujhade, who was rising slowly to his feet. The big female had waltzed over with bare breasts, and her lower cloth clutched in her talons. Her mating musk clung heavily around her, and was more pungent than any male's Jasmine had ever smelled. Inwardly, Jasmine smiled to herself. No wonder Kujhade – and Mar'cte if she was being honest – had always commented on how sweet her sexual scent was. Not to mention, that just before Jasmine made her move, she noticed that R'ka was visibly wet and was literally dripping. The bitch had come ready.
Jasmine took a quick running leap and landed on R'ka's back, grabbed two fistfuls of her tendrils, and yanked back hard. R'ka roared, spinning around and trying to throw Jasmine from her back. She reached back and managed to smack the small human in the head, but Jasmine held on anyway, screaming guttural cries and seemingly trying to pull the dreadlocks free.
Now that she was on R'ka's back with her hands buried in her locks, Jasmine wondered just what the hell she was going to do now. Mating ritual challenges weren't supposed to be deadly, but this was also a very sensitive area of any yautja's body and an attack on it warranted death in most cases. This was probably no different, and Jasmine knew that.
While she was trying to decide what to do, she found herself riding the world's angriest bull. R'ka stopped flailing, and had started charging towards the tree line. The lightbulb came to life over Jasmine's head as she realized she was going to be ooman mush as soon as R'ka reached a tree. Quickly, Jasmine leaped from her back mere seconds before impact. The tall tree shook violently under the force of R'ka's charge. The big female turned on a dime, shook her head clear, and prepared for another bull's rush. Jasmine got ready to sidestep but almost didn't make it despite seeing it coming. She cartwheeled to her left and spun around just in time to dodge an elbow to the head. Like she'd learned before, Jasmine went inside, crouched and delivered a quick succession of punches to the ribs. R'ka grunted in surprise, then planted a knee to Jasmine's stomach, which doubled her over and brought her to her knees.
She didn't have time to collect herself before she felt a large hot hand on the back of her neck. She was yanked back, her head hitting the ground, and then felt incredible pressure on her abdomen. R'ka had pressed her down, with one hand all over the small human's face, and the other pinning one of Jasmine's arms down to her side.
"I could crush you like the lou-dte kale you are! You're nothing but prey, and I have no idea why he's with you, but you're nothing!" R'ka growled out. She then pushed Jasmine's face again, and maliciously squeezed, the threat to break her jaw or more likely her orbital bone, was very clear. She tried to struggle underneath her, but she couldn't move and could barely breathe.
"Now you're going to watch a real female mate him. You will watch and you will learn what it means to be inferior. You don't know your place. You think you are better than what you are, that you are one of us, but you will never be more than lowly prey, and you will understand this tonight," R'ka growled again. She moved her hand from Jasmine's face to her throat, and the look on her face was one of smug satisfaction.
Jasmine glanced at Kujhade, and the look on his face stirred a deep anger inside of her. He was sitting there watching her being subdued, watching her lose, like it was the fucking Super Bowl. Somewhere in the back of her woman's intuition she knew he wanted to screw R'ka, and that fueled her anger even more. It also awakened a dormant insecurity about not being enough 'woman' for him. They weren't monogamous as a species, and this was always in the back of her mind; now it was sitting prominently at the front. Jasmine tried to twist her lower body up in order to push R'ka off with her feet, but she then felt the sharp tip of talon against her throat. It stopped her cold. This wasn't Dteinou, and she wasn't going to be let up without being seriously injured.
A cruel realization reasserted itself inside of Jasmine's mind, completely unbidden, and her stomach turned in protest. She was no match, no matter how rigorously Dteinou had been training her, and no matter how much of their blood ran through her veins. Just then, a strong sense of possessiveness took over her mind and heart. How dare some female come out of the blue to challenge her for her own man? She is the one who had born children for him. She's the one who had to make the best of a horrible situation, and just make do. Hell, she'd done more than make do, she'd made a life. A real fucking life, and this bitch wasn't about to march in a take it away – even for a night – just because she simply felt more entitled. Jasmine had heard tales back on Earth, which has reached the level of an urban legend, about some people who had actually killed predators. It could be done, that was the important thing. Maybe it wouldn't be done by her on this night with this predator, but it could be.
R'ka laughed, threw Kujhade a lustful purr over her shoulder, then turned back towards Jasmine, still not allowing her to move. She tried to stop it, but a hot tear slid down her face and into her ear anyway. This all started out as spiteful without being deadly, but a vicious jealousy welled up inside of Jasmine. It sidled up alongside the insecurity, and the possessiveness, and the sneaking feeling that when it all came down to it, R'ka might have been right. It wasn't supposed to be serious. Jasmine had taken the challenge as a test of wills and nothing more. She'd thought that if she had simply shown that she was not to be easily intimidated, that it would be enough, but that wasn't so as she lay on the forest floor. There was some reason this female was so insistent on having sex with Kujhade. She would figure it out later, because right now it was all beside the point. Right now, this might turn ugly and as foolhardy as she knew her next move would be, Jasmine could no more help herself than a lion can restrain from capturing a gazelle.
Before she could talk herself out of it, Jasmine brought her free hand up with the dagger, and sliced off a few of R'ka's tendrils. They had been draping down on her face, and were the easiest and most sensitive targets near at hand. With a surprised roar, R'ka leaped to her feet, florescent blood dripping down her shoulder from the severed hair. In truth, it also shocked Jasmine. She knew it wasn't quite hair, but she didn't think it would bleed either. She scrambled to her feet, ready to go down in a fight to the death, because you didn't draw blood from one of these guys if you wanted to draw your next breath. True to form, there was only murderous intent in R'ka's eyes as she crouched slowly and spread her arms wide. This was a real challenge to the death being offered on the table now, and Jasmine found that she was ready to meet it tonight.
Jasmine crouched into a defensive stance, drew her blade, and readied herself for the attack, mentally picking her places where she could stick and move and hopefully live through the night. Just as she saw the big female's muscles bunch as if to leap her way, a booming purr cut through the other sounds of mating or fighting, and Kujhade stepped right into R'ka's face.
"This is enough, R'ka!" He said, and then resumed his powerful purr. The male who was mating earlier was now done, but had hung around to watch the encounter. He joined in with the purr, and it seemed to work after some time.
Jasmine watched in dumb and slightly annoyed awe, as both Kujhade and this other male positively fawned over R'ka. They were calming and soothing her, absently rubbing her tendrils of all things, and bringing their foreheads closer and closer to hers by turns. It was sickening. Here she was the aggressor, and now somehow she was the one needing to be consoled. Jasmine bent down to pick up a fallen leaf, and cleaned her dagger blade with it. She replaced it with a huff, watching just to see how long Kujhade was going to coddle little miss bitch over there.
"Kujhade!" Jasmine called sharply, but he failed to respond. R'ka was still trying to stare daggers her way, but the combined purring of both males had weakened her resolve almost completely. She was now seated on the ground with the other male.
"Kujhade!" Jasmine called again, and this time she was answered with an irritated and very impatient grunt.
That stung. It stung more than anything, and even though she knew that logically it was better for her own well-being that R'ka had been so sweetly subdued, it still bothered her that Kujhade had turned his full attention towards her.
"Stop coddling that ugly ass, stank ass bitch!" Jasmine shouted out, counteracting their purring.
Full blown mating ritual madness.
"Ki'cte, Jasmine!" Kujhade roared her way. If she had been a Saturday morning cartoon, steam would have been visibly pouring from her ears. Was he really shouting at her about this? Yes, yes he was and judging by the angry look on his face, he was dead serious. Unfortunately, mating ritual madness had gained a strong hold over Jasmine, and she was just getting revved up.
"M'di!" She shouted back in their language, and hadn't done too bad of a botch job on the pronunciation.
"She started it! She's a big girl. If she can march over here and start some shit with me, then she can go right ahead and finish it up! Let her go!" Jasmine said, screaming now and drawing attention from all those not currently in the throes of an orgasm.
Now it was Jasmine's turn to pace back and forth, eyes wild, heart hammering, adrenaline pumping, and oddly enough highly sexually aroused. Mating season indeed. Kujhade simply stared at her, aghast at what he was hearing. For one, she'd said 'no' in his language and it didn't sound too bad. Two, she was acting extremely aggressive but this was not conducive to her continued existence. Even though mating challenges were not meant to be deadly, they were always a hair's breadth of becoming so. This situation had exploded, and if he didn't get a handle on his mate, he would likely be raising two pups on his own. To his chagrin, R'ka had risen to her feet once again, the dull pain of her severed tendrils forgotten. Her reputation demanded her to complete the challenge she had so rudely issued in the first place. The fact that Jasmine, a human, had not immediately backed down did nothing to bolster R'ka's position of superiority.
R'ka tried to push past Kujhade, but he'd seen the look in her eyes, and he didn't budge. She gave him a dangerous glare.
"You had better move Kujhade, I'm warning you," she said. Her tone was low and deceptively calm, but he was not fooled.
"That's interesting that you are warning me. Need I remind you, that I am the arbitrator for males and females alike, and I have deemed it enough," he replied, and that seemed to deflate her a little. He'd pulled rank, and now any move of defiance she made jeopardized her status as honored, to bad blood. It could happen in an instant, and at that point Jasmine came to understand the extent of her husband's rank. He was like an alien Judge Dredd. His decree was essentially law, with very little to challenge it. Even the male standing by had dipped his head in recognition of Kujhade's rank.
"And for you, Jasmine. I am your mate and your arbitrator as well. Enough," he said, and his tone was a little less hard this time around.
Jasmine stopped pacing and looked at her husband. Perhaps it was enough. Her good sense came inching back, and now she could feel all eyes on her. She noticed Dteinou making her way up the incline, and her mouth dropped at the sight. She had never, ever, not one time, seen Dteinou not in full war gear. She had on not a single piece of armor, and without it Jasmine could see her true level of beauty. The face was what it was, but even so, it was slimmer than Jasmine realized, and she also had very prettily colored brindling down both sides of her long, lean body. Dteinou wore nothing but an expensive looking lower cloth, and a breast covering made of thin bones which had been sewn together. Even her tendrils had extra trinkets in them, and they spilled down her back and over her shoulders. She came to stand next to Kujhade, surveyed the situation quickly, then turned to R'ka. The random male took a single step back and went to one knee. Dteinou waved him up absently.
"Are you done making trouble, or do I need to bring this to the attention of the high council?" She asked.
"M'di," R'ka answered curtly.
"No, great Dteinou. I have it under control, just a mating challenge, nothing more," Kujhade answered. He reached down on the ground and recovered the three severed tendrils which belonged to R'ka, and showed them to Dteinou.
The enforcer turned and gave Jasmine a quick look of approval over her shoulder, and turned back to R'ka.
"Don't let me come to know you are causing more trouble than needed, or I might have her to relieve you of a few more of these," she said, pointing at the hair in Kujhade's hand. She then grabbed them from his hand, and tossed them to Jasmine who caught them and tucked them into the top of her lower cloth.
"Come, T'chnde. I'm not done with you yet," Dteinou said, and sure enough T'chnde seemed to materialize next to Jasmine. He gave her a nod of greeting, and quickly cast his eyes on his mate. Jasmine didn't miss the look on his face. It was the same look Kujhade sometimes gave when he was impressed and horny. She understood it as a love gaze, which was exactly what it was. He followed Dteinou back down the incline, and they both disappeared back into the night. R'ka stared daggers at Jasmine again. She snarled at her, locking eyes with the human as she backed away. Something in the way she was doing this, told Jasmine that while the big yautja admittedly lost the challenge, that this wasn't over. Finally, she turned around and went her own way. The random male seemed to be trying to figure just what the hell he'd been looking at, and been semi apart of. He lost interest quickly, as a young female came into view and trilled to get his attention. He left without a second glance.
As the attention once again turned to mating for all rubberneckers, Kujhade sauntered his way over to Jasmine. She gave him a hard look and stepped back. He tilted his head in confusion.
"Oh, now you don't know what's happening? Isn't that convenient as hell?" She asked. Now the insecurity came back up. Along with it, the niggling suspicion that he was looking forward to mating two females tonight, not just one.
"I know that I have a mate who answered a challenge and won. I know I am looking at Paya's moon, at a mating ritual, and I know I am not leaving until I get what I came for," he growled out, stalking towards her now.
"Well, I'm out of the mood now anyway so," she tried, but he was having none of it. Before she could take a step back, he was on her. His hot hand touched the pulse at her throat, slid over her breast and heart, and then sank to her privates, cupping it.
"No, you are not out of the mood," he said. His quick assessment had been sexual, but it also was a test of the veracity of her statement. She'd been found to be telling a boldfaced lie. She swatted his chest, and gave him her most defiant look, which only came out as a wanting, pleading look that had 'take me now' written all over it.
"Did you want me to lose, so you could have sex with big ugly?" She asked, as he massaged her sex.
"I wanted you to stand your ground and preserve your honor, and you did," he said. She barely noticed that he'd deftly sidestepped the very loaded question, and picked her up. He sat down and resumed the position they had before being rudely interrupted, of her straddling him. His mating musk was heavy, and as it was on so many occasions, her thinking was muddled by it.
She tried to talk, but his hands were too distracting. She couldn't help but lean down and lick his collarbone again, and work her hands into his tendrils. He lay back now, and took her bone plated chest covering off completely, exposing her breasts to the warm night air. A slight chill went down her spine, as the night breeze ghosted against her skin. Jasmine forgot that they were outside and had an audience. It was only Kujhade, the earlier scrabble and anger truly forgotten. He was exquisite in the moonlight. His pale skin was nearly translucent, but it was beautiful. She was enchanted by him all over again, like the first time they had made love.
He slipped inside of her with a slight grunt from him, and the softest sigh from her parted lips. He filled her completely as he always did, but this time it was different. Every nerve was on fire, and her senses seemed heightened somehow. He took his claws and traced the delicate crosshatching of scars all over her front. The tip of each of his talons left a pleasant burning tingly trail behind them. He turned her on her back without ever withdrawing from her, and set a slow, grinding pace. With each stroke, his incredible need drew her closer and closer to the precipice of untold pleasure. As she stared into his burning green eyes, another revelation occurred to her. She had seen the way they had sex with each other. She'd seen the savagery involved, as they moved from one partner to another. They enjoyed themselves, and took pleasure in it, but the act and the choice of mate, even the process of having to spar to prove their worthiness to sire children, was aimed at the result of the offspring. For the first time, she really absorbed a truth that she had taken completely for granted. Kujhade had attempted to screw her using that same method simply because that was what he knew. However, he had done something crucial, and until tonight, Jasmine had not understood the true depth of what he had done. In the interest of making her comfortable, of making things easier for her, Kujhade had nearly completely suppressed his instinctual drive to violently overcome her in order to mate. In fact, from that moment going forward he had given himself over to her way of having sex completely. He had decided that she was more important than hundreds of years of ritual and intrinsic behavior. He had done all of it, for her.
This time, a tear fell, but not for fear or anger. It fell due to a surge of love so powerful, that it gathered from her toes and formed a warm pit in her stomach. It stayed there, then made its way to her heart and caused it to ache sweetly. It kindled itself like a wildfire of kinetic energy, so that she needed to give voice to it, or die crushed under its weight. She wrapped her legs around him, and let out a cry, mingled with a primordial scream so loud and long that her throat was sore when it was over. Kujhade had responded with a roar of his own, then bit down into her shoulder, sinking all four tusks as he had the first time. Her body shook in the aftershocks, as she looked into his face once more.
He's done so much changing, so much giving for you Jasmine. What will you give him in return?
The thought was so unexpected and profound, that she gasped as if startled. He removed his tusks, and began to lick the blood from the wound. This time she did not feel the pain, but her body shook again anyway. He took that as an invitation to begin again, and he was happy to oblige.
You haven't sacrificed enough, so what will you give to make him happy?
She closed her eyes against the thought. Yes, she would need to do more. She would need to make some sacrifices to prove the depths of her love for him. She had an idea of what it could be, but it was too much to think of now. For now, she would think and feel and breathe only Kujhade.
The gathering crowd turned their attention towards the strange couple. Many had never seen a human mate, let alone mate one of their own. They had also never witnessed a male not have to fight a female to have sex with her, nor this sexual position. Jasmine's sex scent filled the air, and many of the males scoffed outwardly at it, but there were a select few who did not. The females seemed disgusted, but one seemed angrier than the others. R'ka had watched, against her will but the curiosity had proved too strong to ignore. As she watched the small human move in perfect sync with Kujhade's every stroke, she felt the unfamiliar pang of jealousy twist in her gut. With great force of will she turned and walked away. The scent of Jasmine and Kujhade's sex haunted her for the rest of the night.
A/N: Please tell me that I did at least a little justice to the mating ritual? I know that there was no hardcore lemon here. I never intended to write one, at least not at this time. I really wanted to focus on the ritual itself, the behaviors of everyone, and the challenge. I really wanted to the sex scene to be more about love-making, and less about X-rated smut. As odd as it may sound, I didn't think that belonged here. I wanted to showcase Jasmine's increased fighting skill, and also her feelings and how she is interpreting the things around her. So, I hope I didn't overly disappoint any of you. Let me know what you think, even if you want to track me down and kill me :P
P.S please forgive any screw ups here. I rewrote the hell out of it at the last moment before posting, so please be kind. I know there will be something I missed, just hoping it won't be too bad.