Zanthe (Primal Impulse Shifters Book 2)

by Romi Hart

  “Yeah, kind of act like it’s my tongue and run yours around it. You know, like your kissing it.” He leaned back on his elbows again and let his head fall back as he groaned with my first kiss to his manhood. “Just like that.”

  “Your skin is so soft here.” I really didn’t expect it to be soft. I had no idea what I’d expected, but so far I was pleasantly surprised. “This is nice.”

  Pulling his head up, he looked at me with concern. “You thought it might not be nice?”

  Nodding, I had to admit, “I watched some videos and one of them really made me think this would be pretty bad. This one girl was deep throating a man and her neck bulged out each time his cock went into it.”

  “I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to. So, if you don’t want to do this, then don’t.”

  I couldn’t help but fall a little more in love with him. “That’s so sweet, teddy bear.” Clutching my heart, I couldn’t stop smiling. “Aw, really, babe. What man doesn’t want his cock sucked? And here you are, telling me that I don’t have to do it if I don’t want to. That’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard in my life.”

  With raised brows, he asked, “So, what’s your verdict?”

  “I’d like to give it a try.” Licking my lips, I got ready to go for it. “If that’s okay with you that I learn on you. You’re my guinea pig.”

  “I don’t want to talk about this as if you will ever have another man’s cock in your mouth, baby. So, let’s keep that sort of thing said silently inside of your head and not out loud for me to hear. I am only a man after all.” He leaned his head back. “A man who loves you and wants you with him always. I would gladly make a lifetime commitment to you right now if you’d let me.”

  My stomach fluttered as I thought about how serious he was about me. “I wish I could know the way you do, Zanthe. I wish that making a huge commitment didn’t scare me. I wish that I knew what the future holds.”

  “No one knows that. Not even wizards or sorceresses. So, just live for today and let tomorrow find its own way.” With a sigh, he sat up, took my face between his hands then kissed my mouth softly. His tongue ran in circles around mine. “Like that. Get it?”

  Nodding, I understood. “You’re ready to get this show on the road. I get it.”

  “Well, my cock is throbbing with anticipation. Pretty much any attention you give it will feel remarkable right now. I mean any attention. You could simply stare at it and it would go off given a few minutes.”

  He was joking and I knew that. “Okay.” I wanted to see about something before we went further than the blowjob. “After this, remind me to do the thing I told you about.”

  “Sure. After this.”

  For a man who says he doesn’t care if I do this to him or not, he’s certainly in a hurry to get things going.

  19

  Zanthe

  For a novice, Crina certainly made things feel great in my nether regions. I hadn’t even realized how much moaning I’d been doing until I heard it myself and stopped. Being so selfish wasn’t what I wanted.

  Pulling my head up from the relaxed position it had been in, I stopped leaning back on my elbows to use my hands on her, running them through her dark hair.

  Her scent released with the action, making a smile move over my lips. I liked the scent. It didn’t affect my brain the way it had before though. That told me we had more than mere animal attraction. Better yet, I had more than just that for her.

  Love isn’t a thing I’d ever felt in my life. I’d thought I had, but I hadn’t. I’d only experienced lust and the need to procreate with other females. Crina was different. What we had could last a lifetime and maybe even an eternity.

  But she had an aversion to things she called monsters and I was in the monster category. Will she want to become a monster like me?

  She’d expressed earnestly her desire not to have babies as of yet. And maybe even never. That didn’t stop me from thinking about them though.

  If both parents were the same type of shifter, their offspring were also shifters just like their parents. If one was a human and one was a shifter, it was a tossup. One never knew what would happen.

  The child might be born as the animal – and that had frightened many a poor mother to death in the old days. A shame really, as only moments later the animal would withdraw, and the human baby would come out. I’d known a handful of single fathers in the shifter world who’d lost the mother of their child.

  Being frightened to death seemed like a horrible way to go to me. I didn’t want that for Crina. That’s why it was always important to me to let the women I’d bred know what I was shortly after our couplings were over.

  At least I’ve never killed anyone by omitting the fact that I was a bear as well as a man.

  My quandary with Crina was evident. I wanted her in my life. And of course, I wanted her to have my children one day in the future. But I had to accept the fact that her having children was completely up to her. It was her body and her gift to give.

  I’d been thinking about it all wrong my entire adult life. I’d thought it was my gift to the female. Which it was not. I had the seed. The female had the fertile ground. It’s easier to plant the seed than it is to grow it inside of you.

  Watching her pretty head bobbing up and down as she did to me something that I felt made us even more connected, I closed my eyes, despite knowing she wasn’t going to have my child anytime soon, I pictured her tummy round with my baby inside of it.

  She would make a beautiful mother.

  But that would have to be left up to her. I was a new man. A man of the current times. A man who knew that women had minds of their own and the right to use their minds and bodies any way they wanted.

  Asking Crina to accept that I was what she would surely think of – at least at first - as a monster, was a stretch. Asking her to grow a child within her that might be a monster too, was almost impossible.

  I have got to push the idea of fathering her children out of my head.

  It wasn’t serving my true purpose, and that was to make her want to be with me for at least the rest of her life.

  Perhaps I can hide my monster for the remainder of her life.

  Humans typically lived for seventy to ninety years. And Crina was twenty-five. So, I had anywhere from fifty to seventy-five years of hiding what I really was from the woman I loved.

  And then there was the aging process that I would have to fake as well. Dyes could make my hair silver when the time came for that. With any luck, once she got old, her eyesight would go, so she wouldn’t notice that I had no wrinkles on my skin and she did.

  Pulling her hair back into one hand, I gazed at her as she moved her mouth over me. One day, she would be old. Her hair would thin, gray, and maybe even fall out altogether. I’d seen that happen to some women before.

  She might get very sick as well. As a human, she could get all sorts of diseases and illnesses that could make her weak or even kill her.

  I didn’t want her to die. I wanted her to be with me forever and ever. I wanted her to stay as healthy as I would for eternity.

  But will she agree to become what I am?

  My breath ceased in my chest as she took both of her hands, moving them up and down as she gently added in a sucking sensation that sent me wild. “Oh, shit!” I pulled her hair gently to make her stop. “I’m about to come, baby.”

  My cock ached to unload but I had to get a condom out of the pocket of my jeans before I entered her body – as promised. But she didn’t go for the obvious choice. Instead, she smiled then put her lips back on top of my nearly exploding dick. “I want you to come in my mouth. I want to taste it.”

  “Oh, fuck me!” Her first time and she wanted it all – the whole bang! “Okay. If that’s what you want.”

  Flicking her tongue over the tip of my cock, she whispered, “It’s what I want.” And then she gripped it again and went to work on it, licking the underside as she sucked only a bit and use
d her hands to cover the places her mouth left untouched.

  As unbelievable as she was, I knew she was real. So real. So right. And so independent that it scared me.

  The wave inside my body crested and it sent my juices out and into her mouth. She moaned as she gulped it all down while I watched with wide eyes, not wanting to miss a thing.

  I almost felt bad about how much I’d come. It had been thirty-five days since I’d last unloaded though. She should’ve known that.

  Lifting her head, she ran the back of her hand over her mouth. Her red lips swollen, her cheeks flushed, and her eyes on the teary side, she asked with a hoarse voice, “Was that okay? Did you like it?”

  “Baby, anything that ends with a reaction like that, means that I liked it.” I pulled her up to sit on my lap as I kissed her cheek. “You’re already great at that. I don’t have even one complaint nor one suggestion on how to improve. And thank you, by the way.”

  “You mean it?” She looked at me with a shy expression in her flushed face. “You’re not just being nice?”

  She made me laugh. “I can’t fake an orgasm. It’s pretty evident when a male has one. We’re not like you females who can wail and gyrate and pretend they’re having one. Either we orgasm or we do not. There is no faking it. And anytime things end with an orgasm, you can bet that at least I am overjoyed about it.”

  “Okay. I get it.” She smiled as her hands ran through my hair. “I’ve just never done anything like that before and thinking that I’m good at it right off the bat is sort of hard to believe. But you’re right. You had a great reaction to what I did.”

  Taking her by the waist, I turned her to the side, then laid her on the bed. “And now I will pleasure you, my sweet. Prepare to meet your climatic end.”

  “Wait.” She put both of her hands on my chest. “Remember? I want to do something before we do that.”

  “Oh, yeah.” I was sure it had something to do with the condoms. Or something to do with some sort of other birth control method she’d found. Whatever it was, I was sure it would only take a moment to deal with.

  So I let her up and she went to pick up a brown bag off the dresser. But then she put it back down and pulled open the top drawer. “I’ll feel better about this if I have something on.” She pulled out a pale blue robe then put it on.

  “Maybe I’ll feel better than way too.” I pulled the blanket over to cover my naked lap. “Why? I don’t know. But if you will, then I might too.”

  Picking up the bag again, she put her hand into it then pulled out a small white box. “Do you know what this is, Zanthe?”

  “A cardboard box.” Puffing my chest out with pride, I joked, “That’s one point for me.”

  Walking to me, she directed me, “Hold out your hand, please.”

  So, she’s giving me a gift. How nice.

  Holding out my hand, she placed the box in it as I thanked her for the gift, “Thank you, Crina. I wish I would’ve stopped to get you something. Tomorrow we’ll go shopping and I’ll get you something then. I didn’t know you’d be calling and inviting me to come to see you. But I will make it up to you.”

  “Look at the box, Zanthe.” She stepped back, her eyes on me.

  And as I looked at the little box in my big hand, I saw why she was looking at me the way she was. “It’s a pregnancy test.” I looked at her as my heart stopped beating. “Do you think you’re pregnant?”

  Putting her hand on her hip, her lips quirked up to one side. “Nope.”

  “Then why do you have this?” I had no idea what she was doing at all.

  “That was sarcasm.” She laughed as her hand went into the air. “I think we might be pregnant.”

  I didn’t know what to say, think, or do. But finally, I found something that would come out of my mouth, “Are you okay with this? I mean – you were so not okay with this before we ever had sex. But you seem fine with it now. And I’m just not sure how I’m supposed to act or think.”

  “I’m going to accept whatever the test results are.” Wiggling her fingers, she asked, “Can I have the test back, so I can take it? I wanted to do it with you here. It’s our pregnancy. If I am pregnant. I didn’t want to start it without you.”

  Taking a deep breath, I had so many questions and had not even one idea of how to word them. “So, what will we do if we are pregnant?” I knew what I wanted to do. But I had no idea what she would agree to. “Before you answer that, let me tell you what I want.”

  “You will want me to come live with you.” Nodding, she already knew what I’d want. “Maybe even marry you. Right?”

  “Yes.” She did know me well. “And what will you want to do?”

  “Since I have no idea if I am or I am not, I will not try to make a decision at this moment.” Turning away from me, she took the box with her as she went to the bathroom. “I’ll go pee on this stick, then bring it out here so we can see what happens. We’ll watch it do it’s magic together. Sound good to you?”

  It sounds wonderful and like what I’ve wanted exactly. “Yes, it sounds good to me.” A fog had converged on my brain.

  Why is it that just when I am ready to accept things I’ve never dreamt of having to accept, that something like this comes along?

  I’d never been a part of the finding out process of being a father. I’d known when I had successfully bred my female. I could smell it on her.

  I can’t smell that unique scent on her.

  Steeling myself for the bad news, I knew Crina wasn’t carrying my child. And the smile she wore when she came out of the bathroom, told me that she wanted to be pregnant. “Here we go.” She put the stick on the dresser, then came to sit next to me.

  Draping my arm around her shoulders, I pulled her close, kissing the side of her head. “I love you no matter what.”

  Placing her hand on my chest, she beamed at me. “And I love you, Zanthe. I love the way you love me. The note you left me that morning let me know that you understood and accepted me for who I am. But I had to give you time, to make sure you stayed true to the words you wrote. And you have done that. You’ve shown me that you not only respect me, but you also respect my right to make my own choices.”

  “You’ve taught me more than anyone ever has, Crina Loveanu. You’ve made me grow as a person.” I wanted her to know everything. “Whether we’re pregnant or not, I still want you to come live with me and I would still love to marry you.”

  “That is so sweet of you,” her voice lilted in a way that told me she still wasn’t going to want either of the things I did. Not yet anyway. And that was okay.

  She wasn’t pregnant anyway. We still had time to hammer out the details of our relationship and how we would make it work for both of us.

  “Sweet?” I didn’t think it was sweet at all. “Why I want that isn’t out of sweetness. It’s out of a sense of security. I want you around. Not only to have you with me but also to make sure you’re protected.”

  “Well, I think that’s sweet, is what I’m saying.” She wasn’t going to give up the idea that I was some sweet man.

  Which I was not. I had other reasons that I wanted her with me. But I wasn’t going to argue the point. Especially with us having time to settle things between us.

  The sound of something dinging had her getting up. “I set the timer on my phone. You ready to see what we’ve got going on here?” She held out her hand for me. “If we’re pregnant, we’ll celebrate with making love – without a condom. If we’re not pregnant, then we will celebrate with making love – with a condom. Either way, we’re going to celebrate.”

  “I’m glad that you’re ready to celebrate either way.” Kissing her soft lips, I hoped her upbeat attitude would still persist once she found out that she wasn’t pregnant.

  My nose never lied. So, my heart already knew what the answer would be as she picked up the stick. “It’s…”

  “Baby, I’m sorry.” Even though she’d been adamant that she didn’t want to get pregnant, it had to be upset
ting to her that she wasn’t.

  Holding up the little stick, she shook it. “You’re sorry?”

  “Yeah.” I could see the odd look on her face and knew what it really meant. “Don’t be disappointed.”

  “I’m not.” She shook the stick again, this time closer to my face and I could smell the urine on it. “Are you disappointed? Have you been filling me full of shit this whole time?”

  “What are you talking about?” I took the thing out of her hand and saw the letter ‘t’ in the middle of the tiny screen. “T. Doesn’t that mean, try again?” I’d never even seen a pregnancy test in my life. How was I to know what anything on it meant? But her scent told me all I needed to know. She was not pregnant.

  “No. It means, that the test is positive.” Her brows raised high. “Zanthe, we’re going to be parents.”

  Then why can’t I smell that fact?

  20

  Crina

  “What do you mean, you can’t smell it?” Zanthe was acting crazy.

  Here I’d told him what I thought he would find fantastic news and all he could do was sniff me and shake his head. “I can’t smell any difference in your scent, Crina. Are you sure that this little stick can give you accurate results? I just don’t think you’re really pregnant.”

  Being thoroughly confused, I got up, walked to the trashcan, tossed in the stick then stomped back to the bathroom to take another test, using the second stick that came in the pack of two. “I will take another test to prove to you that we are pregnant.” Spinning on my heel, I gave him a stern look. “Just so you completely understand me. I want you to know that if you have been telling me things that you thought I wanted to hear, instead of the truth, then you are free to go. I won’t make you responsible for something that you don’t want and never did.”

  Getting up, he came to me, but I held out my hand to stop him from taking me into his big, strong arms. “Baby, I want us to have babies. Lots and lots of them. But I think the test is wrong. I want to be with you. No matter what. Like I said before. But I don’t want you to think that you’re going to have a baby when you’re not. That’s all.”