Page 12 of January Bell

I carefully flip the meat on the grill, considering what a horse may or may not be, while Lily softly laughs behind me.

“Is it ready?” she asks. “It smells ready.”

I turn to her. “Almost.”

She pulls out several platters from the tote nearest the table and motions for me to fill them up.

“Thank you,” I tell her earnestly, then try to smile. My fangs show, biting into my lower lip just slightly, a sign of just how little restraint I have left when it comes to this female.

“Was there barbecue sauce?” she asks. Maybe it’s my imagination or just wishful thinking, but there seems to be the slightest hint of a smile around her lips too.

“I do not know what this barr-be-cute sauce is,” I say, doing my best to echo the sounds of the words she so charmingly made. “If it is something I need to mix together for you, I would be more than happy to.”

“No, no,” she says, waving her hand at me, then sets the platter of meats down. “I know I saw it somewhere in here next to the spices that are—oh.”

I follow her gaze to where the bottles and jars line the side of the grill where I left them.

“It’s right there, I think.”

“Your barr-be-cute sauce?” I ask, flummoxed. “Why is it a cute sauce?” It must be very small. It cannot have much taste to it, either, for her to call it cute. I cannot think of a reason why you would have a small, tasteless sauce to go along with your already cooked meat, but if this is a human tradition, I’m interested in it, especially if it is one that she enjoys.

“No, it’s like a savory, sweet, sometimes spicy sauce that goes on meat. I’m so hungry I could eat this without it, but it sounds even better with some sauce on it, especially on the ones with the skin.”

She holds up a large piece of meat that still has the bone in it, with a perfectly crispy outer skin layer. She swallows hard, licking her lips, and for a strange moment, I’m very jealous of the meat.

“Do you often eat cock?” I ask her.

“What?” She gives me a strange look.

I point to the meat as I grab the different sauce jars, eager to try them. “Cock. You were very excited for this cock. Is it something of a delicacy on your home planet?”

“Well, they say everything tastes like chicken,” she says with a shrug, and there’s a slight smile when she bites into the meat. “Definitely needs sauce,” she says through a mouthful of meat, fanning her lips as steam comes from them. “So hot.”

“Of course it’s hot. Do not hurt yourself,” I tell her. “Here.” I thrust a jar of sauce at her, and she quickly unscrews the cap, dousing her piece of meat in it while I watch, then try carefully to help myself to a smattering of vegetables and my own meat, watching as she dredges a bite of steaming cock into the so-called barr-be-cute sauce.

She’s ravenous, and I internally berate myself for not having done a better job of providing for my female.

I was so smitten with the idea of having a mate, in spite of all of my years thinking I didn’t want one, that all I could think about was sating the need I had for her and the pain of her heat.

“I’ve been selfish,” I tell her by way of apology.

She gives me an odd look but continues shoving food in her mouth. “Try the sauce, you’ll like it. It’s really good. It’s spicy, it’s smokey, it’s sweet, it’s literally everything you could want in a sauce.” She closes her eyes and makes an expression that has my cock growing harder than ever.

I wish I could make her look at me like that and it have nothing to do with the food that I made for her. Still, a sliver of pride goes through me because I did put that expression on her face. I was the one to provide her the cock she now feasts upon.

“It is good you like this cock in your mouth. It will make you strong⁠—”

“Chicken.”

“That’s what I said.” My brow wrinkles as I run a finger over where my scar puckers on my face from it.

“No. That’s not what you said.” She swallows hard and pushes the sauce at me. “Eat something. Please put something in your mouth.”

“I will put the cock in my mouth if it appeases you.”

“It would appease me,” she says quickly.

She watches with wide eyes as I pour the sauce gingerly onto my plate, then dip the piece of cock I’ve selected for myself in it. Carefully, I take a bite, and my eyes widen, and immediately she grins at me with no restraint this time, just pure joy.