Page 17 of Black Mamba

Why she has begun to go outside I do not know, but perhaps it is time for her to leave her ship behind for better shelter…

I have overheard the few conversations Elena has had with the two human males. They have mentioned resources and Elena has told them about her missing sister.

Is her sister why she cries? I shake my head.

I coil my tail between the trees and the bushes, watching as Elena returns to the side of her ship and presses her hand to it. Using the large vessel as a guide, she walks along the outside of it and toward the front. At the dome, she pauses and looks around.

If she takes another step, this will be the farthest she has gone from her nest’s opening.

She takes another step and inhales deeply before walking the rest of the way forward. Losing sight of her as she rounds the dome, she continues to follow it to the other side.

I slip from my spot and move towards where I usually watch her, catching sight of her again when I finish traversing behind the trees. At the same time, she walks toward the back of her ship, ducking under her ship’s wings before making a full circle.

Before I can catch up to her, I hear the door to her ship close. My hands clench and unclench.She is taking more risks.

Shifting to return to my hiding spot, a breeze rushes past me and I am hit with an unusual smell.

My scales rise and my tail coils inward, breathing more of it in. Light like morning dew, but layered with something richer, darker, spicier, I am enthralled by the smell. Immediately wanting more of it, I move around the side of the ship and approach the closed door slowly. I inhale and release a low hiss.

Out in the open, I trace the grooves of the ship’s door with my claws, wondering for the first time if I have the strength to break in. I want to smell more of her. If that is her… It must be. I have not tried to catch her scent before, choosing to remain in the trees when she is out.

I dig my claws into the door’s outline and test the metal.

Mate. It is the smell of my mate.

When my nails bend in defeat, I hiss and breathe in as much of her as I can before her scent dilutes in the breeze. Tense, I suck in and hold her essence in, reveling in it. When it diminishes and I hear noises indicating that the human males are leaving their ship, I lower to the ground and cross the meadow, slipping into the woods.

She will be outside her ship again soon…

And I will be waiting.

TEN

ENDLESSLY

Lukys

For two long days, I wait, hungering for something more from her that was just out of reach—just through a glass barrier. Craving her—craving her in my vicinity—tension fills me. I cannot stop coiling and uncoiling my tail.

I curse myself for letting her get away.

This time, when she finally leaves her ship again, I am already there, at the edge of the woods. Ready to breathe her in.

I will her to come toward me and the outer trees along the hills. I want her to walk far enough across the meadow and away from her ship that there is no chance she can escape back to it.

Now that I have smelled her… She is… I must get to her source… I must know her source. I must take her before someone else does.

My body throbs and my prick pushes heavy at the front of my tail, threatening to emerge. For two days, I have had to hold onto fading restraint, straining my muscles around my slit to keep it closed. I do not want to deal with an extra limb hanging out of me until I absolutely have to. Before her scent, it was not like this.

She does not notice me despite her vigilance at keeping watch of her surroundings. Instead, and after a quick glance around, she follows the side of her ship to the front again, her courage evident. I slip through the outer trees, parallel to her, and head the same way. I expect her to circle her entire ship like the previous time when she suddenly descends into the gorge.

Approaching as she moves out of sight, I finally get another whiff of her. My tail goes taut as I shudder. Yessss. My nostrils flare, flooded with her unique musk.

Mate.

Closing my eyes, I succumb to her feminine essence, my stem tightening with a rush of seed. I hear her walk farther away—sticks cracking and leaves rustling—as I continue to shudder, pressing my palm to the front of my tail and pushing at my growing bulge.

When I open my eyes and find she is farther from me than I thought, a hiss tears out of my throat. I lurch forward until I catch sight of her again through the springy, thick foliage. She pauses and turns, peering over her shoulder in my direction.