Midnight Series (camren version)

Chapter Fifteen

Mistress

I slept.

It wasn't like lying in the sun, closing my eyes to rest. It was actual sleep and I needed it. I needed it so much that I woke to Camila calling my name in the morning.

"Laur? Mistress?" she asked with concern. I opened my eyes to see her standing over me. "We're supposed to leave for your parents house now, but you wouldn't wake up."

Looking at the clock, I realized I'd slept for ten hours. After whatever it was that happened on the patio last night, Camila and I had come inside and lay in my bed together. I planned on talking to her about it, trying to apologize for my behavior, but I'd been tired. I thought perhaps if I rested my eyes for a few minutes, I'd be fine, but ten hours later I was still exhausted.

"Do you want to sleep more? I can call your parents and tell them we won't be coming."

Her concern was sweet. I did want to keep sleeping, but I also wanted to talk to my family about what had happened.

We arrived forty-five minutes late for brunch, and when I said it was because I'd overslept, there were a few chuckles, all of them assuming I was kidding and that the real reason was that Camila and I had been making love.

After Camila had gone off to talk with my mother, Troy, and Taylor, I pulled Shane, Ally, and Mike aside. "I need to talk to you about something going on with Camz. Last night after we'd made love in the shower, I was drying her off and a mark appeared over her left hip bone."

"Not her mating mark?" Mike asked.

"No, it wasn't her mating mark. That was still on her chest. This was different and it kept moving across her stomach and around her pussy."

Their eyes went wide. "You mean fertility marks?" Shane gasped.

I'd heard of them, but had never seen them. In Nermac, when the females were ovulating, they produced marks to entice their mate, similar to the way peacocks showed their feathers or other animals released pheromones. Supposedly they filled the male with desire to breed with his mate. What I'd felt last night was more than desire.

"It couldn't have been, or she would have bitten her," Ally responded.

"I almost did," I admitted.

"Wait, were your fangs out?" Mike asked. "And how long did it last? A few minutes?"

"Yes they were out, and it lasted about six hours I'd guess. I was so tired I slept the rest of the night. Camz woke me up this morning. I swear I could sleep another day."

Mike, Ally, and Shane were just staring at me. "What?" I asked after nearly a full minute.

"You had sex with her while she was in heat for six hours, and resisted the urge to bite her the entire time?" Mike asked incredulously.

"It was hard, but I didn't want to hurt her. I was worried, though. A few times I almost did. I'd told her to stay still and she did, but I swear, if she wouldn't have, I would have bitten her to make her still. How sick is that?"

Ally shook her head. "It's not sick, Lauren. It's instinct." She smiled at me. "It's a Nermac's way of making sure the female stays for the entire mating process."

"Reproduction is very hard on both the males and females, which is one reason it's not done that often. The male is exhausted, leaving him vulnerable while he rests, and the female is semi or fully paralyzed for some time," Mike explained.