I snickered, kicking my feet under the blankets with a squeal. Oh my god, I couldn’t freakingwaituntil Aga got his green scaled hands on Sam. No one else noticed Aga’s attention on Sam. Not even Jack. The way he watched our doctor, and the way his eyes filled with fire anytime Sam talked to another male. Or how said male mysteriously wasn’t at their station the next day. I wondered what Sam thought when an alien she flirted with never came back to work or spoke to her ever again if she ran into them in the cafeteria or out in the field.
I wasn’t going to say anything to anyone, but rather let the chaos reign. I couldn’t wait to see everyone’s faces when Aga finally staked his claim. I wasn’t entirely sure what was making him keep his distance, but knowing the shrewd planner that was the mean crocodile, he was just biding his time. When his trap sprung, Sam wouldn’t know what hit her. Though maybe she did. I’d seen her eyeing him sometimes, especially when he walked around in his civilian clothes, the cloth of his shirts stretched tight over all the muscles in his back and shoulders. Oh the confused, shocked face she was going to make! I was going to laugh until I cried.
Now I just had to find a male for Callie. Someone crazy who would bring her out of her shell and make her pull all her hair out. I was staunchly refusing to think of anything other thanher returning, pissed off and ready to fight some more. Even a hint of anything else was promptly squashed in my mind. I was manifesting her safe return.
All of us— Jack, Callie, Sam, Ohem, Aga, and Rema— were going to make it to the end of this stupid ass war and laugh at the memory of how we met when we were a thousand years old.
My fist clenched on the covers, and I bared my teeth at the dark room… and at fate. The vines from the balcony stretched out to me, crawling across the floor and ceiling of the sitting room and into the bedroom until they wrapped around the bed canopy, covering it completely. Pink and blue flowers bloomed along the deep green of the vines, their delicate fragrance soothing me into sleep.
A deep gong woke me. I groaned and tried to pull the covers over my head and grabbed only empty air. Jerking upright to yell at whoever took them from me, I was struck dumb by the sight of tall red stone walls stretching at least a mile in either direction with us smack in the middle of a crossroads instead of my vine-covered room.
“What in the raw fuck is this?”
“It’s the Founding maze,” Rema said from behind me, his voice amused.
I looked over my shoulder to find him leaning against the wall of the maze dressed in tight leather pants the color of wet soil and a soft looking white shirt under a matching leather vest, and grinning at me.
“Sleep well?”
“Eat a dick,” I grumbled, getting to my feet.
Rema chuckled, coming over to hold out a bundle of clothing and tall leather boots. “You were sleeping like the dead when I came to collect you. I had to fight through a wall of vines to get you out of the bed. You didn’t wake up even when I flew us to the maze.”
Oh, so he liked teasing someone first thing in the morning, huh? Well, two could play that game.
I pulled my nightdress off in a single pull, my nipples tightening in the cool air, and Rema froze mid step, his eyes dropping to my breasts, widening as they did. The blush bloomed, spreading to his ears, and his lips parted, his tongue darting out to wet them.
I raised an eyebrow at him, and bent to push my pants down, stepping out of them until I stood in only my fluffy pink socks, and straightened, placing my hand on my hip and holding my other out for the clothes. “Well, someone didn’t think the whole bringing me to the maze before I had a chance to change through, did they?”
Rema was all blush now. Every single inch of exposed skin was pink, but the silver of his iris had been swallowed by the black of his pupil expanding as he stared at my body. I did a little turn, letting him take in the whole package. I was a small woman, with small breasts and a small ass, but my ass was a perfect upside down heart, complete with a dimple on my left cheek. The scalescovering my sides and spine faded across my hips to leave little green freckles scattered over each cheek like sprinkles on a cake. I shook my ass a little, inviting Rema to take a bite, and heard him take in a gasping breath.
When I looked over my shoulder at him, his wings had spread out, their long flight feathers smashed up against the maze wall, and he’d drawn himself up until he seemed to have grown in size, talking up the narrow maze passage.
I grinned, turning to take the clothes that Rema still had in his extended hands, throwing the shirt over my shoulder and shaking out the pants before pulling them on. They were buttery soft leather in a green so dark it was almost black, with a long sleeve tan shirt that felt like cotton when I pulled it over my head, tucking the excess length into the waistband of my pants.
Dressed, I smiled at Rema, who was still frozen in shock, his throat working to unswallow his tongue. That had almost been better than coffee for my morning mood. I moved to the wall to lean my back on it for support while I pulled on the black leather boots. These didn’t have the nifty magnetic zipper things that the pants did, but they tied in the back with a leather string. There, all done. My hair was still decently french braided, so I was as ready as I was going to get. If I ignored all the flowers blooming on my body, I could pretend that my little tease was only affecting Rema.
I approached Rema, tiptoeing to kiss his chin, and patted his cheek with my fingers. “Cat got your tongue?”
The growl that erupted from his throat was like nothing I’d ever heard from him, and I found myself picked up and pinned to the wall of the maze faster than my mind could process what was happening. Rema was between my thighs, pressing into me, using his body to sandwich me against the wall, my crotch against the hard planes of his stomach and his mouth bruising mine in a brutal kiss, all tongue and teeth.
How the turn tables! Who was the frozen one now, hmm? It took me a full ten seconds to understand the overwhelming taste on my tongue wasn’t just from Rema’s mouth, but his raging desire whirling around us like a hurricane. Whoops, I’d pulled the tiger's tail one too many times and now I was facing its teeth.
Yippie!
Both of my hands fisted Rema’s hair, jerking him harder into the kiss. Our tongues dueling for supremacy. He tasted like chai tea and fall evenings. One set of his hands were on my thighs, keeping them open so I couldn’t wrap my legs around him, but his primary set were wanderingundermy shirt. Aggressive purpose seemed to be fueling him right now, because there was zero hesitation as both palms closed over my breasts and squeezed them. We groaned at the same time, the feeling of his hot hands touching me was nearly enough to make me come right there on the spot.
The gong sounded three times, loud enough to put pressure on my ears.
Rema snarled, pulling away from me to glare at the sky far above us.
My grip on his hair fell away limply. I was a wet noodle against the wall, with only Rema’s hands supporting me, his primary hands still fastened firmly on my breasts.
When he quit glaring at the sky and looked back down at me, a slow, pleased smile spread across his face, and he gave my boobs another firm caress. He brought his face close to mine, so I could feel his breath touch my cheek. “Cat got your tongue?”
Sudden laughter burst out of me, my arms coming up to wrap around his neck for support. My cheeks hurt from smiling so hard at him. “Mmm, or an alien elf,” I said, rubbing my cheek against his.
With a sigh of regret, Rema’s hands pulled out of my shirt and he slowly sat me down on my feet like his hands didn’t wantto let go of me. He helped me straighten my clothes, plucking flowers as we went until there was a nice little pile on the ground, and re-braided his hair, his fingers working with the ease of long practice.
