I leaned forward, pulling her hand away, and pressed my mouth to hers. She hummed in appreciation, moving her hand to squeeze my bicep and encourage me closer. I pulled her into my chest, pressing my tongue into her mouth.
Her other hand shot out, grasping Mothman’s duster and tugging him towards us suddenly. He made a noise of shock as our head’s nearly crashed together. I jerked back but Ava moved her hand behind my neck, holding me close.
“I like you both,” she said, her mouth curving into a wide smile. She flicked her attention to Mothman. “Iwantyou both.” Mothman’s eyes snapped up to me and Ava giggled. She was acting off. Something was wrong.
We were leaving this cavenow.
“Come here, Pollux,” she said, pulling Mothman in closer and rubbing her cheek across his fluffy face. I felt some of his fur brush my face and had to spit it out of my mouth.
“Pollux?” I asked, then shook my head. “We’re leaving.” I pulled her up off the ground and then slowly settled her on her feet. Mothman backed up, his eyes scanning Ava, his head cocked to the side like he saw something he couldn’t understand.
“Leaving?” Brandon asked in near outrage. “The climber! We can’t leave him. He’s hurt!”
“Like I give a shit,” I said, pulling Ava close and wrapping an arm around her. I leaned down and peppered kisses along her forehead. The taste of her blood on my lips made my stomach curdle with concern. Was she really okay? I shuddered as I recalled the initial sight of her.
Suddenly she was tugged from my hands. She squeaked and I looked up to see Mothman holding her close, rubbing his face against her. She giggled, pressing her fingers into his furry neck.
“No,” I growled, leaning in and gripping her arm, ready to tug her back. Mothman wrapped his arms around her tighter to keep me from doing it. Logically, I thought Mothman needed to stay close to Ava, but my base emotions still growled with a possessiveness that would never go away.
“Can you two stop flinging her around like a ragdoll,” Brandon snapped. Ava began laughing hysterically and we all stilled, watching. She finally managed to mostly stop laughing, wiping away some tears. I frowned in concern.
“Sorry— “ she started.
“You traumatized her,” I snarled at Mothman. “You and your fuck buddy at the entrance.”
“Loren?!” I heard pounding in my head. His fur stood on end in offense, puffing up thickly at his neck. Ava reached up and ran her fingers through it, marveling at the texture.
“Does it look like I broke her? It’s probably you,”he said. I growled, grabbing my skull. One word I could handle easily, two sentences made it feel like broken glass scratching at my skull.
“Can we go?” Ava asked.
“Yes,” I said, reaching out and cradling her face.
“I’m going to keep looking,” Brandon said and I snorted in amusement. He looked over at me and glared. “I’m not leaving the climber in here.”
“Oh…” Ava said, her smile filtering down to a frown. “I uh… we didn’t make it in time. He’s gone now,” she said, looking everywhere but at us. I looked at her in confusion. Ava was lying. I wouldn’t have expected her to lie about something like this. However, I wasn’t going to inform anyone else because this only helped with what I wanted.
“What?” Brandon deflated, his eyes scanning the dark walls as he gently lowered the lantern. “Are you sure? Can you show me?” Ava shook her head in response and began chewing her lip in nervousness.
“The path was blocked by a rock fall and he’s gone now,” she said, lying more. Brandon sagged, his eyes dropping to the floor. The man looked like he might cry. I was sort of stunned at how determined he’d been to save an unknown person. Then again, he’d always been the type to go out of his way to help people that seemed in need of it.
Brandon deflated, looking lost now that the climber was no longer in need of rescue.
My eyes slid back to Ava. I lunged, trying to snatch Ava back from Mothman. He picked her up, his wings flashing out as he hop-flew a few feet away. He dropped his hat back on Ava’s head. I huffed in annoyance.
9
As we traveled through the cave, I felt the sensation of something moving inside me; like a serpent pressing against the inside of my gut, pushing out. I covered my mouth with my hand and swallowed down the urge to throw up.
My emotions were all over the place. One moment I was easily amused, the next I was frustrated. I was hungry, I was tired, I washorny, but above all else, I was ravenous to escape these caves once and for all. It felt as if I’d been trapped inside them for centuries. I could recall every little crack in the rock of that gaping cave room we’d left behind. It was as if I’d spent lifetimes trapped inside it.
I grabbed my head as a sense of unease bubbled up. I shouldn’t know those walls. I shouldn’t feel this way about leaving the caves. The fact I did just reminded me that I wasn’t reallyjustme anymore.
How much had I changed?
While we journeyed towards the exit of the cave, Pollux noticed my distress. He went about trying to pacify me as we climbed. He pet my hair and leaned his head closer, tracing my temples with his long fingers while observing me. My eyes slid to his strange ones.
I wanted to see if he really had that twisted, bumpy cock he’d drawn me taking in his little journal. How deliciously naughty to fuck something that looked like him. A twisted desire—twisted just like his cock.
