Finally, Ryland seemed to give up on whatever excuses he kept trying to make.He got out of the car.Arslan watched him safely enter the building, but he didn’t allow himself to linger any longer than that before he put the car in gear and pulled away from the curb.
Alone in the car, he took the opportunity afforded by being out of the sight and hearing of any lion, any human, and let out a string of curses.Maturity might bring its rewards.He might not be quite as foolish as the other lions in his pride, but there were moments when he was as stupid as any lion had ever been, and when he had to pay the price like anyone else.
There were reasons why the tradition of willing human sacrifices existed.There were reasons why lions needed the opportunity to learn how to be patient with humans, to learn to see them as pets that needed to be protected and humoured rather than as equals that could be held to the same standards as a lion.
It was because humans didn’t make any damn sense.They didn’t do what their instincts commanded.Arslan sighed as he turned a corner and steered his way back to his empty den, his empty bed.
Humans couldn’t be trusted.A lion would have to be a fool to fall for one the way he might fall for another lion, to expect the same from a human as he would from a feline lover.
A professor would have to be a fool to fall for a student, too—even a student of a different subject, a man who wasn’t that much more than half his age.A boy who’d agreed to be thrown to the lions as if it was some silly little game, who had no idea what the tradition was supposed to mean, what it had meant back in the mist of time.
Of course, it didn’t make the least bit of difference if Arslan was an idiot, or if Ryland couldn’t be expected to act like a lion.Ryland was his mate—Arslan had never been more certain about anything in his life.Ryland not being ready to acknowledge that was irrelevant.Human or lion, neither of them would rest comfortably apart for very long now that they had lain together.All Arslan could do was be patient and give Ryland whatever time he might need in order to recognise the instincts that lying with his mate should have raised inside him, regardless of his species.
Stopping at a traffic light, Arslan dropped his head back and snarled at the roof of his car and the world in general.Patience was not one of his stronger suits.
*
Ryland re-opened the front door and peeked out just in time to see Arslan’s car turn the corner at the bottom of his street and disappear from view.He stood on the doorstep and stared after it for a long time, his arms wrapped tight around his body, hugging Arslan’s coat against his bare skin.
“You’re letting the cold in!”
Ryland sighed and forced himself to close the door.
One of his housemates, Fred, came out of the living room to join him in the hall.He looked pointedly at Ryland’s borrowed coat and at his bare ankles and feet.“Good night, was it?”
Ryland took a deep breath and let it out as another sigh.Leaning against the wall by the door, he tried to make his brain work and failed miserably.
Fred’s eyes opened very wide.“You didn’t…”
Ryland just closed his own eyes in response.
“Bloody hell!You did!”Fred said.“You actually did it.”
Ryland forced himself to open his eyes again.Rather than meet Fred’s gaze, he stared down at the coat.It was far too big for him.The sleeves covered his hands.But it smelled like Arslan.For all Ryland knew it could have been months since Arslan had worn it, but in that moment, it seemed to hold some of the professor’s warmth as well as his scent.Ryland pulled it even tighter around him, clinging to the faint echo of Arslan’s touch.
“Did you get paid?”
Ryland nodded, swallowing down the bitter taste at the back of his mouth.“Yeah, I got paid in advance.”
If you come to us willingly and of your own free will, with no thought for your own gain and only wishing to add to the pride, then you are welcome… If you are who we think you are… A shiver ran down Ryland’s spine as he recalled that horrible moment when he’d realised that not every man who went to the lions went there as a cheap whore.
“How much?”
“Two thousand,” Ryland whispered.So maybe not cheap, but still a whore for all that.It had been just enough to pay the remainder of his fees.When Ryland finally lifted his gaze, Fred was right there in front of him.
He put one hand on each of Ryland’s shoulders as if he thought he needed steadying.“You okay?”
Ryland nodded.It wasn’t as if he could tell him the truth.
“They didn’t want you to do anything really weird, did they?”Fred asked, his huge green eyes opening wider than ever
Ryland shook his head.“No, it was…” Good?Perfect?The best night of his life?Fantastic because it was impossible to believe anything that involved Arslan could be anything other than fantastic?Ryland hesitated.What could he really tell his friend?“It wasn’t a problem.”
Fred didn’t believe him.Ryland knew that, but he had no idea what to do about it.Stepping to one side, he passed Fred by and headed for the stairs.
“Ryland?”
“I’m fine,” he said, not looking over his shoulder.“Just tired.I’ll see you in the morning.”
