This normalcy after being burned alive was exactly what the doctor ordered. “Emon says that he thinks you are really handsome.”
“No I did not!”Emon snapped his jaws at us both.“Do not lie on my behalf.”
Arwyn’s serious expression cracked just a little. “I get the impression that was not what the familiar said to you.”
I shrugged, forcing out a reply to Emon through my mind.“Can you go back to the base, Emon? Keep the perimeter safe.You have my full permission to rip the throats out of anyone who gets near it.”
The familiar’s excitement swelled inside of me, even if he attempted to hide it.“You drag me into the fire and now you are barking orders at me? Rich.”
“Go,”I repeated, adding an extra word to help rid Emon from my presence.“Please.”
“Are you not even going to ask how I am here?”Emon chided.“I will give you a hint, it was…”
Deep down, I already knew the answer.“Kai.”
“I was going to say the redhead witchling who can’t keep his hands off the other witchling woman back at the base, but yes I suppose we can use first names.”
My head thundered with discomfort as a barrage of questions and what-ifs came to me.
“Is Kai’s demon still around too?”
Arwyn nodded, lip caught between his teeth as he regarded me.
“Fortunately,”Emon answered for the both of them.“And you see, I came here to tell you that I am not allowed to be at the base because, as I said, they cannot keep their hands off each other.”
I turned back to Arwyn who, bless him, just stood and waited for our telepathic conversation to end. He didn’t pry; hell, he probably didn’t care. Again, his focus was on me, his hands rubbing up and down my thighs, as he patiently waited for me to finish.
“Emon has been banished by order of Kai’s little demon kitty,” I said to Arwyn.
The serpent grunted something, but I missed exactly what.
“He’s not permitted back at the base, and I get the impression we aren’t right now either.”
Nearly dying did many things, so I didn’t blame Romy and Kai for taking the moment alone to… celebrate passing. I felt that same desire kindling in my groin too.
Apparently all it took was the X-rated images to pass through my mind for my familiar to get the hint.
“On that note, I am off to go and hunt some dinner,”Emon announced, slithering around and jetting off into the forest of poppies. No doubt he’d sensed that same shift in myneedsas I had. In a flash, Emon slithered off into the underbrush of poppies, his obsidian-scaled body disappearing within seconds.
I loosed a long, heavy sigh.
“So much has changed, hasn’t it?” Arwyn laid his hands on either side of my face again, eyes drinking me in. At this point there wasn’t an inch of my body he’d not inspected since I’d been transported from burning fire, to his arms.
“And I sense we’ve only just experienced the tip of the iceberg.”
Arwyn nodded, grimacing as he did so. “It’s all one big shit show.”
“I’m certainly not going to argue with that statement. So,” I encouraged, slowly. “Are you going to tell me what you’re sorry about?”
“I am. But first, how about we both go and wash off the scent of burning? I’ve never felt so dirty.”
Truthfully, I wanted nothing more than to shower or bathe that hell away. But like Emon had suggested, our base was out of bounds.
Arwyn watched my thoughts with the change of my expression, thus reading my mind. “I spotted a lake not too far from here. Think you can make it there?”
My legs felt odd, but I could walk. That didn’t mean I wanted to. “Actually, I think you’re going to need to carry me.”
“I was hoping you were going to say that.” Arwyn’s eyes narrowed, making the skin on my body shiver with anticipation.
