“Sit down, Mina,” I growled out.
I watched her freeze, those eyes large and glistening in the flickering light.
Discomfort slid into my gut. I…didn’t like seeing her cry. I didn’t like seeing any females cry, for that matter.
And I feared that she wouldn’t stop until I ate the damn food.
“Ah,kalles. Don’t do that. Rinse the meat in the basin,lysi?” I told her, my voice gruff. “Do not worry yourself over it. I’ve had much, much worse. I promise you.”
She sniffled. There was this little knot in my chest that warmed as we regarded one another. A dangerous little thing, I knew. I had the strangest urge to rub it from my chest, only my hands were shackled behind me.
Finally, she nodded after a small sniffle. But I watched as she placed the meat safely back on the cloth, which she then placed on her lap.
“Drink first before I rinse it off,” she said, her voice still quiet and raspy. “The water is fresh from the well.”
I…couldn’t figure her out. I held her eyes over the rim of the basin as she tipped it up to me. Fresh, cool water slid down my throat, coating it and soothing it, and I only felt relief when I’d drained nearly the entire thing.
With what remained, she rinsed the meat until it was clean of debris before tearing it into smaller chunks, the strands of meat still tender.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered again.
Then she held it up to me, offering it to me with tentative hope in her expression. Feeding me?
I paused but then again, I supposed there was no other way.
It was strange for me but perhapsvekkirididn’t understand the significance to a Dakkari.
For only the wife of a male was allowed to feed him.
And for aVorakkar…well, only hisMorakkari, his queen, was allowed this intimacy. No others.
My nostrils flared but I accepted the food, holding her gaze all the while. Her eyes trailed to my lips, which parted for her, and she placed the first bite on my tongue. She snatched her hand back quickly, watching my jaw work in rapt fascination as I ate.
The meat was bland and flavorless—aswrissanmeat typically was without proper preparation—but it slid down easily enough. By the time I was done, she already had the next bite ready and there was less hesitation on her end than there was before.
We went on like that until the meat was gone. On the last bite, one of my sharpened incisors scraped against the soft flesh of her finger. As she pulled it away, the back of her little finger brushed my lips.
I swallowed, feeling her innocent touch burn into me. Silence continued to weave between us, heavy and thick. With that luminous gaze on me and with her scent filling my lungs, the moment felt oddly…charged.
So much so that I felt my cock begin to stiffen under my fur coverings. I shifted my leg up quickly, not wanting her to realize it. This witch might have some semblance of control over my body but I would be damned if sheknewshe did.
Again, I thought, my jaw tightening.
This littlevekkirihad had my cock the hardest it’d ever been in the fog, when she’d tempted me towards my prison. Then, all I had thought about was bringing her back to my horde, back to my furs, and burying myself inside her. A temporary madness. All because ofher.
“I—I’m sorry I didn’t bring more,” she finally said softly, seemingly oblivious to the reaction she’d wrung from me.
Thewrissanwasn’t much but Iwasgrateful for her bringing the food. Despite what I’d claimed earlier, I would begin to feel the effects of lack of food soon. Dakkari—especially warriors—consumed perhaps twenty times as much every day as the amount she’d just fed me. I didn’t have much time left before my strength would begin to wane, so any form of sustenance was necessary.
My voice was dark and husky from my previous thoughts when I said, “You apologize too much,sarkia.”
She blinked before her gaze slid away. She balled up the little cloth she’d brought the meat in.
Softly, she said, “Now you know about the hunting. I probably shouldn’t have told you about that.”
A sharp sound escaped my nostrils.
“Aren’t you duty bound to punish us all now?”
