Kiera murmured something in her sleep and shifted slightly.
Brux froze. Oh Goddess–had he gone too far?
For one terrible instant he feared she would wake and scold him and send him back to the floor. But instead of pulling away, she gave a little sleepy sigh and pressed back against him.
The movement made his heart stutter in his chest.
She was soft…so soft. Not to mention, warm and curvy and yielding in all the right places. The round sweetness of her backside nestled against his belly and chest, and he could feel the line of her spine…the soft press of her shoulder against his neck. Even in his animal form, she fit against him so perfectly it felt as though they had been made to sleep this way.
A low, pleased whuff escaped him before he could stop it.
Kiera only sighed again and snuggled closer, one hand drifting back in her sleep to stroke the fur on his foreleg, which was resting over her full hip. Her fingers curled there loosely, as though even in her sleep, she wanted contact with him.
Her touch sent a rush of heat through him—deeper and more important than mere arousal. It was his Bond—sense, the place inside him that had been dark and empty for so long, suddenly flaring with fragile, hopeful light.
Yes…this was what he needed–what all Lykans needed–the touch of a mate to call them back from the void.
Without it, a Lykan’s mind unraveled. His thoughts became simple and primal. Hunger. Fear. Need. The urge to chase, to bite, to rut, to sleep. The sentient self dissolved little by little until all that remained was the beast.
But with the touch of the right female—with affection and closeness and scent and skin—the darkness receded. Thought returned. Memory returned. Feelings returned– both the sweet and the painful.
So if Kiera kept him near…if she continued to pet him and hold him and let him stay close, then yes—it ought to be possible. He ought to regain his humanoid form soon. And when he did…
Brux’s heart thudded painfully against his ribs. When he regained his humanoid form, he would tell her the truth.
He would explain what he was—not an animal, not really–but a Lykan Monstrum warrior trapped in his beast shape by grief and isolation. He would tell her how she had saved him…how she was bringing him back.
And then—if the Goddess willed it, if Kiera would have him, and if he could somehow get past the guilt that still prowled at the edges of his mind—he would Bond her to him.
The thought filled him with fierce, aching longing.
He imagined drawing her into his arms in his bipedal form. Imagined burying his face in her neck and scenting her skin. Imagined telling her she was beautiful and cherished and his. He imagined laying her down on this very bed and loving her the way a female ought to be loved—thoroughly, tenderly, completely—filling her wtih both his shafts and knotting her until the Bond took root between them and tied them together forever.
Mine, his instincts whispered again, drowsy and content now. But softer now–less a snarl of possession and more of a prayer.
Please. Please let her be mine. Please let me be worthy of her.
Brux pressed his muzzle carefully into the back of her neck, breathing her in one more time.
Kiera made another small sound in her sleep and her fingers tightened slightly in his fur.
The simple little movement nearly undid him. He loved her so much already, and he had only just found her.
It was madness. It was too fast, too much all at once.
It was also absolutely true.
At last, soothed by her warmth and her scent and the sweet weight of her hand resting on him, Brux allowed his eyes to close. The living mattress was soft beneath them, the coverlet warm over them, and the darkness inside the dome no longer felt lonely or cold or empty.
As sleep began to claim him, his last thoughts were not of grief or guilt or Darklings or the long, terrible void that had almost swallowed him whole.
They were of Kiera. Of how sweet and warm she felt pressed against him…of how her touch was bringing him back.
And of how, when he regained his other form, he would Bond her to him and never let the darkness take him again.
12
KIERA
