She was so warm and soft in his arms–so solid and real and curved in all the right places.
He remembered sleeping beside her and watching her in the pool and dreaming of what it would feel like to hold her like this as a male. It was a hundred–no a thousand times better–than he had ever imagined.
With a sigh of contentment, he settled back against the couch with one arm behind her back and the other beneath her knees, and cradled her to his chest, as though he had every right in the world to hold her close.
Kiera made a startled little noise and one hand flew to his shoulder, but she didn’t ask him to put her down–she only stared at him.
Brux stared back. Up close, with her seated in his lap and the light from the wall—sconces gilding her creamy brown skin, she was so beautiful it nearly hurt.
“You’re really here,” he said softly, before he could stop himself.
Kiera smiled.
“Well…yes,” she said, sounding a little breathless. “So are you.”
A shaky laugh escaped him.
“Yes,” he murmured. “For now.”
He tightened his hold on her just slightly—not enough to frighten her, only enough to reassure himself that she was truly there. Her arms came up uncertainly, and then one of them settled around his neck.
The contact sent a rush of light through him. It wasn’t literal light, of course, but it felt that way. As though some dark place inside him that had been hollow and cold for so long was being filled with warmth and clarity and life. The primal part of him receded another step and the shakiness inside his shift eased.
He let out a long breath as relief flowed through him.
“Thank you,” he murmured. “This helps. Holding you–it really helps.”
Kiera studied his face.
“So it’s really true? Me touching you helps you stay…” She hesitated. “Stay…like this? Human? Or I guess, humanoid.”
Brux nodded.
“Yes. Lykans need the touch of their mate to call them back from the void.” He swallowed. “Without it, we begin to lose ourselves. First memory…then language…then reason. It all slips away.” His voice sounded hollow in his own ears.
Kiera frowned slightly.
“But you said ‘mate.’” She looked puzzled. “I’m not… I mean, we’re not…”
No, we’re not, Brux thought, though every part of him wished otherwise. He forced himself to answer carefully.
“A female doesn’t have to be fully Bonded to begin helping,” he said. “Closeness matters. Touch. Comfort. Care.” He looked down briefly, unable to keep the truth entirely out of his voice. “You have been saving me from the moment you took me from that cage.”
Kiera went very still in his lap and for a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then she said quietly, “Buck…”
“Brux,” he corrected automatically. “My name is Brux.”
She tried it out softly.
“Brux.”
The sound of his true name in her mouth almost undid him–he had not heard it spoken kindly in so long.
“Yes,” he said, his voice roughening. “Though if you prefer Buck…”
A faint smile touched her lips.
