“Kirion? What’s wrong? Are you all right?”
I stood without moving in the doorway watching Tane get up. In the pink light, now I could see he was naked. And beautiful. Broad shoulders, flat stomach, muscles defined. I couldn’t see more details beyond that, but I imagined he was magnificent in every way. He grabbed a robe from the foot of his bed and quickly put it on.
“I—I’m….” I didn’t finish. I didn’t have an answer for him. Was I all right? In some ways, yes. But no. I wasn’t all right.
My body tightened as Tane approached me.
“Are you sick? Are you hurt?”
I shook my head.
He stopped within two feet of me. Two feet only but such a tremendous distance. It felt like infinity. My eyes suddenly swam with tears. How could I? How could I have something so far away?
Eventually, the fire in me would turn me to ash. It couldn’t be helped. I was lost. Alone. Good for no one except as a slave. He couldn’t want me. Not even if I was super wonderful. Because I couldn’t escape that final designation: set omega.
A burning tear dropped to my cheek. To hide it, I ducked my head. The rest followed without me actually thinking about it, as if my body was on autopilot.
I strode forward two feet—infinity—and butted my head into his chest. Then I wrapped my arms around him as tight as I could as my knees threatened to buckle. A single sob escaped me and became buried in his robe.
“Kir—Kirion?”
He was going to push me away. I knew it. I braced for it, squeezing my eyes tightly shut.
Instead of falling back as I’d expected, arms came around my shoulders. Strong. Pressing hard. Possessive.
I gasped at the shock of it. Of feeling his chin against the top of my head and his voice rumble through me.
“It’s okay now. It’s okay.”
We stayed that way for a few more breaths. When he started to pull back, I held on with all my might. Then, before I realized what was happening, my feet came up off the floor. My body jerked and Tane’s arms went beneath my legs and lifted me as if I weighed no more than a basket of feathers.
I adjusted my grip on him. Over the shoulders and around his neck. I pressed my cheek to his upper chest as we turned. I heard a footstep on the wood floor and the door closed loudly behind us.
I peeked out from behind my messed-up hair and saw the bed. Tane was taking me to his bed.His bed.
We came around to the side of the mattress and he started to put me down but my body was having none of that. My arms wrapped tighter around his neck. He didn’t force it. He held me close, turned his body and sat with me still cradled in his arms.
I couldn’t look. I couldn’t think. It was this, contact with Tane, that I wanted and craved. I didn’t want anything to ruin that.
His chin rubbed the top of my head again. I felt his breath. Then a light kiss at my brow like lightning. Like thunder exploding through me.
His arms squeezed me. “Kirion,” he said again.
I nodded against him.
We’d both said we liked each other in the den. Now we were speaking with our bodies.
When I finally relaxed, Tane lay back in the bed. I followed, stretching out against his side.
We didn’t speak. When he looked up, his bright eyes were staring at me. I blinked once, twice before he leaned in.
Our lips met.
And I lost my grip on reality.
20
Tane
