The vibration of it pulses directly against my oversensitive skin, and I jerk hard, a broken whimper escaping my throat.
He finally lifts his head.
His mouth is slick, his eyes still black, the amber at the rim slowly returning. The expression on his face is feral. As if he would do it again. And again. And again.
I drag a shaking breath into my lungs.
“Tor-vakh,” I whisper.
The sound he makes is a raw, gutted exhale, punched straight out of his chest.
He surges forward, pressing his burning forehead hard against my bare stomach. His arms crush around my waist. His whole enormous body curls in around me, shaking into the stone, and that deep, involuntary purr keeps rumbling out of his chest and vibrating through my bones.
I don’t knowhow long we stay pressed together in the freezing tunnel. Five minutes. An hour.
Eventually, the cold air sliding through the fissures begins to cut through his heat and I shiver.
Kol’s head snaps up.
He stands up slowly. The dense, roped muscles of his thighs flex as he rises to his full height in the dark. Turning, he locates the dark shape of my discarded clothes on the stone floor, and picks them up.
He holds them out to me.
His hand is steady now, but his golden eyes are still half dark. He watches me, eyes on my bare skin as I take the pants from his claws and pull them back up my shaking legs.
Once I’m done, his arms slide under my knees and my back, lifting me off the ledge.
“I-I can walk.” My voice betrays me by trembling.
He ignores me, turns toward the deeper tunnels, and starts walking.
The rock walls close around us, cutting off the wind, and I drop my head against his chest. The purring is still going, vibrating steadily against my temple. I’m drained of everything, but the panic in my chest is gone.
We reach the main cavern. The fire is out. The women are gone, already evacuated to the deepest tunnels. The warriors are exactly where they were before, stationed in stillness at the lookouts along the walls. Nobody looks our way. Nobody makes a sound.
He carries me straight to the tunnel entrance, the line he intends to hold, and sets me down carefully on my feet.
His hands stay on my hips, then he forces himself to take a single step backward.
Slowly, he points one long, claw-tipped finger toward the deep chambers.
I don’t move.
Instead, I slide my hand into the deep side pocket of my cargo pants. My fingers brush against the cold, smooth surface of the rock I’ve been carrying.
I pull it out, raise my hand into the space between us, and slowly open my fingers.
The dark stone sits in the center of my palm.
I tighten my grip on the stone, and wait for Ain.
Chapter 13
UNINVITED GUESTS WITH TERRIBLE MANNERS
KOL
Lucek is here.
