RATHYN
My body is trembling. I didn’t get the few hours of rest I need to be at optimal performance. I couldn’t, as hard as I tried.
I spent most of the night half-awake thinking about what I’d felt.
About what my body had done.
That hasn’t happened since I was an adolescent, dealing with strange dreams of breeding. There were times I would wake up extended, rutting against my mattress, but that phase passed quickly.
Pleasure is pointless. It is a distraction. It is unnecessary.
It is meant for breeding and nothing else. I was never going to be selected to create life, so I never wondered about it. There was no point in caring.
My purpose is to keep my people safe from threats.
But something is changing.
Something is…different.
No one warned me that if I spent too much time with one human, I would start to hear him in my mind. That he would hear me. That I could close my eyes and he would be there.
That I would want to mark him as mine.
Something is wrong. Something has gone awry.
I stand in front of the portal as I wait for permission to enter. Eissa is there waiting for me, and while he might not be able to tell me everything, I know if anyone has answers, it will be him.
Glancing behind me as I step through, I think about my little human and feel a pang of worry about leaving him on his own. I peer into his mind and find him still asleep, dreaming of me. Warmth blooms in my chest as I pass from his world into mine.
The smells of home comfort me immediately, and I turn to see one of my guards waiting for instructions.
“Cielo.” He inclines his head at me. “You will pass through the portal and guard my companion for the day.”
“Yes, Commander,” he says. No argument, because of course there isn’t one. He’s one of the guards pulled from the Outerlands, given a position in order to keep his family fed. They are the most loyal. The most obedient.
And I breathe a little easier for that, knowing he would die to protect my human. But I’m still not settled. I am home, but without Everest by my side, my world suddenly feels alien.
Something must be done about it.
I cannot let myself falter.
Not even for him.
twelve
EVEREST
It’s only when I wake to the sunlight in my face that I realize I’ve slept. I didn’t expect to drop off at all after what happened last night, but apparently my body had other ideas. I curled up in bed, trying to catch whatever scent on my fingers had upset Rathyn, but my nose isn’t sophisticated enough to identify it.
It smelled slightly earthy, but also clean. Other than that, it was nothing. Still, the feel of it…of his cock, that had been something else.
I’m craving to see it again. To touch it. To play with it.
To see if it feels as good for him as touching my cock feels for me.
Rolling onto my side, I swing my legs off the bed and make my way into the bathroom to relieve myself, brush my teeth, and make sure my hair is somewhat in order.
It doesn’t take me long to make myself look presentable. I only have a few pairs of sweatpants and t-shirts from the apartment, and while they fit better than the shit he got me, it’s not what I want to spend the rest of the day in.
