“Yet it’s something. I’m going to keep asking until you tell me, so you might as well tell me now.”
Riley turns his head away. “Fine… I’m pissed.”
“About?”
“About the fact that I spent five—no,sixdays at your side, terrified you were going to die, and when you finally got enough of your power back to heal yourself, you spent it on that thing,” he says as he gestures at Quill.
I glance over at “that thing” who really wants to nibble on Kit’s tail. Kit is annoyed by this and whaps Quill on the nose. Then I look back at Riley as I open my mouth to tell him that I don’t see the problem since everything worked out fine, but I hesitate when I look at his bruised face. How would I feel if our roles were reversed? If he was hurt and put all of his energy into Kit instead of himself… especially if Kit wasn’t actually in a dire situation? It’s not like Quill was suffering. With thepower flowing into me, I could have easily healed myself first and brought Quill back later, but that’s not what I chose. I had no regard for how Riley felt as he stayed by my side. I never even considered what he might be feeling. Or that he was so concerned about me that he stayed by my side for six days. And when he saw Quill, he felt hope that I was awake, and instead I put it all in Quill.
“I’m sorry, that was really selfish of me. I’m not used to thinking about anyone other than myself,” I admit.
Riley nods and pushes off my lap to lie back down, but I catch him before he does.
“Where are you going? I’m sorry. Are you still upset?”
He seems uncertain as he sits on my lap, the fiery anger in his eyes finally gone. “No, and I wasn’t even that upset anymore. I just knew you wouldn’t stop pestering me if I didn’t say something.”
I tip his head closer and kiss his lips softly.
“Already wanting another pity fuck?” Riley asks, but his voice has more of the teasing tone that I’ve come to expect from him, and I’m thrilled to have that back. How can this human affect my own emotions and thoughts so much?
“My favorite kind,” I joke, kissing a line down his neck until I get to another bruise. It irritates me, and I wish I could find that man again and kill him for touching what is mine.
But does Riley want to be mine? And what does it mean tobemine?
I push those difficult thoughts aside as I kiss a line back up his neck.
Riley protests, “We can’t have sex with you in this state. You were just dying like an hour ago.”
“Sex cures me,” I lie.
“If that were true, I’d have stuck a finger in your bum six days ago,” he says, making me laugh.
“Maybe it doesn’t, but I’m fine.”
His expression tells me that he doesn’t believe a word I say, but when my hand slides into the back of his pants, he doesn’t stop me. His lips press against mine and my finger rubs over his hole while I question whether I have lube anywhere close.
“Quill, get me lube.”
And off Quill runs while Riley stops kissing me long enough to gawk at this situation. “You taught your… creature to do lube fetches like people teach their dogs to do a beer fetch?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about but yes, he will return with…” I look over as Quill returns with an ear of corn.
I take it out of sheer confusion. “No… dammit, Quill. Lube!”
“What the hell have you been doing with the corn?” Riley asks in horror. “I ate some of that…”
“I haven’t done anything with the corn!”
“Where did it go before it went into my mouth?”
“This one still has the husk on it, so you should be safe,” I tease.
Quill returns, thankfully this time with the right item, and then stares expectantly as I realize that all along, he just wanted me to husk the corn so he could eat it. I hurriedly do so and pass it off to the pleased creature.
“See?” I ask, flashing the lube at Riley. “A breeze.”
“A breeze that left me confused and a little disturbed.”
