Page 125 of Rot In Knotty Pieces

“You’re dead to me, too, Brother. OW! Stop it! All right, I won’t call you brother.”

They disappear into the house. I can feel King and his bond inside. I know he’s watching, he’s got that ridiculous streak of pride glowing inside him. He loves it when I show off. He says people think I’m useless, and it’s always good to remind the world that I’m not now and then.

She almost gets past me, but I grab her wrist at the last minute, duck under her arm, block her knee, and then she’s tied up against my chest. I yank her T-shirt and bra off her.

“Hey!”

“My rewards,” I murmur and bite my lip.

I let her loose and nudge her away from my flag panties.

Pix goes in, but though he’s quiet, he’s impossible to miss because he has this habit of reaching out and touching the environment, like he needs it to remind him where he is. I crash into him and kiss him hard before twirling him away.

“Damn it,” Pix growls. “What am I doing wrong? What can you hear?”

“You can’t stop touching. Keep your hands to yourself, and you’ll be able to pass me with practice.”

He tries again, this time it’s much harder, but he doesn’t watch his shoulder, and he brushes up against a tree. I pounce him.

“Poor kitten, all cute and caught.”

“Get off me,” Pix growls.

I lunge up and dart across, grabbing her before she can put her hands on my flag.

“Bad girl.”

She hisses.

“Maybe we have two kittens. Grumpy, feral kittens.”

I yank her shorts off and slap her ass hard. She stabs her fingers into my ribs, but I catch her other hand, spinning her around and slamming her into the grass.

“You have failed!” I shout.

She lays there for a moment, and then I catch the scent of something delicious and sweet.

“That’s cheating,” I say.

“Let’s play a new game,” Raptor says with a deep, rolling purr. “If you can catch me, you can bond me.”

I reach for my blindfold.

“Uh, uh, uh. You have to leave that on.”

“Fine.”

I lunge for her, but she’s too quick. I follow her movements, chasing her around the backyard. When I corner her, she kicks me, hard enough to know that she’s going to give this all she’s got and make it worthwhile.

Her scent is in the air, and my amusement fades. I become quiet within myself.

I want that bond. I want it more than I want to survive.

When she lunges, I catch her waist, but she elbows me and slips free again. I snarl and follow her across the yard. Tracking each panting breath, tracking that scent that is clouding all thought. All I can think about is how much I want to press my face against her skin, inhale that scent, and then sink my teeth into her flesh and bond her.

She runs to get past me, but I grab her hair.

She screams. I just tow her in close to me, grabbing her arms and legs and throwing us to the ground where I roll her onto her stomach, and using my thighs, I press her legs apart.