Page 35 of Tempting Fate

I dragged my eyes to his. Those bright, amethyst crystals demanded answers from me, begged me to help him. And that was what I was here for, wasn’t it? To help?

I took a steadying breath. “Are you okay?”

Slowly, so slowly, I unwrapped my hand from his softening dick and pulled away. Why was I even still holding it?

He heaved in a lungful of air. “That was… That was what he told me.”

“I’m going to have to ask you to elaborate,” I said, keeping my voice gentle. “Who told you what, baby?” Shit, shit, shit. I am so bad at this.

“Tokki.” His headspines twitched. “He said… pleasure without pain. I didn’t… didn’t believe…”

I couldn’t take the credit. I couldn’t. This process was supposed to move from lots of pain, to a bit of both, to everything being normal, right? But if that hadn’t been painful, did that mean his kalidi was over already? No, that wasn’t possible. “So that didn’t hurt?” Did I make you feel good?

God, I was a fucking pervert.

Airida let out a low, rough chuckle. “Oh, it hurt. But, spines of the gods, it felt good too. I never believed anything could feel like that.”

His eyes filled with tears, scattering the crystalline of his irises until they seemed nothing but thousands of glittering fragments. “My apologies.” He rubbed the backs of his hands over his eyes, dashing the wetness away. Then, to himself, low and angry, “Kri’ith don’t cry.”

Oh, absolutely the fuck not. Kri’ith don’t cry, men don’t cry, it was all bollocks. “Kri’ith might not cry, but you can, and you should. So if you feel like crying, then fucking cry, Airida.” Kri’ith might literally be unable to cry tears, but that didn’t apply to him.

Tears leaked down his cheeks, seeping into the corners of his lips, and I couldn’t stop talking.

“Crying is natural. Did you know, in humans, sad tears contain cortisol, the stress hormone, which is bad for the body in large quantities, so crying literally helps us feel better? I’m sure it’s similar in other species. So cry all you need to, honey.”

Shush, Imani. You haven’t even cleaned him up.

But I couldn’t do that right now, not when he was snuffling through all four nostrils, fighting his tears but letting them happen anyway.

I folded the towel over, slid it over his dick, and took one of his hands in mine. Squeezed. “It’s okay, I’m here.”

He wiped his eyes—this time without any frustration—and blinked.

What was the clinical thing to do? “Do you need a hug?”

Airida’s mouth split in a shy smile, his upper lip catching on a tusk—and wasn’t that the most adorable thing? “Like when I arrived? You are a hugger.” He gave a deep kri’ith nod, his head tilting deep and low to one side, compressing one ear ridge wide, the other stretching thinner. His short headspines writhed as if reaching for me, and his head came back to centre.

“Sit up, then,” I whispered.

I leaned forwards, putting one arm over his shoulder, the other around his back, mindful of any spines he had.

Airida put his arms around me.

This wasn’t an awkward, wooden hug of someone caught by surprise in something I’d suspected was entirely unfamiliar. No, Airida folded me into an embrace like he’d spent his life learning how to give the best hugs, squeezing me close—or as much as he could with me leaning over. Then he gave a deep sigh and tugged me closer.

I squeaked, falling forward out of the chair.

Airida lifted me with his strong, warm arms and settled me on the bed. He held me, his breath gusting over me, ruffling my hair.

Now I was the tense one. I should just enjoy the hug, right?

He gave a low, contented rumble, drawing me tight against his hot chest. God, he was so big, so strong, even with his fatigue, and… did he just sniff me? The right thing to do—the professional thing to do—was to stop.

He let me pull back, but not before I caught his scent, something clean, something smoky, something like rosemary.

“I like hugs,” he said, stroking my arms as if reluctant to let me go, mouth split in a lazy, satisfied smile. “We should do this too. As well as relieve kalidi.”

Yes. So much yes.