Cleo
CLEO
I know he’s broken. I know he’s been through far too much for one living being, but his reaction to the Voltes was something else entirely.
I don’t know how to handle it, to handle him. We’re in this together, but he isn’t making it easy. I pull on some underwear and pants, turning to see what he’s doing as I lift the dress over my head.
But Maxym isn’t there. He’s gone. Where there was a towering seven and a half foot, winged warrior, there is a very much Maxym shaped hole. I swiftly pull on a top, catching sight of myself in the mirror, the damage done to my back by the Bogarok a long red streak on my skin from the base of my spine to my hairline.
With a shiver, I shrug on a long jacket which sweeps the floor and listen to see if I can hear Maxym moving around in the dwelling.
Silence closes in on me. All of it, save for a sharp click which freezes the blood in my veins.
Is it the Bogarok? Have they found us? If they’ve found Maxym, I’m not sure what I’ll do. He might be feral, too quick to damage whatever is in his way but…
Do I care for him?
The clicking sound is getting closer. For all the secret exits in this place, I’m trapped in my room with no escape. I decide the closet is not a good option and drop to the floor, rolling under my bed instead.
I daren’t breathe as the door swings open, and I see a long slim black leg tap on the floor. I’m frozen with fear. The memory of the Bogarok which attacked me in the dome is at the forefront of my prey brain. I want to run so much my legs are shaking. Hiding is my only other option.
It doesn’t stop every single part of me shaking.
“?” Retah’s voice reaches me.
The long thin leg is joined by two booted feet.
“Where is she?” Maxym snarls, his feet joining the others.
“I’m under here.” I manage to get the words out.
A huge set of feathers pools on the floor, and a pair of dark eyes peer under the bed.
“Little mate,” Maxym says. “Why are you under here?”
“I thought…I thought you were the Bogarok.” My teeth chatter. “I thought they had found us.”
Maxym reaches in and gently slides me out, pulling me into his arms and wrapping his wings around me. I’m enclosed in the wall of warm, scented feathers as he holds me tight.
“Nothing will ever keep me from you, my sweet mate,” he says. “I will move all the celestial bodies to hold you in my arms. You are my feathers, my claws, and my soul. Without you, I am a mere vessel. With you, I am a Gryn warrior.”
He lifts my face to his with a clawed thumb and kisses me on the lips, a slow, delicious, dominating kiss which leaves me in no doubt as to who I am to him.
“I knew I’d seen Maxym somewhere before,” Retah says genially. “Or at least his species. I’d just never seen one close up, and it took me a while to remember.”
I’m still staring at Maxym, studying his face, the long scar which runs over his forehead, the sweet curve of his lips as he gazes at me.
“Remember what?” I ask in a daze.
“Remember hearing about their species, how they rose up against the tyrannical bots which took over their world, how they took it back. How they are searching the galaxy for those they lost,” Retah says, his voice tinged with sadness.
When I glance over at him, he’s in a terrible state. Slash marks cover his face and arms, bloodied bandages wrapped around them. What I mistook for a Bogarok leg is a stick he’s using as his leg is also heavily bandaged.
“I was trying to stop the invasion.” He gives me a wry smile filled with pain. “It didn’t go as well as it should have done.”
“Where’s Tibi?” I say, my heart seized with fear given how badly injured Retah is.
“She’s perfectly safe in the basement, grumbling about the cooking facilities. She’s fine,” he says, taking a step towards me and stopped by a growl from Maxym. “She told me you are with young,” he says quietly, eyeing Maxym carefully. “She says this warrior has accepted both of you.”
“ and her young are mine,” Maxym snarls. “No one else can have them.”
“Question answered.” Retah holds up his hands to supplicate Maxym, the stick clutched in one of them. “I consider your mate like a daughter to me, Gryn,” he says. “She has been good for my business, and having a young creature around has been good for Tibi and me too.” He cocks his horned head on one side. “Whatever happens, I trust you will always consider this place home, .”
His words are delivered warmly even as he keeps his eyes firmly on Maxym.
I place one hand on Maxym’s chest and slide the other deep into his feathers. I’m rewarded by a stuttering breath and flickering eyelids.
All my huge gladiator wants is to be loved. He wants a simple kindness to pull him away from the violence, the only thing he’s known for a long time. I can feel his thoughts in turmoil, from not knowing what to do about Retah, to having me in his arms and my hand at the base of his wings. Maxym is confused and lost.
And he wants to be found.