Chapter 11
Amreth
A s much as I understood their reluctance, I hated feeling shackled. By now, I felt as if we had proven ourselves enough to be given even more freedom to move around and do what was needed to solve this crisis. Seeing no point in making waves, I went along with it.
They led us to a small house. Surprisingly, it wasn’t in the inner courtyard but in the village proper. All the ones in the courtyard were already full with the infected pilgrims. Two males were walking out as we approached. Only once inside did I realize that they had brought food for me. To my utter embarrassment, my stomach loudly expressed its approval, making everyone chuckle.
“Enjoy your meal. We will see you in the morning,” Vala said.
We thanked her and watched her leave. As soon as the door closed behind her, I removed from my belt the weapons that I thankfully didn’t have to use today and glanced at the right wall where the door to the guest bedroom had been located in Bryst. Finding none, I jerked my head around to look at the opposite wall. Only then did I notice that this dwelling didn’t have a guest room.
“Tharmok’s blood. It seems there’s only one bedroom. I can go ask if they have a bigger dwelling,” I said, scratching my nape. “Or I could sleep on the couch.”
“Absolutely not!” Ciara said, looking at me as if I’d gotten hit once too many on the head. “Have you looked at the size of you compared to that couch? Are you itching to sleep with your knees pressed to your forehead?”
I snorted and shook my head, almost feeling like a child being scolded by his mother.
“We’re grown adults, not rabid animals. I’m sure we can share a bed and behave like civilized people. But if it makes you uncomfortable, I will let you have the bed, and I’ll sleep on the couch.”
“Absolutely not!” I said, echoing her previous words but with total outrage. “I will not sleep comfortably in a bed while my mate is cramped up on a couch.”
“Exactly!” she said with an exaggerated air of relief that I was finally seeing the light. “See how outrageous that felt to you? Why would you assume I would be fine doing that to you?”
I scrunched my face at her, failing to find an appropriate answer.
“We both need proper rest. So this matter is settled. Now let’s feed you,” Ciara said in a tone that brooked no argument as she waved for me to take a seat at the table.
As a noble Lord and Warden of my own Sector, I couldn’t remember the last time anyone ordered me around. The only person that had me jumping to attention with a single word was my father. Then again, Kronos’s sire had a way of making your insides liquify with a mere look. And yet, behind his stern and intimidating exterior, Lord Aramon was the sweetest of males with the dryest sense of humor. You never knew if he was chastising or teasing you until you caught his very discreet smug smirk.
I smiled, amused by her take charge attitude, and settled at the table. She didn’t sit but immediately started digging in the three serving trays they had brought us, piling on all the meat she could find onto a plate, which she then settled in front of me.
“I told them you weren’t into bird food,” Ciara said teasingly.
I burst out laughing, my chest warming with affection as she grabbed only a couple of vegetables with a piece of roasted white meat before settling across the table from me.
“That’s all you’re eating?” I asked, frowning at the tiny amount on her plate.
She shrugged. “I already ate. I’m just joining you because it sucks to eat on your own while your companion is staring at you. Now dig in. You’re not starving on my watch.”
I nodded again, grateful for yet another thoughtful gesture from her, and complied. To say I was famished couldn’t begin to describe the hollowness in my stomach. Flying required a lot of energy. As grateful as I was for the food—which was actually quite delicious—I hungered for a much different type of sustenance. My mouth watered at the thought of how her emotions would taste. She couldn’t begin to imagine how much more filling and satisfying feeding from her would be.
Attentive as ever, Ciara didn’t strike a conversation right away, allowing me to get a few bites in to appease the most brutal pangs. I all but inhaled the first few chunks of meat. Although she tried to hide it, I didn’t miss the amusement in her eyes as she discreetly peered at me.
“I was worried about you,” I said at last after swallowing another mouthful. “Everything went well in my absence?”
She nodded. “Thanks for the concern, but there was no need. Everyone was very kind to me. Anyway, Enre and Vala totally went into Mama bear protective mode over me. Keeping me safe was truly a matter of pride and honor for them.”
“I’m glad to hear there were no incidents,” I said while cutting a piece of meat.
“Actually, there was some partially good news and a minor incident,” Ciara amended. “The semi-good news is that I was able to put Muti’s wife in a semi-stasis. It keeps the disease from progressing. I’ve injected her with some nanobots that are targeting the prions killing her and eradicating them. It’s a very slow process. But it seems to be working.”
“Will it cure her?” I asked, perking up.
She shook her head. “No. It’s just going to bring her down to a less critical state where her body will hopefully be able to fight back the prions while it adjusts to the changes of its evolution. Their two children have taken really well to the medicine, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.”
“That’s wonderful news. I cannot imagine a greater gift for that poor male. His pain was so vivid, I could almost touch it. What you and your team are doing is phenomenal,” I said with deep admiration and respect.
She smiled shyly. “Thank you. But don’t forget that you’re now a part of that team, too. And with your discovery today, we could get even closer to success.”
“Like you said, fingers crossed,” I replied gently. “But you mentioned an incident?”
Ciara nodded. “After we finished testing everyone—and thankfully found no other cases—we began to administer the vaccine to all the people who had not been infected before. Two of them were adamant about not being injected.”
I pursed my lips and nodded pensively. “That’s not surprising. Frankly, I expected far more resistance from a greater number of people. But you cannot force someone to receive that type of treatment.”
“I know. All I can do is explain the benefits, but in the end, it remains their choice. Hopefully, seeing the others are fine and do not suffer negative effects from it may end up changing their minds. Either way, I pray that we can actually find a treatment or eradicate the source.”
“You think the berries are the source?” I asked.
“With its foreign origin, it’s extremely likely. There should be no strawberries on Kestria. From the events that Sora and Aku recounted to us, the doctors had been eating by the river. After Sora bit the man, they stunned her and then ran away. They never came back to pick up the food that they left behind. Neither did the Kreelars.”
“So the local fauna feasted on it,” I said with sudden understanding.
“Exactly. Berries are a nightmare for this because each one has a very high concentration of seeds. Those seeds will pass through the digestive system and will often come out intact in the stool,” Ciara explained. “Of all the fruits they could have come up with, it had to be the one that is very easy to spread and grow. Strawberries only need wet soil, some fertilizers, and plenty of sun.”
“All conditions that were met,” I replied pensively.
“Yes. Whether the animals that ate them got sick and regurgitated the seeds, or simply passed them through their stools, they disseminated them. I don’t know what quantity of berries there were or how many different animals ate them, but the location you showed me is very far from the area where this initial incident occurred.”
“So it’s spreading. But how did it appear on the other side of the river?”
“In the morning, we will need to do a thorough breakdown of their wildlife’s food chain. The small rodents and mammals that ate the berries would only travel so far with them. We have to assume that some birds also ate those fruits, and they travel much greater distances. And then you have the larger predators who feed on both the birds and the small mammals. If any of those animals tend to roam or migrate, they would move along with them.”
“It’s been nearly ten years though,” I said with a frown. “Wouldn’t it have spread a lot farther and wider?”
My mate shook her head. “Not necessarily. These types of things tend to be exponential. It starts small, with one little patch here and then another one there. But the more patches you have the more creatures feed from it, and the more they spread it. Not every seed released in the wild will take root. The probabilities simply increase with the number of occurrences.”
“Can we wipe out all those berry patches?” I asked while shamelessly refilling my plate, this time with a mix of sides and vegetables.
She frowned and put down her fork on the side of her empty plate. “It is extremely difficult, and often impossible to fully eradicate an invasive plant. Once it starts spreading, there’s always some seed somewhere that will have escaped detection, or that is sitting in some creature’s digestive system just waiting to be released when and where you least expect it. So as much as you manage to cull their number, they almost always come back. It becomes a permanent chore to control their propagation.”
“So there are no solutions,” I asked, crestfallen.
“There are mitigation measures that we can use. But it will take quite a bit of time of thorough testing to make sure we will not harm the local flora or fauna in the process. We need to study all the animals in the area, both those who were infected and those who appear immune. We have solved similar problems in the past with nanobots designed specifically to prevent a certain type of protein from attaching to specific cells, keeping them from reproducing and thereby killing the organism.”
“That sounds like the perfect solution!” I said in a self-evident manner.
“It is if that cell is unique enough not to be found in other life forms in the area. We do not want to accidentally exterminate other plants or animals in the process,” she explained.
“Right, I didn’t think of that. That’s why you are the scientist,” I said teasingly.
She smiled. “We each have our skills and purpose. You were fantastic today. From the way you made me feel safe during the flight here despite my fear of heights, to how you help appease that poor male, when others would have just responded to his aggression with violence. And how you handled the mission we entrusted you with. You went above and beyond thoroughly investigating wider than the original path agreed upon.”
“It was just common sense,” I said, my voice sounding a little grumpy when it was in fact prompted by shyness at her praises.
“Believe me, common sense is far too often a rare commodity. Do not underestimate yourself. And for the record, I don’t think you noticed, but you earned a great deal of respect by not approaching the temple. I saw the look in their eyes when you said you turned around. No words can describe how freaking proud of you I am.”
My chest warmed, and I caught myself extending her hand towards her over the table. To my delight, she placed hers in mine without hesitation.
“The feeling is mutual, Ciara. I guess I didn’t notice what you saw because I was too busy noticing how they were reacting towards you . When we arrived this morning, their auras radiated distrust and despair. When I returned tonight, I saw relief but especially hope. What you and your colleagues are doing is saving an entire species. There could be no greater honor for me than to be a part of this.”
“And you certainly are proving to be an important part, in more ways than one,” she said with a smile.
I gave her hand a gentle squeeze and caressed its back with my thumb before releasing her.
“Well, I sweated all day. I should go shower,” I said, rising to my feet and picking up the empty dishes on the table.
Ciara grabbed the other ones and followed me to the sink so that we could wash them. There was something oddly intimate to us performing such a menial task together.
“Do you want me to wash your wings?” my mate offered, as I finished drying the last plate.
My stomach did a backflip, and I hid how strongly her words affected me by plastering a taunting expression on my face.
“I would need to be naked while you do that.”
She shrugged, raised an eyebrow, and held my gaze unwaveringly. “Yes, and? I’m a medical doctor. There isn’t much I haven’t already seen. So unless it makes you uncomfortable, or if Obosian nudity is somehow lethal for humans, then I have no problem with it,” she deadpanned.
“Lethal nudity? That’s a first. But no, seeing me undressed will not cause you any harm.”
“Then, it is settled, big boy. To the shower we go!”
“Big boy?!” I exclaimed with a mix of amusement and disbelief.
“I said what I said,” she replied in a singsong voice while strutting her way ahead towards the door to the back.
Following in her wake, I removed my breastplate and put it down on the counter before exiting the house. She kicked off her shoes and turned on the water. To my shock, Ciara stripped out of her own clothes, placing them neatly in a pile next to the recessed shelves that contained the clean towels. When she turned around to face me in her glorious nudity, she found me staring at her, mouth agape, and my hands frozen on the waist of my pants with the magnetic clasps half opened.
“What are you doing? Take it off!” she said, gesturing with her right hand in a way that meant for me to get a move on. “And don’t gape at me like that. I’m not getting my clothes drenched while washing your wings, and I need to shower, too.”
That snapped me out of my daze, and I promptly complied. Despite her direct and no-nonsense tone and demeanor, I didn’t miss the sliver of self-consciousness in her eyes. A billion words pressed themselves on my tongue. I wanted to tell her how gorgeous she was, just as much as I wanted to ask if that meant I got to wash her back for her, too.
A part of me felt that pointing out that her stripping changed the dynamic between us would only make it awkward. But another part believed that not acknowledging it would make it even weirder, like when something was so bad you would rather convince yourself it wasn’t happening instead of dealing with it.
“Apologies. Your beauty addled my brain,” I said at last. “But you make a fair point. Practical and efficient. I approve!”
Although she snorted and made a face at me, I didn’t miss the subtle way her shoulders relaxed. I wanted to believe I’d handled it adequately.
“Those are but some of my countless qualities,” she said, flicking her hair over her shoulder in a theatrical way that had me laughing. “But thanks for noticing.”
I removed my boots and then stepped out of my pants as a wave of nervousness washed over me. It seemed silly for me to worry about what she might think of my appearance. I was extremely fit, and doubted she would find my body lacking. However, did she know what an Obosian penis looked like? Would it turn her on or distress her?
I straightened, and stood facing her, my chin lifted with a hint of defiance. Ciara didn’t look fazed or distraught by the spectacle before her. With incredible boldness, she let her gaze slowly roam over me with a possessiveness that had my blood rushing to my groin. Although undeniably appreciative, there was nothing lurid or objectifying in the way she admired me.
“You truly are a stunning male,” Ciara said almost wistfully.
“I’m glad you think so,” I added, feeling inexplicably timid.
She quickly plated her hair into a single braid which she wrapped around in a bun, cleverly weaving the end through her hair so that it would stay up. The gesture had her perky breasts slightly push forward, drawing my eyes to the dark areolas and taut little buds. They would look even more delicious with a golden piercing.
As if reading the thoughts coursing through my mind, my mate pointed at my nether region.
“From the moment I met you, I wondered how many piercings you would have and where they would be located,” she said in a soft voice.
I glanced down at my cock that was standing half erect. As soon as she had begun stripping, my shaft stiffened. It didn’t bother me that she should have this undeniable proof of my growing arousal. While it could be perceived as offensive, I believed the absence of visible desire on my part when she was fully naked before me for the first time would have been far more problematic.
“I can say without hesitation that every single adult Obosian, male and female, has at least a couple of piercings or implants in their private parts,” I said with amusement.
“Judging by yours, it’s a lot more than a couple,” Ciara said, scrunching her face in an unreadable fashion.
I glanced down at my cock, my gaze roaming over the two rows of three round studs on each side of my length, near the base, the barbels at the beginning of the shaft, the one on my head, and the two additional studs right below the glans.
“Indeed. I have ten,” I said in a factual manner before studying her features. “Does it bother you?”
To my relief, she shook her head without hesitation.
“Not at all. It’s actually kind of hot,” she added, looking a bit embarrassed. “Any others?”
“On my tongue,” I replied.
She nodded, her face taking on a mischievous expression. “I know. I felt that one.”
That made me chuckle, but it also made me want to kiss her deeply again. Chasing that wandering thought right out of my mind, I allowed my gaze to freely—and somewhat greedily—roam over the perfection that was her body.
“A few of them would look extremely hot on you as well,” I mused aloud.
To my shock, Ciara immediately stiffened, a frown creasing her brow as she shook her head.
“That’s going to be a hard pass for me,” she said in a tone that brooked no argument.
Considering her previous comment about finding them hot on me, that response took me aback.
“Why?” I asked carefully.
“While I genuinely appreciate and admire body modification on others—at least when it’s well done—I personally do not want any on myself. My pierced lobes for earrings are as far as I go. I don’t have anything against it, but I like my physical appearance the way it is,” she said in a gentle, almost cautious fashion.
“I understand,” I said softly.
She shifted on her feet, looking a little uneasy. “Does that upset you?”
My brow shot up in surprise. “Upset me? Not at all. A little disappointed, maybe. And even that feels like too strong a word. I love the aesthetics of piercings as it is an intrinsic part of my culture, but not an essential one. At the end of the day, it is your body. No one gets to dictate what you do with it. So long as you are happy, that’s all that matters.”
“But will that make me less attractive to you?” she insisted.
“Ciara, your physical appearance is not your main appeal. The light of your soul is. And yours mesmerizes me. Nothing can ever supersede that. You are beautiful just the way you are. And that will not change, even in sixty years, when we’re both all wrinkled, and I have a wine belly.”
She burst out laughing. “You mean a beer belly?”
“Yeah, that,” I said in an amused tone. “Or whatever humans call that pregnant-looking stomach your males get in their later years.”
Still chuckling, my mate stared at my flat stomach with a wistful expression. “My grandfather has a rather impressive one that my granny calls his crystal ball. Whenever he asks her something silly, she starts rubbing it and peers into it as if to find the answer within before responding with something totally ridiculous.”
It was my turn to burst out laughing as I tried to visualize the scene. “That will be us in a few years, I guess.”
She grinned and shook her head. “Doubtful. I’ve seen older Obosians. You all remain obnoxiously fit through your twilight years… not that I’m complaining. But let’s get you under the water.”
I nodded and swiftly twisted my own long hair into a bun so that it wouldn’t get wet while she went to turn on the faucet. I wasn’t spending hours trying to let it dry naturally right before bed.
We stepped under the water to wet ourselves. My eyes immediately zeroed in on the way the water trickled down her skin. The most irrational envy surged through me, wishing it was my hands and my tongue gliding over her like that. I wanted to lick each bead that lingered on the dark silk that I ached to explore.
As there was a single bar of soap, we took turns using it, working up a lather before exchanging it. Watching her rub the soap on her body, especially on her breasts and between her thighs had me rock hard in seconds. Although she pretended not to see it, I didn’t miss the smug smirk that discreetly quirked the corner of her mouth.
But two could play that game.
Biding my time, I gestured with my chin at her back.
“Want help?” I offered.
“Yes, please,” she replied, a strange light burning in her grayish-brown eyes.
She turned around, and my eyes zeroed in on the plump curves of her behind. Tharmok take me! It should be illegal for anything to be so damn enticing. I couldn’t decide if I was aching more to grab her cheeks with both hands or drop to my knees and take a bite. Her behind demanded to be bitten.
Reining myself in, I forced myself to look back up as I began to wash her back. Far from distracting me, that only made me even harder. Her skin was so soft, so warm under my touch. Feeling her shiver as my hands glided down her back on each side of her spine had my cock jerk in response. Despite her attempts at remaining stoic, the scent of her arousal wafted to me.
For a split second, I considered growing bolder and slipping my hands around her front to tease her nipples. A part of me believed she wouldn’t oppose such an act, maybe even welcome it. But another deemed it more prudent to hold back. It wasn’t just the fact that I didn’t want her to think me too presumptuous or disrespectful. I needed Ciara to know that she could trust me not to try and seize any opportunity to take advantage of her, especially in a vulnerable setting.
I finished, dropped my hands—with much reluctance at that—and took a step back. My mate immediately turned around to face me, her face unreadable. Her taut nipples, standing to attention, almost seemed to be angrily shouting their dismay at being so utterly ignored and neglected.
Acting nonchalantly, I resumed soaping myself as she stepped under the water to rinse off. Eyes locked with hers, I started washing my cock and my testicles, silently daring her to avert her eyes. The lascivious expression that descended over her features had a bead of precum seep out, thankfully hidden by the soap.
My stomach did a triple somersault when she suddenly stepped away from the water, closing the narrow distance between us to take the soap from me. She was so close, every time she breathed in, the movement of her chest had her nipples brushing against me. For one foolish second, I thought she was going to lean in and kiss me. Instead, she waved the washcloth I had not noticed in her hand.
“Ready for your wings,” she said in a singsong voice.
The taunting glimmer in her eyes made it clear she had noticed my disappointment and was reveling in the power she had over me.
“Thank you,” I said in a controlled voice while fighting the urge to spank that delicious bottom of hers.
She proceeded to wash my wings in an efficient, but too swift manner to my liking. When she dried them previously, Ciara had taken her sweet time, making the pleasure-torture last to both our enjoyment and dismay. She had clearly wanted to touch my wings with her bare hands, just as I had longed for her to do so.
These games of propriety we play sure are annoying.
And yet, I didn’t truly mind them. They built the tension and anticipation. By the time that desire was fulfilled at last, it would make the experience all the more special.
“So how come such a fine specimen of masculinity like you was still single?” Ciara suddenly asked while cleaning the front of my left wing.
I snorted and gave her a sideways glance, more flattered than I would ever admit.
“The obvious answer is that I had not found you yet,” I replied teasingly. “But as you can imagine, living on Molvi makes it more challenging to find a partner.”
“Right. A prison-planet doesn’t exactly sound like an ideal dating-scene,” she replied. Although her tone was light and a little playful, I noticed the troubled expression that fleeted over her features.
“It’s not,” I conceded, “but not for the reasons you think. Contrary to what most people think, Molvi isn’t just one big scary place infested with murderers and psychopaths as well as an army of bloodthirsty, terrifying beasts. All of that is definitely there but contained within each of our Sectors. The rest of the planet is just as beautiful as the wilderness you enjoy here. We do have a capital city with shopping malls, restaurants, entertainment, schools, and various businesses that cater to the day-to-day needs of the people and families who live there.”
“Oh, my God! Really?!” Ciara exclaimed.
I couldn’t help a smile at the relieved and hopeful tone in her voice.
“Yes, my mate. No Warden would be able to have a family if they couldn’t enjoy a normal, safe, and comfortable life there. The problem is that most of the people are already married, or the younger offspring of those couples. Schools on Molvi only go so far. Once the student is ready to move on to more advanced education like a university degree, they usually go back to Vargos, our home world.”
“Right. I can see that.”
“Obviously, I traveled frequently back home and was invited to many events where my parents tried some matchmaking,” I said, unable to withhold an aggravated eye roll that had Ciara chuckling. “My people are also extremely big on ostentatious parties where they flaunt their mansions and wealth on Molvi, which present opportunities to meet a potential partner. But for all its comforts and beauty, life on a prison planet isn’t for everyone.”
“It has to be very limiting for certain professions,” she conceded while circling around me to start washing the back of my wings.
It bothered me that she should do so just then. I wanted to see her face as we broached that sensitive topic. In a couple of weeks—a month at most I hoped—we would be able to get back to our own lives. As much as I wanted to accommodate her, my situation made it to where she would have to be the one to follow. Was that a deal breaker?
“Would that be a problem for you?” I asked softly.
My chest constricted when she didn’t answer right away. I glanced over my shoulder to peer at her. To my relief, she didn’t look distressed or uncomfortable but appeared to be assessing a few things.
“I don’t really care where I live, to be honest,” she replied at last. “In recent years, I have shifted more to research, which I can perform almost anywhere so long as there is an advanced enough laboratory. But even that requires occasional travel. Sometimes, we are gone for a few weeks, up to a couple of months.”
“We can work that out,” I replied swiftly. “Getting you access to a top-notch laboratory would not be a problem. We have a couple of high-end research facilities already on Molvi. As for your traveling, if Kayog and Linsea managed to have such a successful wedding despite each of them having to go to every end of the galaxy, I’m sure we can do it as well.”
Her lips stretched into a wistful smile, her face softening with a dreamy expression. “They are so perfect together. I’ve seen many couples deeply in love even after many years of marriage. But I don’t think I’ve ever been in the presence of two people in such perfect harmony with each other. I’m not the jealous type, but I want what they have so badly.”
“We will,” I said with conviction. “We are soulmates.”
She smiled and finished washing my wings before pushing me under the water to rinse.
“Who is taking care of your Sector right now?” Ciara asked, reaching for a towel.
“My best friend, Kronos. He’s the Warden of the Sector right next to mine. My cousin Arthas is also on standby to assist if needed. But I’m feeling guilty about my absence,” I admitted sheepishly, while extending a hand to take the towel from her.
To my surprise, my mate ignored my hand and proceeded to dry my chest. Although stunned, I didn’t push back.
“Is it a serious problem? Could it undermine your status as Warden of your Sector?” she asked with a sliver of worry.
That touched me more than I could express. I didn’t need to be a genius to know she had reservations about settling on Molvi. Someone else might have rejoiced at the thought of my extended absence possibly making me lose my position so that they wouldn’t be stuck moving there with me. That her concern should immediately be about me said a lot about her.
“No,” I replied in a reassuring tone. “It would take something extremely serious for a Warden to be removed. It is more that I hate being an inconvenience to others. Kronos already has his hands full with his own Quadrants not to mention the fact that his human mate is well advanced in her pregnancy with their first child. I should be there supporting and calming him rather than being a burden.”
I barely managed to finish that sentence, my brain getting distracted when Ciara poked her index finger through the plush fabric of the towel to carefully trace around the barbell piercing in my left nipple. The way my mate circled around the areola left no doubt in my mind that she was purposefully teasing me.
She deliberately avoided making eye contact as she finished drying my chest. She brought the towel down to my pelvis. For half a beat, I believed she would pursue the journey down to my cock. I held my breath, bracing for it, only for the wretched female to swipe the towel to the right as she circled to the side. The smug, borderline malicious grin that stretched her lips made me want to put her across my knees and spank her raw.
“Maybe you’re not being an actual burden,” she said nonchalantly while drying my arm. “If he is so nervous about their first child, you might be doing his wife a huge favor. If he’s constantly fussing over her or panicking any time she so much as sneezes, she might be itching to knock him unconscious so that she can get some peace. Keeping him busy might be a blessing.”
I snorted and slowly nodded. “Malaya might have yelled at him once or twice about how she was just pregnant and not invalid,” I replied with a chuckle.
“See?” Ciara said triumphantly. “But I get it. I also hate when my workload ends up getting dumped on someone else because circumstances make it impossible for me to handle it myself.”
An involuntary purr rolled out of my throat when she began drying my back. She likely accidentally rubbed that sensitive spot right at the upper corner near my spine where my wing attached to my back. I wouldn’t actually call it erogenous and yet rubbing the muscle right there was always highly pleasurable. It wasn’t the type of pleasure that would make you climax, but the type that made you become languid like during a full body massage.
“Oooh! Someone liked that!” Ciara said smugly.
“Someone certainly did,” I said, my voice sounding deeper. “That’s my weak spot. It’s extremely relaxing to have it massaged.”
Ciara snorted. “Well, that was subtle…”
“Whatever do you mean?” I asked in an overly innocent voice that didn’t fool her in the least.
To my shock—and utter delight—she kneaded that muscle with a bare hand, sending a violent shiver down my spine, followed by another rumbling purr, almost a moan. My mate chuckled, pursuing her ministrations for a few more seconds. I almost whimpered when she stopped.
“Weak spot duly noted. Expect me to shamelessly abuse it to get you to cave in to whatever unreasonable demands I may make in the future,” she said with an unrepentant grin.
I laughed. “For that, yes, I would likely give you my soul.”
She laughed and resumed drying my wing.
“But what of you, Ciara? Why was such a beautiful, smart, and successful woman like you still single?” I asked.
“I was engaged to a douchebag, who fooled me for the longest time. After dumping him, I became a lot pickier,” she replied dismissively. “I paid closer attention to signs that the person might be a user or a narcissist. For what it’s worth, I did meet a few decent men, but something was always missing. Getting into a relationship that was doomed from the start felt pointless. So staying single was simpler.”
“As much as I hate that you got hurt, I’m glad that fool showed his true colors before he could claim what was mine. I would have broken the law to get rid of him,” I said in a factual manner.
“Amreth!” Ciara exclaimed, her outrage laced with a hefty dose of wonder and amusement.
I glanced at her over my shoulder with an unrepentant expression. “It appears that finding my mate has unlocked my darker side.”
“So it seems… And it’s rather sexy,” she whispered with a smile.
I opened my mouth to reply, but only a shocked gasp escaped me. Eyes locked with mine, she ran the towel over my behind. She lifted my tail, wiping its entire length, her hand closing around the tip before gliding back down, as one would stroke a cock. I swallowed hard as she got back to my right butt cheek. Shifting to the side, Ciara circled back in front of me as she dried my right thigh. I held my breath as she boldly rubbed the towel over my cock. My lips parted, and I sharply inhaled as she wrapped both hands around it to wipe its length. I hated that towel between us, cheating me out of direct contact with her. My mate then took her sweet time wiping my balls, giving them a not-so-subtle squeeze in the process.
My fangs burned with the need to sink into the tender flesh of her neck and bind her to me.
Far from done, Ciara finally broke eye contact as she slowly crouched before me. She carefully dried my legs, each one in turn, her gaze locked on my length. A bolt of fire exploded in the pit of my stomach as she examined it closely. It wasn’t my piercings that held her attention, but the chevron-shaped scales that covered the top part of my shaft and the soft spikes that lined its sides. She leaned in so closely, for a split second, I believed she would actually press her mouth to it.
To my dismay, the brat glanced back up at me with a mischievous smile and a provocative glimmer in her eyes.
“Very nice,” she said tauntingly as she slowly straightened.
A billion thoughts flashed through my mind, and twice as many words burned my tongue. But something snapped inside me when her hard nipples brushed once more against my chest. Moving at the speed of a striking snake, my right hand grabbed her hair at the nape with a will of its own and drew her face to mine. My tail possessively wrapped around her, flattening her body against mine.
I realized I was kissing her when my mouth brutally pressed against hers in a voracious kiss. The soft rustle of fabric vaguely registered in my brain as the towel fell to the floor as Ciara slipped her arms around my neck. I picked her up, both hands behind her thighs, and she wrapped her legs around my waist. My engorged cock throbbed against her stomach as I deepened the kiss. She sank her fingers through my hair, releasing it from the improvised bun I had tied it into. It cascaded down, and she fisted it on my nape with both hands.
Holding her up with one hand behind her thighs, I caressed her back with the other. Her skin was still a little damp as she had not dried herself after we both rinsed. But I didn’t care, and neither did she.
I broke the kiss and locked eyes with my woman. Words weren’t necessary. She smiled, her hands tightening their hold in my hair. I smiled back and reclaimed her lips. Chest to chest, I carried her back inside.