Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Simbel
The fire had died down by the time I stirred. I had to, because if I didn’t, I knew I would fall asleep like this, and my Mate deserved better than spending the night sprawled atop me, exposed to the elements.
Gently, I rolled her to one side and wrapped the spare emergency blanket around her. Then I built the fire up again and climbed naked into the boat to find paper towels. The fresh water in the cooler was cold, which I hated, but I did my best to warm it as I cleaned Rissa.
Her skin was the most delightful shade of pink, the afterglow of my claiming, and her body was marked by my scent now.
She was mine .
My Kteer was content, and judging from her languid smiles and sighs, so was she. I couldn’t help preening, knowing I’d satisfied her.
I wish we were at home, in bed. I would make her comfortable, and I would pamper—
You share an apartment with your twin, and he has the bigger room .
Seemed like the least I could do, what with him being shot and all.
But it meant that when Rissa and I did eventually share a bed, it would be hers . I would move into her life, hers and Trick’s, and I would do everything in my power to complete their family.
Smiling at the dream, I helped her dress, then climbed back into my own salt-stained clothing. I wrapped her in my arms and sat her in my lap, the blanket across my shoulders, as I fed her grapes from the cooler.
Sighing with contentment, Rissa rested her head on my shoulder, and I knew, despite not being in a bed, this was the best night I could imagine.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“No, thank you .” I popped another grape in her mouth. “I’ve been hoping for this for a long time.”
She’d said I love you . Right before she’d taken me fully, she’d told me she loved me. I wondered if she remembered. It didn’t matter; I would hold it in my heart forever .
“I think,” she murmured, eyes closed, “that this was the best night of my life. No matter what happens, I want you to know that.”
“It was everything I could hope for.” I brushed my lips across her hair. “And years from now, I’ll remember—wait.” I stiffened, then cocked my head to try to peer into her face. “ Whatever happens ?” I repeated.
She didn’t open her eyes, but her brows softened, the corners of her lips pulling down. “I’m not a na?ve girl anymore, Simbel. I might have acted like one, wild and reckless—”
I caught her chin between my thumb and forefinger. “I loved the way you acted. I love the way you come alive around me. Is that not who you are?”
Slowly, her eyes opened. The blue depths looked…sad? “That’s who I am,” she whispered, her words at odds with her expression. My heart began to pound in concern as she continued, “Despite my best efforts to grow up, I’m the kind of girl who makes out under the bleachers and screams your name at the stars and leaves her kid home alone unprotected.”
I could feel a growl growing in my chest. “And you don’t think that’s a good thing? Not about Trick—he’s fine. But the rest? You don’t think it’s good to be yourself? To live a little? To have fun?”
She winced and tugged her chin from my hold. “The last time I tried that…I learned my lesson. That’s what I meant; no matter what happens, I wanted you to know how much tonight meant to me.”
With icy certainty, I understood .
The last time she’d allowed herself this freedom, she’d wound up pregnant and alone. She thought that’s what was going to happen now, didn’t she? Or something equally traumatic.
I’d spilled my seed inside her. Yes, that meant that there was a possibility of a kitling—just look at Giza and Harper, who’d gotten pregnant on their first night together without even realizing they were destined for forever .
But I had done so knowing this was my Mate I was claiming. And to find out that she hadn’t realized the importance of my declaration…
“You know,” I sighed, “for being perfect, you sure don’t listen too well, Mate .”
She blinked at me. “What?”
“You told me you loved me,” I accused.
“I did. I do.” Rissa shifted in my lap and fixed her eyes on the fire. “It’s okay if you don’t love me back. That’s part of the jumping-in-with-both-feet-and-checking-for-rocks-on-the-way-down thing. Announcing to a male that I love him—”
“Rissa,” I growled, interrupting her self-deprecation. “If there was anyone else saying such things about my Mate, I would hurt him.” My arms tightened. “You are perfect. I love your enthusiasm. I love your adventurous side. I love you . And I love that you love me.”
Timidly, she peeked over her shoulder at me. “You do?”
“Female,” I sighed, exasperated, “you’re my Mate . Of course I love you! ”
She didn’t understand.
And that, somehow, made me feel better. It was my fault for not explaining it; not that she didn’t care for me. Sighing, I scooped my arm beneath her to turn her more toward me.
“Rissa, the insta-O isn’t the only convenient bit of orc biology.”
Her lips twitched. “It is nice though.”
“Good, yes, it was, and we’re going to do it again soon.” My claw caressed her cheek, then tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “But we have something else, something deep inside us.” I dug that same claw into my chest. “Our Kteer . It keeps us alive, it reminds us of who we are…and it helps us find our Mate.”
Scooping up her hand, I pressed her palm to my chest, staring into her eyes. “My brother and I joined Sakkara’s cohort in passing through the veil because our people were dying. We didn’t have enough females to find Mates.” I told her all this already, that first night at the basketball game. “I never, not in a million years, expected to find a Mate, but when I met you…” I offered her a small smile. “I knew.”
“Simbel…” she breathed, eyes wide.
“ There is a knowing . That’s what we’re told as little kitlings. That when we meet our Mate, we will just…” I shrugged. “Just know . I knew your scent. I knew your eyes. I knew you , Marissa Gray. I love that you have rediscovered yourself with me, and I pray to all the gods that you’ll continue to allow me in your life. ”
Her gaze had dropped to her hand, where it was pressed over my chest. “A knowing…” she murmured. Then she lifted her eyes to mine. “I…I feel it too, Simbel. I couldn’t understand why someone as incredible as you would be interested in someone as boring as me, but I couldn’t stand the thought of you with anyone else, like Kelly.”
I felt myself smirking. “I don’t think you’re boring at all, dkaar , and I certainly never wanted her .”
“Beloved,” she whispered. “Dkaar .”
Hearing my language on her lips made my Kteer howl in glee. When she leaned in to capture my lips, I met her joyfully.
At first, I assumed the thrumming in my ears was my pulse, or maybe my Kteer had decided I wasn’t quite done claiming my Mate yet.
But this sound wasn’t just in my ears; I could feel it against my skin too. When I lifted my head, Rissa was blinking at me. “Do you hear that?”
“Oh good, I thought maybe I was going nuts.”
Her lips twitched. “Well, I didn’t say you weren’t, but I can hear it too. It sounds almost like…”
My head snapped up. “A boat.” In one movement, I rolled to my feet, keeping her wrapped in my arms. “There’s a boat coming this way.”
Sure enough, out in the open water, a spotlight was bobbing in the waves. It swept across the island twice before landing on our campfire.
“What time is it?” Rissa murmured .
I checked my phone, which had no service out here, but still kept time. “About a half hour until I can push the boat into the water.” But with the newcomers making their way unerringly toward us… “Maybe I’ll have some help, and we can get off this island a little earlier.”
“Mom!” The word came calling across the waves. “Mom, are you okay?”
If I hadn’t been holding Rissa upright, I think her knees would have given out. “Patrick?” she murmured weakly. “Wha…?”
“Trick!” I bellowed, waving my free hand. “We’re okay! Over here!”
“We’re coming!” he yelled back.
We ? “Where’d he get a boat?” I asked.
“Where’d he get the absolute balls to take it out in the middle of the night?” Rissa hissed, suddenly sounding livid. She pushed herself away from me. “Patrick James Gray, are you out of your mind?” she hollered. “Of all the stupid, reckless, idiotic—”
“He’s coming to rescue you,” I interrupted. “Me too, I guess.”
“We would’ve been on our way home soon enough,” she snapped back at me, her hands on her hips as she marched toward the slowly creeping tide. “This was beyond dangerous, coming out in the middle of the night…”
And suddenly, understanding hit me again.
Rissa had spent sixteen years trying to hide a part of her that made her her . The adventurous, fun-loving side. And now that Trick was becoming a man, she was terrified that he’d inherited that part of her. The part that got bored easily and took up minor larceny and vandalism, because there was nothing else to do on this island.
I grinned.
I was going to spend the rest of my life reminding these two precious humans how special they were, and how they can embrace that side of them safely. Because I’ll always be there for them.
“Patrick James Gray,” she was yelling as the other boat nosed ashore, “did you steal a vessel? Did I raise a pirate?”
“Bro,” came another voice, “she’s using your middle name. You’re in deep shit.”
“And so are you, Jaxon Millhouse,” Rissa shot up at him. “I know it’s you! Did you talk my son into piracy?”
Trick jumped off the bow and hit the sand with a grunt. “Calm down, Mom, it’s his boat—his dad’s boat.” He enveloped her in a hug. “When we realized something was wrong, all the guys…well, we all thought we should come save you.”
“Calm down?” she was saying against his shoulder, her arms tight around him. “Calm down? You don’t tell a woman to calm down when she’s frantic with worry—” But then she bit off her words and peered up toward the spotlight. “ All the guys?”
“Hi, Ms. Gray,” came another sheepish voice, while a fourth called, “We were worried about you. ”
“I…can see that.” Slowly, she straightened away from her son. “Hank, Ethan, Jaxon… Is Brian up there?”
“Holding the light, Ms. Gray.”
Rissa was still holding Trick’s hand. “Do your parents know where you are?”
“Dad said I could borrow his boat, Ms. Gray,” Jaxon offered. “He said he trusted me. Ethan’s mom made us swear on a stack of Bibles to call as soon as we got reception again, and Hank messaged his mom to let her know we’d be back by two, but we didn’t hear back.”
“And you know how my mom is,” Brian offered.
Rissa was slowly shaking her head. I didn’t know what kind of home life Brian or Hank or the other guys had, but I could see that Rissa was in shock. She turned wide eyes my way.
“Can you believe this, Simbel?”
Smiling broadly, I strode to the edge of the water. “You know what? I can.” I clapped my hand around Trick’s shoulder. “Thank you, son. I could use your help.”
I didn’t need the firelight to feel the pride emanating from the kid. He straightened. “What do you want us to do?”
“If you could hook up our stern line to your bow and use this boat to pull, I’ll go around to the bow and push. I think we can get our boat unstuck.”
No need to tell him that the tide would’ve been right for me to push it off myself in a half hour or so. The way he was practically vibrating with pride was enough. “Yessir! Ethan, you and Hank come help me and Simbel. Brian, you light us all up, okay?”
I squeezed his shoulder. “Spoken like a real leader,” I murmured, and I heard Rissa make a noise of approval.
We were a long way from settled, but for now, I had to focus on getting us off this island and getting us— all of us—home.