Seventeen
Walker
"Will you tell me more about this? About Andras and why he's so obsessed with you?" I asked Caelan, and he turned on his side to face me. Reaching out, I brushed my finger over the edge of his ear, making it twitch.
We were in bed, and both of us had been too restless to sleep. This wasn't exactly a pillow-talk conversation, but I hadn't been able to find the right time to ask Caelan, and I needed to know more before our next encounter with this Andras.
"It's not a pretty story," he warned, and I took his hand, holding it in the space between us.
"But it's yours," I said, and he sighed. "It's okay if you don't want to tell me, though. No pressure."
"I want to tell you, Walker. I want to tell you everything," he promised. "I just...I'm just having trouble finding the right words."
Pulling his hand up, I pressed my lips to his knuckles and quietly waited for him to gather his thoughts.
"In my human life, my family was poor," he started, and I focused on his warm voice, my grip on his hand steady. "We lived in a leopard shifter pride that was barely managing to hold on, and we were all struggling. Andras, he owned most of the land in our village, and then he came for the pack land."
"And he was human then?" I asked, and Caelan nodded.
"Yeah. But he was rich and powerful. Our pride leader brokered a deal with Andras, where he would leave them alone in exchange for, well, whatever Andras wanted," he said, and a lump formed in my throat as I realized exactly what that bastard had decided to take.
"He wanted me," Caelan said, confirming my suspicions. Another thought formed in my head, something much worse, and I held my breath as I asked him.
"How old were you?"
"Ten," he replied. "My parents didn't try to fight their leader, just accepted it. Then again, they had six more kids to take care of. Maybe they were glad to be rid of me. One less mouth to feed and all."
Unable to take the distance between us, I dropped Caelan's hand and slid closer, wrapping my arms around him as I buried my face in his neck. "I hate them." They were no better than my birth parents, who'd sold me to a vampire for drugs, and I wondered if they were in the Chasm too. It would serve them right.
"You know what the worst part is?" Caelan asked, and I pulled back to look at him.
"What?" I asked in a soft whisper, and he pressed into me harder, as if he needed the assurance of my touch before he would say the words.
"I fell in love with him," he said in a hushed voice, as if he was confessing a sin.
"What?" I asked, a little confused and a lot surprised.
"Yeah. I was a ten-year-old whose family just sold him to a stranger, and there this man was, buying me toys, feeding me better food than I'd ever had. He...he taught me things I had no business learning at that age, and he made me like them. When I was older, when I was no longer...satisfying to him in that way, he turned me into his warrior. He would make me fight anyone who opposed him, and sometimes just for fun.”
Suddenly, Caelan's reluctance with me made complete sense. Why he'd left all those years ago made sense too. He hadn't wanted to be like Andras. Not that he could ever be, but even I could see the parallels between our stories, and I could very well see myself falling in love with Caelan as a teen just because of his kindness.
"What happened?" I asked.
"I lost a fight. Next thing I knew, I woke up in Otherworld. If it weren't for Damien, I don't think I would've survived very long in Otherworld either. He's my first true friend, and he saved my life," Caelan said.
"Does he know?" I asked, and he glanced down at me.
"About Andras? Yeah." Of course, he did. Dad's anger at me on Caelan's behalf was proof enough.
"I'm so sorry that happened to you, Kitty," I murmured, and he shook his head.
"It wasn't your fault."
"You know, maybe it's a good thing Andras is here now," I said, and his brows shot up.
"It is?"
I nodded. "Now, I can make him pay for everything he did to you. Properly." Caelan blinked at me, looking a tad surprised. Did he really think I wouldn't do that? That I would, what, let Maximus or Dad take care of Andras?
"Caelan," I murmured, climbing over him so I was straddling him, my thighs pressed against his hips, my lips inches from his. Our chests were pressed together, and I could feel his heart beating against my skin, faster and harder than normal. "My kitty," I added, and he smiled softly. "I don't think I can ever apologize enough for the way I treated you."
"You don't have to apologize, Walker. I forgive you, I promise," he said, eyes shining with sincerity, and I sighed. Maybe it was just me who needed to forgive myself. I hated that I'd hurt Caelan when everything he'd done since we met was to protect me. No matter how badly I treated him, he'd always put my interests above his.
I pressed my lips to his, hard, telling him without words how much I cared about him. He kissed me back without restraint, and I hummed against his mouth. Fuck, I didn't think I would ever get used to this.
Caelan
Walker was everywhere. His warmth pressed me into the mattress, his lips danced with mine, our fingers tangled together. In all my lives, I'd only ever been with two people before Walker: Andras and Day. With Andras, I'd had no choice, but with Day, it'd taken me a few centuries to be able to trust him enough to let him in, to be with him.
I trusted Walker with my whole heart, despite all the little ways he'd hurt me over the years. Like I told him, I forgave him for everything, and I trusted him. I really did.
And yet, as he pressed me down into the mattress, his lips brushing against my jaw and then my neck, I found myself locking down, freezing up. Shit, not now. Not for this. Walker would never hurt me. Why was I reacting like this?
His weight above me that had felt comforting until now was suddenly too much, and I couldn't breathe. I tried to suck in a breath, but it was as if my lungs were filled with sand. I tried to remind my body that breathing was optional, that I wouldn't die without it, but it wasn't willing to listen.
"Caelan? Kitty? Kitty!"
I gasped, and air filled into my lungs all at once. Walker helped me sit up, worry clear on his face, and I winced internally. Shit. Why couldn't I ever do anything right? Walker was my mate. I had no reason to freak out with him.
"Sorry," I mumbled, feeling a sudden need to hide under the covers.
"You really need to stop apologizing for things that aren't your fault," he grumbled, and I chuckled.
"Sorry?" I jested, and he rolled his eyes before turning serious.
"What happened, Kitty?" he asked, and I sighed.
"I freaked out.”
"Did I do something wrong?" he asked, and I shook my head quickly.
"No, Walker. Not at all. I just have a few...hang-ups. I didn't think they'd affect me with you since you're..." I trailed off.
"Since I'm your mate? You know that's not how it works."
"Yeah. Sorry, I should've told you before." He leaned forward and kissed my forehead.
"You can tell me now," he said, and I exhaled loudly.
"Yeah, okay," I said, shifting my eyes to the space between us. "I-I'm not a fan of being held down. Or being restrained in any way. And I-I don't like anal. I can top if you want, but I can't bottom," I explained, and then held my breath as I waited for Walker's reaction.
"Gotcha. For me, I can't do it in the dark. Or at least, I think I can't. The mere thought makes me shudder. And I'm not a big fan of anal either," Walker murmured, and I glanced up at him, confused for a moment before I remembered that he hadn't ended up in Otherworld in the best of circumstances either. I'd known he was used as a blood bag by a bunch of vampires, but I hadn't realized they'd hurt him too.
"Walker, what did those vamps—" I started to say, but he cut me off.
"It was the humans. They were driven mad by the whole blood bag thing."
I scowled, pulling Walker closer as my fingers itched to find them all and claw their eyes out for hurting Walker.
"I'm okay, Kitty. I promise," Walker assured me, and I nodded against his shoulder before pulling back.
"I guess I ruined the mood, huh?" I said after a moment of silence, and Walker rolled his eyes. Leaning closer, he brushed his lips lightly to mine before pulling back. Then, he repeated the move again. The third time, I followed him when he retreated, claiming his lips in a bruising kiss as I wrapped my arms around him.
He rolled and fell onto his back, pulling me above him, and I went willingly, our lips staying locked through the whole thing. Walker grinned, his amber eyes twinkling happily. "See? You ruined nothing."
Laughing, I claimed his lips again, and we made out like teenagers for what felt like hours, and then we fell asleep wrapped up in each other's arms.
When I woke up the next morning, his familiar warmth was pressed against my chest, his ass cradling my morning wood, and there was something leathery on my face.
I grabbed whatever it was and pulled it off my face, blinking slowly as I opened my eyes.
"Let me go, you ass," I heard a familiar voice hiss, and realized I was holding Ro. Dropping him, I shot him a scowl as he slithered away from me before turning to glare at me.
"How dare you grab me like that?" he hissed, and I rolled my eyes.
"How dare you sleep on my face?"
He hissed so loud that it startled Walker awake.
"What? Huh?" he mumbled, and I grinned at how adorably mussed he looked.
"It's nothing, Walker. Just Ro being a jerk," I assured him, patting his shoulder, and Ro hissed again before leaving the room.
Walker nodded, yawned, rubbed his eyes, and then finally graced me with a sleepy smile. "Good morning."
"Morning. Would you like me to make you some breakfast?" I asked, and he pursed his lips thoughtfully.
"Let's go out for breakfast. Or is that too weird for you?" he asked, and I shook my head. While I couldn't eat, I enjoyed watching him eat.
"Sounds good. Would you like to take the first shower?" I asked, and he fell back onto the bed.
"Nope. I'm gonna grab a nap while you take one," he said, and I chuckled.
"As you wish, my prince," I teased as I slid off the bed, and he grumbled unintelligibly before turning on his front and burying his face in the pillows. I took a moment to observe the sight of him all relaxed in a bed we shared, and after a while, I finally dragged myself to the bathroom. I had a date to get ready for, after all.
Ro'Shassz
Eavesdropping wasn't bad when you were doing it to help someone, right? Right?
Because I'd totally eavesdropped on Caelan and Walker's conversation last night, and now I knew more about them than I probably should. But I also knew that there was absolutely no way in hell I was letting that bastard Andras get his hands on Caelan.
Step : Sneak off to Damien to make a plan to hunt down Andras before he could go after Caelan again.