Chapter 22 #4
He grimaced, scraping a hand down his face, as he glared at Hush and uttered, “I’ll escort you two back, then.”
“Fine,” Hush sighed. I didn’t say anything.
I just followed her. Drustan strode next to Hush, and I let them have whatever silent conversation that ensued between them while I focused on not tripping over rocks and stray twigs and other random forest debris.
Based on the annoyed looks they kept giving each other, I assumed the mental conversation they were having was a heated one.
After a few more moments of heavy silence, I decided to break it.
“I can’t believe you stole my condoms,” I grumbled to Drustan’s back. Hush turned to look back at me with a pinch of confusion in her brows.
Drustan didn’t say anything; he just kept walking.
“Really?” I asked him, “You’re not even going to try to deny it?”
“Why would I deny it?” Drustan retorted, glancing around the woods.
“I guess I just want to understand why.” I continued, “Does the idea of me being at risk thrill you?” Drustan stopped, and I had to catch myself before I walked right into his massive back. He turned, revealing his own furrowed brow.
“Why would the idea of my mate being at risk thrill me?”
I raised my eyebrows at him and crossed my arms. “Without condoms, I’m at-risk during sex.”
Hush asked, “What are condoms?” It was my turn to be shocked. Was my assumption that night correct? Did they not have those here?
“Don’t worry about it,” Drustan muttered.
“Condoms are like…” This was crazy, I couldn’t believe I was explaining what a condom was to another grown adult.
“These thin latex sleeves a man puts over his…” I waved vaguely toward my crotch, making Drustan’s lips twitch with amusement.
“So that he doesn’t spread any infection to his partner or get them pregnant. ”
Hush’s eyes went wider and wider as I finished that sentence. “He wears a what?”
“Humans.” Drustan rolled his eyes as he mirrored my pose, crossing his massive arms over his chest.
I lifted my hands at the two of them. “Are you seriously telling me you don’t have condoms anywhere in Hyvenmere?”
“Why would a male wear one of those?” Hush gestured toward her own groin. “When he could just take the injections?”
“What?” I asked.
“The injections,” Hush repeated, then continued to explain. “It’s a medicinal cocktail designed to make a male infertile for up to a year. Injected into the shoulder. There’s a second injection designed to protect males and females from infections transmitted during intercourse.”
“Well, yeah, okay. In my realm, women have options like that for birth control.”
Hush’s eyes widened even more. “The females take it? Why? Males are the ones who fertilize every time they reach their pleasure.” I scraped a hand down my face, trying to ignore the jealous rage over how the men in Hyvenmere seemed to handle the birth-control side of sex without question, even though misogynistic men like Leon still very much existed.
The standard for men in my realm truly was in hell.
“The point is…” I widened my eyes as I addressed Drustan. “You stole my protection.”
Drustan opened his mouth, but Hush cut him off, “Why would human females continue to have sexual relations with human males if they were the ones responsible for not getting pregnant? Why not only sleep with females and avoid the risk altogether?” She shook her head and muttered, “This must be why humans have bred enough to reach their absurd population.”
I opened my mouth to reply before hesitating. Hush, as always, had a damn good point.
“I don’t know.” I waved my hands in the air. “But the point is, you,” I pointed my finger toward her prince, “Broke into my bedroom and stole my condoms. You took away my protection.”
“Have you taken a male to your bed since I took them?” Drustan raised a dark red eyebrow at me.
I blinked in surprise at his question. “What? No. Because I don’t have—ohmygod—you fucking dick.” I balled my hands into fists. This fucking siren and his fucking audacity.
Drustan responded by pulling his pink lips back into a feral, unrepentant grin. “My motive is sound, then.” Hush was still blinking in bewilderment from the newfound knowledge she had of condoms and human sexuality.
“We should keep going.” She shook her head and marched on. Drustan winked at me before turning on his heel to follow. I grumbled, not too loudly, as I stomped after them.
“I’ll just buy more,” I muttered to his back.
Drustan turned his head just enough to tell me over his shoulder, “I will take that as a personal invitation to return and rid you of them.” My blood was burning with feminine rage.
“You don’t get to dictate my sex life. What I do with my body is my choice. If you think I’m above going out of my way to sleep with someone else out of pure spite, you’re wrong,” I informed him.
Drustan whirled on me then, making Hush groan and roll her eyes as she turned to look at the two of us.
The siren prince’s hand cupped my face. His fingers laced in the hair at the back of my head, while his thumb tipped my head back by resting underneath my jaw.
A muscle popped in his cheek as he ground his teeth together.
His brows had a deep pinch between them, and his lips were pressed in a hard line.
He held my gaze for just a moment before he said in a low voice, “If you insist on creating a death wish for humans in your realm, then by all means, bed as many as you want.”
I glared up at him, determined to ignore how warm his hand felt on my face. “You can’t be serious.”
“You know that I am deadly serious, my song,” Drustan’s words practically rumbled out of his chest. “You have said how dangerous I am. Just imagine my wrath when another pitiful human mistakenly puts their hands on you.”
“What do you think is going to happen here?” I stepped closer to him, poking his abdomen with my finger. “Do you think that if you threaten human lives and steal my protection, that I’ll happily jump into bed with you instead?”
“Of course not,” Drustan muttered. His shimmering eyes bounced between both of mine, “I don’t care if you never join me in my bed.
” I widened my eyes at that, my cheeks heating as I quicky glanced over at Hush, who just stood there with folded arms, looking bored.
“Celibacy is a reality I’ll happily embrace if that’s what you desire.
” I widened my eyes at that, because I’d never heard a man utter words like that.
“But the only way I can close my eyes and gain an ounce of sleep at night is if I know that you aren’t being touched by some weak human. Unsatisfied.”
“Just because you’re practically a giant, doesn’t mean that all humans are weak,” I retorted. My mind was still whirling over his words.
“She’s right,” Hush muttered to herself, glancing over her shoulder in the direction we needed to continue walking.
“Compared to your mate, they are,” Drustan replied. He didn’t even sound cocky as he said it. In his mind, it was probably a simple fact. The equivalent of saying, “the grass is green” or “the sky is blue.”
I grumbled and pushed on Drustan’s chest, making him release his hold on my face. He frowned as he stared down at me, his hands balled into fists.
“You’re overstepping here big time,” I informed him. “I’m not some simpering, controllable woman, you manipulative ass.”
“Oh, I’m very aware,” Drustan replied, holding his ground.
“I can’t—oh my god,” I grumbled and gripped the roots of my hair, something I often seemed to do in his presence.
“If there was ever a chance of you getting into my pants before, there sure as hell isn’t one now.
” I was so heated, I wanted to punch him, “I’ll kiss you after you take your throne, but then that’s it.
One kiss, and you’ll never be able to put your hands on me again.
Your celibacy will be officially activated. ”
Drustan lifted a shoulder and said, “As you wish.”
I hated this. He truly seemed unbothered. Asshole.
“If you two are done,” Hush muttered, “This is where we leave you, your highness.”
I recognized the area immediately, and to keep my thoughts to myself, I started thinking about my composition, containing my favorite melody that has been haunting me for months.
Drustan gave me a look I couldn’t decipher before he nodded and scanned the surrounding area with his eyes. “I’m going to linger, ensure no more of my father’s guard are present.”
“Thank you,” Hush muttered, “But you need to leave us before we continue.” The siren prince rolled his eyes and silently muttered her words back to her, as if he were mocking a sibling, and not a double agent.
He turned to stalk off, but before he did, his hands clenched at his sides.
Drustan took one more step forward before shaking his head turning around to march back toward me.
Alerted, I started backing away from him.
“What are you—” But my air was cut off. Drustan had wrapped his hands under my arms, around my waist, and lifted me in the air so he could bury his face in my neck.
For stability, my arms wrapped around his large shoulders while the toes of my sneakers dangled in the air, not touching the ground.
I couldn’t remember the last time I had been lifted in the air for a hug.
Perhaps I was a child. But this, this didn’t make me feel like a child.
The way Drustan’s breath inhaled against my skin, rubbing his face against my neck, as if absorbing as much of me as he could, I felt…cherished. He didn’t say anything. Just…breathed me in. His chest pressed against mine with his inhale, tightening his hug around me.
I took a moment to indulge myself. I dipped my nose toward his neck, tightening my hold around his shoulders, and breathed in his spicy, delectable scent.
Forcing away the guilt that burned from my indulgence.
Audrey wasn’t here to judge me. Hush didn’t seem to give a shit if I sniffed her prince.
My nervous system liked it. I became grounded as Drustan wrapped his entire body around me like this, but I couldn’t explain why.
It was just a hug. But I could feel his heartbeat against my chest. I soaked in the warmth of his large body, seeping into my own. His soft hair brushed against my arms, and my eyes fell shut for a moment as I calmly breathed him in.
Just like he was doing with me.
After a few tense moments, Drustan sighed and lowered me to the ground.
His hands lingered on me, though. His large palms cupped either side of my jaw as he rested his forehead against mine.
He had to bend quite a bit to make it happen, since my feet were flat on the ground again.
But he just held me, pressing his lips together, squeezing his eyes shut, as he held my face.
Then, without a word, he disappeared.
“Let’s go.” Hush didn’t give me time to adjust to what the hell Drustan and I just experienced. Instead, she grabbed my hand and led me deep inside the Fjellenheim tunnels.