Chapter Seven #3
He shook his head with an innocent expression. “No. It’s fortunate. The dark elf army is rather large. I wouldn’t want to cuddle them.”
She looked around, and one of her legs had slid free of the robe. There was a spiral of circles that began at her toes and wrapped around her, creeping upward. She remembered the pressure and the suction. Surprisingly, none of the pain she had been expecting.
She looked at him. “So, with your newfound knowledge of how I react, how many treatments are left?”
He stared at her and caressed her cheek. “I need to have you in my arms many, many times.”
Vine looked at him. “But what do I need?”
He chuckled. “Clever. You need two more treatments. One if we can stay under for several hours.”
“How long were we in there today?” He looked to Mao.
“Ninety minutes.”
Kazuya smiled. “Good. I can cuddle you for another half hour until your limbs work properly again.”
She wiggled her toes. “They seem to be working just fine.”
“Ah, but as your healer, I am ordering you to remain relaxed until I am sure that you are able to move normally.”
“Speaking of moving normally, Mao is adapting well.”
The other man exhaled. “It is hard to adapt to, but the pain becomes part of you.”
“Now you are getting it. It will still catch you by surprise when you move, but you can be comfortable sitting still for a while.”
“Yes, I confess that I can’t manage more than ten minutes without altering my weight distribution.”
“Yeah. It becomes reflex after a while.”
He smiled. “I hope so. I am gaining an appreciation for pain.”
“As long as you don’t gain a fascination for it, you are fine.” She nodded at Mao.
Kazuya touched her cheek and directed her attention back to him.
He leaned in and rubbed his cheek along hers, and she blinked in surprise. “Oh. Wait. Is this a scenting thing?”
He chuckled. “Instincts are instincts, and with the pixies around, there will be more of our kind around you. I want to make sure that things are clear between us.”
“There is an us now?”
He pressed his forehead to hers. “I would like there to be. I would like to be allowed to convince you.”
She looked at him and cocked her head. “How are you at massages? Out of the water?”
He grinned. “Oh, very skilled. I am a massage therapist and physiotherapist. It is amazing how many certifications you can rack up if you have a long life span.”
She snorted. “I would like to test that skillset, but not today. Tonight, we are doing a barbeque for the ladies and maybe three of the pixies.”
His arms tightened. “May I attend?”
“Do you eat ribs?”
Mao laughed.
Kazuya nodded. “I do.”
“Fine. I will text you the address when I am back at my phone.”
Mao smiled. “I brought your clothing up.”
She looked at her leg. “How long until the giant hickey collection fades?”
Kazuya looked, and he got smug.
“Oh, you forgot that you marked me from shoulders to toes.” She chuckled. She flexed her feet and rubbed her thighs together. “I am guessing you also have a form without fingernails.”
He smiled. “I do. I can’t help you breathe with it, though.”
“Ah. But isn’t that what the mucus does?”
He chuckled. “You were paying attention. Yes, if I coated you in it, you would have about three hours of breathable air.”
“That sounds... slippery.”
He sighed happily, his chest moving against her arm. “Yes.”
“Fine. Arrive around five. Bring a side dish. We are doing it in the back yard, so dress accordingly.” She started to wiggle against him. “I have to get going, or Jennika will either destroy or eat all the meat.”
He held her close. “Just a little more to soothe me.”
“Soothe?”
She looked at him and saw a bright spark in his black-on-black eyes. “Oh, heck. How long have you been at the edge of rut?”
He caressed her cheek. “It does not normally happen, but it started last night.”
“Ah. One of the betas at the event?”
“No, it appears that I am set for omega only. Omega mage specifically.”
Mao tried to get away, but he hissed a little, and Vine laughed. “Use your arms. It’s not decorous, but it is less painful.”
He nodded, grunted, and pushed himself to standing on quivering legs. Mao staggered away, and she looked at Kazuya, smiling. She asked, “Was it something you said?”
Kazuya kissed her and nuzzled her cheek and neck, prying the collar of her robe away from her skin. He pressed a kiss to her collarbone and started sucking.
It took a few seconds to figure out what was going on, and then she punched him in the head. “Hey! No hickies that can’t be explained away as tentacle marks.”
He grunted and rubbed his head where she had punched him. “Ow. Sorry. I got carried away.”
“Yeah, well, you aren’t the one who is travel-sized. When alphas see an omega, they think that they can do whatever they want with them. I met you less than twenty-four hours ago, and you have already touched me more than anyone in the history of ever. Pace yourself.”
He looked at her and smiled slowly, “So, your objection is speed?”
“Yup.”
“You did not object when I touched you earlier.”
“No, but you also didn’t move fast. I managed to figure things out as you went along.”
He brushed his thumb against her collarbone, where he had latched on. “All my normal impulses are scattered to the currents with you around.”
“Well, I would pace myself. Don’t octopi die after mating?”
He smiled. “Many do, but fortunately, I am a healer first and octopus second.”
“Do healers die after mating?”
He laughed. “No. No, they do not. Having family makes them stronger.”
She smiled. “Interesting. That’s some heavy lifting.”
“I think you can manage.”
Vine blinked at him and sighed. “I don’t know. The tentacle thing is a little weird.”
He snorted and hugged her. She giggled, and he grinned.
She noticed that her voice didn’t sound as harsh. It still sounded raspy, but it wasn’t the raw tearing that she was used to.
“You fucked with my throat.”
“No, that would have been different, and you wouldn’t have doubted it.” He flicked her temple with a finger.
Vine moved her legs cautiously. Her normal sharp pain was missing. It was a dull ache that felt like a good day.
She slid her hand around his neck, and he bent toward her, but she used her grip to lever off his lap. “Haha. Sucker.”
He snorted and helped her to her feet. “How are you feeling?”
“Better. Thank you. What do I owe you?”
He grinned, got to his feet, and stroked her hair. “Dinner. I accept ribs in payment.”
She chuckled and set her clothing out, slipping her panties on first. “Fine. I will send you the address.”
“Xiroth already did.” He kissed the top of her head as she untied the robe and let it drop. He caught it and folded it neatly. He exhaled and made a ragged sound as she put on her bra and pulled her shirt on.
Vine finished getting dressed after checking her legs. The single spiral up each of her legs was even, and she could feel delicate skin on her back. He had worked on most of her exterior scars, and compression had straightened a bit of her legs.
“I want to see you again on Tuesday morning.”
“And this evening.”
“Yes. Lucky me.”
She got her purse and checked her phone. “Is there somewhere I can answer these before I head home and they ambush me?”
“Certainly. Would you like more tea?”
“Um, please. I usually run on caffeine.”
He remained in his robe, walked her into a sitting room in the house, and showed her how to settle on the cushion while Mao fetched tea.
Vine looked at him and said, “Are all the teapot sets here antiques?”
He shrugged. “Yes. Why?”
“I was going to enchant one for never-ending tea, but that would require a bit of fiddling, and it might make them explode, so I would never do it to an antique.”
He smiled and poured the tea when Mao dropped it off. She answered the nine texts from Jennika, Ivy, and Sable.
“Your friends are worried?”
“Always.” She sighed. “Jenn and I started getting closer when she finished school and her sister took off. I helped her get through chef school and ate all of her experiments.”
He looked at her. “You don’t look it.”
“It burns a lot of calories to move against what your body wants to do.” She smiled as she answered all the texts. “I have a lot of weird muscle definition, as you may have noticed.”
Kazuya nodded. “It is common in bad breaks. The muscles form a sheath around the bone if they can. Your body knows the pattern and tries to hold it.”
“Yup. I saw a number of physiotherapists after the court cases were over and my parents were removed as my guardians.”
“Who took over?”
She smiled. “I hired a financial officer and a personal chef. There was also a tutor so I could finish school at my own pace. I started my little experiments and left help around the city when I could. I embedded a call for help in stones and a number of other little bits of hopefully helpful magic.” She kept texting. “I got better as I went along.”
Another text came in, and she sighed. “And now I have to stop at a butcher shop when I head home.”
Kazuya cocked his head. “Why?”
“Jennika couldn’t control herself with the scent of the ribs. And she ate them. Twelve pounds of ribs. Her protein intake in the last two months has been incredible.”
“The pixies are highly carnivorous. The intake of extra protein is usually up to the male.”
“I beg your pardon?” She looked up at him, appalled.
“He should be foraging for her.” Her host chuckled.
“Oh. I had all kinds of mental images.” She smiled.
“Mao will drive you home.”
“I am not going home. I am going to my butcher shop for steaks, burgers, and replacement ribs.”
He shrugged, “And Mao will go and carry everything for you.”
“That’s going to hurt him.”
“Did the five months without treatment hurt you?”
“Obviously.”
He opened his hands. “You levied your punishment, and I am levelling mine.”
Vine looked at him and the happy posture of a male who had found his match after centuries of looking. “Fine.”
He gave her a bright smile, and they finished the tea before Mao drove her on her errands. It was a very surreal day.