Chapter 15 #2
Because it wasn’t going to be easy to get out of such a huge bed.
She’d be trapped in there, between them.
What if she wanted to get out and get away quickly if Ravik decided to get frisky with his “mate?” She’d have to scramble to the foot of the bed and try to crawl out which wouldn’t be an easy process, considering all the cushions and blankets.
Speaking of Ravik, she could hear the big Beast Kindred behind her, making a low, pleased sound.
“Good bed,” he said. “Big enough for Cassie and Ravik.”
Cassie turned and pointed a finger at him.
“Do not look so happy about this.”
He immediately tried to look less happy, which was almost worse because now he looked like a huge guilty wolf pretending he hadn’t just eaten an entire ham.
The mental image made her want to laugh but she was afraid the sound might come out sounding hysterical. She asked herself again—was she really going to do this?
Severin cleared his throat.
“If you prefer, Cassandra, you may take one of the smaller rooms and lock the door. I will attempt to keep Ravik calm,” he said.
Ravik growled at once.
“No. Cassie stays. She is my mate—I must warm and protect her.”
The sound vibrated through the warm chamber and made every little hair on Cassie’s body stand up.
Severin’s head turned sharply.
“Ravik, you’ll frighten her! If she wants to leave, you have to let her go.”
Ravik didn’t answer in words. Instead, his massive hands curled into fists at his sides.
For a moment, the white film seemed to creep over his golden eyes again, just at the edges.
His breathing got heavier and she saw the muscles in his bare shoulders bunch.
He wasn’t attacking anyone, but the sudden tension in the air was impossible to miss.
Cassie’s stomach clenched—Severin was right.
If she left, Ravik was going to get worse.
Because some sick, infected part of his brain—or maybe some healthier, more instinctive part of his Beast Kindred nature—had decided she was the thing that kept him anchored.
If she disappeared behind a locked door, taking her scent with her, the fog might swallow him again.
And she didn’t want that—not after he’d saved her life in the Dead Zone.
Damn it, she really was going to have to do this.
She took a cautious step toward Ravik and his gaze snapped to her at once.
“Hey,” she said softly, putting a hand on his arm which was rigid with tension. “It’s okay, big guy. I’m not going anywhere right this minute.”
The Beast Kindred’s breathing slowed a little.
“Cassie stays?” he asked, eyeing her hopefully.
Her heart gave a little twist in her chest.
“For now,” she said. “But we need rules.”
“Rules,” he repeated.
“Yes. Rules. Lots of them.”
Severin looked relieved that she wasn’t backing out, though he wisely did not say so.
“What rules would make you feel safer?” he asked.
Cassie glanced at the enormous bed again and tried not to think about the fact that once they climbed onto it, she was going to be surrounded by two very large Kindred warriors in a room designed specifically for group mating by lizard people.
“Well, for starters, everybody keeps their pants on.”
“Ravik has pants,” Ravik said proudly, as though this was a major accomplishment.
Cassie felt the corners of her mouth quirking up and tried not to laugh.
“Yes, and Cassie appreciates that very much,” she said.
He nodded solemnly.
“Ravik keeps pants on.”
“Good. Also, no tasting,” she said.
The big Beast Kindred’s face fell.
“No tasting?”
“No tasting,” she repeated.
“Not even a little?”
“No.” Cassie kept her voice firm. She never would have dreamed that she’d be in this position—having to forbid a seven-foot-tall warrior from going down on her.
It felt like some kind of surreal dream.
But then again, she’d never dreamed that she would be on a lizard planet in the middle of a zombie virus outbreak sharing a bunker with two Kindred either. And yet, here she was.
Ravik looked at Severin, as though hoping for a second opinion.
“Ravik needs to taste his mate,” he said. “Ravik needs to.”
Severin’s face was stern.
“It is not your Tasting Week,” he said. “If you taste your mate too early, you’ll lose her because you break the rules of the Claiming Period.”
Ravik sighed heavily and his broad shoulders sagged in defeat.
“All right. No tasting.”
“Good. I’m glad we got that clear,” Cassie said, trying not to feel bad for disappointing the giant half-infected Beast Kindred who apparently wanted nothing more than to put his mouth on her, which was not a thought she should be having right now.
“And no touching either. I mean, no intimate touching,” she clarified.
Ravik frowned.
“But we are mates—mates touch.”
Cassie was stumped. She ought to say no…but if they had actually been mated, as Ravik believed they were, he would be allowed to touch her during the bathing week.
“Look, I’m just really tired right now,” she told him at last. “No touching while Cassie is tired.”
“Touching later?” Ravik asked hopefully.
Cassie nibbled her lower lip.
“Maybe. But only if I say it’s okay.”
“Mate says okay first,” he said.
“Yes. Exactly.” She nodded.
Severin’s gaze flicked to her, then to Ravik, and Cassie could practically see his scientist brain making notes even though he didn’t have a datapad in his hands.
He had to be noticing what she was noticing—that Ravik was calmer when she spoke to him directly.
Not normal, exactly, but better—more present.
“Any other rules?” Severin asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
“Yes. If I say stop, everyone stops.” Cassie crossed her arms over her breasts. She was still wearing nothing but the skimpy little red nighty with no panties on under it. She had to be able to stop the action—if there was any—immediately.
“Of course,” Severin agreed at once. “Your word will be our law.”
To her surprise, Ravik nodded too.
“Cassie says stop, Ravik stops,” he rumbled.
It seemed to be the best assurance she was going to get. With human men, Cassie never would have trusted such a promise. But the Kindred were serious about not hurting women—it was pretty much their whole code and ethos.
“All right, good,” she said, nodding in satisfaction. “Then we’re all in agreement.”
Severin inclined his head.
“Indeed we are.”
She glanced at him.
“And you stay in the room with me and Ravik at all times.”
“I will,” he promised. His pale blue eyes held hers steadily. “I won’t leave you alone, Cassandra. And Ravik won’t pleasure you unless you want him to.”
“Thank you.”
His promise reassured her—a little. It also made her stomach flutter in a way she was not going to examine too closely, because apparently her body had picked tonight—the night after her husband had thrown her out to be eaten by zombies—to remember that men existed and some of them were enormous, gorgeous, and utterly devoted to female pleasure.
Wonderful timing, body, she told herself. Truly excellent work.
“All right,” she said at last, looking at the bed. “So how do we do this?”
There was a pause, then Severin shrugged,
“I suppose we just climb in.”
Cassie almost laughed, which seemed inappropriate considering the circumstances, but then again, everything about this was inappropriate.
The bed was raised higher than a normal human bed, probably because Visskous liked to be dramatic about absolutely everything.
There were shallow steps built into the side of the landing, leading directly up onto the mattress—or nest or whatever horrible word applied here.
Severin went first, stepping up and onto the edge with careful grace despite his size. The bed barely dipped under his weight.
Then he turned and offered Cassie his hand.
For a moment she hesitated—was she really going to do this? Was she really going to sleep between the two huge Kindred wearing nothing but the tiny red nighty?
Apparently she was—but on her own terms. She had laid down the rules and she expected the two of them to follow them. Lifting her chin, she put her hand in his.
Severin’s fingers closed around hers, warm and strong and careful.
It was so different from holding hands were her ex.
His hand wasn’t cold and scaly and he didn’t grip her in the possessive way Sskarth always had—like she was something he owned and could display or discard as he pleased.
The Blood Kindred’s touch was firm, but not forceful.
He helped her up onto the edge of the bed and then let go at once, as though to prove he wasn’t going to keep her unless she chose to stay.
And that, annoyingly, made her want to stay a little more.
“Thank you,” she murmured.
“You’re welcome,” he said softly.
For a second, they just looked at each other and Cassie felt her stomach flutter again. What was it with the big Blood Kindred that made her feel so strange when he looked at her that way?
Then the bed dipped hard behind her as Ravik climbed in too, and Cassie nearly lost her balance.
Severin caught her elbow at the same time Ravik’s hands settled at her waist from behind. Between the two of them, she didn’t fall, but she did find herself held upright by one Blood Kindred and one Beast Kindred in the middle of a giant heated mating bed.
Which was not a sentence she had ever expected to apply to her life.
“Careful,” Severin murmured
“Ravik won’t let Cassie fall,” Ravik rumbled behind her.
“Yes, well, thank you both,” Cassie said, trying to ignore the warmth of Ravik’s palms through her thin nightgown and the careful pressure of Severin’s fingers at her arm. “While I appreciate not face-planting into the lizard-sex mattress, maybe we could all take a breath?”
Ravik immediately pressed his face to her hair and inhaled deeply.
Cassie closed her eyes.
“That was not an invitation to sniff me.”
“Cassie smells good,” he rumbled. “Smells right.”
“I know. You’ve mentioned that.”