Chapter 21
RAVIK
Ravik woke with a start, wondering why he felt sticky between his thighs. He had vague memories of something important happening last night, but he couldn’t bring whatever it was back to his mind.
Also, who was in bed with him?
He opened his eyes just a slit and saw two shapes in the vast bed. One was soft and short and curvy—his mate, Cassandra, he remembered. And on the other side of her was Severin.
Ravik frowned, feeling confused. Was it right for a friend to sleep with you when you were sleeping with your mate? It seemed to him that somehow it might be wrong.
Beast Kindred don’t share mates! whispered a little voice in his head.
But why not? What was the reason they couldn’t share mates?
Ravik frowned and tried to think—he felt like he could almost remember the reason—it was on the tip of his tongue. But somehow it wouldn’t come to him.
He decided not to worry about it. It was enough that his mate and his best friend were here and they were all three safe together.
Also, except for his sticky trousers, it was nice to sleep in the big bed with the two of them.
It felt good and it smelled good too—he liked the way their scents mingled.
His own and Severin’s masculine, spicy fragrances mixed with Cassie’s sweet feminine scent to form a special kind of perfume that made every part of him feel happy to be alive.
For a while, he lay there breathing it in, thinking how lucky he was to have such a beautiful mate and such a good friend. But eventually, he decided he needed to change his trousers. Also, he had to use the fresher. And maybe after that, he would make First Meal for everyone.
He and Severin used to take turns with the cooking when they were out on a mission, but lately it seemed to him that his friend had been taking every shift. Which was hardly fair.
It would be good, he decided, to help with the cooking duties again. He couldn’t remember why he’d ever stopped helping in the first place, but it wasn’t fair to Severin to make him do it all.
Carefully, he climbed out of the big bed. Cassie sighed and Severin mumbled something in his sleep, but neither of them woke up.
Satisfied that he hadn’t disturbed them, Ravik made his way down the hallway to the fresher.
He shut himself inside and took off his trousers.
When he looked inside them, he understood why he was so sticky—he must have come during the night.
But why? He hadn’t had a nighttime pleasure dream since he was an adolescent.
So what had happened to make him shoot in his pants?
Ravik squinted his eyes, trying to think. But now that he was away from the warm scents that permeated the sleeping chamber, his thoughts seemed to be getting cloudier. He had vague memories of the night before—of pleasuring his mate while Severin helped…
Wait—had he really let his best friend suck his mate’s nipples while he fingered her soft little pussy?
Ravik frowned. That was wrong, wasn’t it? Beast Kindred didn’t share mates.
But it didn’t feel wrong, did it? whispered a little voice in his head. It felt right—felt good.
Well, there was no denying that. In fact, it felt so good that he wanted to do something nice for his mate and his friend. Ravik frowned—what was it he was going to do?
After thinking hard for over a minute, it finally came to him—he was going to make First Meal. Then his mate and friend could eat together with him and all would be good.
Forgetting that he had intended to put on some new trousers, Ravik wandered from the fresher to the Food Prep area. Once he got there, he stood—naked and staring—at the contents of the cupboards for a while.
Why was he here? Why was he in the kitchen?
Again, he couldn’t remember. His head was feeling foggier and foggier and his eyes seemed to be getting foggy too. But he knew there was a reason he’d come in here and he wasn’t going to give up until he remembered what it was.
At last, after staring in the cupboard for almost ten minutes, he remembered. Food! He was going to make some!
But how?
Ravik couldn’t remember. Then he had a dim flash of someone stirring something in a pot. Oh, right—that was how to cook.
Blindly, he reached into the cupboard and grabbed the first thing his hand touched. It was a jar with a lid which he stared at for some time before he remembered he had to twist it to get it open.
He managed this and then stood staring vacantly for a long time at the pots hanging from the far wall before he remembered he was supposed to use one.
The longer he was away from his mate, the cloudier both his thoughts and his vision became.
He had a vague impulse to go sniff her again…
but he didn’t want to wake her up before… before…before what?
Frowning, he looked down at the pot in his hand and then at the jar. Oh, right—he must make food for his Mate. This was almost more instinct than thought—a Kindred warrior had to feed and proved for his beloved bride.
Ravik dumped the contents of the jar into the pot and then had another long moment where he couldn’t remember what he was doing. Slowly, a murky image of someone standing at the stove with a pot surfaced in his mind. Right—he needed to use heat.
Mate can not eat cold food. Must heat, he thought.
He put the pot on the heat circle and jabbed at the buttons. He wasn’t sure which one made the heat work, but he was glad to find that something he did must have worked because the circle under the pot began to get hot and glow red.
Ravik looked down into the pot dully, wondering what to do next.
Stir…pot? asked an uncertain voice in his head.
But what was stirring? Ravik no longer remembered.
He stared into the pot, waiting for something to happen—something his cloudy brain could no longer predict.
After a moment, one of the things in the pot jumped—then it jumped again and exploded!
Ravik backed away from the pot with a grunt of surprise. His brain was too cloudy now to understand what was happening, but he knew vaguely that it wasn’t good.
Pop! Pop-pop-pop-pop!
Now many of the things in the pot were exploding. Also, there was a bad smell coming from the pot. What was happening?
Ravik didn’t know and he couldn’t make his brain tell him what to do about it. He stood there staring mutely until one of the things in the pot exploded out at just the wrong angle—and hit him in the groin.
A sound of agony was torn from his throat and he doubled over. What was this place and why was he here? What were the things hurting him?
He didn’t know…he didn’t know anything at all anymore except for pain.