Chapter 24
Havali
She wanted him to bite her.
That single thought kept spinning round and round in Havali’s head as he lay in bed, like a tritski bird that had lost its sense of direction. It fluttered in his brain making his claws ache to emerge, his belly clench with eagerness, his cock and knot harden in anticipation.
She wanted him to bite her.
Was there ever a more perfect female made? Certainly, not for him.
She and Alanna didn’t seem at all surprised by his desire to bite.
Peony appeared outright disappointed that Atem hadn’t even tried.
He knew humans to be a sexual species. He could see it in every unconsciously sensual move that they made.
He didn’t realize that they would sexualize almost anything – including something his people considered so deviant.
But she wanted it.
He had been so focused on that, reveling in the amazing truth of it, that it took a couple marks for him to calm down enough to remember her statements about rules and consent.
Humans sexualized anything, but there had to be an understanding between partners that everyone was agreeable with what they were doing.
Havali would never have considered needing to make that a rule.
It seemed like such an obvious thing – no mating without permission – that he couldn’t grasp the concept of needing a rule to keep things that way.
He wasn’t naive, he knew that there were the deranged and disturbed who would do horrible things, but that’s what made them deranged and disturbed.
However, if humans combined pain with their pleasure, then naturally there would need to be rules and understanding to make sure that everyone stayed safe.
After all, Havali did want to bite and drink from Scarlet, but he didn’t want to weaken or hurt her. He wanted to see his fang marks on her skin, but he didn’t want them to scar or disfigure. He wanted her delirious from pleasure, not blood loss.
That seemed a very thin line to walk, but Scarlet didn’t seem opposed.
They just first had to settle on their rules and understandings for what they would do to each other so that everyone had fun, but no one was hurt.
Truly, humans were a wise species when it came to the pleasures of the flesh.
Tomorrow would bring another long day of speeches and deliberation. He wouldn’t get a chance to see her again until late. And since he wasn’t sure how such rules and conditions were discussed, he didn’t know how long the conversation would take.
But he would let Scarlet take the lead, as she had given him control in her dance. His power would be in following and understanding and anticipating her needs.
As she said, it required them to work together, and any failure of communication or action was both their fault.
So, that meant, it might be a day or two more before they got to try to kiss again. Or more. He hoped so much more. He needed the outlet. He needed the pressure relieved.
He needed to see her again so much sooner.
It was late though. She was probably sleeping, and she would need her rest when she stood beside Dominani and Alanna to speak to the Coalition.
But he had to see her.
It was wrong.
She still didn’t know he was doing this, and she would be angry if she did.
But he couldn’t stop himself from ordering his combot to approach from his docking station and pulling up his tracking system on the holodisplay.
The compound was quiet. Most everyone had already sought their bed – with the exception of the guards that remained on patrol, Tuvo, who appeared to be pacing up and down the halls, and a couple of servants who were wandering around the garden, probably seeking out a late night tryst away from the eyes and ears of others.
Havali ignored all of them and focused on Scarlet.
The tracking system was very simple. It displayed people as dots based on life signature readings that were constantly being taken.
It was a common security feature for the rich and powerful as it ensured privacy since the small dots only showed location, not activity, but still allowed for a high degree of safety as no one could be taken from the compound or hidden within it without being tracked.
And since everyone who had to work or live here submitted their biometrics for logging purposes, any living person who did not match that database immediately stuck out.
Scarlet’s dot showed her as being in her room.
He recognized the area as where her bed was placed against the wall in the far room of her suite.
He hadn’t been in there, not having gone past her common room when he went to pick her up for the date, but he was intimately familiar with the layout of the entire compound.
Her tiny dot told him nothing except that she was sleeping and that her heart rate and breathing were both stable – slowing down as she started to fall asleep.
And seeing that calmed him significantly.
He wanted her as only a male who knew his mate but was denying himself from having them could want a person – with a deep, bone aching, desperate yearning that consumed his entire being and controlled his thoughts like a puppet.
If she gave him the slightest sign that she was ready, he would mount her wherever and whenever she desired.
But seeing that slow breathing and heart rate, knowing she was safe and comfortable, eased a separate instinct in him.
For as much as Havali wanted to bite and bind and mount her, he needed, just as badly, for her to be happy and healthy and secure.
They were two instincts that seemed like they should be completely at odds, but seemed to swirl together into a single hard truth inside him that said simply that Scarlet was everything.
She was all that mattered, and he needed to be part of her, inside and out.
He wanted to subsume her, but not change a single thing about her.
Havali stared until his eyes grew heavy and he could feel himself falling asleep. He kept them focused on that dot for as long as possible. Not wanting to miss a single moment. Wishing she was beside him in his bed instead.
Wishing he was beside her in their nest.
He was nearly completely asleep when fuzzy movement out of the corner of his unfocused eyes made him blink and stir from his doze.
Those two dots from the garden were outside of Scarlet’s room – on the other side of what he knew to be a wide window.
That was strange. Why were those servants there?
Havali roused back to full wakefulness as he stared, waiting for those dots to move on. The two readings were servants – one of whom worked in the kitchen, the other a guard but one who was scheduled to work the day shift.
He assumed the two males were mates of some kind and had snuck away from their small apartments for some kind of secrete meeting. But the outside of Scarlet’s window was an open space allowing her a view of one of the many gardens. Why were they-
His breath caught in his throat as one dot slid through the line that marked the window.
He was up and out of his bed before the second dot had done the same.