Chapter 12 Ice Skating
twelve
Ice skating.
I slid around the rink with ease, gliding on the ice like I was swimming through water.
I was pleased they had skates for me. The rental shack had skates for multiple species that didn’t have feet like humans.
For me, it was just the blade attached to a flat rectangle with three straps to keep it on my tentacles.
Skating backward, I blew a kiss to my coupling, and he gave me a slight smile.
Nyx had refused to join us—I wasn’t shocked—but he looked content enough watching us with a soft smile.
Chase hadn’t been exaggerating when he said ice skating wasn’t a skill he possessed.
He clung to the side of the rink and scooted along in an entirely awkward fashion.
If he held the glass any harder, it was liable to shatter under the pressure.
I kept laughing when I rushed past him, each time amused by his hobbling moves, and Chase would cuss me out, which made me laugh harder.
I loved that he was getting more comfortable with us, as he should be.
Our human had nothing to fear now that Nyx and I were here.
He was safe, loved, and had nothing left to worry about.
His life would be all love, relaxation, and safe adventures that would in no way risk his life, health, or emotions.
After making Chase upset with the adventure in the bathroom, I’d have to be more careful with him and what we did. My delicate pet would need me to directly ask what he was comfortable with. Never again would I be the reason for his hurt.
I raced past him, and Chase flipped me off. He was hilarious! I giggled at the string of swear words that followed me. Too cute! I wondered if I could make him say those filthy words while I or Nyx fucked him? I’d enjoy that, and Nyx might spank him, which I’d also like.
When I was across the ice rink from Chase, I heard a cry.
I whipped around to where my mates were, first seeing Nyx on the bench, whole and healthy, but with his mouth hanging open in horror, then to Chase.
My hearts crashed together; Chase was on the ice, red blood pooling around him, hand clamped to his leg.
“Chase,” I screamed, and my voice wasn’t alone.
Nyx yelled his name as well and raced inside the rink, heedless of the fact that he didn’t have skates or that he slipped and slid everywhere.
We both skidded to Chase, pulling him close.
Nyx smoothed a hand over the back of his head while he examined his leg.
I kissed Chase and tried to hold him while also remaining close to Nyx without obscuring his view.
Instinct burned in my veins to be closer to both of my throupling. I needed both to be in my arms, safe.
“Are you alright?” I demanded, pulling on his wrist to get Chase to release his injured leg so Nyx could inspect the wound thoroughly. We had to make sure that Chase was alright.
Nyx snarled at another skater, a tynea, who’d knocked Chase over and sliced him with their skate. “You need to watch where you’re going.”
The tynea shivered, shedding copious amounts of green hair in their stress. “I didn’t mean to,” they warbled.
Nyx growled, dragging Chase and me closer and onto his lap, and glared at the tynea.
Tension amped up in his tentacles and in the way he gripped me and Chase.
If I didn’t distract him soon, he was going to attack someone, which honestly made me so happy.
I could literally scream or dance or fuck him or all three, because Nyx took care of what was his.
And this was as good as him claiming Chase.
But now wasn’t the time. Bloodshed might turn Chase away from us, or at minimum, scare him. Best to have him securely bonded to us before we killed anyone who touched our human.
“Chase is hurt,” I said, holding Nyx’s chin so he focused on me. “We need to get his leg treated, and the staff are coming. He, our human, is the priority, not scaring the tynea. Do you understand?”
With one last growl at the tynea, who would be bald soon if they didn’t stop stress shedding, Nyx lifted Chase with ease, and Chase wrapped one arm around Nyx’s neck while reaching for me with his other.
I gripped his hand and kissed his bloodied palm, following them closely, though I did spare a second to shoot the terrified tynea a silent snarl, which made them release a huge shake of green fur.
They were lucky I’d had to keep Nyx under control and wanted to keep Chase unscared of us, or else I would’ve screamed at them until they were utterly hairless.
Chase was our little pet, and I refused to allow anything to harm him.
I kissed his palm again, licking up the coppery blood that tingled on my tongue, and Chase gave me a strained smile that was more like a wince.
He had to be in more pain than he was letting on.
His jeans hadn’t protected his calf from the sharp blade of the skate, and deep red blood spread over the fabric and dripped onto the clouded ice.
Chase, while grimacing, didn’t utter a single noise of pain.
He should have, though. Crying wouldn’t bother either of us; we’d take care of him.
Why didn’t he cry? Had someone gotten mad at him for doing so in the past?
Like the incident after the bathroom. He’d been so scared.
I wished Chase would cry, but Nyx and I were making more than enough noise for him between our growling and fussing over him. We were strained, to say the least. There was something about Chase, one of us, being hurt that made all of our protective instincts rise. He was to be guarded at all costs.
Nyx moved to one of the wooden benches that surrounded the rink and sat, keeping Chase on his lap.
He smoothed a hand over Chase’s hair while pressing lingering kisses to his cheeks.
I nuzzled and kissed Chase’s palm while also rubbing Nyx’s tentacles to soothe him as we all waited for the staff to get their shit together.
If someone didn’t show up soon, I was going to start screaming and threatening people like an asshole.
But if that was what it took to take care of our Chase, I was perfectly fine with it.
Thankfully, less than a minute later, a harried-looking woman with buzzed blonde hair appeared.
She was ensconced in a white jacket so thick that it was a miracle that we could see any of her.
Honestly, her shape was a mystery. I wouldn’t have even thought she was female besides her name, Janis, and her pronouns, she/her, pinned on her jacket.
For all I knew, she wasn’t a human, just another species who had a human-looking face.
Not that it mattered, but I felt better with a human tending to Chase, because they would know how to meet his needs appropriately.
I was going to have to take a first-aid course for humans later. I needed to be able to help him in emergencies.
She popped open a first aid kit while other staff rushed past us to the rink, probably to clean up the blood and fur.
I paid them no mind. I didn’t care at all what happened to anyone else.
No, all that mattered was that one of my hearts lay on the bench, injured and in the arms of another one of my hearts.
The woman skillfully cut Chase’s pant leg, ignoring mine and Nyx’s warning not to injure Chase any more than he already was. A single slice lay against his freckled skin, and the sight of it gutted me. Any injury could be catastrophic. This cut was shallow, but it was bleeding more than I liked.
Chase whimpered, going frightfully pale.
I pushed his face into Nyx’s neck, so he didn’t have to watch, and Nyx interlinked his fingers with mine on the back of Chase’s head.
I knew in that instant, we were both decided.
Chase didn’t need to see more of this if it was going to bother him.
We would take care of him, as we should.
I ran a soothing hand down Chase’s side as the staff member cleaned his cut, and I also coiled some of my tentacles around Nyx’s to keep him calm.
“It doesn’t look too bad,” she said, dabbing the wound with a wet square. “I’m going to disinfect it and use a dermal regenerator. He should be fine in a day or so, but I’ll send the resort doctor to check on him. Chase might rest better in the B I bet that would taste good too.
Chase sucked on my tongue, and I let him.
He seemed to enjoy having things in his mouth.
The warmth of him, the feel of him, and Nyx in my arms were utterly perfect.
When I finally broke away, Chase whimpered in protest, trying to get closer to me.