CHAPTER 10 #2
My laughter immediately dies. I'd forgotten who he is and what we've come from.
My memories of who I was in the past are scattershot and flimsy — like not knowing what the hell ohana means — and I've taken for granted that everyone is having similar issues.
But Valmir knows he was a gladiator, and from what I've learned from the others, the gladiators were not treated well.
I've asked someone who's probably been in a cage to make one. I might be the universe's biggest asshole.
"Were...were you in a cage, Valmir?" I ask.
He scoffs as if I've asked something foolish. "Of course not. I just want your pet to be comfortable. You said make the best one ever, did you not?" He gestures at the dog-slash-rabbit-run. "Here it is, a spectacular, oversized, perfect home for your new pet."
"Well...thank you." A new home should be blessed, my brain immediately tells me.
Does that apply to animals, though? And blessed by who and what?
I wait for the answer to arrive, and when it doesn't, I tuck this away with ohana as part of the puzzle that might make sense later.
"Let me get Makana and we can try it out. "
I head into the hut, scooping up my warm, furry little friend.
He's eaten a bunch of cooked roots this morning, and when I hold him against my chest, he burrows there like it's his favorite place to be.
Aww, buddy. With him snuggled close, I head back out into the cold.
Valmir opens one end of the long, snaking cage and I set Makana inside.
He's got a bad leg, so I can't imagine he's going to frolic, but I fully expect him to give it a good hop or two. Maybe check out the digs.
Nope.
Makana sits there like a lump. He doesn't budge from the spot where I set him down.
A few minutes pass as we watch him, waiting for him to move. Nothing. He looks pitiful and small, and I imagine his tiny blue eyes staring up at me woefully, as if begging me to pick him up again. "Maybe...maybe this cage is too open and he prefers a hidey-hole?"
"Maybe he's stupid," Valmir says.
"Or that. I don't know their environment, but this doesn't look like something he wants." I bend down and lift the trap door on the end of the cage — genius work for someone with just bones and leather ties — and put a hand out for Makana.
The two-fang immediately flings himself back into my arms, burrowing against my tunic once more. I pet his soft fur. "Maybe the warmth in the hut has spoiled him."
"Maybe he just likes you," Valmir points out.
"You think?" I wait for this to turn into the inevitable compliment. He's going to say something about how my little pet has good taste, or how I'm easy to fall in love with, and then we'll kiss like fiends...
Valmir gives me a sly look. "I did say he was stupid."
A laugh barks out of me. I should be offended, but his comment is just so classically Valmir — barbed as hell — that I'm amused I didn't see it coming.
"Well, stupid or not, he can stay with me until he heals up.
I guess all this wasn't necessary after all.
He's made no effort to leave the hut, so I don't have to worry about him running off. "
Valmir pats his bone monstrosity of a cage. "We can put the children in here, then."
I laugh even harder. It's a horrible thing to say, but it's also perfectly Valmir. "You are an absolutely horrible male."
"Quit laughing at what I say and I'll stop," he purrs.
"Quit being such a dick, pussycat, and I'll stop laughing."
"So cruelty amuses you?"
"No, of course not."
His gaze turns triumphant. "Then I amuse you."
"I admit nothing."
"You never do." His tone is admiring. "Well, regardless of whether or not your creature uses the cage, the task has been completed."
I stroke Makana's furry neck and again wonder how Valmir feels in comparison. Heat pulses between my thighs. "So it has. I concede that even if it's not right for Makana, it's a fine cage."
"Now my reward." His eyes turn into feral slits. "I get to touch myself while you watch."
Is that what he thinks the reward is? Touching himself? I've been thinking about our moment from the other day and that's definitely not what I had in mind. "That's not what we agreed on, pussycat."
"It's...not?" He scowls. "Are you going back on our deal?"
"Not at all. I just seem to recall that the agreement was that I get to touch you."
Valmir's gaze flares with heat. His tail goes utterly still, his ears pricking forward. "Go on..."
"I said I'd touch you." I shoot him an exasperated look. "Don't make me say it again."
His mouth curves into an almost smile and he holds a hand out to me. "Let's go, then."
I cradle Makana in the crook of my arm and with my free hand lace my fingers with his.
The palm of Valmir's hand is strange, padded like a cat's, but the fingers that curl with mine are human enough.
His claws are withdrawn, and there's a hint of fur on the back of his hand.
It feels just as soft as Makana, and I find that fascinating.
Someone as cranky and smirky as Valmir shouldn't be as soft as a kitten.
We head for my hut, my heart fluttering and my khui singing.
I'll put Makana in his basket, wash my hands...
and then put them all over Valmir. The man I don't like.
The man who could fall off a cliff and I wouldn't cry.
The man who's been haunting my dreams since we resonated.
It's irraz how much of my thoughts he consumes.
I should tell him to fuck off, and instead, I'm getting excited at the thought of touching him because he spent hours making the most elaborate cage for my scared little creature.
He doesn't head into the hut first but pulls the flap back for me. I duck in — and nearly run into Dawn.
"Hey," she says, lacing up her boots. She's seated atop her furs, heavy cloak tossed down next to her bed.
"Oh," I stammer. "Hey there. You're back? I thought you were hunting today."
"I was," she says, rubbing her face with her hands. Her eyes look hollow and tired, her gaze focused on her boots. "But I have the worst cramps so I think I'm just going to lie...down..." She looks up and sees Valmir, standing right behind me. Her gaze drops to our joined hands. "Oh. Oh dear."
"You're fine," I say quickly, as if I wasn't about to give Valmir the hand job of his dreams. I trill out a nervous laugh that sounds far higher pitched than I'd like. "I'm just putting Makana in his basket and then we're going hiking."
"Right. Okay. If you need me, I'll be here in bed, dying." She tosses her boots aside and curls up in her blankets, looking pitiful.
I put my pet in his basket, and I could swear he seems happy, tucking himself back into it.
Maybe he doesn't need a massive dog-run.
Maybe he likes being cozy and tucked into a small space.
I glance over at Dawn. "You want me to bring you some hot tea or something? Or do you need me to get the healer?"
Valmir makes an impatient sound. I wave a sharp hand at him, silently telling him to shut the fuck up. Fooling around is one thing, but I know what it's like to be laid low by cramps. It's the worst. We can spare five minutes and make sure Dawn's comfortable before we run off to get frisky.
"I just had some," she says, yawning. "I'm going to nap and hope that when I wake up, the cramps are gone."
"If you're sure..."
"She's sure," Valmir says, interrupting.
I shoot him another withering look. If he's trying to kill my lady-boner, he's succeeding. "No one's talking to you. Go home, cook rice."
"Eh?" he says.
I wave a hand at him, dismissing him.
Dawn pulls the blankets tighter around herself. "I'm fine, really. I just need to sleep it off. Go do whatever you were going to do."
Strangle a bitch, possibly? I eye Valmir with irraz.
Even as I do, his tail flicks and he shoots me a hungry look.
His leathers are tight across the groin, and it's like my khui is noticing all this, too.
A good friend would stay with Dawn and keep her company until she goes to sleep.
Me, I'm about to go give a guy a hate-filled handy, and I'm looking forward to it.
A therapist would have a field day with me.
"Back later," I tell Dawn, and head out of the hut with Valmir again.
He reaches for me. I ignore his hand and stomp down the beach, annoyed by him and by how much I want to touch him.
Touch him, choke him, six of one, half a dozen of the other.
This guy irritates the snot out of me. Just when I think we're turning a corner, he becomes the most annoying person on the planet once more.
When we're far enough away from the hut that Dawn won't hear us talking, I stop and turn to him.
"You're really something, you know that? "
"Thank you," Valmir says. "Flattery isn't necessary. Your touch will suffice."
How did I get so lucky, I think sarcastically. Did I break a mirror back home? Have bananas on a boat? Whistle at night? I cross my arms over my chest so he doesn't try to reach for my hand again. "Well, my hut is occupied, so I'm out of ideas."
"I could drop trou right here," Valmir says. "I'm fine with that. I don't care if anyone watches."
I shoot him a scandalized glance. Is he serious?
We're in the open, in the midst of camp.
There's a bunch of huts nearby, and I don't know if they're occupied right now.
Someone's fishing down the beach. I can hear the laughter coming from the main firepit a short distance away.
Anyone could wander through the area and see what we're up to.
This is not private. I'd be better off telling Dawn to close her eyes and just jerking him off in front of her.
There's probably something wrong with me in that the idea of getting caught kinda turns me on with its wrongness.
"I'm not doing this out in the open," I say, despite the curl of pleasure in my belly. "Some things should be private."