Chapter 33 #2
What Azrim doesn’t realize is that when he shoved me back against the wall, I instinctively braced myself against his body.
Now, I can feel him: his rage, his fear, the little quiver in his heavy heartbeat as he studies me.
He’s so dug in with his self-loathing that he’s hiding from his needs.
Or maybe he’s using his self-loathing on purpose to protect himself?
His pulse quickens. He glares down at me with as much hatred as he can summon, yet he ever so slowly closes the gap between us.
Azrim inhales me as muscles twitch all over his body like he’s fighting his Shifter. His claws bite into the cave wall. Azrim sweeps his nose over mine as he takes his time drawing in my scent. “You were just in heat.”
My pussy tenses as his breath moves to my neck.
“I told you,” I say as calmly as I can.
Azrim’s body ripples with dark waves like Zorin’s did when he started losing control. But now I can feel the tides of lust storming through Azrim. And because I sense them in him, it makes it harder to tamp down my own.
“How did he control himself?” Azrim breathes in my exhale. His bottom lip brushes mine. “How could he… resist you?”
I swallow my fear of what mating with a Shifter like Azrim would be like. His desire is so dark and powerful, so feral that it makes me jerk my hands back. Azrim doesn’t realize I know just how badly he wants me.
“Rorsar dosed him with something that controlled his Shifter.”
Azrim’s whole body tenses. He looks down and sways his head like he can’t believe what he’s heard. “No. No, that’s wrong.”
I agree. “Viriden gave your brother orders to protect me right after we were scent-bonded.”
He snarls. “Everyone keeps trying to control us. Why can’t we just be left alone?”
The rock behind me begins to crumble beneath his hands. I hunker in anticipation of the wall collapsing.
Azrim notices. He leans in until I can feel his hot breath on my neck. “Do I scare you, Tessi?”
My whole body trembles. I fight to sound confident, because this is my life now. “No.”
“I should.” Azrim’s skin morphs into dark fur. “Pack up Rhysan. I will get you to your mate. Then I will end this so you can be together the way you are meant to be.”
He turns and storms to the cave’s entrance and simply leaps out. Radar runs to the edge and stops. He looks back at me and whimpers.
It takes me a moment to get my legs to work again and to leave the cracked cave wall.
I put my armor back on with shaking hands, pack up my bottles, wrap Rhysan in one of the thinner furs and strap it to me with pieces of harnesses in Azrim’s cave.
Then I grab the medical kit and walk to the entrance and wait.
The sun nears the horizon as Azrim crawls up to the entrance in Shifter form, stands upright, and checks all my straps around Rhysan. “Climb onto my back. You are in no condition to descend on your own.”
Azrim drops to all fours and lies on his belly. I’m not ready to be so close to him again, but time is slim. I hesitantly climb onto his back and wrap my arms around his neck. He descends the cliff with caution and skill. Radar makes it down alongside us.
When we’re on the ground again, I try to swing my feet off of Azrim, so I can walk.
He pushes me back onto him with a growl. “Stay.”
“I don’t want to hurt you. You’re still healing. I just patched you up.”
He ignores me.
Rhysan whimpers.
I sigh, annoyed by Azrim’s stubbornness, but turn my attention to a problem I can fix. “Bet you’re hungry again, huh?”
I mix up a fresh bottle as I straddle Azrim’s back. Rhysan pokes his head out of the furs and eagerly takes the nipple into his mouth.
“Big teeth for such a little thing,” I note, studying his puppy teeth while he drinks.
Azrim steals glances back at us and at Radar who trots along beside him.
“Where are we going?” I ask Azrim.
“Base.”
I look ahead at the distant clearing in the valley, swaying atop Azrim’s back while I feed Rhysan, feeling more complete than I have in years, even with all the threats to us.
“Rest,” Azrim growls.
The setting sun highlights his gold-tipped coat beneath me. He is wonderfully warm and large enough I can lie on his back without falling off. So when Rhysan is done, I stretch out, clutch Rhysan close, and close my eyes.
It’s only a flash of black before I wake to Rhysan’s yawn. At some point, Azrim shifted upright and now carries me in his arms again. My head rests on his shoulder while Rhysan’s is against his chest.
Azrim settles his mouth against the top of my head. I can feel the heat of his breath and the slight coolness of his inhales. His chest thumps harder.
He carries the scent of the woods with him, even as his bare feet walk across concrete and the scent of jet fuel greets me. Artificial lights glaze his skin, highlighting the scars that seem to be everywhere.
I covertly slide a hand around Rhysan, stroke his head, then hook my hand over Azrim’s other shoulder and open myself to what he feels.
Dedication. Purpose. Love.
Azrim is not a monster.
His deep voice rumbles through me. “We’re here.”