Chapter 5
Gymara hamun-ti.
Wendy
Istared at the words on the document then at him. Again. And again, until he ripped the paper from my hand so I had no other choice but to stare at his features.
To the terrifying but absurdly hot face that belonged to my—one of my husbands.
After going through all that happened in the last few days, I shouldn’t feel like I did now. Somehow scared and aroused at the same time. But, now that I knew he actually was my—one of my husbands, the fear was mostly gone, and my cheeks burned from embarrassment.
How I hated having grown up on Galleat sometimes…Being constantly aroused—to the point of pain when I didn’t have sex for too long—wasn’t always fun.
And that winged, horned, dark giant? Yeah, I wanted him to fuck me against the nearest tree. There had to be something wrong with me, right? The desire that had been completely dormant since I woke up tied up against my will was now fully awake.
And directed straight at Nitochi.
He’d found me. Hours away from my doom, he had found me.
Killed the damn bastard who’d kidnapped me and probably all the others who’d been patrolling the area.
Was his presence the reason the forest had gone dead silent?
Like the animals knew he was a predator and waited with bated breath until he’d killed the otherworldly threats?
Because that’s what my keepers had been for the people of this planet: Otherworldly. Threatening. Disrespectful.
Being aroused right now had to mean that I was fucked in the head.
My heart made a small jump and, against all better judgement, I threw myself against him and circled his large body with my arms.
“Thank you,” I breathed out, the sound muffled against his chest.
And for the first time since he’d rescued me ten minutes ago, I let myself relax. I let myself feel safe. I didn’t even care if he was one of the species that didn’t want to be a part of the program. Nitochi had found and rescued me. Killed the ones who had hurt me.
And yet, he didn’t hug me back.
I pulled away, embarrassed, and wiped the tears from my cheeks with my dirty sleeve. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” And yet, I couldn’t help the need to feel him close to me.
He tilted his head to the side, staring at me with curiosity. “Hamun,” he said. That voice of his was so deep it made my whole body shiver. “Kirae hamun.”
I blinked at his tentative smile. His hand cupped my face, lifting it to his and moving it from side to side, inspecting the bruise on my cheek again. Even with the darkness concealing most of his face, I wanted to kiss him. So bad.
Damn hormones.
“I-I’m sorry, I don’t—”
He frowned. “Kirae hamun.”
“—understand…”
A charged breath escaped his throat and he briefly closed his eyes, pulling me closer to him again as he muttered something under his breath. Kiss me. Please, kiss me. But he didn’t. He placed my hands on his handle-shaped collarbones and circled his arms around me before taking flight again.
I yelped. The sound was absolutely mortifying, but somehow couldn’t be helped. I buried my face in his toned chest again, too scared that looking down would make him drop me. I hadn’t survived these past few days only to die a ridiculous death now.
Nitochi carried us effortlessly, his strong black wings beating the wind behind him, arms holding me tight against his body.
After what felt like an hour, one of my eyes opened tentatively, only seeing the black and dark gray of his skin.
It looked and felt like some sort of intricate leather armor.
Smooth in most places, but with strange ridges going from his shoulders to his sternum and down—nope, not looking lower.
I was already way too horny for absolutely no reason, better not tempt the devil.
I forced myself not to think about the fact that, behind my back, a free fall awaited me if he let go or my hold wavered.
He wouldn’t drop me…right? Why would he go over the trouble of saving me if he only planned to kill me right after? And killing me meant no babies for him. I looked forward to starting…
I closed my eyes again, circling his waist with my legs—just in case. He let out a rumbling noise and tightened his hold before flying faster, the wind hitting at my messy hair and sending it flying, hitting the sides of my face and shoulders.
Was I being superficial by wishing I had looked better when he found me? Days of being tied up to a tree and poorly treated had probably made me dirty and—smelly. I would have killed for a shower break before we took off.
Not the brightest idea, since according to the dead asshole who had taken me, Alessio was on his way and would be here soon.
Fuck…Alessio!
What would happen when he’d arrived and found everyone dead? Would he stay and…look for me? What if he tracked me down and—hurt my future husbands? Hurt Nitochi?
I didn’t have time to ponder it for long that my dark savior slowed down, holding me tighter as he straightened and stepped foot into a dimly lit cave. He pulled me off his body and placed my feet on solid ground with a grunt.
I stepped back, stumbling from my lack of balance and he grabbed my forearm, stabilizing me.
“Thank you,” I breathed out. “I-I’m so—”
“Kirae hamun,” he growled again. What does it even mean?
“I don’t understand,” I said sadly.
“It means no apologies,” a voice said from behind me.
I made a sharp turn, eyes wide as they took in the other magnificent man facing me. Nitochi’s polar opposite. They looked exactly the same, but whereas Nitochi was darkness incarnate, this one was all light. Was he…
“I am Baelor. It is—nice to see you.”
“You speak—”
“I have learned the human language. It is not perfect, but enough.” Thank god. “I see my brother found you.” He stared at Nitochi for a second before he frowned, arms crossing over his chest. “And made a mess.”
I looked over my shoulder at the man who had saved me and held my gasp. The darkness of the night had hidden all the blood covering him. Covering me, I realized, looking down at myself.
“I—uh…I’m so—”
“I think if you apologize one more time, Nitochi will break something,” Baelor interrupted, studying his brother intently.
Wait…Brothers? I was marrying brothers? How—
“I will take you to the closest bath,” Baelor said before narrowing his gaze on Nitochi. “You both could use a little…soak.”
Nitochi grumbled something I didn’t understand and turned to leave. Before I had the time to understand what I was doing, my hand closed around his large wrist and he stilled.
“Where—where are you going?” I asked.
He turned his face to look at me over his shoulder. Well, not me, but at my fingers gripping his forearm.
“He wants to scout the area he found you in, in case he missed something,” Baelor explained softly.
My grip tightened. “No! Please, don’t.”
His fully black eyes met mine, confused. He tilted his head to the side, the motion making some of his beautiful long dark hair fall over his shoulder.
“I—There’s a man on his way here. A bad man. And he’s looking for me. I don’t—I don’t want you getting hurt,” I confessed.
His eyes—as impossibly as it sounded—darkened. A cruel smile tilted his lips as he turned his gaze to his brother.
“I can assure you Nitochi can look after himself,” Baelor said, his voice soft. “The human should be worried. If he crosses—”
“Please,” I repeated, focusing all my attention on the dark man—my dark knight—still frozen by my simple touch. “I—shouldn’t we get to know each other instead?”
He let out a dry scoff, darting his somber face away for a second before returning his attention back to me. “Gymara hamun-ti.”
My eyes widened and for a brief second, I found Baelor’s sad eyes looking between the two of us. “He said you do not understand.”
Right…How was I supposed to get to know him and…bond with both if I didn’t understand one of them?
“I-I don’t know, we’ll find a way! Baelor can translate!
Or—we can do signs, I-I don’t—” I let out a sigh when he didn’t make a move to stay.
Still frozen. Still waiting. Eyes still darting between my face and the place my hand was holding him back.
“The man will probably leave when he sees that everyone is dead. When he doesn't find me. And if he doesn’t, there’s still tomorrow, right? ” I tried.
Nitochi stared at me before looking at his brother. The sentences they exchanged in their native tongue were too fast for me to even pick up on a single word and I was left feeling like a complete idiot.
Damn assholes from attacking the ship and preventing me from reaching the station! Because of that, my translating chip hadn’t been updated and I had absolutely no idea how to communicate with one of them.
“I will take you to the baths and Nitochi will join later,” Baelor finally said.
My hand fell away from his arm and I repressed the fear from showing on my face. And the hurt from reaching my heart.
It was my first night with them. Should have been our wedding night. The best day of my life—or what people used to say about it.
And Alessio and his minions fucking ruined it.