Chapter 8
Nothing important.
Wendy
Nitochi’s eyes followed my every move. I wasn’t sure if he was hungry and saw me as food or if he was as horny as I was but tried to tamper it down.
He could eat me all he wanted, as long as he focused on specific parts…
We remained silent but I couldn’t stop myself from trying to get a reaction out of him. I’ve always been comfortable and confident in my own body, so when his whole body froze as I lifted myself to sit on the edge of the pool, naked body fully exposed, I took it as a win.
A chuckle escaped me when he instantly turned around and plunged entirely under the water, emerging a few seconds later at the other side of the pool, his wings buzzing to get rid of the water dripping from them, hands wiping at his face.
The muttered word coming out through his teeth sounded like a curse.
“I didn’t see any towels,” I explained, giggling. “I thought I’d dry off like this.”
He turned his face back to me, his dark eyes glinting with the faint pink light coming out of the stone and the fires lit up in the pits around the pool.
“And my clothes are ruined,” I added, picking the discarded, previously white shirt I’d been wearing the past few days.
“Between the blood and dirt…Will you have something for me to wear?” My eyes drifted to his chest, rising and falling in an irregular rhythm.
“Although, I noticed neither you or Baelor were wearing—”
He pushed himself out of the pool and stood up, shaking his head and muttering under his breath.
Sliding both of his hands in his hair, he pushed it out of his face as he walked on the edge, circling the pool until he reached me.
Water still dripping from his whole body, he bent down and picked me up, his arm sliding behind my back and under my knees.
My wide eyes met his as I ended up plastered against his chest, my hands clasped around his neck.
“Wha-what are you doing?” I whispered.
He didn’t grace me with an answer, grunting as he walked us toward the tunnel. In one swift motion, the purple stone was unhooked from the frame and placed on the floor to the side.
Had I already pushed him too far? Had the program done me dirty and paired me with a species that only had sex for reproduction?
Oh god…Was he about to return me to some human base because I crossed a line? Were they rejecting me?
Stupid, stupid, stupid! I was to marry the two most gorgeous creatures in the universe and my damn hormones had fucked this up!
The smell of food greeted me as he stepped into the large cave where we first landed. I braced myself for him to take flight, ready to be taken back—butt naked—to the humans for my taunting. I closed my eyes as he stopped and waited. And waited.
Why are we still not moving?
“Are you hung—Nitochi!” Baelor’s voice echoed around us.
My eyes snapped open just as they started arguing in their language. Nitochi frowned, his hold on me tightening as he talked back, sneering and revealing pretty sharp teeth. What’s going on?
“Farrunghu,” Baelor muttered, shaking his head in desperation. He took a step closer and lifted his arms, hands reaching for me.
Nitochi growled, clawed-hands clasped tightly on my skin.
Oh—kay?
The argument resumed and I had no idea what to do with myself. What I had hoped would lead to Nitochi savagely taking me in the pool had backfired. I was naked. In his arms. While he argued with his brother.
And I was still fucking horny.
Their argument paused and they just stared at each other in silence, both of them carefully avoiding looking at me. And then my feet met solid ground.
No…Why? I liked the feeling of his chest against—shit stop! Damn hormones.
“Nitochi will get you something to keep warm,” Baelor explained, turning his back to me, one of his wings shuddering.
“I—uh…Thank you?”
He crouched to the floor and moved stuff around in a large pan. So that’s where the smell comes from…
“I prepared some food while you were bathing,” he said, his voice strained.
“Nitochi made sure to stock up on human-safe ingredients before you—well, before I was supposed to get you from their flying station today.” Baelor let out an awkward chuckle.
“He is a terrible cook, but he does know how and where to find the best ingredients.”
I wasn’t sure what to do with the awkwardness of the situation, so I just nodded. Even though I was facing his back. And he avoided looking my way. For fuck’s sakes.
Something soft suddenly enveloped my shoulders and Nitochi walked to stand in front of me, bringing the two sides of the fabric with him, effectively covering my nakedness. His hand came to cup my jaw, tilting my head back so I had no choice but to look into his bottomless black eyes.
My thighs clenched.
Oh dear god.
“Omati raeh maas,” he said, voice so low and raspy it sent shivers down my spine, “oso kha’all tianum dun ale aymu atta faheyra em hamoni, em hamunti’all junim fade bossi.”
All the air was stuck in my lungs. I had no idea what he just said. He could have sworn he’d chop off my limbs and cook me during the night, it would have still sent more wetness pooling at my core.
Damn, this dark god was hot.
“I-I…” His eyes dropped to my mouth as my tongue peeked out, humecting my too-dry lips. “I don’t—”
“Gymara hamun-ti?” he taunted slowly, his face inching closer. Okay, I know this one. And no, I didn’t understand.
Baelor hit his shoulder and Nitochi let go of my face with a wicked smile before taking a couple of steps back.
I was going to combust.
“Wha-what did he say?” I asked Baelor as he placed little plates on a low table.
His face didn’t turn red, but I was certain he blushed anyway. “Nothing important,” he mumbled, still avoiding looking at me directly. “It will be daylight in an hour, and I will fly to the nearest human base so your translator is updated as soon as possible.”
He glared at Nitochi who chuckled, putting both of his hands on my shoulders to lead me to a little cushion on the floor next to the round table.
It was strange sitting close to these men I didn’t know but still felt safe with. Even though Nitochi may or may not have threatened to eat me.
They both had horns that were so long I wondered how they could sleep safely.
It was late at night and none of them were asleep, so maybe they didn’t.
One other horn was between their long pointy ears and the longer ones.
Other than that and the strange color and texture of their skin, they looked…
human. Well, if we forgot about the giant wings protruding from their back.
I took so long just watching them both that Baelor lifted his head and stared at me, worried.
“Are you okay?” he asked, rolling in a ball something that looked like sticky rice but was a light green. Nitochi’s head perked up too. “Are you not hungry?”
I looked down at my plate. A long slice of something that looked like grilled red meat, some colorful root vegetable and that green, grainy paste. It smells really good.
“I’m famished,” I said. “I just…Don’t you use forks and knives? Or just…eat with your fingers? I don’t want to—”
Nitochi showed me the piece of meat stabbed by his clawed pointer finger. I showed my hands in return and he tilted his head to the side.
“I don’t have claws,” I pointed out. In fact, what used to be perfectly manicured nails were in poor shape after being in such a rough situation the last few days and I hadn’t had them this short in ages. “Maybe I—”
My sentence was cut out by Nitochi, pulling my plate closer to himself. In one swift motion, he sliced the meat in smaller pieces. Looking at his hands, I noticed only three fingers were actually clawed. His thumb, pointer, and pinky.
“Why don’t you have claws on all your fingers?” I asked.
It was Baelor who replied, “Why are all our teeth not sharp?”
I blinked. He had a point. Only their canines and side incisors were pointier, the others pretty much looked normal.
“We mostly fly, but we also climb a lot,” Baelor explained. “The claws can be useful, but not when the grips are too small. We keep our middle fingers shorter to not be bothered when we climb or…well, most day to day activities do not require sharp claws.”
I pointed at Nitochi’s nail, piercing through the piece of my food and dangling in front of my face, like waiting for me to eat directly from his hand. “Seems pretty handy to me.”
I lifted my hand to take it from him but he pulled it away, arching a brow at me.
“Uh…Are you—”
He brought it back right in front of my lips. What? Was he…feeding me? Probably so that I’d be tastier for when he would eat me later…
I opened my mouth anyway and closed it carefully so as to not bite his finger off. His eyes didn’t stray from the motion, and a small smile stretched his lips.
Baelor’s gaze was burning the side of my face.
What the hell was happening?
I couldn’t sit still as I slowly chewed the flavorful meat, then decided that focusing on my plate was the safest option.
My hands reproduced the motions Baelor did with the rice-like paste, and after a few tries, I had a perfectly formed light green ball of…whatever this was, in my palm.
I couldn’t describe the taste of it, but my eyes widened at the surprising flavors. Like rice cake, blended with mushrooms and some spices.
Baelor inhaled the rest of his plate while Nitochi took more time, like he couldn’t help himself from watching me eat, occasionally bringing a slice of meat to my lips.
This dynamic was…interesting.
“The sun is up,” Baelor said, standing up and bringing his plate with him.
“I will fly to the human base and inform them of your arrival.” Nitochi mumbled something and Baelor rolled his eyes.
“Yes, I will tell them about the circumstances and ask them to clean and restore the area that was damaged by Wendy’s captors. ”
My dark knight nodded with a grunt next to me.
“Are you not tired?” I asked. “You guys have been up all night, don’t you ever sleep?”
Baelor smiled. “Our energy does not work the same. Nitochi is powered by the moon and is weaker during day time. That is usually when he sleeps.”
I frowned. “So I’m guessing it’s different for you?”
“Indeed. I am stronger during the day, and I sleep at night.”
“But you didn’t,” I pointed out.
“I did not, no. But I will be fine,” he said with a soft smile. “The humans need to know you are here as soon as possible so they can take care of the translator issue.”
Oh. Yeah, that was definitely an emergency. Even just so I’d know if Nitochi planned to eat me or not.
Baelor walked back to what looked to be the kitchen area and placed his plate in a large stone bucket dug into the wall.
“I will clean up once I am back,” he said, walking back to us. “Finish eating and get some rest. You must need it after the days you have had.”
The exhaustion was catching up to me. I hadn’t slept much while I was tied to the tree, too worried that someone would try to assault me while I’d be defenseless.
But now, finally safe—hopefully, except if someone planned to eat me in my sleep—my whole body started to feel sore and weak.
Most of the adrenaline was gone, leaving me extremely tired.
Maybe even too tired to finish my food…
And yet, I didn’t push Nitochi’s hand away every time he brought another piece of meat to my mouth.
“It will only be a few hours,” Baelor said, then turned to Nitochi with a frown and spoke to him in their language. I was too tired to even pretend to try to understand, but I didn’t miss him rolling his eyes next to me.
Not even two minutes later, Baelor was gone. He had covered the large entrance of the cave with hanging vines, hiding the sun away. Nitochi seemed to instantly relax once the light dimmed, like the sun was actually draining him.
We both remained silent. Him, finishing his plate and feeding me. Me, fighting with every bit of strength that I had to keep my damn eyes open.
But I lost. The last thing I remembered was my ass being lifted from the ground.