Vameer
Naked, I take a second to look down at myself.
My chest is more rounded than I remember.
I flex my hands, watching the muscles in my forearms shift as I feel the way my strength has increased.
My waist is wider. My abdominal muscles are possibly more defined.
My thighs are thicker than before.
My cock.
I grip it.
The proportion feels about the same. But my hand is bigger.
Because everything is bigger.
A growl rolls out of my chest, filling the room.
Oh, Little Mate. You are going to fit me so well.
I stroke my long length once. Then I let go.
Picking my robe up off the floor, I shrug it back on and carefully resecure my belt.
The hood will have to stay down.
Putting the gold coins back in my pocket, I circle around the altar to the back of the chamber, where I trapped my captives.
Bones are scattered on the floor between the cell and the altar I was sleeping on.
Did they throw things at me?
I tilt my head to the side.
I stand corrected. One of them threw the other one, in pieces, at me.
On the other side of the sword cell door, next to the empty rations sack, is a pile of human bones and fabric.
I look between the pile and the scattered skeleton.
Huh.
I definitely slept longer than I meant to.
Shrugging it off, I leave the scene as it is and grab my sword off the altar.
There’s a pressure in my chest, warning me that my mate’s heart is trying to raise our pulse.
Don’t worry, Mate. I will find you soon.
No longer floor length, the bottom of my robe brushes against the tops of my shins. The belt, evidently affected by time more than the robe, has another crack running through the leather where I’ve made the new knot. And my old sandals are in pieces on the floor, a casualty of my growth.
But I don’t need shoes. Because I don’t need to walk all the way to my mate.
Even if I did have to get there on foot, there’s nothing I can step on that would hurt me.
Walking down the passageway, I slide my sword into the sheath at my side.
The sheath falls apart.
I catch the sword before it hits the ground and sigh.
Yes, I get it. I’ve been asleep for longer than a month.
That pressure inside my chest increases as I duck back out through the entrance of the cave system.
The sky is still cloudy, but the rain has stopped. And I take a moment to focus on what my mate is feeling.
I did not choose an easy path in life.
I chose a hard one. An unforgiving one. A blood-filled, violent one.
My hand lifts, and I look at the brightly colored heart beads surrounding my wrist.
But in my travels around the world, in the battles I’ve fought, I’ve met a lot of people, who knew a lot of things.
Like how to feel more than just a heartbeat through your bond. How, if you focus… If you really focus, you can feel the intention. The emotional reason for the increased speed.
Right now, I focus.
And lust slams into my chest.
My hold on our pulse loosens, and our hearts race.