by R. R. Banks
‘Come sit with me, love.’
I reeled back. “What the hell is that?”
“It’s part of our bond, a link was formed and we have the ability to speak through the mind.”
‘Are you fucking kidding me?’
His chuckle reverberated in my mind, and I felt his relief.
‘Your temper is coming back, I was worried.’
“Talk out loud it feels like you’re yelling in my head.”
“Until you get used to it, that’s how it will feel. It’s normal from what I’ve been told.”
“You knew this was going to happen?”
“Yes,” he replied.
Fire burned inside. “You didn’t think that might have been important to mention before we fucked?”
His mouth dropped open, and I saw the hurt in his eyes.
“Is that what you think we did?”
I wanted to scream, to yell, and to say yes, that is what I think it was, but I couldn’t and I lowered my head shaking it. “No.”
He sped towards me and lifted my chin. “We made love Eden, and whether you like it or not things between us changed the moment I came inside of you. You’re mine and I’m yours. I do hope you will love me someday.”
He leaned in and kissed me. All it took was one touch and I was gone, melted into a puddle of growing messy love. He was right.
I moaned and wrapped my arms around him urging him to lift me in the air. I had almost died. Certainly that meant something needed to change. Life was too short to be so pissed off all the time.
His body shook and he carried me to the couch. When he sat down he situated me on his lap and I straddled him without breaking our kiss. I pushed my lower body against him and his hands gripped me tighter as if he was afraid to let go.
When I pulled back his eyes glowed and I was breathless.
“Well, does that mean you’re okay with our bond now?”
I shrugged. “You’re growing on me. I won’t promise not to get mad or freak out, but I’ll try not to be a complete bitch.”
He nodded. “I can live with that, and you’re not a bitch. You’ve had bad things happen to you.”
I tensed and eyed him. “How do you know?”
“Your memories.”
“You’ve seen them?”
“Only a few, but it just happened during the bond. It opened you up to me, allowed me to get to know you on a closer level.”
I went to pull away but he gripped my hips.
“Hey it’s part of the bond, Eden. I didn’t invade your mind on purpose. Your mind opened up to me.”
I sighed not liking that he’d seen some of the darker things in my life. Tears fell from my eyes before I could stop them. I was not a crier, but I guess dying kind of changes a person.
“Oh love, it’s going to be okay. I don’t judge you, and if I ever make a trip to Earth, I’ll hunt him down and kill him.” Pyra was pissed, and somehow that made it better.
It was in that moment I couldn’t ignore how I felt. The growing love was taking over all the hate that I held buried inside of me. He knew of my darkest secrets and still wanted me. And I knew that he wasn’t just throwing out words to make me feel better. If I ever took him back with me, he would hunt my stepfather down and kill him. Should I have been scared? Hell yes. Was I? Not even a little bit.
Chapter 3
Pyra carried Eden to bed when she fell asleep with her head on his shoulder. He saw the moment she decided to stop fighting the bond. After that the silence stretched between them, but it was no longer uncomfortable.
He never thought the day would come that he felt calm and at peace. It wouldn’t last, but it was nice for the time being. Stripping off his clothes he got into bed and pulled Eden next to him. He wouldn’t be able to be away from her, at least not for a while. His brothers already knew he was going to be spending more time away.
As far as he could tell, so far she was fine and functioning well after her attack. She hadn’t really seemed too chatty, but he didn’t think that was really anything new.
She squirmed and her elbow nearly landed in his face but he deftly dodged it. She kicked and cried trying to get away. He let her go and she thrashed around on the bed. Her body broke out in a sweat, and she ripped the blanket from her body. It was then the scent of her arousal hit him and he gritted his teeth. Of course.
“Touch me,” she said and let her legs fall open. He watched her and waited to see if she was going to wake up.
When he touched her skin it was a hot as lava, much like his felt when he was over emotional. Her back arched off the bed, and he realized she was actually hurting. He didn’t know if she’d be pissed, but he sat up and leaned over her before he yanked her bottoms off. She didn’t even open her eyes, and when saw how wet she was he nearly lost it. Whatever was going on was real, but she wasn’t aware of what her body was feeling.
She shivered and moaned when the cool air kissed her burning skin. He slid her legs flat and kept them apart. When he slid his hand up her thigh she groaned.
He ran his finger over her slit and her hips jerked and she sobbed. Tears slid down her cheeks. “It hurts, please make it stop.”
He didn’t know what was going on, but she was in a major state of arousal and he couldn’t figure out why it hadn’t woken her up. He rubbed her clit with the tip of his index finger and her mouth fell open on a drawn out moan.
“Wake up love,” he said hoping she’d open her eyes. He felt wrong touching her without her permission, but it seemed to be helping.
She stuck out her lip when he stopped his movements.
“EDEN!”
Her body jerked and her eyes fluttered but still she didn’t wake up. He sat and watched her without touching her. Not even five minutes later she was crying again. Sobbing about the pain, and he’d had enough. She could kick his ass later.
He climbed on top of her bearing all his weight. “Wake up, Eden.” Then he slid inside of her.
Her eyes shot open and she gasped. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“You were hurting love, I tried waking you, but even yelling at you, you didn’t even try to open your eyes. Do you still hurt?” he asked and twisted his hips. He slid in deep hitting her g-spot and she screamed.
When her eyes focused she glared. “Why am I so fucking turned on right now? Did you do this on purpose?”
His eyes flared. “No, I just explained to you what happened. You didn’t wake up until I was buried deep inside of you, love.”
She eyed him but then nodded confused when she realized he was telling the truth.
‘I would never do anything without your permission unless it was an emergency.’
He felt her anger disappear and she kissed him, sliding her tongue into his mouth and pressed her lips against his with a force he wasn’t used to.
When she pulled back he could have sworn he saw orange, but that was impossible, wasn’t it?
“Fuck me,” she said and her voice ended on a growl.
“Shit, you’re so fucking hot.” Then he plowed into her hard. He’d worry about her changes later; right now he needed her more than he needed his breath. She moaned and groaned crying out and scratching his back. She went wild.
When she wrapped her legs tightly around his waist pulling him deeper inside of her he gasped. She felt different and he knew exactly what she felt like. She changed, and it was because Ciyrs saved her. He had to tell him, but now he rode his mate hard. Her whimpers and pleas were driving him into a lust he couldn’t manage, and his eyes glazed over. His inner beast took over fucking her, and she loved every damn minute of it. She met each movement and her breathy pleas drove him over the edge.
The bed creaked and groaned, and she screamed when the mattress collapsed beneath them. He rolled quick and kept her from getting hurt.
“What the hell?”
He grunted when his back landed against the wooden frame, but he smiled so she didn’t notice, but she did.
“I can and I’ll always do my best to keep you safe no matter what, love.”
“Do you?”
“Hmm?” he asked and grunted when he tried to move. A sharp pain shot up his spine and he mentally cursed. “Do I what?”
She blushed and looked down. “Love me?”
He was shocked by her question. Couldn’t she feel it? Humans were strange. “Of course I do. Do you feel it?”
She shrugged and pulled off of his body and stood holding out her hand to help him up. “No, not really; I mean I know you care for me, but—”
“Eden, I’ve loved you since the first touch. I didn’t think you were ready to hear it. Hell, you just started to be able to tolerate me.”
The tips of her ears turned red and she nibbled her lip. “Oh, well that makes sense.”
He stood slowly and his back cried in protest. He moaned and sucked in a breath. He didn’t want to worry her, but she saw his pain and spun him to look at his back. She gasped and placed her hand on the place where the wood splintered in his back.
Her hand caught fire and he felt magic. It was similar to Ciyrs’s and then the pain in his back started to disappear. He turned his head to the side and watched as her hand glowed green. She was fucking healing him.
He was stunned speechless as he stood still. When she yanked her hand back the glow disappeared, and he felt no pain.
“How—how did I do that?” She stared at her hand holding it away from her. “Did he give me his gift?”
Pyra didn’t know the answer. “Love, I’ve got no fucking clue how you did that. He brought you back; maybe it’s some residual power?” He didn’t believe that for a minute, but he could see she was on the verge of panic. Her eyes were round and wide and she was pale. Her body began to shake, and then she fell to the ground and convulsed.
“Shit,” he yelled and grabbed a large shirt and put it over her head and slid her panties and shorts back on. The shaking got worse and he scooped her into his arms forgetting he was butt ass naked, but at that point he didn’t care. Her body lit up like a human Christmas tree. She turned green. It was dark and all the Denynso gawked at them as he sped by. Most couldn’t make out much because he moved fast, and again he slammed into the infirmary.
Ciyrs froze and his eyes went from sleepy to panic in two seconds flat.
“How do you explain this brother?”
“Why is she glowing, and why is she having a damn seizure?”
“She fucking healed me!”
Thankfully Ciyrs didn’t bother asking why he needed the healing.
“That isn’t possible.” He grabbed her hand and Pyra watched as his brother went from disbelief to calm. As soon as she touched his friend she stopped convulsing and her body laid flat in his arms in a relaxed state. The glow slowly dissipated from her body.
Pyra was stunned. “Can I get some shorts?”
Ciyrs pointed. “You go get them, I can’t leave her right now.”
Pyra’s jealousy reared its ugly head. “SHE’S MINE!”
There was no response from the other man as he brushed hair from Eden’s face. She opened her eyes and groaned. She looked at Ciyrs and smiled. “Hey, you again.”
“Yes, well this time it seems we have a different issue, sweetheart.”
She frowned. “What happened?
“You don’t remember?”
“No the last thing I remember is—” she blushed. “Is waking up to that beast over there. Enough said.”
Ciyrs laughed. “Okay so you and Pyra were intimate, then what?”
“I don’t know.” She narrowed her eyes in concentration, but she really didn’t remember. Pyra could tell.
“We broke the bed, your eyes glowed.”
She shook her head. “I remember hurting and being really aroused.”
“Yes, she was in pain and thrashing around. I tried waking her but she wouldn’t wake up so I decided to make love to her. As soon as I was in her she woke up and boom we were fucking like animals. The bed broke, and I spun us so she wouldn’t get hurt, but I did instead. She panicked, and as soon as she laid her hand on me, she healed me. Then she fell into convulsions.”
Ciyrs smiled when she covered her face with her free hand.
“Hey it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. We’re all sexual creatures and you’ve just bonded. It’s natural. Though it’s concerning about how he explained everything. I want to run tests on you okay?”
“Sure, if it’ll help.”
Pyra curbed his anger and watched them interact. He knew it wasn’t anything more than platonic with them, but the way she leaned into him and relied on him when he could tell she was hurting pissed him right the hell off. She was his mate, and Ciyrs wasn’t much help. He was actually babying her. He’d never seen anything like it. Their bond was strange, and he wasn’t sure how well he’d handle it, or if he’d get used to it—anytime soon.
Chapter 4
I sat on the table—again and held my arm still while Ciyrs took another tube of blood. He was as confused as I was about these strange things going on inside of me. I felt strange and my body felt sick. I was weak and tired. I wanted to sleep but he told Pyra to keep me awake. Only Pyra was mad at me. I could feel it. Even as he sat in the chair as far away as I’d allow and talked to me, there was distrust in his voice and my heart clenched.
I didn’t like it and when I tried to hold his hand he pulled away. I didn’t think I had done anything wrong, but I was having memory problems. Maybe I had. He would barely look at me. I tried to catch his eye and when I finally did, I pleaded with him. If I could feel his anger, than he should be able to feel my sorrow.
He sighed and shook his head standing. “Are you okay with her Ciyrs?”
Her new bondee smiled and nodded. “Sure thing man, you go do what you need. She’ll be safe here.”
Her mate spun on his heel and stormed out. He’d finally gotten shorts, but his chest was bare and she watched him go and her heart ached for him.
“He can’t handle the bond sweetie. It will take time.”
“How do you know?”
“The same way you can feel his anger, I can feel your confusion and the hurt by his disregard. I know him though, he’s got a lot of things in his head, and he doesn’t handle strong emotion well.”
“I don’t like that he’s mad at me.”
“Oh baby girl, he isn’t mad at you. He’s mad at himself, and maybe even me, but not you. He doesn’t like sharing you and because of our new special bond you’re attachment here isn’t only to him. We all crave the day we’ll find our mate, and he was no different, no matter how he acted. And imagine he finds you, you complete the bond, and then technically you die. How would you feel?”
“Protective, I wouldn’t want to leave his side.”
Ciyrs shook his head. “Males are different. He wants you to need him, but right now he feels you need me more.”
“Oh,” I said and frowned.
“Be patient with him,” Ciyrs said and brushed the tear away from my cheek.
I nodded. Males were unique in their own right, but add in a whole different species and it was a whole different ball park. I didn’t expect for it to matter so much that he was upset with me. I had never really cared one way or another if a man was angry with me, but now—it was different.
He blew through the woods running at speed no one would be able to see, not the warriors or even his father. He was fast especially when he was pissed. This was different. He wasn’t even really angry. He was jealous of another person. Never before had that happened, especially not over a woman, but Eden was his. They hadn’t even mated for long enough for the bond to nestle in his soul.
Everything was unstable. He could feel how upset she was, and at that moment he had to walk away. Now that he had blown off some steam he felt like an asshole. She’d just had a seizure and recently been brought back to life. He could have been a lo
t more supportive, but he didn’t know how to be. She went from hating him to acceptance of their connection in what felt like a split second.
He plopped on the ground and looked over at the horizon. The rising sun usually soothed him, but the ache was too deep. He craved Eden, wanted to be right there with her, but he couldn’t trust himself now. Not to react in the right way. He worried his temper would eventually take its toll and she would end up hating him.
He heard a rustle from behind him but he didn’t bother moving. He sensed Ciyrs before he saw him. “Why aren’t you with Eden?”
He sighed and sat next to him stretching out. “Your dad is with her. She’s doing better if you care.”
Pyra growled not liking his tone. “I fucking care.”
Ciyrs shrugged. “She doesn’t understand what's going on, hell neither do I. I didn’t know how deep it would go, brother. I wouldn’t ever do anything, but I won’t lie. A part of my heart aches for her, but it isn’t in the way you think.” He groaned. “I’m explaining this all wrong. It’s almost like she is the female version of me. The softer side. It’s weird as hell, but I’ll always want to protect her, wipe away her tears, and beat the shit out her mate when he hurts her, and right now if you don’t get back to her and apologize for being an ass, I’ll do it.”
Pyra laughed. “Right, you don’t even have a fucking temper, not like the rest of us.”
“I have a temper, but I also have control,” he seethed.
“Try me, I could use a punching bag right now, and you’re the perfect target since you’re the issue.” He stood and narrowed his eyes. He needed to kick his ass, then it would all be good.
Ciyrs stood. “You have no idea do you?” He shook his head and then swung.
Pyra didn’t have time to duck and with the force of the hit, he was thrown into the tree. The bark scraped down his back and he gasped as the pain hit before he fell to the ground. “Holy shit that fucking hurt!”
Ciyrs stood looking unaffected. “Good.” There was nothing in his eyes, not even anger, but he felt the protectiveness radiating off of him. “She’s like the baby sister I lost you dumb shit. Get over it.” Then he ran and was gone.
