Vee was finally beginning to believe it. Eva didn’t care about his body being different from other Serpines. They sex shared frequently and he’d grown accustomed to the attention she lavished on his cock with her hands and mouth. No longer did shame overcome him when he removed his clothes.
A spurt of humor had his lips curving up. Eva loved catching him in the cleansing room and would join him to sex share. She praised his body and her words went a long way to healing a hurt he’d thought would be there forever.
They spoke more about when Bane would leave and if he needed anything when Vee sensed her. He lifted his head and met Eva’s gaze through the glass. She stood next to Sasha who he assumed had just returned. Jaron would be pleased and undoubtedly make himself unavailable to welcome her home behind closed doors.
Vee waited for her to come in but she signaled for him to join her in the hall.
“I wouldn’t keep her waiting,” Bane joked, shoving Vee in the arm.
He rose and headed her way, steps light at the thought of holding her though he’d kissed her long and deep this morning before they parted ways.
Chapter 22
When Vee joined her in the hall, Sasha made herself scarce and Eva was grateful for her intuition. This wasn’t a conversation she wanted to have with witnesses.
“Can we go to your place and talk?”
He cupped her chin, body angled toward her and Eva barely stopped herself from flinching. “Of course. Is everything alright?”
“Yes.” Her voice shook slightly. “I just really need to talk to you.”
His brows pierced together in concern, but he didn’t speak again until they were behind the closed doors of his apartment. He caught her hand when she tried to walk away and sit on the sofa. “Eva, tell me what’s wrong.”
“Do you have a nestmate?” She threw the question out, eyes on his face to see his reaction.
He stepped back, features going blank. “Why do you ask?”
What an odd way to respond to a yes or no question and yet Eva took it as answer enough. “It’s true then. You have someone else. Someone you already committed to.”
“Eva.” Vee sighed her name and reached for her, but Eva dodged his embrace and folded her arms about her waist.
“I can’t believe it. All that talk about caring, wanting to spend your life with me. I thought you wanted me to be your nestmate.” She thumped her chest with a fist and forced back the tears threatening to run over.
“I do. What is between Niya and me is empty. My Matire forced the arrangement.”
Niya. His nestmate had a name. “Why didn’t you tell me, Vee?”
His arms hung by his side and his gaze flickered. “I didn’t think you’d understand.”
Maybe he had a rational explanation. Maybe he hated her. Maybe Niya was the bitch of all bitches. “Do you care for her?”
“Yes.”
He said it with such simplicity there was no way it was a lie. Eva cried out and fell back. The emotional blow to her heart left her bleeding inside. She turned away and rushed toward the bedroom. She had to get away. She couldn’t look at him another minute, knowing he’d admitted to caring about another woman.
“Eva! Listen, please.” Vee caught her from behind. He nuzzled the side of her neck, but Eva snatched her face away and struggled to get free. He held firm. “What I feel for Niya is nothing compared to how I feel about you.”
Her heart was shredding. Piece by piece. “Stop talking.”
“I need you to understand,” he begged. “She’s...its an arrangement. My Matire forced me by threatening my sister.”
“How long?” His arms loosened due to confusion and Eva broke away. She backed up and faced him from the other side of the bed. “How long has she been your nestmate?”
He dropped his head and drove both hands through his hair. “Four years.”
Four years! The agony. Eva bent over at the waist and Vee surged in her direction. She held up a palm, unable to look him in the eye. “No! You don’t get to comfort me. You don’t get t-t-to touch me.”
Her words crushed him. It was there on his face, but she didn’t care.
“Eva, give me a chance to explain. If you knew—”
“You had a chance to explain!” She screamed, looking up at last. “An entire month and not once did you think to say by the way Eva, I have another nestmate at home.”
Vee stopped advancing and stood in the middle of the room, nothing but a foot of space between them. “You are right. I should have spoken of Niya sooner, but I was afraid.”
“Stop saying her name. Please.” Eva curled her arms about her waist and rocked side to side. Every time he said it, the faceless woman became more and more real.
“I am sorry, Eva.”
The whisper thin apology hurt even more and Eva dropped to the side of the bed, head bowed. “I...I don’t know what to do any more.”
“Let me hold you. I know you don’t want to hear what I have to say right now, but my nesting instinct is tearing at me to soothe you. Please, just let me hold you.”
Nesting instinct. He’d explained that to her before as well. What did any of it mean if he had a nestmate at home? Eva was the random Earth woman he’d picked up along the way.
The bed depressed beside her. Strong arms, familiar arms, curved around her waist as Vee tucked her into his chest. Tears slid down Eva’s cheeks. She didn’t resist. She didn’t hug him in return. She sat, still in his embrace as her world crumbled.
***
Vee buried his face in Eva’s hair and bit his inner cheeks hard to silence the trills trying to break free. His nestmate was hurting and it was his fault.
Protect.
Protect.
Protect.
How could he protect her against himself? Eva continued to cry and pressed her forehead hard against his chest. Vee cursed under his breath. He should have discussed this with her sooner. Why had he waited?
It wasn’t really a question. Vee knew why. He’d been afraid of this exact thing happening. Eva had been through enough and he’d added to her burden with all of his secrets. She’d accepted him as he was and he hadn’t accepted her. If he had, he would have been honest as soon as he’d had the chance.
“I’m sorry, chupaja,” he whispered.
She sobbed harder and Vee eased them both back onto the bed in a prone position with Eva cradled atop him. Her hands clenched into the folds of his shirt, but he wasn’t sure she was aware of doing it. Grief had a grip on her and Vee could only hold her and accept the responsibility for the pain his actions had caused.
Vee held Eva well into the evening. Night crept upon them and her quiet snuffling told him she’d fallen asleep a while ago. Not sure if it was the last time, he remained in bed, inhaling her scent and memorizing everything about the way she felt against his body.
At last, he finally forced himself to get up. He slid from under Eva, placing her in her spot. A spot she’d claimed with a happy grin. Would he ever see her in his bed again? He pulled the covers up around her and her face pressed into his pillow next to her as she continued to sleep.
Reluctance in his every move, Vee closed the bedroom door and tapped a number by memory on his table top communicator.
The voice on the other end was stern, familiar in its coldness. “Why have you broken your silence now, V’hor?”
“I’m coming home, Matire.” He managed to check the impulse to snarl the words. Disrespect in his current position would ruin his chance to fix things.
“We have much to talk about. Be prepared.”
She didn’t have to say more. The threat was implied, only this time Vee had something to fight for.
Chapter 23
Vee left Enotia first thing in the morning. He’d spent the night in a chair next to his bed, watching Eva sleep. There was no way he could join her there and not reach for her. He had longed to rest beside her and entwine their legs as she often did, but it would have to wait. Something told him Eva
wouldn’t appreciate him using her restless nature in bed against her. So he’d done the next best thing to cater to his nesting instinct.
Getting permission to go to Serpine the next day was easy. Torkel had never made any attempts to block Vee from dealing with his Matire who had made her feelings on the Jutak warriors clear on many occasions. Before he’d boarded the shuttle, his Unit leader grasped his upper arm. “You have friends, support. Don’t let the Supreme Matire push you into any decision you don’t want.”
Torkel and Jaron had been there for him that long ago night when his nestmate had become ill. The severe allergic reaction to a fruit of all things had sent Niya into seizures and she’d almost died. The two of them had an agreement that he’d come home only if she needed him. Though his Matire had been the one to notify him, Vee hadn’t hesitated.
Confidence eroded by nerves, he strode inside Niya’s lavish palace and went directly to her private quarters after gaining access in the lower level by her security. All were aware he wasn’t just her nestmate, he was the only son of the Supreme Matire. It allowed him small oversteps such as arriving without warning.
As he entered the lush bedroom, the three guards inside all aimed their weapons at him. Two were older and recognized Vee, though they didn’t lower their lasers. The third was new and young. Probably past his majority, but not by much. He was closer to Niya’s age than Vee.
“Why are you here?” Her melodic voice tinkled like bells, but the tone was as cold as any Serpine female.
Niya reclined on a low slung lounge, wearing a deep gold dress with a lighter gold under tunic. Her red hair spilled in waves about her shoulders and her blue diamond pupils didn’t reveal the slightest hint of curiosity. The question was mere formality anyway. His reason for being here wouldn’t matter if she decided to have him removed.
Vee went to his knees and bowed his head. “I came to see my nestmate.”
A low trill resonated in the room. Vee lifted his head to see the youngest guard glaring at him from deep blue eyes.
“Cease!” Niya snapped.
The trill cut short. Vee lowered his gaze. Young, but well trained. Niya was swift to punish those who she perceived wronged her. But she was wise in ways beyond her light years of sixteen.
“I suppose you wish to be alone?” she drawled in a bored tone.
“If you please,” he muttered, careful not to shoot her a dark glance.
If she dared deny him, he’d resort to trickery. The palace she lived in and the guards who watched over her were all paid for by Vee’s family. Niya came from wealth but the Uladis were nothing in comparison to the Dahreels.
“Leave us.” She snapped her fingers and with a few grumbles the guards left.
The last was the young dark-haired Serpine who brushed his legs forcefully against Vee’s shoulders on his way by. “You shouldn’t be alone with him.”
“I don’t fear my nestmate.”
This time he growled as he slammed the door behind him. Vee waited. Silence ticked by for a full five minutes, but he remained on his knees. Niya rose and went to the door. The lock clicked and she turned around. Vee was about to stand when her weight hit his back.
“V’hor! You’re here!” Slender arms wrapped about his waist from behind and Vee endured the embrace before turning to face her and gently moving her back.
The feigned, rigid Matire façade was dropped as she smiled up at him from her diminutive height. The gentleness he’d noted on their nesting day was blasting from her blue eyes. Vee couldn’t help but to tease. “You still haven’t learned the comportment befitting a nestmate to the heir of the Supreme Matire.”
Niya slapped his middle with tiny hands and rolled her eyes. “Peshla will never like me until I’m full with your clutch.”
Which would never happen. Eva was the only one Vee envisioned having his children.
Niya grabbed him by the fingertips and led him to the lounger. She sat at the top half and motioned him to the bottom. “How is Enotia? How are your Jutak warriors?”
“Everyone is fine.” He sat and shared a few updates about the team which Niya always asked about. He told antidotes about the children which had her laughing.
Theirs was an unusual union. The day Vee arrived home to form the nestmate bond with the youngest Uladi daughter, he’d faced a scared girl of twelve. He’d had no intentions of taking her to bed or making her his true nestmate, but there had been no way to protect Sollee and walk away.
During their first night together, he’d explained his role as a Jutak warrior and informed her that he wouldn’t be staying on Serpine. The relief in her eyes had been intense and Niya had dissolved into tears as she told him she wasn’t ready to be a Matire.
Taking a risk, Vee questioned what she wanted and what she desired. Her answer had been blunt and honest. “I need a few years to figure that out.”
And so he’d proposed a bargain. He would be her nestmate on the surface and claim her in public, but they would not sex share. It was a risk and Niya could have reported his refusal to nest with her to his Matire.
She’d agreed, eagerly adding the caveat. “When one of us finds our nestmate—the one who truly holds our heart then we must tell the other and release them.”
Vee remembered clearly his hesitation. “You’d have to deny me. A male is not allowed to turn away a nestmate.”
It wasn’t done.
Niya waved her hand in dismissal. “I vow to do it. Even if you find your nestmate first. I want what my Matire has with my father.”
The Uladis were a good family. Misguided for wanting a connection with the Dahreels over letting their youngest grow to an appropriate age. Twelve was well below the traditional fifteen years, but no one was perfect.
It had taken a few years, but they’d achieved a friendship formed in secrecy. She was like another sister to him.
Niya folded her hands on her lap when he stopped speaking. She tipped her head to the side and asked, “You’ve found her, haven’t you?”
Vee didn’t prevaricate. “I have.”
She leaped across the space between them and squeezed him tight. “I’m so happy for you, V’hor.”
“Thank you, Niya.” He patted her back in rough thumps.
Behind closed doors, Niya was friendly and affectionate. Nothing like the austere Serpine female she presented in front of others. She leaned back and swiped a hand through the red hair which had become disheveled from her exuberance. She beamed at him proudly. “You took forever. I was beginning to worry.”
Vee frowned and she laughed outright. “Why would you worry? You know I will take care of you for as long as you wish, Niya.”
It was part of their arrangement. Even when they went their separate ways, he’d set it up for her to receive an allotment from the benefits he never touched from his Matire.
“I’ve found my nestmate as well, V’hor.”
“You’re too young,” he snapped, protective instincts rising. “Who is he?”
Her cheeks flushed, adding to the delicate beauty Niya possessed. “A’sa. He’s one of my guards. The pretty one.”
They looked the same to Vee. “Is he the one who lost control of his trill?”
Niya bit her lip and brightened as she nodded eagerly. “He really likes me, V’hor. He wants to kill you for leaving me alone all these years.”
Vee stared. Niya stared back. Determination glinted and Vee knew she was set on this male. He’d have to trust her. Niya wasn’t flighty in her decision making as evident by the way she voted using the seat Vee refused to accept in her family’s merchant trade. “I will approve the nesting if you wait two more years.”
“No, V’hor!” Niya stomped her foot. “I agreed I’d release you for your nestmate. Why won’t you let me move on to mine?”
Vee expected her response, but wasn’t going to give in. He placed his hands on Niya’s shoulders. “It wouldn’t feel right to me unless you were at least at your majority.”
Niya spun a
way from him on a hiss, the gold tunic swishing about her ankles. When she faced him again, all amusement and pleasantry fled. She stabbed a finger in his direction. “Your sister Betta found her nestmate and had her first child at my age. My Matire met my father and had my brother at my age. Why must I wait?”
Because in his eyes she was still a child. Vee’s time away from Serpine had given him a new perspective on the tradition of young nestings being formed. He’d never look on them the same again. “Two years is not long, Niya. If he cares for you, he’ll wait.”
He had no doubt the male would wait. Niya was beautiful, wealthy and had a sweet nature.
“You can’t really make me. I’m a Matire in my own right now.”
“This is true.” She could do whatever she wanted and Vee had no say in it.
Niya’s nostrils flared and she paced back and forth, snarling and muttering under her breath. In the end she came to a halt in front of him and glared. “If I didn’t love you, V’hor, I’d kick you.”
Vee opened his arms and she fell into the hug, returning it with her arms about his waist. She rubbed her face on his shirt, the way she did when she wanted to apologize, but couldn’t speak the words. “Do you want me to do the renouncement today?”
“Please,” Vee exhaled in relief.
The sooner it was done the sooner he could return to Eva.
***
Finding out Vee had left crushed Eva’s spirit. It was Sasha who broke the news over the morning meal when Eva arrived at the table.
“It’s not fair everyone keeps hiding stuff from her likes she’s a child. I’d want to know right away if Jaron left without telling me and kick his ass as soon as he returned.”
Joni pushed one of her knives across the table toward Eva. “Feel free to stab him with this.”
Faye picked it up between two fingertips and shoved it back. “Not everyone responds with violence like you, Joni.”
“They should,” Joni retorted as she slid the knife back into the thigh sheath over her green pants.
V'hor's Nestmate Page 23
