Page 66 of 20% Stud 80% Muffin
Raz scuttled away, one hand clutching his neck and the other rubbing his backside.
“Fucking bully,” I said to his retreating back. “I hope you take the visitor shuttle back to your home planet and get sucked into a black hole.”
The tether snapped and sizzled as Makir approached, and the heat from his body warmed me as he leaned into my side. Adrenaline still simmered in my veins, but when I looped my arm around his narrow waist and we faced each other, the gratitude that shone back at me weakened my knees.
Makir hitched a leg over my hip, and when I grasped it, he wrapped his other leg around me, clenching my thick waist. His thick purr melted the tension from my body. “That was amazing.”
Thank fuck for that.
The last time I’d turned to rage had not gone well, but a lapful of pleased Makir was more than enough reward. The only thing better would be a taste. I dipped my tongue past his soft lips and sank into his embrace. This time, I sampled Makir’s lips only long enough to remain in control. No matter how much Makir’s purr called to me, I would not let my base urges take over.
“Let’s go eat, little lion.” I ran my hand down the blue velvet of his tail and lowered him. His pupils were blown, the lavender barely visible. I took his hand and tugged him back to the dining table.
Jast and Bonic stood as we neared. Bonic’s slow, resounding clap filled the air, followed by Jast’s. Makir beamed at me, and I stood taller.
“This one will do, Makir. This one will do just fine.” Bonic smiled at his brother first, then me.
Even though I was confused by their easy acceptance of my outburst, my hands loosened at my sides, reassured by Bonic’s words. Apparently, my alpha asshole tendencies were not something to be ashamed of in the High Hold of Lorne.
“It appears my charming brother may have left you in the dark about a few things.” Bonic’s deep laugh filled the dining area as Makir spooned herbed mantu onto my plate.
Yeah, no shit. Heir to the High Hold of Lorne…Initiated mating…
I filled a tumbler with my favorite whiskey—Ginger had brought me a bottle as a gift—and offered a glass to Bonic before taking a long draft. The heat warmed my throat, and I exhaled, sinking deeper into my chair.
Makir had some explaining to do. “Heir of the High Hold of Lorne?” The easiest question stirred in my mind.
“I planned on telling you…” Makir’s shoulders curled inward. “But the right time never came. Plus, Bonic is the first heir. Now that Jast is having a youngling,there is very little chance the High Hold would ever come to me. Not over my parent’s dead bodies anyway.” His last words were so quiet I strained to hear them.
“Nonsense, Makir.” Jast’s sweet voice eased the tension in the air. I guessed that was her omega. “There will always be a special place for you in the High Hold of Lorne, and I already know you will be the favored uncle of this small one.” She patted her belly.
“I’m the only uncle, sweet talker.”
“Jast is right, Makir.” Bonic’s commanding voice softened. “I understood your need and supported your move to Tern. You have done very well for yourself.” Bonic gestured to Makir’s home and hovery. “But I wish every rotation for your return to Lorne. You have proven you can be independent. Our parents will welcome your return.”
“You fool yourself, Bonic.” Makir’s tail wound around his calf, and his gaze fell to his plate. “The regents have never approved of anything I’ve done.”
My heart clenched, saddened by his dejection, but panicked at the thought of Makir returning to his home planet. I’d never even considered it before. In a desperate move to change the topic, I pushed back my chair. The loud screech echoed through the room before I polished off my drink. Then, pouring another, I forced a smile. “Have you been able to take advantage of the pool? Why don’t we bring our drinks out back, relax and get to know each other a little more?”
Jast’s eyes crinkled at the corners. “That sounds wonderful, Geo. Why don’t we all get changed and meet in the courtyard?”
I attempted to focus on the ingenious way the Rock Dwellers had created a dome from lamar panels. They’d transformed the courtyard into a year-round solarium. But the list of reasons why this relationship could never work kept growing. I tacked on ‘he’s royalty’ right after ‘I lose control around him all the time.’ The number of things working against us weighed me down like an anchor tied to my ankle.
Makir was distant as we sipped our drinks in the shallow end of the warm pool. Time crept by as water lapped over our toes. The moon reflected in the water’ssurface, bright white and stark against the pool’s red glow. Bonic and Jast took an inordinately long time to get their swimwear on.
“Makir…” My eyes fixed on a long scar on his muscled thigh. “Do you think you’ll return to Lorne?” I had many questions for him, but I couldn’t hold this one in any longer. It left me aching with an eerie aloneness, as if he were already gone.
I inhaled the solarium’s humid heat, awaiting his response, my breaths growing shallower and shallower. The smell of the rich soil from all the plants filling the courtyard thickened the air. The silence grew suffocating.
“There’s nothing for me on Lorne.”
That didn’t answer the question. “And here?” I turned toward Makir, my heart stuck in a holding pattern, on pause until he replied.
But my pleading eyes went unnoticed. Makir stared into the distance before he replied with a hollow, “I’ve made nothing but bad decisions my whole life when it comes to partners, Geo. I need to trust myself first.”
My heart kickstarted with a heavy thud. His words were not the answer I’d hoped for, but at least they weren’t Cameron’s.
“Geo, I always knew you were delusional, but if you think I’ll wait a year for your fat ass and small dick, think again.”
