Page 55 of Bred By Sor'en

I take over the bites now, removing the oval-shaped long spoon thing from his large hand. “Aren’t only you and Jin supposed to bless things?”

“Me and other elders, yes, but you are my mate. You walk close to the veil beside me.”

“Spooky.”

He laughs. “Yes, very spooky.”

He wasn’t kidding about being ready. As soon as I was done eating, he sent Melion and me out into the field closest to thehouse with a detailed list of colors and their meanings. After skimming the list, I vaguely remembered him telling me about the whole color thing before. But I’m pretty sure I was seated on his cock while he worked, making it very hard to pay attention. I avoid the second field that was still healing from the attack, and the section where I saw… whatever I saw. I won't pretend I didn’t spend an unreasonable amount of time after that, trying to catch another glimpse. There’s been nothing. It's probably for the best.

twenty-seven

Hue

I scratch at the reddened skin of my stomach in the mirror, all the oversized portions of yummy food Sor’en prepared for me keeping me looking fuller in places I never have before. When I look at the bit of a gut I’m developing, a passing thought, a dangerous one, crosses my mind. I palm the itchy offender, trying to give it a little jiggle.

It has none.

It's nothugeby any means, nothing like Me’alma. Just a little pooch. Thank the fucking stars their clothes meld to you and not the other way around. My fingernails work the skin leading down to my inner thighs before I tug up the bodice of the top I’m wearing today. It’s black, like everything else here. The chest is sheer in a deep V, while the rest is the normal structured fabric. The long, billowing skirt comes next, and I look pretty, but tired.

Like super tired.

It had been late when Sor’en appeared in the field to collect Melion and me. He helped me find what was left, and we stayed up late into the night preparing the blessing. Which is pretty much just wiping around oil already supplied by her mate, which I was heavily gloved for, and a lot of prayer. It was easy enough. The petals took the longest, and there was no way in hell I could’ve done it without him. It’s such a cool concept, though, that I was fully invested very early on, a little story told within a bundle of flowers. It definitely didnotmake me tear up at all, but by the time we were done, I was falling asleep at the counter. Today I get to do it all again, well, mostly. I get to pick the correct flowers for Sor’en’s goddess blessing with my handy-dandy list.

I breeze out the door of the bedroom, ready to make a quick escape before my mate appears out of nowhere, hiking me into his arms and depositing me on his lap for breakfast. The only meal Xyreliths bother eating. I glance down at my stomach, ignoring the itch as it's started to worry the male behind me. Maybeworryis a bit of an understatement. He’s been stoically, mostly stoically, freaking the fuck out about whatever weird reaction I’m having to something here. He stopped making me my favorite flamet for a few days so he could monitor the itchiness. I’ve just started hiding it; Sor’en has enough going on.

His datapad blares to life just as I’m released from the meal and heading for the flower basket by the door. I linger, pretending to be fixing something on my skirt.

Sor’en gets a lot of calls.

He ignores them.

But this one, he answers.

My pulse spikes for a moment before he finally speaks to the hastened voice on the other end. “Yes, I’ll bring her now.”

I turn, already sighing as I set the basket back down. “It’s time?”

He nods, in front of me in less time than it takes for me to blink, offering me kisses that make my thoughts go wonky as he smears a slick of oil down my neck from his large palm. “Are you ready?”

I shrug, my anxiety increasing as he forgoes a craft, blurring us straight to the temple. After that, twin goddesses and their arched wings greet me quickly. My head spins as he sets me on my feet, not taking his hands off until I’m steady. His lips find mine again before I’m fully caught up; her veil and bouquet are passed into my hands. “I am not needed past this point,” he murmurs, casting an odd look at the goddess arch. “I will be close.”

When I open my mouth to protest, to demand he not make me do it alone, his lips take the words from me again. “You are a botanist's mate. Moreover,youare the only one here who doubtsyou.”

I nod, and before I can even say goodbye, Lyr’ael is there, taking my hand quickly in hers. “Come, human Hue, quickly.”

I’m pulled inside after that, glancing over my shoulder just before we turn into the maze of halls that make up the temple. Each section dedicated to a twin goddess, while the center remains something of neutral ground. It’s the look in Sor’en’s eyes… the unabashed pride there that rocks me to my core, inflating my chest.

Everything happens for a reason, right?

“I’m meant to be here,” I mumble to myself in a reassuring tone.

Lyr’ael glances behind her as she tugs me through the halls. “Of course, where else would you be?”

The press of the teeth between my breasts digs deep into my chest.

Where else indeed?

Lyr’ael rapidly slows our pace, swirling her hand around her head to calm herself before we walk slower than the situation warrants into the next room we come across. “Did the alchemist come?”