Page 61 of Starlight

He caught himself realizing that he was contemplating a future with Cole like they were mates or something. Which was ridiculous. He was barely old enough to even be thinking about mates, and harpies didn’t take human mates because they couldn’t fly.

Is that what he really wanted? A mate he couldn’t fly with? One who would struggle to get into his nest?

But Cole had already been in his nest. How hard would it be to make a ladder so it would be easier for him to climb up?

“Are you okay?” Cole asked.

Akai blinked. He’d been staring at the cabin. “Yeah, thinking. Who knew being shot could be so much fun?” He grinned and tried to make light of his words even though they were the truth.

Cole smiled. “Would you like me to shoot you again?”

“Surely it’s my turn to shoot you?” Though he much preferred to hear Cole moaning in pleasure.

“Maybe we should try not hurting each other for a change?”

Akai put his hand over his heart. “Wow. I thought it was part of our…” He swallowed the words mating ritual. But from the way Cole was looking at him, it didn’t matter, as he knew what Akai had been going to say.

Cole tilted his head. “I think we’ve found more fun things to do, don’t you?”

“Yes. There are many other things I’d rather do to you.”

“To me or with me?”

“Both.” He climbed into the back seat of the truck and shut the door, not wanting to discuss further in case he dug himself a deeper hole and got stuck.

Lying on the back seat was fine for the first hour, but then he got bored, and being uncomfortable soon followed. “Are we going to stop?”

“I was planning on finding somewhere to grab lunch. A drive through would be best, then perhaps I can find a quiet spot to pull over so we can stretch our legs.” Cole glanced at him in the rear-view mirror. “Perhaps you can find somewhere since I’m driving?”

Akai grabbed his phone. “Takeout near a national park or a parking lot near a trail. On it.”

He checked where they were, then looked for places that were out of the way, because it would be nice to get out of the truck, though he was more worried about stretching his wings than his legs. It took him several minutes to locate a suitable place. “You’re going to need to take the next exit, then the next right, which will take you past a burger place. After acquiring burgers and fries, keep going for another mile, and you should be able to pull over near the forest.”

“No carpark?”

“No.”

“Rest stop?”

“Also no. Not unless you want to drive another five miles, and I thought you wouldn’t want to get too far off the route.”

“I’d rather not pull over on the side of the road.” Cole followed his directions and pulled into the drive-through. As they waited, he asked, “Got a preference?”

“Chicken burger…and some chicken nuggets.”

Cole placed the large order and paid. The scent of the food in the bags had Akai reaching out to steal a fry. Cole slapped his hand away. “You can wait.”

He sat up, figuring there weren’t that many cars around, and he could hold the illusion of being a wolf easily enough. “I can, but I don’t want to.” He licked the side of Cole’s neck and kissed his cheek. “Sitting up is far more fun.”

“You’re distracting the driver.”

“Let me steal a fry.”

“No.”

Akai slid his hand over Cole’s chest and lower until he cupped Cole’s denim-covered crotch. Cole hardened against his palm. How easy would it be to make him come?

“That is very distracting.”