Page 31 of Cozy Prisons (Human Pets of Talin: Origins #4)

Kiran

Kiran tried to get off the exam table again. “I’m perfectly fine. I don’t need to spend the night here.”

As he expected, Falkilm lifted him right back onto the table. “You took a blow to the head; you should be here under observation for the rest of the night.”

Kamie stood on the other side of the exam table. “Falkilm, he’s fine. Besides, I’ll be with him.”

“That’s not good enough,” Falkilm said, his voice was firm but gentle. “You might not notice soon enough if he’s having issues. I can’t risk it.”

“You can’t risk it?” Kiran asked. He rested his hands behind him and leaned back.

He knew that showed off his lean, toned body, especially since Falkilm insisted on taking off his shirt to check for other injuries.

He watched Falkilm’s eyes drop to take in his chest and muscled abdomen.

“It’s my head, I should be allowed to do with it as I want to. ”

Falkilm shook his head, as if trying to jog a thought out. “I meant that we can’t risk your health in any way. Not only because humans are rare, but because you’re part of a bonded pair. Kamie might sicken and die if anything happened to you.”

Kamie put her elbows on the table and rested her head in her hands. “I’d be really sad, but I don’t think I’d die.”

Kiran smirked down at her. “You wouldn’t die from missing me?”

“I’d cry,” she assured him with a grin.

He gave her a fond look. “How much?”

She gave him wide eyes and batted her eyelashes at him. “A lot. Lots of lots. I really like you. Almost as much as I like Ugarian sweet beans.”

He pretended to be impressed. “That much? Damn, I’m special.”

Falkilm sounded a questioning rumble. “I can’t believe you’re speaking of death so casually. Both of you need to take this more seriously.”

Kiran turned his attention back to Falkilm. “I’d take it seriously if it were a serious issue, but it isn’t. I got an elbow to the jaw. You’ve fixed my fat lip and the cut inside my mouth. My brain didn’t get rattled at all. You’re the one making this more than it is.”

Kamie made a humming sound. “Unless there’s another reason you want Kiran to stay, which is fine, but we’re a package deal. You don’t get one of us without the other.”

Kiran nodded. “What she said.”

They both liked the healer and had agreed that Falkilm was gorgeous and intriguing.

They’d made their interest clear, but Falkilm was resisting all their efforts to get him into bed.

They’d talked earlier today and decided that if the healer didn’t respond to their invitation soon, they’d walk away.

Falkilm started purring. “I’d never try to separate a bonded pair. You’re both precious. I don’t want anything to happen to either of you.”

Damn, Kiran was about ready to be a real dick, but then the healer went and said something like that!

“Then I guess we’re both spending the night,” Kamie said.

“We’re not spending the night on this,” Kiran said, rapping his knuckles on the metal exam table. Why did the Talins make them like this? It reminded him of an autopsy table from an Old Earth show he’d seen when he’d been much too young.

“No, of course you can’t sleep in the medical side of the building,” Falkilm agreed. “I thought both you and Kamie could join me in my private quarters. I have all the bedding necessary to make a big nest for the two of you to share.”

Kiran still wasn’t clear where Talins got the idea that humans slept in nests, but if he was honest, he’d gotten to like it. Kamie was a fan from the start, but then again, his girl loved all things soft and snuggly.

Kamie perked up. “You’re inviting both of us to sleep with you?”

Falkilm jerked a little and sounded a startled rattle. “To, uh, sleep in my quarters. There’s one large communal room and one bedroom. I can build the nest in either room.”

Kiran exchanged a look with Kamie. Yeah, they were thinking the same thing—this was the last chance they were going to give Falkilm.

“Do you want me to get anything from our domicile?” Kamie asked, bouncing a little in place.

Lifting his legs, Kiran spun around on his ass and put his feet back down on the other side of the table next to Kamie. She was quick to step between them and lift her face up. They’d been together for four years, but Kiran couldn’t imagine he’d ever get enough of her.

Leaning over, he cupped her chin. “I love you.”

“I like you lots,” she whispered back, barely holding back a giggle. Kamie was deeply unserious, and he adored that about her.

“That must mean we’re soul mates.” He pressed his lips to hers. She opened her mouth to him, and he lost himself in the kiss.

It was a chaste kiss, for them anyway. They ended it before either of them got naked.

Lifting his face away, he massaged her jaw. “You’re so perfect.”

She looked up at him with half-lidded eyes. “I know.”

He chuckled and straightened up. “I’d like my information square. We could start reading that Old Earth novel Nataly gave us.”

She looked eager. “Oh, yeah, that would be fun. I’ll be right back!”

Falkilm sounded a negative rattle. “No, it’s dark outside.”

Kamie stepped back so she could look past him at Falkilm.

She frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. “You don’t have ultimate authority over us.

I bet if I contacted Palathum, she’d agree with me that Kiran and I are perfectly safe going back to our domicile.

I’m trying to work with you here, but you’re making it really hard. ”

It was obvious that the healer wasn’t ready for this version of Kamie.

She wasn’t serious often, but when she was in this mood, no one dared mess with her.

After Kiran got the accidental elbow to the jaw, Kamie was ready to rip Cassius apart.

Kiran didn’t even notice the pain in his face because he was too busy holding Kamie back.

“I-I-I’m not trying to be difficult,” Falkilm stuttered. “But you can’t go out in the dark by yourself, and I can’t leave Kiran alone. Something bad could happen to one of you.”

Kamie eyed Falkilm for a full minute without speaking. Kiran remained silent, interested in what she was going to say. Falkilm didn’t say a word, probably scared he’d make Kamie more frustrated with him.

“You let Hale leave, and they don't share a room with anyone. Cassius was way more injured than Kiran, and he got to walk out after you finished with his treatment. That means you want us here because it’s a comfort to you. Say that, and I’ll see if someone would be willing to grab stuff from our domicile and bring it here instead of leaving and taking Kiran with me. ”

Kiran’s gaze bounced from Kamie to Falkilm. It looked like this was the moment they found out if Falkilm was willing to give their relationship a chance.

The healer went perfectly still and silent, no words, rattles, or rumbles. Kiran felt bad for him; it was obvious he was dealing with a lot. The Talins said humans were overly open and affectionate. Kiran would argue they were only average, but that Talins were an incredibly closed-off species.

He was about ready to speak up to offer Falkilm an alternative that didn’t require accepting or rejecting them right at that moment, when the healer finally spoke up.

“I’d like to invite you and Kiran to spend the night with me.

” His voice was soft, and he dropped his gaze to the floor, almost as if he was scared to see their reaction.

“I’m worried that if you leave, something bad will happen.

I acknowledge that isn’t logical, and I’ll understand if neither of you wants to interact with me any longer. ”

Kiran’s jaw dropped. Falkilm’s little speech was sweet and sad all at the same time. It also demonstrated how difficult it was for Talins to be vulnerable.

“Oh, Falkie!” Kamie said, flying around the table and grabbing the healer in a fierce hug, trapping his arms at his side. “We’ll totally stay. Feelings don’t need to be logical to be valid. You’re worried about losing us, that’s understandable.”

She let go of him and rushed over to an information square sitting on a table near the door. “Let me contact Decard. He owes me for working out that kink in his neck.”

Falkilm looked at him. “Falkie?”

Kiran shrugged. “I guess Kamie’s given you a nickname.”

To his surprise, Falkilm sounded a short burst of excited rattle. “Nicknames are a sign of affection! I’ll treasure it, but only you and Kamie are allowed to call me Falkie. I don’t feel the same about anyone else.”

Kiran fought not to smile and gave Falkilm a solemn nod. “I’ll make sure everyone knows.”

Kamie

After Decard agreed to bring some stuff over, she turned to face Falkilm and Kiran. “Okay, Falkie! Let’s get a nest ready for story time! And we’ll need snacks. Good stories always require snacks.”

Kiran tried to slide off the table, but Falkilm sounded a forceful, negative rattle. “Remain here, I’ll see to creating a nest, then carry you there.”

“I’ll stay with him," Kamie said, skipping across the room.

Falkilm sounded a rumble of agreement. “I’ll be quick.”

As Falkilm rushed from the room, Kamie hopped up on the hard, metal exam table. All the rest of the tables were covered by a soft mat, blankets, and mounds of pillows. Instead of one of those, Falkilm had set Kiran down on the most uncomfortable spot in the entire place!

She winced and wiggled a little, trying to get comfortable. “Ugg.”

Kiran tapped the table with a fingernail. “Why do I get the one bare table?”

Kamie leaned her head against his shoulder.

“Because this spot is next to all the best equipment.” She rolled her eyes up to see Kiran’s confused expression.

“All the other beds and exam tables only have handheld scanner units; this one has the more powerful wall-mounted unit, and it’s the closest one to the medication cabinet.

Falkilm wanted to get you painkillers fast. Remember the first vial he poured into your mouth?

He did that before he even asked the others a single question. You were his first priority."

“Huh, I didn’t notice any of that.”

Kamie chuckled. “Well, you were being manhandled at the time, and Cassius was still being obnoxiously loud, so it was a little chaotic. Falkilm only stepped away from you after he’d medicated, scanned, and seen to your grievous wounds. ”

Kiran laughed at the way she exaggerated those last two words. “Is that why you felt like you could push him?”

She huffed. “Of course. I wouldn’t have been so forceful otherwise. You know me better than that.”

“I might not understand why you do some things, but I never doubt you." He let out a long sigh. “Can I admit that I’m tired?”

She pulled an arm out from where it was squished between their bodies and rubbed a hand over his back. “Only if I can do the same. Maybe we can rest now that we have Falkilm.”

As much as they loved each other, they were both a lot. Kamie tended to become obsessed over things, and Kiran would jump in with her. They both had a horrible sense of time, so there were nights when they both stayed up until dawn and were nearly useless the next day.

They were also disorganized, dramatic, and forgetful.

“He isn’t Denel,” Kiran said, pulling her out of her thoughts.

A deep longing rose up in her. “I know that. No one will ever be Denel.”

A slow, sweet love had developed between her, Kiran, and Denel. They went from being friends and drinking buddies to all living together, and finally, in a relationship that none of them could imagine life without.

Then Denel died.

It had been devastating. She and Kiran put up a good front, flirting with people and continuing to be the entertaining couple they’d been before. It was all fake. Most nights, they held each other and mourned.

Now, finally, they might have found another third that would balance them out again and appeal to both of them. She really wanted this to work, almost as much as she wished she could bring Denel back.

“What does Falkilm smell like to you?”

Kiran's questions pulled her out of her thoughts. “What?”

“Iris said that Damascus smelled like chocolate to her. When I was close to him, he smelled more like soap. I think how a Talin smells to us might be important.”

Kamie thought about it before answering. “Almonds. Whenever he’s close, I smell almonds.”

Kiran nodded. “Me too.”

“Do you think that means he belongs to us?”

“I hope so.”

The double doors of the medical side of the building slid open, and Decard swaggered in with a bag on his shoulder. “So the two of you finally seduced Healer Falkilm?”

Kamie gave him a smirk she didn’t feel. “Not yet, but we’re working on it.”

Decard set the bag on the table next to her. “I got the stuff you asked for, and I threw in some lube in case you ended up having some fun and Falkilm didn’t have any.”

Kiran snorted. “You’re so thoughtful.”

Decard looked at Kamie. “Do you think you could work on my neck again?”

She nodded. “Maybe tomorrow afternoon, yeah?”

Decard gave her a knowing smile. “I won’t come knocking too early, I swear!”

Falkilm came walking back into the room. “The nest is ready.” Then he noticed Decard. “Are you unwell?”

The way he spoke clearly said he hoped Decard would go away. It made Kiran laugh and Kamie grin.

Decard pointed at the bag. “I’m good, just dropping some stuff off. See you all at breakfast.”

Then he left. Before the door even shut behind him, Falkilm was at the table, picking Kiran up.

Kamie grabbed the bag, hopped off the table, and followed. Neither of them had ever been in Falkilm’s private quarters. It was large with minimal furniture, which made it easy for him to push it all aside and build a truly giant nest in the center.

Rushing ahead of Falkilm, Kamie jumped into the nest and settled in with a loud, happy sound. Damn, he must’ve used all the padding because it was the softest bed she’d ever been in!

Falkilm knelt next to the nest and carefully lowered Kiran next to her. She exchanged a quick look with Kiran, then both of them grabbed Falkilm when he tried to straighten up.

“Join us!” she said, and they both pulled. Falkilm could’ve easily resisted them, but he let them tumble him into the nest. The moment they laid down, they snuggled against either side of him.

Kiran let out a long, happy sigh. “This is perfect.”

“Yes,” Kamie agreed, then blindly searched in the bag until she found the information square. Reaching over Falkilm’s chest, she handed it to Kiran. “Read!”

Kiran found the book and started reading. Kamie noticed that Falkilm didn’t try to get away from them in any way.

It was nice that he was realizing this was what he wanted too.