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CHAPTER TWELVE

GYRIK

We’d left the city hours ago, but I could still feel Ava’s warm breath on my chest. Each exhale had sent little shocks straight to my cock. It stirred at the memory but went dormant again as I listened to Zach suggest that Ava tell me she does not want to be treated like a princess.

Bram caught me frowning in the direction of the house.

“I take it Zach is running his mouth again,” Bram said.

“Yes.”

Zach emerged from the house and grinned and waved at me. It was a good thing Thallirin had patience.

“Do I need to talk to him?”

“No. He was trying to help her understand.”

“Understand what?” Bram added another piece of firewood to the pile he was already holding.

“Why I lit the fire for her. That it was kind, but if she found it overbearing, she should tell me.”

“Do you think she didn’t like it?”

“She didn’t seem angry when I left.”

“Then he was probably just explaining things, trying to help smooth the way for you.”

“Does it need to be smoothed?”

Bram stopped what he was doing to focus on me.

“Honestly, I don’t know. Ava’s different. She hasn’t been living in fear for the past five months. She’s been living in isolation. So, rather than jumping at every sound and trying to hide, she’s…normal. Cautious but open. That works in your favor. Did she like talking to you?”

I thought back to the time we spent driving together.

“She seemed to enjoy talking to me.”

She’d shared so many things about herself. Her favorite songs, which she sang for me, her favorite foods, clothes, weather, season, hairstyle—I knew so much about her. Yet, even after so much time together, I felt like I still barely knew anything.

“Well, women who choose to live alone and have cats are a different breed of women. They’re more independent and have higher standards for who they allow into their lives. I’m not saying this to scare you, but…don’t mess up. She might be a one-and-done chance.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means this might be your only chance. If you screw up, she probably won’t give you another chance.”

The fear that she wouldn’t want me as much as I wanted her grew until it became hard to breathe. What if I’d already said something wrong? What if she didn’t like me lighting the fire for her? What if she didn’t want to stay in Tolerance when we reached it? Or worse, what if she decided to like someone else?

The firewood in my arms fell to the ground.

“What is it? Infected?” Bram asked.

“No. I…” My gaze shifted to the house. “How will I know if I’ve messed up my chance already?”

Bram swore under his breath and called out. “Ava! I need you out here.”

My panic increased.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Bram said quietly. “I’m helping.”

Ava appeared at the door. Her gaze scanned the yard, landing on us.

“Gyrik just got really pale. Can you help him inside?”

She ran toward me, a look of concern on her face.

“I knew something was wrong,” she said. “Come on. Let’s get inside before you pass out. I don’t think anyone here will be able to carry you.”

She lifted one of my arms and fit herself against my side. The feel of her arm around my waist stopped my panic—and any other rational thought.

“See?” Bram said from where he still stood by the woodpile. “She’s worried. Worry means she cares. If you’d messed up, she wouldn’t care.”

We were far enough away from Bram that I knew Ava hadn’t heard him. Yet her arm tightened around my waist.

I glanced down at the top of Ava’s head as she walked pressed up against my side. She looked up at me.

“Bram’s right. You look pale. You shouldn’t push yourself so hard.”

She led me inside, walking past Zach and Will on the way to the bathroom. They watched us but didn’t comment.

“Strip,” she said, turning on the faucet.

I looked from her to the open door and back again.

“I need to see how bad it is,” she said. “And I can’t do that when you’re wearing clothes.”

She wanted to inspect me? What if she didn’t like what she saw?

The panic, which had faded, flared again as I debated what to do. Should I undress, or should we talk about non-sex emotions first? Maybe I could make her one of the foods she liked. Or sing one of her songs to her. But I couldn’t remember any of the words. No matter how hard I tried, nothing filled my head.

Her pretty blue eyes watched me expectantly.

“The water’s warming. Hurry and shower. That last snow bath you took didn’t get everything.”

Slowly, I removed my shirt. Her gaze swept over my torso, assessing and dismissive. I wanted to cringe and cover myself with the material again, but she motioned for me to turn around.

Reluctantly, I did. Her hands gripped the waistband of my sweatpants. My eyes went wide. The material was down around my ankles a second later.

I froze in full panic, hands slightly out to my sides.

A snort sounded from the doorway, and I turned to look at Zach, who was covering his mouth.

“It’s not as bad as I thought,” Ava said from behind me. “Zach, see if you can find some super glue. It’ll burn, but it should hold it together until it heals. My grandpa used more than he should have and lived to tell the tales.”

I didn’t know what was happening and glanced at Zach.

“Your bite is bleeding,” he said.

I twisted around to see myself in the mirror and spotted the twin half-moons carved into the top of my backside. I recalled bending to light the fire and feeling the pull back there when they’d reopened from the last stop but hadn’t thought much of it. Bites healed quickly.

“Why didn’t you say you were bitten?” Ava asked.

“I forgot.”

I had. Just after it’d happened, my thoughts had been on washing quickly and rejoining Ava in the truck so she could keep telling me about her favorite sleeping position. After lighting the fire, I’d been more concerned with collecting wood for the fire so Ava would be warm enough.

“If someone had bitten my ass like that, nothing could have made me forget it,” Ava said. “Now get in the shower and wash. With soap. I hope you’re right about immunity and don’t get any kind of infection once I glue that shut.”

She left the bathroom, walking out past Zach, who was still grinning at me.

He glanced after her then leaned in to whisper, “If she looks mad, she’s not. She’s worried. Worried is good. It means she cares about you. Now, go shower.”

I felt more reassured, hearing him say the same thing that Bram had, but still a little concerned about Ava’s inspection.

Stepping under the water, I began to wash while trying to understand what had just happened. Ava had pulled down my pants to see all of me. She’d wanted to know how bad I was. She’d looked at me dismissively, but then she’d said I wasn’t as bad as she thought.

Did that mean I was good?

I looked down at myself.

Angel said most women liked men with muscles. Some liked abs. Some liked pecs. Some liked forearms. She said preferences depended on the woman, just like males had preferences regarding females. Some liked breasts. Some liked butts. Some liked legs.

My brothers had asked why males didn’t prefer a female’s pussy. Angel said most men weren’t attracted to a woman’s pussy because it’s not something they see all the time. Ghua said that was because human males didn’t know how to talk their females into walking around without clothes.

The thought of Ava walking around with no clothes filled my mind, and I forgot what I was doing.

“Are you done?” Ava asked from the other side of the curtain.

I jumped a little, swallowed hard, and turned off the water.

“Yes.”

When I opened the curtain, her gaze trailed slowly down my length, stopping at my hips. She didn’t look angry or repulsed. Her expression softened slightly, and the corners of her mouth lifted an almost imperceivable amount.

Did looking at my cock make her happy?

I felt my cock stir under her direct attention. The tips of my ears heated.

“I…uh…sorry,” she said, meeting my gaze. ‘Here’s a clean towel. I’ll wait for you in the first bedroom once you’re dry.”

She pushed the towel at me, turned on her heel, and left.

I stared after her a moment before I hastily dried off and followed.

“Uh, Gyrik? You may want to use that towel you're holding to cover yourself,” Will said. “Even if Ava’s not intimidated by that, we are.”

Zach howled with laughter as Bram chuckled. Ignoring all of them, I strode down the hallway and found the first bedroom door open. Ava was waiting inside, facing away from the door.

“Lie down on your stomach, please,” she said, pointing to the bed.

I glanced at the towel I still held, disappointed that she hadn’t looked at me again. Tossing it aside, I quickly lay on the clean sheets and turned my head to watch her let out a deep breath.

“Are you worried or angry?” I asked.

“I don’t think I’m either. Maybe a little worried. Not at all angry.”

I grunted, relieved she was still worried, as she approached the bed and sat beside me.

“The glue will sting, but Grandpa said it fades quickly enough. I’ll need to hold the skin together for a few seconds while the glue dries. Ready?”

“Yes.”

The first touch of her fingers against my bare skin almost drew a moan from me. Her hands were small and soft, cool against my warm skin. Her fingers danced over my backside below the bite. Teasing. Testing. Stroking.

A shiver ran through me. She noticed and mumbled an apology but didn’t remove her hand.

She set it more firmly against my skin and started to knead the area like Mary kneaded her dough. I didn’t shiver again as want rushed through me. The heat of my desperation for her melted me everywhere but surged aggressively in my cock. It hardened to the point of pain against the bed.

Closing my eyes, I fought not to groan as I imagined her hands moving from my backside to my front.

“Okay. I’ve got it right. Just a second. There. Don’t move, or my fingers will be glued to your ass.”

This time, a groan did escape me.

Don’t let your desperation show.

How could I not, though? My desperation to hold her…to touch her…to kiss her was slowly consuming me.

“Sorry. I know it’s not fun.”

My cock bucked against the mattress when she blew on my skin.

“Better?”

I managed a jerky nod.

She released that section of skin and began gently pinching a little lower. A warning tingle began in my sack.

I was dying and didn’t mind.

“One more,” she said.

She held my skin and then blew on it.

I blinked, no longer seeing the room as the entirety of my existence shrank to where she held me and the growing tension between my legs.

“All done,” she said, releasing me.

Denial ripped through me. We couldn’t be done. Never.

I reacted to her abrupt abandonment and rolled over to grab her wrist and pull her toward me. It wasn’t something I would have ever risked doing when thinking rationally. I only knew she couldn’t leave me. I needed her.

She let out a little squeak as she fell onto my chest. Her pretty brown hair created a soft curtain around her face as she stared down at me.

Eyes wide, I blinked at her. Her body pressed against mine. I could feel the soft mounds of her breasts through her jacket, but more than that, I felt her hand .

A slow, soft smile curved her lips.

“You have no idea how lucky we both are.”

I couldn’t speak. Her palm covered my hard length, pressing it. Molding it. Cool. Soft.

Her hand was touching me.

The tingle spread to the base of my spine. My breathing increased, and I fought not to arch into her palm.

“If I hadn’t dropped the glue, my hand would have been glued to this.”

She squeezed me.

A small, choked sound escaped me before I arched and erupted.