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CHAPTER FOURTEEN

GYRIK

In silence, we all watched Ava leave the kitchen. With guilt heavy in my heart, I faced the men who’d taken care of me as much as I’d cared for them. The disappointment in their gazes didn’t surprise me. The entire time I’d brushed Ava’s soft hair, I’d listened to their softly spoken reprimands.

“You’re lucky she’s still talking to you,” Will said quietly once she was gone.

“I thought you were going to try to get to know her first and wait to put the moves on her until we were home,” Bram said. “What happened?”

I rubbed the back of my neck and glanced at the doorway to the living room. I could hear Ava settling near the fire and wanted to join her, but I also needed advice.

“She was gluing the bite. It felt…good.”

Zach snorted, and Will elbowed him.

“She stopped and was going to leave. I grabbed her hand. I didn’t mean to. It just…” I sighed. “She fell on me. Her hand landed on my cock. It was warm and soft and?—“

“We get the picture,” Bram said.

“So it was a misfire?” Zach asked. “That’s why it was all over?”

I nodded. “Ghua said that Eden gets very angry when it gets in her hair. That’s why I carried her to the shower right away. Ava didn’t seem angry, though. Do you think she liked it?”

Zach slammed his head down onto his arm on the table. The dishes rattled. His shoulders shook.

Uan and Thallirin were very patient males.

“I know it’s tempting to toss him out the door,” Bram said, seeming to hear my thoughts. “But remember how much Nancy loves him and how much Uan loves Nancy. Brenna and Thallirin too.”

“Personally, I think Uan and Thallirin would understand a light tossing,” Will said. “But back to the point. No, I don’t think Ava actually liked it. I think she just understands it was an accident. If it happens a second time, I think she’ll be a lot less forgiving.”

I exhaled heavily, nodded, and took the bowl of stew Will offered me.

“It could have been worse,” Bram said. “She’s still talking to you, at least. Keep talking, and try not to bring up or even think about what happened. You don’t want to scare her away.”

With their warnings repeating in my mind, I went to join Ava. She looked up at my approach and smiled before glancing behind me.

“Don’t they want to eat in here?”

I shook my head and sat down next to her.

“Do you think we’ll reach one of your communities tomorrow?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Zach told me about them. Three big neighborhoods, each surrounded by a wall made out of cars. Enough room for everyone. A lot of the humans share homes, but the fey tend not to. Do you have your own house?”

“Not yet.”

“Oh.” I heard the disappointment in her voice.

“I gave my home to Etri and Fallor.”

“That’s nice of you, but where do you live?”

“I stay with them when I return, but mostly, I go out and look for survivors like some of my other brothers do, so I don’t need a home yet.”

“Zach said that, after I meet with June, Mya, and Andie, I’ll be assigned a house. It’s a little intimidating to think that I might be assigned a house to live in with strangers. Do you think Zach, Will, or Bram have room in their houses?”

I looked down at my stew to hide how much I didn’t want her to want to live with anyone else but me.

“Gyrik?”

“Sorry, Ava,” Zach said, entering the room and sitting heavily on the couch. “Our housing assignments have already been set. But don’t worry. I have a feeling you’re going to be assigned somewhere nice in Unity. It’s the newest, and there are still plenty of open houses there.”

“The one with the greenhouses and fields?”

“Yep. Your grandpa’s seed books will be put to good use there. And if you hate gardening?—”

“I don’t,” she said quickly.

“Then you should be fine. Want to play some more board games to pass the time?”

Relieved by the distraction, I joined them.

Human games were interesting. They didn’t always make sense to me, but I liked playing and watching their excitement. They were as competitive with their paper games as my brothers and I were with our physical ones. Ava was no exception.

“Eat that and pay up!” she yelled, slapping her cards on the coffee table.

Zach, Will, and Bram grudgingly surrendered the candies they used to bet. The colorful little dots disappeared into Ava’s mouth, and her happy little wiggle as she chewed captivated me. I reached across the table, stole three more candies from Zach, and slid them to her. She swiped them off the table, dodging his attempt to steal them back, and popped them into her mouth. She wiggled her shoulders from side to side.

“I’m calling it,” Bram said.

“Yeah, I see how this is going to end. Gyrik is going to feed you all the M&M’s,” Zach said.

Ava grinned at me. “You can feed me chocolate any time.”

I melted and tried to remember where Will had stored the chocolate we’d collected during this trip.

Will bumped into me. “Do you know that chocolate contains caffeine, and caffeine can keep people up at night?”

I blinked at Will. Zach shook his head at me, and I struggled to understand why.

“Are you hinting that I shouldn’t have any more chocolate because I’ll stay awake and not be ready at first light?” Ava asked. “This little bit of caffeine won’t keep me up. The case of coffee beans I have in the back of the truck would, but I promise, I can still function on three hours of sleep. I’ve pulled all-nighters before where I pass out in my office chair, come to, make more coffee, and get back to work.”

“That can’t be good for you,” Bram said.

Ava shrugged. “Sometimes sleep is overrated.”

I thought of how she’d slept in my arms the night before and disagreed. Her sleep wasn’t overrated. She needed it. Preferably while using me as a pillow again.

“I think you shouldn’t have any more chocolate,” I said.

“Finally,” Bram said under his breath.

“Pfft. Sore losers,” Ava said. “Let’s play again tomorrow night. I have a fun-size pack of candy bars in one of those boxes.”

“You’re going to be popular back home,” Zach said with a laugh that struck fear through me.

I didn’t want Ava to be popular. I wanted her to be mine. But what did she want?

As they packed away the cards and set out their sleeping bags on the floor, I watched her move. She talked to everyone, making jokes and laughing prettily.

After she laid out her sleeping bag, feet toward the fire, she looked at me.

“I don’t suppose you’d be willing to share with me again tonight, would you?”

I was on the sleeping bag faster than her eyes could track me. The way she slowly smiled sent a warning tingle to my shaft, and I quickly grabbed a spare blanket to pull over my waist.

She knelt down beside me, lifted my arm, and assumed the same position she had the night before, pressed against my side. This time, she reached behind her and tugged the arm she was resting on until I wrapped it around her waist. My cock twitched under the blanket, and I listened to the others settle in for the night.

I couldn’t wait until we reached Tolerance.

“Is that it?” Ava asked, leaning forward and pointing. She wasn’t leaning forward to see but to stretch her back.

“It is. Would you like to pull over so I can drive?”

She laughed. “This close? No. I’m kind of nervous. You guys have been great, but we haven’t seen any other people the entire time. Not counting the ones that were infected. What if your people don’t want me here?”

“They will want you,” I said, silently adding, “ I want you.”

She nodded and sat back, following closely behind Bram’s supply truck.

As we neared, several of my brothers jumped over the wall.

“Damn,” Ava said under her breath.

My gaze shifted from her to Dax and Bauts. Was she afraid of them, or did she like looking at them like she seemed to enjoy looking at me? Selfishly, I hoped it was fear.

She parked the truck, picked up Pete, and glanced at me.

“Well, I guess it’s time to make new friends.” She reached for the door, and I grabbed her shoulders to turn her toward me. Pete made a questioning sound from his place in her arms.

“You don’t need to make more friends. I can be your friend.”

Her gaze searched mine for several heartbeats.

“Is that what I am? Your friend?”

Don’t be desperate. Don’t be desperate.

“A friend for now, but maybe you would consider more once you get to know me better?”

Her slow smile made my pulse race.

“That’s a good answer. Are you stopping me from getting out because you’re worried I’ll get to know someone else better first?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. I promise to get to know you first. But I should still try to make other friends if I want to live here, right?”

I glanced at my brothers, who were watching us.

“Yes.”

She considered me for a moment. “I’m nervous about fitting in here. I don’t want to be alone like I was, but I don’t want to live with strangers, either. Is there any chance I could live with you? I know you don’t have a house, but what if there’s room in my assigned house?”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “You want to live with me?”

“Yes.”

I grinned widely. Her gaze shifted to my mouth, and her responding smile faded a little.

“There’s still so much I have to learn,” she said. “Your canines are really pointed. You don’t bite like the infected, do you?”

“No,” I said, no longer smiling.

Was she afraid of me now? Would she no longer want to live with me?

She nodded, reached around Pete to pat my arm, then eased from my hold to leave the truck.

“You carry Repeat,” she said.

Unsure what her reaction meant, I hurried to lift up the soft animal and followed in her wake.

“You ready for a fun ride over the wall, Ava?” Zach called, getting out of the truck in front of us.

“You mean the same way they arrived?” she asked.

“Yep.” Zach went to stand beside my brothers. “Ava, this is Bauts, and this is Dax. It might be easier if they carry the cats and Gyrik carries you.”

“It’s nice to meet you both. Are you all right with cats?”

“The better question is if the cats are okay with them,” Will said, joining us.

Ava kissed the top of Pete’s head and moved closer to Dax. My stomach twisted with the need to step between them.

“Dax, this is Pete. Would you mind holding out your hand so he can smell you?”

Dax did, and Pete immediately rubbed his face against Dax’s knuckles. The animal had no sense of loyalty.

Smiling, Ava passed Pete to Dax and turned to me. “Repeat pretty much does whatever Pete does, but you should still let him smell Bauts.”

Bauts reached out and scratched Repeat’s head. “Animals like me.”

Repeat's loyalty was just as bad as Pete’s. Worse, actually. He crawled out of my arms to reach Bauts.

Ava laughed. “They’re attention whores, aren’t they? How do you want me, Gyrik?”

Logical thought ground to a halt as I thought of all the different ways I wanted Ava. First, just to hold her and touch her freely. Then, to kiss her…everywhere. Finally, to sink into her softness. Facing her. Lying on our sides. Behind her on my knees.

“Might not want to word it like that,” Zach said.

Will elbowed him hard enough that the boy stumbled.

Dax reached out to steady him then went back to petting Pete while watching me stare at Ava. He knew what I was thinking.

“How do you want to carry me over that wall?” Ava clarified. “On your back?”

“No.” I picked her up fast enough that she squealed and wrapped her arms around my neck the way I liked. “You can scream this time if you want.”

Her eyes widened.

I ran at the wall and sprinted up it without warning her and listened to her sharp inhale as she clung to me.