Page 78 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

Chloe

Everything about this place was horrifying.

Sure, the monastery was beautiful, with grand halls that were exquisitely painted, and absurd statues that moved and shifted.

That didn’t take away from the fact that it was hurting Kitan to be here.

There were places we’d walked through that had made him flinch or stiffen.

I noticed, of course, but our guide did too.

Officer Ga’tera, still in hybridform and still our only escort, was leading us through many different corridors and rooms before finally guiding us to what appeared to be a wing of expensive apartments.

A look out of the various windows we’d passed made me think we had taken a very long and circuitous route to get here. Kitan confirmed this by snarling at the back of Ga’terra’s head, “Finally done with the sightseeing, are we?”

The officer didn’t respond, his shoulders stiff and his narrow fox snout tilted up into the air.

He simply gestured at the door we now stood in front of.

“Your rooms, esteemed priest. You’ll find everything in order.

Only the best has been prepared.” As the door panel slid up into the carved wall, I glimpsed a sumptuous suite.

Kitan only growled like an angry bear and stalked inside.

As I followed, I paused next to the officer. “A gilded cage is still a cage. A bird will always want to fly free,” I said softly. “Kitan was meant to fly.” I eyed the back of my friend as he paced in front of the nearest window, staring outside with an anguished expression on his fox-like face.

The door panel slid shut behind me the moment I stepped through, and I didn’t need to check it to know it was locked and wouldn’t open for either of us.

Instead, I rushed to Kitan’s side and slid my arms around his middle, holding him tight and giving him the only comfort I could.

This sightseeing tour had shaken him up badly, and I could only surmise it had included places that had been the worst for him—a reminder from that old priest about what they’d do to him here.

When the worst of his shaking subsided, he turned around, shifting back to his skin-form as he did so, his body losing a few inches in height.

Then he wrapped his arms tightly around me and hugged back, pressing his face into the crown of my head.

“I hate how glad I am that you’re here with me, Chloe,” he murmured.

“I don’t think I could get through this without you at my side.

” There was heartbreak in his voice, and I understood what he wasn’t saying: that I was going to die soon, and then his anchor would be gone.

“We’ll take the days as they come,” I murmured against his chest, into the deep V between the open panels of his jumpsuit.

His skin was warm and soft, so I nestled my cheek against it, right between the thick slabs that made up his pectoral muscles.

“Let’s eat something and then get some rest. Tomorrow, I’ll bargain with them: in exchange for my cooperation, they’ll probably happily cure you… ”

That was as good a plan as any right now, so I nodded, and the two of us filled ourselves up on fresh fruits, cold cuts, and still-warm bread.

Afterward, we both, as one, turned to the extravagantly decked-out canopied bed that dominated one side of the room.

It was big, with dozens of colorful pillows and thick, fluffy blankets, but it was still only one bed.

Kitan rubbed the back of his neck, then turned to eye the sofa arrangement.

“I can sleep there, don’t worry.” Then he pointed to a stack of pillows near a window.

“Actually, I’ll shift and sleep there.” He didn’t take long in the bathroom, but it was long enough for me to fret about offering to share the bed.

I wasn’t sure how safe I’d feel sleeping in there alone, but I also wasn’t sure if now was the time to explore my fledgling sexuality.

I knew my attachment to him was extreme—once he’d earned my trust aboard the Vagabond, something about him just made me want to spend all my time with him.

But sharing a bed was more than I’d ever done with a male.

We’d kissed, and I didn’t really know what to label that moment of passion against the wall.

I wanted more of that, and yet… so close to losing everything, I also didn’t want to make it worse for him when I died.

“You okay there, Chloe?” His voice broke me from my intense thoughts, and I shivered, looking up into his gold eyes and making myself smile.

“Yeah, just thinking,” I told him as honestly as I could. He gave a ghost of one of his typical smirks and leaned in, using a single finger to tip up my chin. “Thank you for being here for me.”

I shrugged. “Thank you for finding me.” This barely felt like it was balancing the scales, I wanted to do so much more for him. It felt like my presence helped as much as it made him sad.

He dipped down a little more and brushed his mouth against mine, just a butterfly kiss before he pulled back.

“Sleep well, Chloe,” he told me while I still struggled with my racing heart and the heat that was spiraling from my lips through my body.

He turned his back to me as he walked away, shrugging out of the top part of his jumpsuit so that I had a perfect view of his muscular back.

The jumpsuit dropped to the floor as he started to shift, and I saw even more bare skin.

When he landed on all fours a second later, I was faced with a creature so closely resembling a fox that it was uncanny.

Except, this fox was as big as a husky—if not bigger.

To be honest, I couldn’t recall the exact size of a large dog.

Kitan was bright orange, with black paws and black-tipped ears; his belly and the bottom of his snout were snow-white.

Then he swished his triple tail, and I watched in awe as the three big plumes moved independently—their tips white, the rest a fluffy orange.

His golden eyes looked at me for a moment, and then he gave me a lazy wink as he settled down on the pillows.

I just stared. I’d seen Sune in hybrid form and skin form plenty of times, but never in their completed transformation.

It was utterly uncanny how much like a fox they looked this way, and honestly, the little girl in me just wanted to go up to him and pet him.

Huh. This was Kitan... I thought. He probably wouldn’t even mind!

It was a struggle to make myself turn away and wash up in the bathroom.

When I came back, I lost the fight and simply sank onto the pillows next to his large body and buried my hands into his thick coat.

“You are as soft as you look… wow… I’m sorry, I tried, but I just couldn’t resist.” He lolled his tongue out of his mouth and made a sort of weird, laughing sound I didn’t even know he could make.

“Like you mind,” I told him, and he grinned back.

When I stroked the backs of his ears, he thumped his triple tail on the pillows, and then he nudged the tip of his nose under my chin.

That tickled, so I giggled and moved away, stifling a yawn the next moment.

Immediately, Kitan got to his feet and nudged me toward the bed.

Holding onto the luscious fur on his shoulders, I let him guide me; it felt safe to have such a beast at my side.

Once I curled up under the blankets, Kitan sat down on the floor and rested his huge head at my side, golden eyes gazing at me with some emotion I couldn’t decipher.

For a long moment, I just lay there, trying to sleep while I petted the soft tips of his ears.

Once I surrendered to closing my eyes, though, I felt him move, and fear slivered up my spine.

“No, come back here. Lie on the bed with me. I don’t think I can stand to feel like I’m alone. ”

He made no sound, not even the clicking of his nails as he moved around the bed, but I felt it dip when he jumped on behind me, and then his blazing warmth at my back. I felt instantly safe and finally more able to relax and let go of the thoughts—the fears—about what was coming next.

As I started to drift off to sleep, I remembered something that had been puzzling me all day—not that I had cared enough at the time to ask about it.

“Don’t think I forgot about how everyone’s assuming I’m your mate.

We need to talk about that.” I tried to ignore how the thought made my heartbeat race.

I knew we’d flirted; he’d kissed me, and I had enjoyed every second of it.

We’d only explored the passion between us the day I’d come out of that coma, and he’d been overjoyed I was better, hadn’t he?

Man, I sucked at this stuff. Somehow, watching the entertainment feeds didn’t prepare you for the real thing.

Kitan shifted his large body behind me, placing his head down on my hip so that, in the dark of the room, I could see his golden eyes glimmer.

One eye blinked closed in a quick wink, which I took to mean he’d heard and understood me.

Then he closed them both completely and relaxed, and I knew I had to do the same.

I was surprised that, it was me who seemed anxious and worried when he seemed so calm.

All the same, I fell asleep far quicker than I expected.