Page 20 of Tethered Souls

Or if women should just keep to the bedroom…

Or the woods…

Gods, I wonder if I can ask him to wear a mask next time. Or if he’ll refuse so I know it’shimchasing me.

Shuddering, I draw in a ragged breath.

Varius pulls out of me, and a rush of warmth flows down my left thigh. My ass in the air, I’m vaguely aware of the head of his cock rubbing up my leg, scooping up his cum and pushing it back in.

I shudder.

My ass spasms around his tip.

And then I freeze.

Suddenly remembering Dayne and Khalid are standing right there.

Oh gods!

I jerk my head up or try to, but his hand is still firmly on my back.

“How did you find us?” Varius demands, and the blood rushes from my face as my tattoo on my left hip tingles.

Panic flooding me, I shout, “He’s gay!” I try to wiggle away from Varius, but his hand might as well be a damn boulder.

“Are you saying he used gaydar?” he asks deadpanned.

“I’msayingyou have nothing to be jealous of because he’sgay,” I stress, my heart pounding in my throat. The urge to attack him with my fire makes my fingers burn. Because there’s no fucking way he’s going to like that I’m practically microchipped by another man.

“If I was jealous, I would cut off his erection and feed it to him,” he says, a monotone statement of pure fact. “But as you can see, he still has it.”

“I can’tseeanything because you’re pinning my head to the ground!” Panic rising, knowing damn well Dayne can’t take Khalid, I try to think of something else to say. “And all this stress isn’t good for making babies!” I wince, but the words are already in the air. The pressure on my back eases, and I don’t care if I said something so utterly stupid. It got me free. And now I’m up and on my feet, standing in front of Dayne, trying to figure out how the hel I’m going to keep these two neanderthals from hurting him.

We could take Varius given his lack of magic, but Dayne and I still can’t take Khalid. And Khalid doesn’t even have a blade to my friend’s throat. He is just using one to carve into an apple and eating slices off it, and that shouldn’t be scarier than seeing his twelve-inch hunting knife against my best friend’s neck, but dear gods, it is. Khalid doesn’t even look on edge. He looks relaxed. And hungry. And fucking confident that he can move faster than either of us. Strike harder. More deadlier. Chills run down my spine.

“How did you find us?” Varius repeats.

“I texted him,” I blurt as I turn to face him. The strike is going to come from Khalid, but the order isn’t. I need to get Varius to stop beating his chest like a gorilla just because I called someone else’s name… I clear my throat.

“You gave him our exact coordinates?” He doesn’t say it like he doesn’t believe me, but only an idiot would. I have no idea where we even are.

“There’s an app on my phone,” I try next, and it’s not a lie. An app can also be deleted; the only way to stop Dayne from being able to find me is by killing him.

Varius’ eyes finally dip to mine. “Lie to me again, Micha,” he says softly, “and I won’t let you come for the next week.”

I snort. “That’s not going to scare –” My words die at the promise in his eyes. I shift on my feet, trying to convince myself that I have not become addicted to his dick in only a few hours.

Dayne is my ride or die. I’d venture into Hel’s Niflhel or Hades’ Underworld to get him back. I sure as hel would stand up to my libido. I made it twenty-seven years without dick. I can deal with another week.

“Micha,” Dayne says in a secret language we made up. “It’s dangerous to lie to someone as paranoid as him.”

By the narrowing of Varius’ dark eyes, talking like this is dangerous. He could kill Dayne right here, right now, and no one would care but me. And even that wouldn’t matter because Father sold me. Sold mywomb.Varius could cut off my arms and legs or knock me into a coma or just bind me to a bed for the rest of my life. He doesn’t want a wife. He wants a body to breed.

He owns me. Every part of me.

I have never felt so powerless.

So angry.