“Light blade Stolin! Young Prime Balt told you to make sure they don’t flee from the ba—” A jostling motion turns the words into a grunt. The sharp, unfamiliar voice is angry, though, so I bury myself closer to Selk even as I’m already plastered to his chest. The pain from my back has faded into a warm numbness similar to my hot showers. Except my head doesn’t feel properly attached to my body anymore and my arms don’t respond, hanging limply against Selk. I want to ask where he’s taking me but my mouth is full of shirt and beneath that, muscle. *What?* Why am I still biting him? I release the meat of his chest and blink. He peers down at me with his blurry face and his hazy frown still too perfect to be anything but Thur.
“Hey, we have orders!” the voice shouts.
I don’t want the males around me to be angry. It makes my skin itch. It makes my eyes water. It hurts me. Scares me. I don’t feel safe. Do I ever feel safe? I choke off the sound I want to make by biting down on Selk’s collarbone next. I wiggle a little, trying to get closer to his neck. It helps enough to subdue the panic.
Selk hums softly, adjusting me a little so he can run a hand down the back of my head. “It’s all right,” he murmurs, his distinctive voice sounding like a purr. That helps even more. “Don’t worry about Varin. He won’t touch a hair on your head. You believe me, don’t you? Believe that I would *snap Varin’s fucking hand if he tries to pull you from my arms,* don’t you?” The tail end of that shout isn’t meant for me. For some reason his sharp words don’t make me upset, they make me warm. I nuzzle the bottom of his jaw with my nose, clinging tighter around his back.
His cool skin is heaven against my sweaty face. When did I start sweating hard enough to make my shirt stick? It’s practically a second skin, melted to my back like— my brain stalls as I remember just what happened to my back. Nope, not sweat. And very much bad news if the material is soaked through like this.
“No, we have *fucking* orders, Rossin! Get the hell off me; I don’t need help standing up, you bastard. Stolin’s in the wrong here.”
Each word makes me jump causing me to tuck my legs up higher on Selk’s waist. Can I burrow under Thur skin? Seems like I’ll try anyway.
“Stars, why’s she making that sound? Humans can’t—” Someone hisses and stumbles and I get the impression Selk is having a silent conversation over my head. But instead of replying to who I assume is Varin, he whispers to me, “Go on and let go for me, doll. Can you do that? Soften those little sounds… Can you relax for me? He didn’t mean to yell.”
When did I start clawing his back? Why do I feel like I can’t catch my breath? What’s that awful whining sound? Selk sighs sharply at the next high-pitched sound. “Why do you humans do this to yourselves? Whoever is creating these hormones is going to fry your system.”
What does a hormone have to do with whatever’s happening to me? Shivering, I bite down harder on his collarbone.
“Hey, wait a minute, Stolin, you’re not allowed to—” The voice cuts off as Selk shoves something out of the way. “Fuck out of the way, Varin,” he snaps, effortlessly throwing open what sounds like hinges behind me. “Or when I put her down I’ll come back and *do worse to you*.”
The male he shoved mutters something, but I feel his presence back away. Selk’s arms are careful not to rub against my back as he brushes everywhere else like he wants to remove the heat suddenly descending over me. The cool palm pressing my cheek reminds me I should be paying more attention to our surroundings, but I’m exhausted and sweaty, and my feet sting so badly they’re starting to burn.
But all of the pain is fleeting, leaving so much heat and moisture behind I feel miserable. Wild. My lips and teeth find the skin just under his jaw and he makes a low sound when I start to nibble.
Gravity tilts for a second before we slide into a warm, dark interior. A hoverscor, I’d guess from what I can glimpse from over Selk’s tense shoulder. Then his sharp, spicy scent seems to thicken and my eyes roll.
“Aren’t you supposed to be guarding the back door… why is there a little moon in your lap?” A familiar, flat voice. Emer. “What do you think you’re doing Selk? Give her to me.”
A door slams shut, the hoverscor becoming stifling with tension.
“No can do,” Selk groans, rolling against the headrest. “She’s latched onto my n-neck.” His rough swallow only makes me clamp harder.
The spicy, luxurious scents hit me first. They filter through Selk’s which is slowly taking over my mind. Maybe that’s why my body doesn’t lock up knowing I’m outnumbered.
Logic tries to say I don’t know these males at all—no more than strangers who’ve hurt me and paid me and triggered new cravings I shouldn’t want… I bury my nose deeper into the crook of Selk’s neck and swallow his scent down. I need it. I bite harder until his thick skin starts to hurt my teeth.
He curses, pinching his sharp fingers into the meet of my thighs. Then— “We need to go to the bond house.”
“Not for all the stars are we bringing her back home. Nox would kill you both and Ryverin would help him.”
My shoulders curl inward at the threat, and the chest below me rumbles.
“Those details aren’t as important as this—” Selk growls, slowly peeling his jacket away. My hands curl into his biceps. He feels so solid beneath me, so blessedly cold and strong that I can’t help rocking forward. I need… need…
A sharp inhale— “What happened to her back?”
“C—correct, they haven’t explicitly denied us entry, but they haven’t opened the doors,” a cold voice says. I recognize Nox immediately. I can’t tell who he’s talking to but the sound of his conversation buzzes in the background.
Warm hands and a deep, smoky scent hit me at the same time. “Lift her shirt, Emer, I didn’t have time to inspect it,” Selk insists. When warm fingers start to unstick the bloody mess, I flinch into a deeper bite until something tart and cool slips between my teeth. The pathetic sounds roll out of me but they don’t stop Emer from exposing my torn flesh.
The problem is, it doesn’t just hurt. It burns. Heat and sweat and what has to be delirium making a mess of me.
“Little Omega, you have to stop doing that or this is going to get a lot messier, and *quickly*,” Selk murmurs to me, brushing his hands over the backs of my thighs before he grips hard. I want that. More of that. The sensation jolts me enough that my lips pop off his neck. When had I started sucking the skin? My head is fuzzy. I roll my tongue over my teeth and swipe away the tart sweetness.
“What did you just call her?” Emer asks, pressing hot wounds that no longer hurt. My body lists to the right side, then the left. I have no idea how I don’t fall. Oh that’s right, because I’ve curled my arms around Selkin’s neck so I can see his silver eyes. His hard-pressed lips. I tip up toward the wetness I’ll find between his lips.
“Yes—As his superior, I have the right to discipline direct obstinance. Would you rather I be lenient and have his family think we are theirs to fuck with?” Nox barks and I jump.
Selkin grits his teeth and the gemstones glimmer. “Shit. You heard what I called her. Don’t tell me you don’t feel that influence,” Selk’s panting now, squirming underneath me with wild, churning eyes. “You have to take her.”
“What?” Emer laughs. “Can’t hold one human woman?”
My tongue darts out—
“Take her Emerdis!” Selkin begs and my body is quickly lifted from the lovely cool skin. Before I have a chance to react, I’m wrapped around an impossible broad torso and settled onto thick thighs. Bright green eyes lock onto mine as one of Emer’s hands settles on my hip and the other curls around my bicep.
Selk exhales sharply. “This isn’t real, idiot. Probably an illegal hormone dose. Strong. We have to get her to the bond house until it wears off.”
I can’t bring myself to care about what they’re discussing because it’s too hot. I feel like I’m melting from the inside.
Emer tsks, “Be still human. As if Lithe wasn’t enough?” He studies me closely, watching as I shift and gasp from the heat. Sweat beads form everywhere and my vision is really starting to blur. “We can’t take her home, Selk.”
“I understand. I’ll call with an update in the morning—” Then, something slides away and Nox growls.
“Please,” I beg, rocking forward. “Please Emer.” The green in his eyes turns electric as he leans forward. Material creaks just before a terrible grip yanks me away but I won’t go. My fingers and thighs latch onto Emer’s big body, planting me firmly over him. Someone jerks my head back by my hair. Above me, Nox is surrounded by a cloud of onyx, snarling into my face. “Let go of my bond mate, human or you won’t like how I remove you.”
My mouth opens, as the fiery pain licks across my back. I think I’m going to scream but instead a high-pitched moan full of pain emerges and the world goes black.