Wild Magic Two: The Dark of the Sun- a M/M shifter fantasy romance

22--Letting Yourself Feel

CAIN—

It was nearly midnight when I dragged myself up from Riece's body, leaving him in a sprawled heap with a near-silent chuckle. His skin was shiny with sweat, but his breaths were deep and full, asleep before my spines had gone down.

I couldn't even count the times I had come inside of him at that point. Even as a teenager, I had never been so ready to go again, and again, and again, but Riece brought me there until I almost feared each orgasm as it built.

My stomach grumbling from lack of sustenance, I groaned as I realized the last time I had seen anyone was when Lady Sera brought our breakfast. No one had come around for lunch, or dinner.

Or, they had, but they had heard us mating like animals and left without entering.

I would have been embarrassed if I cared to feel embarrassment, but that changed when I made my way into the small kitchen that annexed the barracks. I could feel the blush heat up my cheeks and the back of my neck as I took one foot into the room.

Almost seeming to lie in wait for me were Robert, Lhiam, and Dasan. Each looked me up and down, their emotions varied. I knew I likely looked a mess, smelling of cum and sweat, my shirt hanging down because I hadn't bothered to tie it, my breeches unlaced, my feet bare. My hair stuck up in all directions from Riece's fingers grabbing it as he screamed, and there were obvious scratch marks and love bites all up and down my neck and chest, visible for my untied shirt.

Lhiam looked amused, but hesitant, and I understood the tenuous position he was in. Not only was he friends with both me and Riece, but Riece had power over Lhiam's life. His family, his home, his very livelihood. It all rested in Riece's hands. So if things were to go wrong between Riece and I, it would be Lhiam taking the brunt of any anger on Riece's part.

I wanted to reassure him that Riece wasn't the kind of man to pettily take a broken relationship out on those around him, but I kept silent. Lhiam knew that, but there was worry there still. There had to be. It was a heady kind of power Riece held.

Surprisingly, Robert didn't seemed disgusted by my display of having obviously been fucking a man for the last 12 hours. I would think he would, since he was so adamant about his lack of attraction towards men, and his inability to understand how any man could feel that way. Instead, he watched me with curiosity and amusement, and I prepared myself for the ribbing he was sure to dole out.

It wasn't until I met Dasan's eyes that I wanted to step back, run out of the keep, and never return.

He watched me with amused affection, and pride.

As if I had done something worthy of that pride. I had done nothing but give in to a temptation many would have been unable to deny.

"We're not gettin' married, Dasan," I grumbled, moving over to the cold storage and gathering the supplies for a simple late night dinner for me and Riece.

"Maybe not," Dasan said with a chuckle as Lhiam and Robert snorted almost in unison. Then Dasan was right near me, and spoke so only I could hear. "But you're lettin' yourself feel."

I tried to keep myself from fumbling at the words, but I wholly failed, and with a huff of amusement, Dasan began helping me cut fresh meats, cheeses, and pull together a few grapes to complete the meal.

As we worked, Dasan talked to Robert and Lhiam about the extra security measures they were taking around the keep since the attack on the Emperor only a few hours travel outside its walls— while still behind the Teren border. I mostly ignored the conversation, intent on getting back to my mate, but I was drawn back when their conversation turned.

"He won't say a word," Robert lamented, his voice nasally with annoyance. "He just watches me. He only ever said a handful of words to me: 'mate,' 'mine,' that kinda thing; and now he won't say anything. He barely even shifts to human."

I turned and faced Robert, only then noticing the bobcat at the man's feet. I was shocked at my own lack of awareness of my surroundings. It seemed my mind was so filled with thoughts of Riece, and getting back to him, that I hadn't even noticed another shifter in the same room as me.

I moved forward, Dasan, Lhiam, and Robert eyeing me almost warily.

"What's your name, kid?" I asked in Akari, wondering if the boy just didn't understand Robert asking him his name. When the bobcat met my eyes but then huffed and curled up tighter around Robert's boots, I grunted in annoyance.

"Do you speak El'kahrian then?" I asked in El'kahrian, the language of Akar's neighbor. But those words didn't even make the cat twitch his ears at me.

"If you don't talk to us and tell us who you are, you can't stay," I hissed in annoyance, switching back to Common— the language of We'ren. "We'll take you from your mate."

With a furious growl, the cat jumped to his feet, his spine bowed as he hissed at me, baring his fangs, then shifted. A man of maybe 20 stood naked, his skin deeply tanned, but not dark like mine. I could see he had Akaran blood, but there was definitely either some El'kahrian, or another lighter skinned race in his parentage. His hair was auburn-gold, and curled in messy loops around his head, falling into his eyes. His eyes were slitted like his cat's, and many different, swirling colors, neither truly matching. They were striking in a way that had me taking a deep breath as I met them with my own.

The boy was likely older than I initially thought, because he was starved and malnourished. And absolutely tiny. I had always thought Edon was a small man, but this boy was nearly stunted. He was maybe an inch or two over five feet tall, and his rib and chest bones poked through his skin. His face would be round and cherubic if it wasn't so sharp and bony. He was probably 90 pounds soaking wet. If that.

"Mate!" he hissed in Common, baring sharp fangs as he feinted a lunge at me before holding his arms out to protect a surprised, bemused Robert. "Mine! Robert mine!"

"So you understand Common. Good. What's your name, kid? Where are you from?"

"I don't think he has one," Robert cut in, flinching when I turned my glare on him. "I sorta gave him the name Sami. He seemed to like it."

The boy shifted on his feet, looking as if he was calming a bit, but still not answering. He looked back at Robert, then to me, before he fell back from his protective, aggressive stance and shook his head as if throwing something off.

"Sami," he said, shaking his head again and stepping back. "Sami. Like it."

I chuckled as I moved back to the tray I had gathered for me and Riece. As I left the room, I heard Sami growl and hiss out his name again.

"Sami. Like it. Mine. My name."

***** Meet Sami :) Sami and Robert are the next book in the series. Their story is titled The Shade of the Earth and I'm currently working on it. If you'd like to know more, I've got a few things about it (including character inspiration pics) on my blog :):) *****