Page 2 of Urn My Love

Toppling forward, I braced for an impact that never came, thanks to the strong arm that looped around my waist. The man easily lifted me into his arms and carried me to the bathroom.

He sat on the floor beside the toilet with a gracefulness I found surprising considering his hulking size, and positioned my quivering body on his lap so I could expel the contents of my stomach. As the room spun, and my muscles continued to quake, the stranger held my hair, murmuring soft sounds of pity.

It was humiliating.

He was seeing me at the lowest point I’d been in since tumbling onto this earth. And although he’d made his stance on mates crystal clear, I hated that I still longed for him. Not for his body, because at that moment the last thing I wanted was sex, but for the intimacy of having a life companion who loved me during the highs and lows.

When I finished emptying my stomach, I sat motionless on his lap, wishing I could pull a Ryls and die. I’d go straight to the afterlife, but unlike Ryls, I’d stay there so I’d never have to face him again.

“Thank you for your help,” I whispered, trying to keep my voice from betraying how horribly vulnerable I felt in that moment. “You can go now.”

I was the queen of the afterlife. This wasn’t a position I was used to being in.

The man gave a low laugh, making no move to leave. He continued cradling me in his arms, gently raking his fingers through my tangled blue hair.

Calling up every scrap of dignity I could muster, I slowly pushed to my feet and staggered to the sink to wash my face and brush my teeth.

The man remained seated on the floor, and although I refused to look at him, I felt his gaze burning my back.

I’d nearly finished when another wave of dizziness swamped me, and my legs buckled. In the blink of an eye, his hands were on my waist, steadying me. I sucked in a breath, stunned that a man built like a grizzly bear could move with the speed of a cheetah… or a striking viper.

Bending forward, I rinsed my mouth and toothbrush, trying to ignore the way my backside pressed against him, or the way the mid-thigh silk gown was riding up. When I straightened, our eyes met, and for several heartbeats, neither of us spoke as we studied each other’s reflections.

The man in the mirror seemed somehow less intimidating and cold than the man I’d met outside, and I couldn’t stop myself from asking, “What’s your name?”

His fingers flexed on my hips, and I didn’t think he’d even noticed the way his thumbs were rubbing gentle circles on my gown. He took so long to answer, I thought he’d decided against sharing even that part of himself with me.

“August.” His jaw clenched, then he asked, “And yours?”

“Iolani.”

In the mirror, one dark eyebrow rose. “That’s a Hawaiian name, isn’t it? Meaning royal hawk?”

I couldn’t hide my shock and twisted around to face him. “How did you know the meaning of my name? I’ve never met anyone who knew.”

“Languages have always fascinated me, and I took an interest in ‘Olelo Hawai‘i a couple of decades ago.” His eyes drifted to my lips and darkened.

Was he thinking about kissing me? Did I want him to?

Yes.

No.

Maybe.

If he truly didn’t want me, then I didn’t want to accept his touch. But I was finding the pull between us hard to resist, and my curiosity over how it would feel to have his lips against mine was overwhelming.

I focused on the one thing that had always helped to ground me. Duty.

Azurea was on earth, and the veil was unstable between our worlds. I had work to do. According to Ryls and her mates, a mate could help me grow stronger so I could fix things before the balance between worlds was damaged forever.

I was willing to give my all to a relationship, but I couldn’t sacrifice valuable time on a fling. Even if I was dying of curiosity to know what could feel so good, that Ryls and her mates were apparently willing to give up countless nights of sleep to indulge in it. Earplugs had become my best friend since we’d arrived on earth.

Ignoring the delicious heat arching between our bodies, and how much I wanted to taste his lips, I wiggled out from between his body and the sink. With as much decorum as I could muster, I made my way to the small desk in the room’s corner and flipped open the laptop Jett had brought me the first week I’d been on earth.

He’d spent most of the day teaching me how to use it, and while he didn’t explicitly say it, I understood it was his way of showing gratitude for helping return Ryls to them—even though it had come with severe consequences for me. I hadn’t wanted to bother Ryls while she was resting and spending time with her mates, so being able to binge watch various shows had helped to pass the time. It also helped me familiarize myself with various human customs and learn some slang, so I could attempt to blend in more while on Earth.

I typed the name of the lodge into the search bar and waited impatiently for the results to load.

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