Page 28 of Essa

Adam can say all day long we're only doing this to help Essa, but something deep inside me wants this reassurance to be claimed and marked and for everyone to know I'm cared for. Adam will always protect me, and Essa wants to protect us both. She can, too.

That's what I like the most about this whole thing. I want the people closest to me to keep me safe, to make sure no one recaptures me or forces me into more experiments. Essa's the safest creature I've ever been around, and that's saying something since I know Adam would lay down his life to keep me safe.

"I wish to be yours," I tell her, the words heavy with lust as I say them.

I knew this would be an intimate moment, and Essa and I haven't done anything besides touch Adam together. Thisbinding that's about to happen, though? It's getting me all kinds of worked up, which is unfortunate since there's nothing to be done about it yet. We don't have long until Ixor and his crew are here to get us to Haven III.

Essa kneels in front of me, her hand still in my hair as she brings her face closer to mine. She studies my face, and I offer her as much openness as I can in my expression. It's fast and irrational, but I want this with or without needing to go to Haven III to save her sister. It just sped up the process of getting Adam to accept it, too.

"You will be mine," she says, her hand leaving my hair so she can grab the collar from my hands.

She's shaking as she loops it around my neck, her fingers tracing over some of the puckered white scars from the slave collar. Her pupils constrict into tiny slits, so I raise my hands to cover hers, hoping to help ease some of her fury at what was done to us. Her eyes soften as she buckles the collar around my neck, checking to make sure it's not too tight. She twines the slim chain around her hand and tugs on it, pulling me forward so I fall to my hands, my face close to hers as amusement sparkles in her eyes.

"You will tell me who gave you your scars, and you will allow me to right the wrongs done to you," she says with a smile, her words sincere.

She's not leaving room for any argument. She's telling me what's going to happen, and it has me aching hard in my pants. Not to mention how I pulse every time her fangs flash or her tongue slides around them to whisk away excess venom. She wants to bite me, take care of me, and hurt anyone who ever hurt me. I don't think I could ask for anything better. No, I could, and it's about to happen.

Essa helps me to my feet and clips the end of the chain of my collar to a loop on her belt. According to everything we read,we'll only need to be leashed when Essa wants it and to keep us safe on Haven III. She'll probably have us leashed the whole time to make sure everyone knows we're claimed. Right now, I think she just likes knowing that I'm hers, which is fine.

I move around behind her, noticing that the chain gives me about six feet of distance from her. She frowns at the distance as she tugs me closer, looping the chain around until she's happy with me standing only a foot away and refastening it to her belt. I smile at her, needing me to be close, and then move my attention to Adam, who's watching us with narrowed eyes and thin lips. Oh, he's mad.

Essa watches him for long moments, her tail firmly wrapped around my ankle, her fingers playing with the chain falling from her belt and linking us together. She tilts her head to the side when Adam's nostrils flare, his lips pulling back in a snarl.

"We're not fighting," Essa says, calm like she knows exactly how to tame Adam when he's all snarly and angry. Maybe she does, which would be amazing since the only way I know to get him to calm down is to suck his dick.

"We could fight," Adam says, his fingers twitching by his sides, curling into fists the longer he stares at us.

"Do you fight all the females you're attracted to, or is it just me?"

"You must be special," Adam admits with a long exhale.

His eyes close, and he squeezes the collar so tight his knuckles turn white. When he opens his eyes again, he's resigned himself to what he needs to do. His throat bobs with a thick swallow as he lowers himself to his knees.

Essa wastes no time closing the distance between them, and I match her pace, not wanting my leash to tighten and make her hesitate in offering comfort to Adam during this difficult moment. Her fingers splay over his dark hair, scraping at the back of his neck since she can't pull on his hair like she did forme. Adam's eyes close at the sensation, but his heartbeat calms. His breathing grows heavier instead of the rapid in and out he tried to make appear normal. She's good for him, even if he hates admitting it to himself.

"What do you wish of me?" Essa asks, her voice soft and comforting, the same tone she uses when he's drugged up and she's being sweet to him.

He melts into her touch, and if it were just the two of them and Adam could get out of his head, I'm sure he'd be whimpering for her like he does when her venom is coursing through his veins.

Adam opens his eyes, dark and burning, and yearning for Essa. I wish I could show him what he looks like when he looks at her because maybe he'd stop with the whole front of not being as attached as he is. No one who sees him looking at her would ever think he's not infatuated, maybe even working on falling in love with her.

"I wish to be yours," Adam whispers, the words so quiet I don't hear them. I just feel the way his emotions lift, the joy that zips through his body as the words are released into the world.

Essa kneels and I'm left standing over them, watching as she places her hands on the collar clenched in Adam's fist. She doesn't pry it from his fingers or drop his eyes as she holds him. His jaw works back and forth as he swallows another lump in his throat.

"You will be mine, Adam," Essa murmurs as she wraps her fingers around the collar and gives it a soft tug.

Adam releases the collar, even if the movements are jerky, and his lips pull back in another snarl. He bares his teeth at Essa, his emotions spiking hard with fear.

She keeps the collar in her hands, though, lowered between them as she tries to calm him. Her fingers play over his dark hair, her lips moving close to his ear to whisper something to him that I'm not privy to. I watch them together, watch Adam'sfeatures soften, listen as his heartbeat slows again and his emotions level out.

Essa moves her hand in his hair to around his neck, placing soft touches along his scars like she did for me. She doesn't tell Adam he'll tell her who did it to him because she's already made that promise to him. She made it the first day she met us, and I don't think she's a female to break her word.

"If you want it off, you may take it off," Essa says as she raises the collar to his throat and holds it in place. She doesn't start working on the buckles. She holds it there to let Adam feel it against his neck. "You wear this only when you can. If anyone ever tells you differently, you tell them they can discuss it with me."

Adam nods, his nostrils flaring as the buckle clinks. Essa fiddles with it, not doing anything but showing Adam that it's there. When he doesn't object, she pushes the leather through the buckle and secures it around Adam's neck. She checks for tightness and then keeps her hands on his throat as she searches his face for any signs of discomfort.

"Do you wish to wear this now?" she asks, moving one hand to the front of the collar, where the thin silver chain dangles.

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