Page 30 of Needed in the Night
My chest heaved with ragged breaths edged with growls.My mate. My mate. My mate. The words became a kind of song, or prayer.
I would give anything to have her in my arms now, to see my cum streaming down her thighs, to hear her panting and whimpering against my chest. What sweeter sound could there be? What more enjoyable sensation than her fluttering around my cocks, knowing it was I who had brought her so much pleasure? I could not imagine anything better.
With my desire sated, my hearts filled with quiet contentment. My limbs relaxed, now heavy with tiredness, and at last I felt as if I would be able to sleep.
My fantasy morphed again: this time, to Isla tucked safely against my side, drowsy and satisfied, her head on my chest and her hand in mine. Yes, that was a good vision too—as gratifying as the images of bringing her to release again and again, but in a different way.
This was not the first time I had resorted to easing myyearning the only way I could, but it was the first time I had done so with hands that had held Isla’s hours earlier. Thanks to our closeness after her feigned stumble, my skin and clothing still carried traces of her scent.
My thoughts went to our stolen moments in the sampling room.You have some plan to get us out of here?Isla had asked, her eyes wide and hopeful.
I might have thought she meant herself and Brae if not for the way her hand had squeezed my arm. Somehow, despite the necessary distance caused by Nubo’s surveillance, to Isla we had become anus.
I was alone tonight, but I had more reason to hope than ever before. I had given her my word that we would not always be under Nubo’s thumb. Now I must make a plan to free us. Everything good in my life depended on that.
Thanks to my extended work hours tonight and the generosity of late-night bar patrons, I had made a significant deposit into my savings at the end of my shift. So Nubo’s plot to separate Isla from me had instead helped fund our future.
With my heartache eased and need sated, I drifted in the warmth of my basking stone and dreams of Isla.
CHAPTER 11
MIKAS
I expectedNubo to confront me about the market trip, demanding answers about the time Isla and I had spent out of sight of the spy he had sent to watch us, but he did not. In fact, I saw very little of him for the next two days. He emerged only to meet with a few new vendors and bark orders at me about inconsequential things like how I had rearranged the shelves behind the bar to feature recent additions to our beverage offerings.
Rather than relieve my worry, my uneasiness and need to protect Isla grew by the hour. Day and night, my spines prickled and my skin itched as if a thousand Muravii fang beetle larva were crawling over me. Nothing lessened my tension—no drink, no music, not even my basking stone. I had to choke down food. No matter what I tried to eat, it tasted like dust.
Only when I was behind the bar and Isla was onstage or sitting on her chair across from me were my hours tolerable. I spoke to her kindly and served her jampas and brandy as always, but I felt certain she saw my hands tremble sometimes.She kept up the ruse too that nothing had changed between us and smiled when we spoke, but worry lurked in her violet gaze.
At night, alone in my apartment with Isla out of my sight, my chest felt tight and I struggled to breathe.
The mere thought of losing Isla filled me with rage and threatened to unleash something dreadful and monstrous within myself I had glimpsed only a handful of times in my life, on the battlefield and in my darkest dreams.
I did not want Isla to see that part of me. I could withstand anything else from her, even disappointment or anger, though my stomach churned at the prospect. But if she ever looked on me with fear, I did not think my hearts could take it.
Other than Nubo’s conspicuous and very sudden preference for staying in his office, I had not seen or heard anything that led me to think danger was imminent, but every fiber of my being rang out like bells.
I did not know what had triggered my most primal instincts, but something had. Perhaps Nubo had finally satisfied himself about Isla’s background, or some other danger lurked just out of sight. Regardless of the reason, I must get us awaynow, somehow.
Isla did not yet know the depths of my love and devotion, but she did want us to get away from Nubo. She had said so, or she had very nearly said so. Now instead of merely dream, I could plan.
The safest choice would be to leave Fortusia. To do that, we would have to get from Zaa’ga to one of the city’s spaceports and aboard an off-planet cruiser, which would be very difficult given Nubo’s surveillance. For extra security, we would also need new identities.
Using a secure transmission via my wristcomm, I contacted an old friend from my Corps days to begin that process. The price of two completely new identities so well-crafted theywould pass scrutiny was exorbitant, but the value outweighed the cost—at least, to me. I considered it an investment.
Isla loved Fortusia, as did I. My hearts ached at the prospect of leaving, even if Isla were with me. But there were many beautiful worlds in Alliance space and more beyond its borders. Surely we could find another planet that would fill our hearts with as much joy as this one. It was only a matter of choosing a destination.
On the third day since the market trip, about a half hour before I planned to leave my apartment for my shift, something tapped on my window. I jumped to my feet from my sofa, where I had been trying unsuccessfully to focus on reading about Engareni perfumes, and snarled, my spines flaring.
A shadowy winged form perched on the tiny ledge. Sunlight glinted on a pair of large eyes—the only part of the creature that was more than a silhouette.
I strode to the window. “Brae?” The window was soundproof, but he should be able to read my lips.
The shadowbat balanced on one clawed foot and raised the other to give me a little wave. Why was he at my window? Had something happened to Isla? My never-ending uneasiness turned to dread.
I used my wristcomm to open the window. Once Brae slipped inside, I closed it again.
Still in his shadow form, he flew through my entire apartment—living area, kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom, as if checking to make sure I was alone—and then landed on the back of my sofa. He turned solid then, and from black and gray to bright blue and purple.
