Page 18 of Shadow Master
We broke apart, breathless and smiling.
His eyes darkened with desire. “I’ve wanted do that for long time,” he said. “Every time wanker Hyde knock you back. Every time Brady stare at you when you didn’t realize it. I wanted tell you how I felt, but we friends and there Thomas … I loved him. He never liked to share.”
“Do you?” I studied him. “Could you share me with Brady and Kash?”
His smile was wry. “I know you love me. I know you love them too. That’s enough for me.”
I kissed his nose and pulled back. “Good. Now, we need to see about getting you some armor that fits. I can’t have everyone ogling your bits when we go into the mists.”
He looked down at his crotch. “I guess the change has its upside.”
“There is hope, you know? Henrich told me the weavers were looking for a way to reverse this. Once we have things under control, once the threat in the mortal world is contained, we can look into it.”
His eyes widened. “I could be me again?”
“It’s a possibility, but I don’t want you to get your hopes up, okay?”
He sighed. “I’m not an idiot.”
I stood and held out my hand to him. “Let’s grab some armor and see if we can modify it at the forge, eh?”
He took my hand but stood on his own steam.
“I guess it’s the only banging I’ll be doing for a while.”
I stared at him in horror. Did he mean what I thought he meant?
“What?” His brows shot up. “I’d fucking tear you in two like this.”
We stared at each other for a long beat, and then his mouth twitched. Laughter bubbled up my throat, and then we were both laughing.
Eight
The tent was cozy, and the blankets that Kash had laid down cushioned my body. When had I slept last? Oh, yes, in Brady’s arms, the night before the trial. I curled onto my side and closed my eyes, ignoring the rumble in my stomach and the ache in my gums.
I needed to feed, but the thought of feeding on anyone but Brady or Hyde made me feel sick. Funny how it wouldn’t have bothered me a few months back. How the thought of using bagged blood would have made me laugh, but now… Now, I’d prefer the bagged stuff to the vein if Brady or Hyde weren’t available. Problem was, the bagged blood had gone up in the explosion.
It was the vein or nothing.
I’d have to feed soon. There was no way around it.
The soft sound of the zipper of the tent going up alerted me to Kash’s arrival. He climbed inside and zipped up the entrance. He’d changed out of his armor and, from the scent of him, washed too. He must have showered at the barracks before donning armor to come back up here.
We had a box of joggers and shirts in the forge for trainees to change into if needed. The ones he’d picked were too loose on his hips. He crawled onto the blankets and lay beside me.
“Fuck, I have no idea how you got through cadet training,” he said.
I rolled to face him and studied his aquiline profile. “I guess I’m just stronger than you.”
His blood pulsed faster through his veins at my proximity, and the nightblood inside me sat up and took notice.
His expression sobered. “Indigo? Your eyes … Your pupils are huge.”
I lowered my lashes. “It’s nothing. Just a side effect of hunger.”
His mouth parted in comprehension. “You need blood?”
“I’ll be fine.”
