Page 78 of The Stone Initiation
I’d dry humped Serath.
Or wet humped him, whatever. I’d climbed all over him, grabbed his hair and ridden him till I came.
Stop thinking about it dammit.
But the flashback kept hitting me as Sharniza flew me back to dorms and guilt followed hot on its heels, because Levi…
Palia was right, this mate bond was too strong. I was glad I’d broken up with Levi before coming here, because if I hadn’t, there was no way I’d be able to look myself in the mirror right now.
“Are you sure you’re all right,” Sharniza asked for the fifth time.
“I’m sure. I’m fine. Is Touron okay?”
“He’ll live, but you know what this means?”
“What?”
“It means that Serath was peeping in on you,” she growls. “Typical gargoyle male in heat, all possessive and irrational. They think with their cocks.”
His cock was perfect. Argh, shut up brain. “I’m good. We sorted it out. I just want to make sure Touron’s all right.”
“He’s fine, trust me. But he’s still not recovered from the siphoning, so I told him to hang back while I went looking for you.”
If she’d found me sooner… My face grew hot again.
She swooped toward the ledge outside my window and landed carefully with me. “Wait…How exactly did you sort it out?” She locked gazes with me, her hazel eyes bright in her face as she lowered me to my feet. “You reek of coitus, you know. Please tell me you didn’t.”
Coitus? Who says that? “We didn’t…We just…I don’t want to talk about it.” I turned to the room, but she gently gripped my arm to stall me.
“Did he force himself on you?” she asked softly.
“Force himself?” Touron appeared at the window looking disheveled. His hair was wet, eyes bright. “What the fuck? I should have come with you. I should have—”
“You were still too weak,” Sharniza snapped. “Cam, what happened?”
“He didn’t force himself on me,” I glared at her indignant. “He would never.” I wasn’t sure how I knew that, I just…did.
“A fated mating brings on a heat,” Sharniza said. “And a Gargoyle male in the heat of a fated mating can lose themselves to the beast completely. The primal nature is powerful and it takes what it needs. Tonight could have ended very differently.”
Orix’s and Selas’s reactions made more sense now. But Serath had controlled himself. Pulled himself back and been…gentle. That must have taken serious willpower, and me? I’d been all over him, pushing his boundaries and playing with the beast.
“He controlled himself, and he controlled me too.” I stepped through the window and into the room. “Palia was right. This thing…it’s strong. But we think we have a solution. We’re going to be speaking regularly on the phone to try and….diffuse it.”
“There are no phones here,” Touron said.
“I guess they’ll get me one. I don’t know, but tonight, after we…after we spent some time together, the mating urge seemed to be under control. Selas believes if we satisfy the emotional side of the bond the raw physical need to mate might ebb a little.” I pulled off my dirty socks and sat on the edge of the bed. “Not that it matters, because once Melanie comes back with the information on Romi, I’m out of here.” My heart sank as I said the words.
Touron’s face fell. “I’ll miss you.”
I’d miss him too. I’d miss Shar and the twins. Even though I’d barely had time to get to know them all, I felt as if I’d known them my whole life.
Shar watched me with darkened hazel eyes. “Is that what you really want. To leave here?”
Risk of death aside, the academy wasn’t so bad. I’d had friends outside of here—Fred and Teri but I’d never allowed them to know the true me, so our connection had never deepened. Then there was Levi. A phantom ache filled my chest. Breaking up with him had been the right move, especially now I knew I was fated for someone else, even if we couldn’t be together. It would only have hurt Levi to know this.
Outside of those three there’d only been Romi, Ralph and Derek. But Romi was gone, Ralph had his own life and Derek…Derek was a tulpa desperate to be accepted by his own kind.
The lure of the outside world was tarnished compared to the bright sparkle of this place because there was a whole world of possibilities here. True friendships and a mate, that although I couldn’t be with, proved that I belonged in this world despite my physical shortcomings. Staying here felt right, and with Selas training me maybe I wouldn’t get my ass killed?
