Page 67 of Such a Feral Little Lamb
“Why can’t I?”
“You can’t be with me all the time. When I go back—”
He cuts my words off with an almost violent kiss, one hand cupping the back of my neck and squeezing hard. It hurts, but it’s grounding, and Mason’s grip only tightens at the broken moan I make against his mouth.
“Mason…”
“Worry about all that later,” he says. “Come with me now.”
Half dazed, I nod and follow him along the strange, winding route back towards his room. We pass the stairs, and Autumn isalready halfway down them. She comes to a sudden stop, eyes wide and lingering on our clasped hands.
“You’ll be safe down here,” Mason says. “Nia wants us out searching again at first light.”
Autumn nods quickly. “O-okay.”
Mason doesn’t wait for any other reply; he just drags me on without looking back. Once we’re inside his room, he pushes me over towards the bed. I sit down heavily, then let out a startled yelp when Mason climbs into my lap.
“You should stay here,” he says, then kisses me before I can answer. “You could stay right here with me. I’d keep you safe, Isaac.”
“I—Fuck.” I kiss him back. Of course I do. I can’t focus on anything else but his mouth on mine, and that’s what I really want right now. “Mason, we need to—We should—”
“Talk?” Mason scrapes his teeth down my jaw. “Is that what you want to do?”
“We should.”
He leans back. I’m gratified to see he’s breathing as hard as I am.
“I don’t want to see you hurt,” Mason says, avoiding my eyes. “I won’t let anyone take you.”
“It’s not about that. You know I have to go back.”
“To the Citadel?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
I frown at him. “That’s where I live. That’s where my life is, that—”
“You’re sure about that?” Mason smooths his hands over my shoulders, then down my arms. My lips twitch when he links our hands together. “Your life could be here, too.”
For a moment, I indulge. Let myself imagine a life here. It’s not as if the Citadel provides more luxury. I have acquaintances but no friends. A purpose, sure, but I could have that here, too.
But the others… They’d have to explain why I didn’t come back. And if the Citadel has sent one team out here, they’d send another.
“I don’t think I can,” I whisper. “I can’t make them lie for me.”
Something dark flickers through Mason’s eyes. I swallow hard. He doesn’t want me to leave. Part of me doesn’t want to, either. It’ll be dangerous, going back, but here? What could I do here?
“We’ll talk about that later,” Mason says. He kisses me again, hard and claiming, and I only realise he’s going for my clothes once he pushes my jacket off my shoulders.
I attack his clothes in return, shoving his shirt up until our mouths have to part so I can get it off. Mason gasps when I run my hands over his pale chest, fingers lingering on the scars I can hardly see.
“What happened?” I murmur.
“Does it matter?”
I frown up at him. “Yes.”
