“Nothing,” she whispered, placing her hands against my chest. I frowned but didn’t press. Then her stomach growled and her cheeks flushed, though I didn’t know why.
“Why are you embarrassed?”
“I—I don’t know,” she replied. “I’ve been so hungry lately. I feel like I’ve been eating so much.”
I wasn’t surprised. “You needed it.”
It had been almost two weeks since I’d first seen her in Dothik and even in that small amount of time, she looked healthier. Her frame would always be lithe and lean, but her ribs weren’t as prominent, her hips were softened…even her breasts appeared fuller.
I grunted, my gaze drawing down to them, my mouth watering for the peaked nipples, wanting to suckle and nibble and stroke them with my tongue. I felt just as insatiable with Vienne as I’d been when I was younger—tupping females in forests or in private places almost daily, wherever and however. Most Dakkari males went through some sort of awakening, when the need to mate became too strong.
Though I was tempted, my kalles needed food, so more play would have to wait. Quickly, though I was still wedged inside her, I washed with the discarded cloth and then pulled her off me gently, washing my seed away between her thighs, making her breath hitch and my eyes flare with want.
I dried us off and handed her a fresh, clean tunic, knowing she wouldn’t want to eat naked, my peculiar little vekkiri. I, on the other hand, had no such qualms about it and pulled her into my bare lap at the low table, feeding her bites of braised ungira, the meat soft and flavorful. Only once she was full did I finish off the rest of the meal, aware that she watched me intently as I did.
“Neffar?”
“Nothing,” she whispered, her cheeks flushed again. “I just like looking at you.”
I bit back a grin and my tail flicked to her outer thigh, dragging across her skin. Her eyes went down to it and she reached out. I watched as she touched it, feeling that touch at the base of my spine.
Then I froze, frowning.
Grabbing her arm, I pulled it towards me, turning it so that her wrist was exposed.
“What is this?” I asked, certain the black webbing of her veins underneath her pale skin hadn’t been like this before.
She went still in my lap as I traced them. They started at her wrist and had begun to crawl up her forearm.
“It’s nothing,” came her quiet voice. When I met her eyes, I frowned. “It’s—it’s an after-effect of my gift. Sometimes. When I use it too much.”
My frown deepened at her words. “Does it hurt?”
“No,” she said quickly. “But it stays a long time before it goes away. It’s nothing.”
I made a sound in the back of my throat before releasing her arm. She folded her hands and rested them against my lower abdomen, her flesh cold even after our hot bath and her filling meal.
Something prickled at the back of my neck, chilling me, and I turned my head, looking into the shadows—peering into them, afraid that they would peer back. But I found nothing and then the sensation was gone, allowing me to relax.
It was strange that it would happen now anyways. I’d gotten a lot of sleep and felt rested and centered.
Because of Vienne?
A silence stretched but it wasn’t uncomfortable. There was just an unspoken question between us, filling the space, and Vienne nibbled on her lip as she watched me.
“Just tell me,” I started, “if your dream was about me. If you saw another of my memories.”
I had worried over it since she’d woken two nights ago, terrified that she’d seen the events of that night…or perhaps when Mala used to fuck me and use me…or the night when I’d been covered in blood, a lifeless body at my feet deep in the Dothikkar’s woods, as my laugh boomed through the deadened trees.
Vienne’s grey eyes drifted down to my lips and she reached up to place a hand on my chest. She liked touching me. I liked her touching me.
“Yes,” she whispered. “It’s just that…I’m not entirely sure it was yours.”
“What does that mean?”
She went quiet, debating something in that mind of hers.
“Your sister was there,” she told me and I stiffened. “It was…”
“Did I…” I trailed off, licking my lips, my throat tightening. “Did I do anything terrible?”
She frowned. “No.”
Relief whistled through me at her confusion. So she hadn’t seen any of the memories