echoed through reality.
“I’ll try not to.” Darren couldn’t offer more.
“I’ll follow you, so don’t you get us both killed,” Kavon said.
Fear washed some of the lust cobwebs from Darren’s brain. His own death was a frightening concept, but he couldn’t imagine the world with Kavon standing tall and strong, putting himself between civilians and all the dangers—hunting evil and standing at the edge of his chosen herd challenging predators. That was a world Darren would never accept. “If I have a choice, I will never leave you,” Darren said. His claim mark grew so hot that he hissed, but then Kavon stroked Darren’s cock.
The lust increased between them. Sweat gathered. Darren trembled in need, but Kavon only kissed a slow trail across Darren’s chest before sucking at a peaked nipple.
Heat. Need. Fear. Love. Lust. Guilt. Anger. Friendship. They swirled and tangled, catching on each other like cobwebs in a breeze. Darren wrapped his legs around Kavon, and lifted himself off the bed.
“Fuck me,” Darren demanded. The tangled knot of feelings flared, and a million points of light flashed against his skin like the spots Darren would sometimes see when he closed his eyes and tilted his head toward the sun. Kavon grabbed medical lubricant from the table, and Darren’s cock twitched.
Forgoing his usual teasing style, Kavon slid a finger straight into Darren. Lube delivered, Kavon ignored the two-finger, three-finger routine and pressed his cock against Darren’s hole as Darren clawed at Kavon’s shoulders. Kavon thrust hard enough to make Darren’s eyes water, and their bodies crashed together. Muscles strained, and for a few seconds, the heat in Darren’s claim mark matched the burn in his ass.
The pain faded to a tormenting need for more before Kavon began to thrust. Kavon’s fingers pressed nickel-sized bruises into Darren’s hips and the slap of flesh filled the room. Darren gasped in time with Kavon’s heavy grunts. The grunts gave way to low, guttural words.
“Don’t you ever fucking scare me like that again. Don’t you do it.” Every third or fourth word, Kavon slammed his hips forward. Darren hit the headboard, and Kavon tightened his grip on Darren’s hips and hauled him back down the bed.
“I won’t,” Darren promised. “Never.”
Kavon’s thrusts grew jagged and staccato. When Kavon gripped Darren’s cock, Darren cried out. His muscles spasmed, and Kavon’s cock felt three times larger as Kavon gave several more hard thrusts before he came. Darren’s vision grayed and a ghost image of the spirit plane appeared around him.
Colorful Egyptian monuments rose out of the IV stand and the white tile floor turned into a pale suggestion of yellow veldt grass swaying in the wind. And in the middle, Kavon’s bull stood with his tail lashing his flanks.
Kavon collapsed to the side. For a long time they lay in bed with only the sounds of their breathing interrupting the silence.
“God, I’m sorry. Are you okay?” Kavon asked with concern in his voice.
Darren had to think about why Kavon would ask that question. Right. Car accident with a mythological monster. Check. Despite that, Darren didn’t have a single ache or pain. “Fucking awesome,” Darren said. “Porn is never anywhere close to this good. Maybe you’re right. We should just skip porn and do this again.”
Surprise filled the bond and then Kavon chuckled. “Next time in our bed.” He draped a hand over Darren’s stomach, and the fatigue dripped off him like sweat.
Darren frowned and opened himself to their bond. Satisfaction. Love. Admiration. And yes, Kavon still had a fair share of guilt and anger, but not anything more than usual. “Sleep,” Darren whispered.
“Good idea.” Kavon sounded almost drunk. Darren turned to watch the bull. For a second, it looked like a mammoth stood in the guide’s place, but then the superimposed image faded and the cape buffalo gazed back, unimpressed with Darren’s concern.
If the bull wasn’t worried, Darren wasn’t, either. He wiggled around until he could reach the blanket and pull it up over both of them. Kavon had tucked his head into the crook of Darren’s neck, and they fell asleep tangled together.
Chapter Thirteen
Darren woke alone, and the hospital felt muted. Distant. “Bennu?” Darren called. Seeing Bennu’s magical attacks bounce off the durance as ineffectually as paper airplanes had shaken Darren. Darren had put Bennu on his personal list of all-powerful creatures, so he had never expected Bennu to be so helpless against another guide.
For the first time since this all started, Darren felt bone-deep fear. Bennu appeared in the room with a warbling cry. “You’re