birds in the trees which take flight as he picks me up and starts to swing me around. My legs flow behind me through the air as I grip his shoulders and laugh, my hair blowing backwards too.
He swings me in circles before pulling me against him and resting his head on mine, my feet not touching the ground as he lifts me easily. His hands are almost on my ass now, not that he seems to notice, but I’m very aware.
I wish he would edge them down…just a little.
His lips are curved in a wide smile, and he’s oblivious as he stares at me with soft, loving eyes. I can’t help it, I lean in and kiss him, giggling at the goofy grin he can’t seem to get rid of. He kisses me back, slowly at first, before it becomes more demanding. I dart my tongue out and lick along his fang, making us both groan.
We break apart, panting once again, and his eyes are hungry now as I close my own from the intensity I see in his gaze and shiver in his arms. He slowly lets me slide down his body, feeling every hard inch, until my feet touch the ground, but he still doesn’t move away. His hands stroke my back like he’s reluctant to let me go. And I’m unwilling to move away.
Sev.
His lips quirk as he hears my thought.
Harlow.
His voice is a deep rumbling in my head, and the way he says my name makes me shiver again. At least now I can understand him, that will make it so much easier!
Now, if only I could understand Dev…
Twenty-Seven
Devnyk
My nostrils flare as a scent hits my nose, the fragrance strong even over the smoke from the fire and the aroma of cooking meat. I recognise it immediately, and a growl escapes my lips.
It’s Harlow’s scent.
The smell of her musk and the decadence of her blood, combining with the tang of a mating venom.
Vekk.
My limbs start to shake in anger. Jealousy turns my vision red as that mocking voice deep inside me threatens to chastise me once again, even though I’ve just rid myself of it.
Her sweet perfume grows stronger, and I call out to Sev, What the vekk did you do?
He doesn’t answer immediately. I can feel him focusing on keeping his mind blank while trying to find the right words to calm me. But none will work.
I turn my head and watch with wide eyes as Sev walks into the cave clutching Harlow’s hand. On her shoulder is a mating bite, the wound still glistening bright red. I can tell by the markings his bite went deep, almost to the bone.
My gaze swings from her to him, our eyes locking. You vekking mated with her and never thought to tell me? Ask me how I felt about it? What the vekk, Sev?
His shoulders slump, and he hangs his head like a scolded animal. “It just happened, Dev. She bared her shoulder to me, gave herself to me. I couldn’t deny the bite any more than I could deny air from my lungs.”
“You have no vekking control, Sev. It’s pathetic! You had to know what this would do to me!” I shout, anger surging in my veins.
“This isn’t about you, Dev. For once, I did something for me and my mate.”
“Your mate?” I seethe. “Is it no longer your plan to share Harlow? Have you taken her for yourself? Is that what this is all about? You laying claim to the human while I’m left out in the dust to rot like Bakkar and Takkar?” Sev pales at my insinuations, but I’m too mad to care. “Vekk this. I’m out of here.”
Grabbing my weapons belt, I stalk past them and out of the cave, needing to be away from her scent before I do something I’ll regret. The aroma awakens a dormant part of me, a part I’ve been denying and burying for so long, I wasn’t sure it still existed. But something about Harlow’s smell causes it to ignite like a raging inferno, one I know I can’t ever put out.
Jogging through the trees, I try to put as much distance between me and the cave as possible and take a whiff of the fresh air, making sure I can’t taste her on the wind.
Pulling a nakket from my belt, I begin to chop down the nearest tree, trying to focus my rage and release some of this aggression. The tree falls quickly, and