that the noise is soothing. Leaning forward, I flip the meat for a final time, my stomach rumbling loudly, ready to eat.
I jerk when something warm slithers around my wrist, but when I look down, I see it’s her hand with the bracelet I made her still on her arm. Seeing it makes me pause… Maybe she doesn’t hate me?
My gaze flickers from where our skin is touching to her grey eyes. She smiles meekly, and in my astonishment, I almost forget to return the gesture. But I try to smile back, hoping it doesn’t look like a grimace, my heart filling with hope.
Maybe I didn’t vekk this up.
Maybe there is still a chance for me to make a difference in this world.
Harlow stands, leans down to grab the skewer, and brings the smoking meat to her lips, blowing on it to cool it down. Then, to my surprise, she tears off a chunk and offers me a bite.
I freeze, wondering what to do.
Do I grab it with my fingers? Do I suck it off with my lips?
Harlow makes the decision for me, and raises her hand to my mouth, one black eyebrow arched suggestively.
How can I deny her?
Such perfection.
Such purity.
I can’t deny her, I won’t. Not ever.
She deserves the world, and if she wants me to take a bite from her delicate fingers, then that is exactly what I’m going to do.
When I open my mouth, a smile grows on her face, but as I close my lips over her fingers and suck the bite into my mouth, her breath hitches. The taste of her fingers mingling with the succulent meat has me suppressing a moan.
Visions of Harlow naked swarm my head, her body writhing under mine as I taste her flesh. Another consumes me, my fangs elongated, her screams of pleasure echoing around me as I bite.
She pulls back, the heady smell of arousal hanging in the air.
My human.
My female.
My mate.
Twenty-Eight
Harlow
I stare at Dev, mere inches away, as he slowly pulls my fingers from his mouth. Those dark eyes are still on mine as he turns his head and kisses the inside of my wrist so softly, I almost moan, the slight touch of his fangs making me shiver. The heat from the fire can’t even compare to the inferno starting in my belly once again.
He’s scared, he wants you so much it terrifies him. I almost jump when Sev’s voice fills my head. He thinks he doesn’t deserve you, that you and I would be better without him, that it would make you happier. My elon, Dev, struggles with our past. He thinks it makes him unworthy of you. Even if he wants you so much, he finds it impossible to breathe, he’s unsure how to act with you around. He’s angry at himself, mate, never you.
Oh, my poor Dev. I can’t help the blush that stains my cheeks and the urge I feel to duck my head, but I’m unable to look away from those dark eyes as they search mine almost desperately.
I find it sweet that Sev followed me, probably to keep me safe as I trekked through the forest looking for Dev. Drawn by this aching, sick feeling in my stomach, I knew if I didn’t go to him, something bad would happen. And I was right. Because when I came upon him, he looked so alone.
So broken.
So tired.
He needs me, and I need him. He’s rough, harsh, angry, and moody as hell, but I don’t care. I don’t care that the intensity of his glare and the magnitude of his emotions scare me, that he’s hard where Sev is soft. I want him.
In every way I can get him.
He doesn’t get to leave, not now that I realise what I want. Because I know he wants it too, he’s just too scared, too blind to reach for it.
Can I?
Can I take what I want?
Can I take him?
I know I need to be sure, because this isn’t just a relationship, this is for life. Dev is dark and often angry…but I understand why now.
He’s angry at himself, so angry, never at you. He hates that he scares you.
I melt again at Sev’s words. This poor, poor alien. He’s not the monster I thought he was when I first met him. He’s just damaged, like me, and worried about scaring me. Our pasts have warped our thoughts and reactions, moulding us, but damaged isn’t broken, and maybe we can heal together.