a pity fuck is, but I don’t understand why someone would offer one to you.”
She laughed, a bitter sound that troubled him—and angered him when he realized she had misunderstood what he’d meant.
Humans had sex without wanting to have a mate or young, so Jesse’s age wasn’t relevant, and despite being human, she was an interesting, intelligent female. Such a female would never be desperate for male company if she wanted company. But whatever words were said had hurt her, and he valued her too much to let her wallow in that hurt when there was something he could do.
“Who made such an offer to you?” he asked.
She shook her head. “Doesn’t matter.”
“It made you unhappy, so it does matter.”
Jesse sipped the whiskey and eyed him. “It doesn’t matter enough for me to identify the fool. He bruised my ego, hurt my feelings. I’ll get over it.”
Will you?
“It’s just … I thought there would be enough single men here that one of them would want a skin-to-skin celebration. That’s all I was looking for, some company tonight and, hopefully, some halfway-decent sex. But the man who approached me made it clear he would be doing me a favor, which is all I could expect, and I don’t want that kind of company.”
“There will be many having sex tonight?” Tolya asked.
“Oh, yes. It’s a very human way of confirming that you’re still alive.”
Tolya walked over to Jesse and took the glass from her hand. “Enough.”
“Why? If I can’t have sex, I might as well get drunk.”
“You are going to have sex, and I don’t want to get drunk.”
“How … ?” Her eyes widened when she realized what he meant.
“Not a pity fuck—and not a pity feed. A mutual give-and-take between friends to celebrate being alive. Is that acceptable?”
She said nothing. She just studied him. Finally she nodded. “That’s acceptable.”
She looked away, and he was charmed to see her blush.
“Is it different with your kind?” she asked.
Tolya smiled. “In this form, I believe the mechanics are the same. The rest?” He shrugged. “You can tell me after.”
As he kissed her, touched her, undressed her, he couldn’t say if it was different for her, but it was different for him. This wasn’t an impersonal hunt where sex was the bait. This wasn’t a stranger’s body to feed on and leave. This also wasn’t romance as portrayed in human stories. This wasn’t love, and it wouldn’t be forever. Someday he and a Sanguinati female would become a mated pair and would raise their young. But for tonight at least, he could touch and taste and kiss a woman’s flesh in ways that pleased her. When he moved inside her and she moved beneath him, he told her without words that she mattered.
And when she guided his mouth to her neck in order to feed while passion fired her blood, she told him in her own way that he mattered too.
CHAPTER 26
Firesday, Messis 24
The words traveled swiftly.
They were carried on a wind howling out of the east—a wind that held enough heat to swiftly dry out grass and leave it vulnerable to a dropped match … or lightning’s fatal kiss.
They were snarled in the rapids of creeks and streams and rivers. They were screamed down waterfalls.
They were shouted within the rumble of rockslides.
The teaching story with all its lessons would come later. But for now, the Elders and Elementals in the Northeast sent this message to every part of Thaisia:
Cyrus humans are a threat to the sweet blood. They are a threat to all of us.
Whenever a Cyrus human is found … Destroy him.
* * *
* * *
Pawing the bedside table in the dark, Jana finally located her mobile phone and wondered who would call her before dawn.
“Jana? It’s Tobias.”
“Is this my wake-up call?” She rubbed sleep from her eyes and wasn’t sure if she sounded flirtatious or grumpy—and didn’t care. Then his tone reached her brain. “Is everything all right?”
“Something …”
Alert now, she waited as he worked out the words that might come close to describing what he was feeling.
“The cattle are restless,” Tobias said. “The horses are uneasy.”
“The weather?” It was Messis, so it was hot. And dry. She’d been so busy since she’d arrived in Bennett, she hadn’t paid much attention beyond heeding everyone’s advice and making sure she carried water in her vehicle or saddlebags.
“I think it’s more than weather.” He said it quietly, like he was afraid of being overheard. “If you’re riding Mel today, be careful. Stay sharp. And