Page 124 of Born for Silk

of the Aquilla Silk Aviary

Chapter Six

Rome

Breathing heavily, I stride into the courtyard, desperate to see her—just for a moment. Blood paints my leather vest, the crimson guts of cats drying under the crown-light.

Usually, my time in the forest flies by, but these days, away from her, they crawl on all-fours.

It’s been long enough. She has had time with her Collective, as requested.

But now, I am wired; tight muscles tremble with endorphins; my mind reels in the death calls of animals, in the silence before a kill, in the climax of the blank stare. It is tangible energy, and it fuels the black parts inside me.

It is hard to snap out of…

Then I see her.

She strolls around the gardens, a cape of dark hair swaying gently down the back of her silky white dress.

I drop my gaze.

Grin.

Fuck me.

From hip to hip, her swelling womb shows beneath the silken fabric, pulling it taut as she leans to pick another flower, feeding the purple bloom into the bunch in her hand.

My attention is literally paralysed.

Her Collective strolls alongside her, gathering flowers of different colours. Aster’s side brushes the hip of Darwin’s Silk Girl, the round one, mere days shy of birthing. Such a pity Darwin opened her before Bled or Medan had a chance. I look at her large stomach—she has carried the babe with ease. My eyes war to get back to Aster… I look at her as she smiles and converses, unaware of my watchful gaze.

Above me, a winged silhouette hovers in the red haze. Odio maps a grid of sky, every inch of land near her is within a second of his descending razor-sharp talons.

My body vibrates, being too far away, can’t smell her, can’t feel her heat, but she begged me this first-light for time with them, and I allowed it. I will always grant her… anything.

Despite my approval, the distance meant I needed to kill something. So, I hunt… Something that used to be my preferred pastime, but now. Fuck. I can just stare at her.

I lean on the courtyard wall, watching her.

A screech from the depths of the haze alerts me to... In my peripherals, I note one of our Trade doctors approaching me from inside the Silk Girl Wing. An older Common man, intelligent—and castrated. That’s important if he is to touch what is mine. Might cut his hands off one day… Maybe. Keep them in a jar beside my father’s head.

“She is swelling fast,” he advises in a quiet tone, stopping beside me. Not in front. He wouldn’t dare block my view; I would cut a window into his flesh.

I’m in a volatile mood.

I smile at his words—she is swelling fast—my attention roaming her swollen abdomen again, my cock thickening inside my pants. I am certain he can see it. Of that, I am glad.

I adjust myself, my bloody hands palming my cock to the thought of her smooth skin, stretching to grow my heir, matching the smooth, strained pussy that I fuck and lick. I’ve never felt more ownership. Never felt more possessive greed.

“What I mean, Sire, is that the baby grows fast. A high Xin De genus. I am certain. We should keep the babe in the Silk Girl for as long as possible, even if it means sh?—”

Now you have my fucking attention.

My stare snaps to him. “She what?”

His eyes widen on my fist, and I realise I have reached for the gutting knife in my belt, and now I hold it erected in front of me.

“Sire.” He swallows and takes a single step backward, as if that distance will aid him. My arm is longer.

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