Page 31 of Wrath

Kwan buried her face in my neck, and we stayed like this for a moment, basking in each other’s affection. Eventually, I rose to my feet, still holding her facing me. My mate wrapped her legs around my waist as I made my way to her bed. The thin fabric of her babydoll almost gave the illusion that she was naked against me. I laid her down on top of the mattress. Eyes locked with hers, I kicked off my boots and stripped out of my pants. Kwan scooted back to make room for me and lifted the blanket.

I climbed onto the bed, and lay next to her. My mate immediately dropped the blanket over us and snuggled against me. Fuck me! The feel of her in my arms, her bare legs rubbing against mine, and the lustrous locks of her hair spilling over my chest wrested a purring moan from my chest. She chuckled and pressed herself harder against me.

“I can tell you that I’m already addicted to holding you like this,” I whispered in her hair.

“Good. I believe you’ve become my favorite pillow,” Kwan replied against my chest.

I smiled and lazily caressed her back. “Sleep, my love. A busy day awaits us in the morning.”

She nodded, pressed her lips to my chest, and then closed her eyes. I closed mine, feeling happier than I had ever felt possible… feeling whole at last. Then a timid tingling sensation at the back of my psychic void startled me.

Kwan.

I opened myself wide, welcoming her hesitant consciousness into the seat of my soul. You didn’t intrude into such a private place without the person’s explicit consent. She roamed around, her essence fleeting over the golden sphere that shielded my soul at the center of my psychic void in a gentle caress. I wanted her to stay, but she quietly retreated.

Emboldened, I prodded at her own psychic void. She immediately let me in. I stared in awe at the silver sphere covering of her soul, the standard color for a rank four psychic. Unlike the Portals who had a swirling vortex below their sphere, or the Soulcatchers who had a psychic vessel below theirs, Shields had nothing else in their psychic void. Their power was directly linked to their soul and manifested itself by a network of electric-looking coils on the surface of their shields. It vaguely resembled the drawing of an atom.

Lured by its beauty, I let my consciousness flow towards it before wrapping myself around her soul. In such an intimate embrace, we fell asleep, feeling almost as one.

Chapter 10

Kwan

Iwoke up feeling incredibly well-rested. As I began to stretch, something struck me as odd… as if something was missing. And then the memory of last night came flooding through my mind. My hand reached for the empty space in bed next to me, and my eyes flicked open. I silenced the wave of disappointment at finding him gone. He had left many hours ago to go relieve Dread and Myriam from their watch. A part of me wished he had woken me. I would have stood watch with him. A quick glance at the clock confirmed I’d slept a solid eight hours. It had been a long time since I’d enjoyed such a good night’s sleep. And I knew exactly who deserved the credit for that.

As I sat up, something drew my attention. My jaw dropped upon recognizing a little origami unicorn Pegasus sitting on top of the nightstand. Was that a representation of me? Was I his little flying unicorn? I gently picked it up and kissed its little horn with a silly smile on my face. Wrath was such an incredibly sweet man. I still couldn’t believe just how badly I had fallen apart in front of him last night. And yet, it had been liberating.

I had cried often since Kevin’s passing. But last night had been different. Recounting those dreadful events in detail had been like finally letting go of the memory that had been suffocating me… of the guilt that I hadn’t realized was still choking me. For the longest time, a part of me had wondered if Kevin had chosen to die with me that day rather than having to go on without me. But not anymore. Deep down, I believed I had always known otherwise. Varnog had helped me see the truth of it. Saying it last night had crystallized it. Kevin had deliberately chosen to give his life in the hope that I could live. And live I would.

The image of Wrath getting torn to shreds would continue to haunt me for a long time. However, basking in his love had reminded me what it felt like to be happy and alive. As much as I wished he hadn’t stopped me last night, he made the right call. And that only increased my admiration for him. Although I wouldn’t have regretted anything that would have happened between us, he had correctly guessed that beyond the genuine desire he elicited in me, the emotional distress I had sustained largely drove my need for comfort.

I genuinely liked Wrath. I wasn’t in love with him, yet. And he wasn’t in love with me either, but strong feelings already tied us to each other. The mere thought of seeing him again had me giddy with excitement. I thought of Kevin, expecting the usual crushing pain that inevitably followed. And while I did feel a pinching sensation in my chest, tears didn’t prickle my eyes. I had finally embarked on the road to healing.

Feeling bold, I timidly reached for Wrath mentally. He immediately responded with a psychic caress. I smiled, my stomach fluttering like a teenager. This felt… good.

I made quick work of my morning ablutions then got dressed. As I made my way to the cafeteria, I realized that I had never eaten the fruits or drunk the tea Wrath had brought for me last night. But thoughtful as ever, he removed them when he left during the night. I had to come up with something sweet to do for him.

The cafeteria doors parted before me, revealing a healthy-looking Nathalie having breakfast with Varnog and Linette. I made a beeline for their table.

“Hey, Nathalie! How are you feeling?” I asked, nodding at the others in greeting.

“Like I’m not doing any backflips or crazy acrobatics anytime soon, but otherwise surprisingly good,” she said with a smile.

“That’s great to hear,” I said, making no effort to hide my relief. “You had us quite worried there.”

“With good reason,” she said with a slightly haunted expression. “Without Myriam’s timely and appropriate intervention, I would have kicked the bucket. But I am not keeling over until I find myself a sexy alien to make me near immortal like the rest of you bitches.”

She stiffened as soon as the words came out of her mouth. As our medical doctor, she was aware of my situation, especially since it had been part of her task to keep an eye on my mental welfare as well. Although he hadn’t broadcast it around, the team had been aware that Wrath’s glands had awakened for me. You would have needed to be blind in the early days not to see how they swelled the minute I entered the room.

I burst out laughing, instantly lightening the mood. Linette chuckled while Varnog puffed out his chest.

“If our experiences are any indication, your time will come when you least expect it. And when it does, nothing will stand in its way,” I said softly.

The eyes of the two females widened, both of them studying my face as if to make sure they had correctly understood my underlying meaning. Varnog narrowed his eyes at me instead. I grinned noncommittally before casually asking if Wrath had eaten breakfast already.

“Yes. He’s setting up our little experiments in the brig as we speak,” Linette said, although her mind was clearly still focused on my previous comment. “We should get started in the next hour.”

“Awesome! I’ll be right back with some grub then,” I said in a cheery voice before strutting my way to the buffet.

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