Page 33 of Baited

I want to roar that she has me and she has no need of this place, but something stops me. Instead, I unfold myself from the bed. The wound pulls, and I wrap my arm around my abdomen for a moment, then straighten and shake out my wings at the Habosu female.

“You need not worry. I am an honorable gladiator. No one will come to harm provided I am left alone with my…” Izzy shoves an elbow into my side and shakes her head. “…Izzy,” I finish off.

The Habosu narrows her eyes. “In which case, I’ll hold you responsible for her too. Izzy, you are relieved of your cleaning duties until the Gryn is out of our hair.” She growls at my mate.

“Thank you, Madame,” Izzy says.

The big Habosu sweeps out of the room, and Izzy breathes a sigh of relief before looking at me.

“Sorry, I didn’t want you to tell her I’m your mate. I don’t want her to use it against you for any reason.” She leans in a little closer to me and I suck down her sweet scent. “She’s devious and I don’t trust her.”

“Good. I don’t trust anyone in the dome,” I reply.

“You also don’t do anything anyone tells you either,” she replies, folding her arms. “But I hope you’re going to do what you’ve been told about your health.”

“What about it?”

“No fighting, plenty of rest.”

“I don’t need rest.”

“Oh?” Izzy is off the bed and walking past the place where the bath is to the far wall. “What do you think you want?”

Her hips sway deliciously, and she’s wearing a single item of clothing, a faded shirt which molds to her form. My cocks knowwhat they want, to be sheathed in my mate. My stomach also knows what it wants, which is food. My arms know what they want, which is to be wrapped around Izzy. But otherwise I don’t know what I want.

I never get asked what I want. I train, I fight, I roar and howl at the dark and the light, and then I do it all again. Sometimes I go into Tatatunga, drink ale, and get tattooed.

“What…” The question forms in my mind with all the pace of a space worm caught in a nebula. “What would you like to do,eregri?” I ask.

IZZY

My heart does a funny flipping thing when Blayn asks me what I want to do. Mainly because the question is accompanied by a serious expression which borders on confusion.

“You could do with a bath before we do anything,” I say.

Blayn is fragrant, but after his time in the bed, given the infection he had, he is a little less fragrant than usual. Plus his wings are covered in all sorts of fluids.

He gives himself a none too surreptitious sniff and wrinkles his nose.

“Bath,” he says, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed and swaying gently, eyes a little unfocussed.

He levers himself to his feet and spins in a circle before grabbing hold of the wall.

“Yeah, I think you’re going to need some help, big guy.” I shove myself under his arm, and he makes a happy sound.

“Bath.”

“Come on, you know where it is,” I say as we make our way slowly to the bathing room.

Blayn, for all his size, muscles, and wings, is surprisingly light. I can help him easily, and as we get to the room, hisconfidence in his strength has improved and he lets go of me to strip off his pants.

“Wait!” I say before he half rolls, half falls into the water. “I need to come in with you. The last thing I need on my hands is a half-drowned gladiator.”

“Can swim,” Blayn grumbles.

“Correction, you could swim. And you could walk, but at the moment, you need help.” I glare at him. “So, let me help you.”

Blayn mutters something under his breath, at least one of the words being “vrex.” I ignore him and strip down to my underwear and top. Admittedly, Blayn has seen plenty of me, but that’s no reason to…well, let this go any further than it should.

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