Page 32 of Baited

There is a sharp pinch for an instant as his irregular thrusts decrease and he lets out a long, deep sigh as I continue to pulse over him, causing little shudders with every movement as I’m lost in the pillow of ecstasy which is his hard muscular body pressed tight against mine.

“My sweet.” Blayn strokes his thumb over my chin, his stunning dark eyes like pools of still water. “My mate.”

Mate?

I’m only supposed to touch him, to get him used to being touched. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Panic grips my chest, and I move, only to find…

“We’re…you’re…Blayn, are youstuck?”

His face dissolves into a satisfied, sleepy smile. “My second cock has swelled. We are locked, so my seed will take root,” he says dreamily.

“How long are we…tied…like this?” The rising panic is causing my heart to beat harder and harder, until something tugs at my heart.

Bliss. Utter bliss. It cancels out the panic, and as Blayn cups my cheek, it’s almost as if what he is, what he feels is flowing into me.

“Until my body is ready to release you, sweet mate,” Blayn rasps. “And I never want to let you go.”

BLAYN

Medic Hisn stands at the foot of the bed. He knows better than to get any closer to me. I glare at him anyway as a warning.

I have more reason to keep him back, because I have my mate by my side and no one looks at Izzy except me. I bare my teeth.

“I’d say he’s fit enough to be up and about.” Medic Hisn eyes me. “Although not to go back to the dome.” He looks down at the vid screen in his hand. “Not until your vitals have improved. I don’t want the captain or the procurator trying to put you back in the games yet.”

I lift a lip and snarl at him. I have a mate. I’m not going back to the dome.

A big Habosu female has appeared in the doorway to the room. She looks like she’s sucking moisture off a gladiator’s undergarment, her rouged mouth pursed up into a sour pucker.

“He isn’t leaving yet?” she asks, although it’s more of a statement.

“The dome will continue to pay your daily rate, Madame,” the medic says. “And some extra for theinconvenienceof having a dangerous gladiator on your premises.”

I growl to make a point. I am dangerous.

Izzy pushes her fingers into the feathers on the shoulder of my wing, and I can’t growl any more. I can’t even think straight, and there’s no more medication tube. That was removed a few nova-days ago, leaving me as weak as a youngling while my beautiful mate continued to care for me…for every part of me.

“Yes, well, I think we can continue to put up with…I mean care for…the Gryn a little longer. But I’m not going to stop him if he wants to leave,” the female Habosu says.

“He has a pass to leave if he wishes, but he must return here at night,” the medic replies, and in a lightning move I wasn’t expecting from such an elderly Oykig, he has clipped something around my ankle.

I would roar at him, but Izzy is next to me, so instead I pull my leg back sharply and my wound bites at me.

“You’re not completely healed yet, Blayn,” the medic says with a shake of his head at my actions. “Don’t go getting into any fights.”

I fiddle with the ring around my ankle, and it sinks into my flesh.

“And don’t touch the tracker. If you try to take it off, your pass will be immediately revoked,” he says evenly, not looking up from his vid-screen.

I huff hot air, my anger simmering.

“You’ve got three nova-days, and I’ll return to check you over, see if you’re fit for the dome again.” The medic turns and walks down into the lower part of the room. The Habosu female stands aside to let him leave, peering after him until I hear the elevator close.

“Izzy, you’re personally responsible for this…Gryn while he resides here. If he steps out of line for one nova-second, you will lose your position,” she says.

I go to snarl at her, but Izzy curls her hand around mine, her eyes pleading with me.

“This is all I have, Blayn.”

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