Page 118 of Her Males

I should have fought harder to distance myself from Emily. I knew how her scent affected me, but I still chose to be around her.

“What’re you doing?” I gasp when I realize Aziel is leading me away from my cabin.

The shifters made it clear they wanted him to stay out of the central pack lands, and he’s heading straight for them. I dig my heels into the ground, but Aziel doesn’t slow.

“Aziel. Stop!” I snap, reaching up his torso in search of a nipple.

He hisses and yanks my hand away when I find and twist the nub, but thankfully, he stops walking. I make a mental note that the nipple trick works for all three of my males as I step in front of him and block the path.

“I need to talk to Kato,” he says.

My head whips from side to side so quickly, I’m surprised I don’t scramble my brains. There’s no reason for Aziel to speak with Kato right now, and I worry that fighting with Chev got him more riled up than I realized.

“I don’t want you two to fight,” I beg. “Please leave him alone.”

These people have become my family, and I can’t let Aziel hurt them. Despite my regrets and desperation to keep my males happy, I won’t back down on this.

“You ignored my request to talk to Kato about helping us with the females, and I don’t intend to wait any longer,” Aziel explains. “I wish to ask if he’d be willing to work with us instead of Mammon. I’ve implemented similar programs within Wrath, and I’m going to invite him and the other shifter leaders to come view them.” Aziel pauses, tilting his head toward the sky as he thinks. “I also need to figure out where he put Asmod’s body.”

I blink. Then I blink again.

Is Aziel telling me what he’s thinking? That’s new.

I take a moment to absorb the information, my mouth gaping like a fish before I snap my jaw shut and cup his chin. My eyes narrow in a gesture I hope is threatening.

“Can you be in a room with Kato for an extended period of time and not lose control?” I ask.

Aziel glances away, the muscles in his jaw twitching, before he lets out a long sigh.

“I’m not sure,” he admits.

I gulp, hesitating, before kissing him. It’s the first time I’ve ever taken the initiative to touch him like this, and I hope it works as he closes the space between our bodies. His hands find my waist, and he trails them up my exposed sides as I pull him in the direction of my cabin.

The glint in his eye tells me he knows exactly what I’m doing, but he doesn’t put up a fight as I lead him away from Kato’s. Whatever he wants to talk about can wait until he’s not all amped up from fighting Chev and he’s a little more confident he won’t hurt anybody.

__________

I groan as Aziel sits beside me, his heavy body causing the mattress to sink.

“It’s time to get up, Charlie,” he says, pushing my hair out of my face.

I whine. “I’m tired.”

Aziel laughs, the sound loud and deep, before he cups my cheek and kisses my forehead. His outward affection is taking some getting used to, and I feel my lips curling as I roll onto my back and sit up.

I slept most of yesterday away after my early morning training with Echo. Aziel practically forced it on me, and I’m pretty sure he almost popped a blood vessel in his eye when I insisted I go out and check my traps.

They were empty, but I’m hopeful there’ll be something in them today.

“I found some Ucka in the fridge and warmed it up for you,” Aziel says, luring me out of bed with the promise of food.

It reminds me of Gray.

My throat runs dry at the thought of the incubus, and I get out of bed before Aziel can see my sour expression. He follows me into the kitchen, and I sit on a barstool and mindlessly begin to eat.

Aziel’s pissed our men haven’t tried to check in. He admitted he told Silas to leave, but he never actually expected Silas and Gray to abandon me. He especially didn’t anticipate them remaining gone for so long.

I could be getting passed around Lust right now, and they’d have no idea.

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