Page 44 of Chained

“Thank you for ensuring my underwear isn’t going to strangle me,” Cleo mutters as I allow her to enter.

“Where are the weapons?” I ask.

“If they’re still here, they’ll be in the basement.” Cleo opens her closet and pulls out items of clothing.

I prefer the figure hugging dress she’s wearing, the one Pryax provided. It shows every inch of her blooming body, especially the swell of her stomach, filled with the young growing within her.

My desire to nest and mate ramps up, warring with the desire for violence which hasn’t abated since the Voltes. The silence of the dwelling also isn’t helping. So, when I hear the scraping sound, already too familiar, I’m out of her rooms and down the passage, sword in hand.

Something has to die today. My soul demands it.

CLEO

I know he’s broken. I know he’s been through far too much for one living being, but his reaction to the Voltes was something else entirely.

I don’t know how to handle it, to handle him. We’re in this together, but he isn’t making it easy. I pull on some underwear and pants, turning to see what he’s doing as I lift the dress over my head.

But Maxym isn’t there. He’s gone. Where there was a towering seven and a half foot, winged warrior, there is a very much Maxym shaped hole. I swiftly pull on a top, catching sight of myself in the mirror, the damage done to my back by the Bogarok a long red streak on my skin from the base of my spine to my hairline.

With a shiver, I shrug on a long jacket which sweeps the floor and listen to see if I can hear Maxym moving around in the dwelling.

Silence closes in on me. All of it, save for a sharp click which freezes the blood in my veins.

Is it the Bogarok? Have they found us? If they’ve found Maxym, I’m not sure what I’ll do. He might be feral, too quick to damage whatever is in his way but…

Do I care for him?

The clicking sound is getting closer. For all the secret exits in this place, I’m trapped in my room with no escape. I decide the closet is not a good option and drop to the floor, rolling under my bed instead.

I daren’t breathe as the door swings open, and I see a long slim black leg tap on the floor. I’m frozen with fear. The memory of the Bogarok which attacked me in the dome is at the forefront of my prey brain. I want to run so much my legs are shaking. Hiding is my only other option.

It doesn’t stop every single part of me shaking.

“Cleo?” Retah’s voice reaches me.

The long thin leg is joined by two booted feet.

“Where is she?” Maxym snarls, his feet joining the others.

“I’m under here.” I manage to get the words out.

A huge set of feathers pools on the floor, and a pair of dark eyes peer under the bed.

“Little mate,” Maxym says. “Why are you under here?”

“I thought…I thought you were the Bogarok.” My teeth chatter. “I thought they had found us.”

Maxym reaches in and gently slides me out, pulling me into his arms and wrapping his wings around me. I’m enclosed in the wall of warm, scented feathers as he holds me tight.

“Nothing will ever keep me from you, my sweet mate,” he says. “I will move all the celestial bodies to hold you in my arms. You are my feathers, my claws, and my soul. Without you, I am a mere vessel. With you, I am a Gryn warrior.”

He lifts my face to his with a clawed thumb and kisses me on the lips, a slow, delicious, dominating kiss which leaves me in no doubt as to who I am to him.

“I knew I’d seen Maxym somewhere before,” Retah says genially. “Or at least his species. I’d just never seen one close up, and it took me a while to remember.”

I’m still staring at Maxym, studying his face, the long scar which runs over his forehead, the sweet curve of his lips as he gazes at me.

“Remember what?” I ask in a daze.

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