Page 40 of Hooded

“You are very sticky,” I confirm.

His wing feathers rattle.

I press a kiss to his lips, and instantly, I am consumed by my sticky mate. He dominates my mouth, sucking all the air from my lungs and sending all parts of me tingling with desire. His hand spans my stomach, and he groans deep down in his chest.

“Little mate, filled with my young. If that’s not a reason to get off this piece of space junk, I don’t know what is.”

KLYNN

My error was not to trust anyone. My sweet mate is always to be trusted, even while I’m consuming huge amounts of meat and making a spectacle of myself. She found out useful information while I was roaring at the crowd.

Because there is always a crowd when there is a gladiator.

I want to mate Fern with the power of a thousand suns and stars, but if this Narlix is to be believed, we don’t have that much time. Instead, I leave her panting in my nest while I attempt to remove as much gunk as possible from my person before returning to her side.

“Why is it dark in here?” she asks in a whisper.

“It hurt my eyes when I was returned,” I say, searching for an explanation. “Sometimes things…hurt. I’m not sure why.”

I hate my body for being what it is. My weaknesses, my desire for violence, for blood, for the win. My inability to form a thoughtbond with my sweet mate who deserves so much more. My pain, striking at the wrong moments.

The idea I might never be able to change.

“How do you feel now?”

“Better.” I put my head into her hair and inhale her scent. It’s the only thing which can strip me back to who I was.

Fern slides her hands into my feathers, and I instantly forget who I am altogether. It has to be some sort of power she has over me.

I’m not complaining. Not here, in the dark, with her scent in my nostrils and her fingers in my feathers. I’d stay here forever…

The lights flicker.

“This must be it,” Fern says.

“Follow me and stay close.” I get to my feet, lamenting internally at the loss of her touch.

I tuck her behind me as we approach the forcefield. It’s flickering but staying relatively even. I close my eyes and visualize the energy ahead of me. It runs in rivulets like water, and like water, I can part it, opening up the way to allow my mate to pass, and then me.

Behind us, the thing sizzles as I change the wavelength. By the time the Tormelek realize we’re not in the cell, they’ll have some difficulty getting out of it.

“This way,” Fern says, pulling me to the left. “We need to find Narlix.”

“We need weapons first,” I respond, taking the turn to the right.

The armory is where I’ve seen it on the many occasions I’ve been dragged this way. Open, ready, and waiting for us.

“Are they expecting some sort of small war?” Fern queries as she picks up a pulsar and checks it over before putting it into her pocket.

My cocks rise in my pants at the sight of her lifting a pulsar rifle and doing the same. My little mate can handle her weaponry, and it makes me want to do things to her sweet cunt while she calls my name.

“No war, only pirates,” I grunt because if I don’t stop thinking about mating, we’re never getting out of here.

I grab a handful of psi grenades and set the timers before putting them behind the rest of the weapons racking.

“What are you doing?” Fern hisses.

“I’m not letting them start a war either.”

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