Page 33 of Pain

“After what that bear’s seen in his lifetime, I can’t blame him.” He grabbed himself a glass bottle of water from the pantry and tossed me a lopsided smile. “Tell the Queen we start training early in the morning. Until then, get some rest. You’re all safe here.” Then he left, leaving me standing there in the kitchen with nothing but crumbs on the counter, a somewhat-full belly, and a lot of questions about the future.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Omaera

The water in Hell smelled like sulfur. It was probably the least surprising thing to discover since we arrived. Even though, really, everything shocked and scared the crap out of me. But the fact that the water stunk just seemed par for the course at this point.

Regardless of the stinky shower, I felt cleaner when I got out. I didn’t bother to towel myself off though, and rather just took my dripping, naked body over to the bed, collapsed backward, and allowed the slightly squeaky fan on the ceiling to cool me down—sort of. I don’t think a person could really ever be truly cool in Hell.

I was almost asleep when the door opened and my big, burly bear walked in, his eyes immediately zeroing in on my naked body. I’m not sure I’d ever seen a man ditch his pants that fast in my life.

My gaze instantly dropped to the awakening serpent between his legs, and both lust and fear crashed through me.

“Tell me you’re no longer bleeding,” he said, coming to hover over me, bracing himself on his hands next to my shoulders. “I ache to be inside you, Little One.”

“Period is officially over, yes.” I sniffed the air and made a face. “As sexy as youare, and as badly as I want this … maybe you should shower first?”

He dipped his head to give his armpit a whiff, meeting my gaze a moment later. “Yeah, good call.” With a grunt, he levered himself back to standing and took off to the bathroom. The shower started a moment later.

I closed my eyes again, tuning out the infernal, hellish squeal of the fan, and focusing rather on the steady, constant gusts of slightly cooler air that swept across my damp skin.

The bedroom was clean, tidy, and while a little dated, very nice. The linens were all navy-blue—the same shade as the door—and even the rug on the brown tile floor, and the tapestry on the wall behind the bed were blue. Mr. Jol really liked blue.

I was once again, nearly back in dreamland, when the shower shut off. I wasn’t about to deny myself the show of a lifetime. So, I peeled one eye open to watch my mate strut his hard, wet, naked ass out of the steam.

I swallowed.

Yeah, he washardall right.

He said before that the Fates would help him fit inside me, but that just made me think the creepy dudes with crystal balls were playing into their voyeuristic fetishes, watching me get impaled by a beastly shifter. However, I supposed if there was one time I wanted their help and intervention, it was making sure Zandren didn’t split me in two.

A sexy, coy smile curled his mouth as he approached me. “Like what you see, Little One?”

“Haven’t met any other bear-shifters in my life, but you, sir, have got to be the sexiest.” I wrapped my arms around his neck as he placed one knee, then the other, into the bed, once again hovering over me.

“Stop worrying,” he said with a delicious purr to his voice as he dropped his mouth to my neck. “The Fates will help it fit. Remember?”

“Are you reading my mind?” I asked, raking my nails down his muscular back.

“Maybe just a little. Mostly your emotions though.” He continued to press warm, wet kisses down my neck and across my chest until he found a peakednipple. “I felt them all day. They were exhausting.” He sucked an achy bud into his mouth. “How do you do it?”

“Do what?” I gasped when he scissored his teeth over the tender nub.

“Feel so strongly, all the time. Your fear and worry for Drak was …” he shook his head, “I get it. The guy is dealing with some pretty big betrayals, but it was a lot.” He moved over to the other nipple. “And I feltallthose feelings you were having with Maxar last night. Can’t say that didn’t make me a bit jealous.” He swirled his tongue around my other nipple, then sucked hard until a sharp breath snagged like a hook in my throat, and my hips leaped off the bed of their own volition.

“You … you felt me with Maxar?”

“I felt your climax, Little One. All of them.” Moving his mouth down my torso, he twisted his tongue around my belly button. “Not gonna lie. I had some inclinations to come and join you two. I’d rather be with you and another dude than not with you at all.”

The idea of being with two of them created a new, intense heat in my lower belly and between my legs. Was that possible? I mean, yes, I knew it was possible. I’d watched porn and, for some reason, gang bangs were my genre of choice. But was it possible forme? Would my mates even be cool with it?

“Not there yet though, Little One,” he murmured, continuing to kiss and lick his way down my body. “Maybe in time.”

“You’re reading my thoughts again,” I growled. “Not fair.”

“No. I’m not. Your heart rate picked up at the mention of it. So I knew you were thinking about it. And you became flushed. So I knew it turned you on.”

“Oh!”

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