Page 6 of Pain

“A-and it will stop if we mate?”

He nodded and opened the other eye. “But I don’t want you to mate me until you’re ready. Until youwantto. Besides,” he shrugged, “the Fates will know if you’re forcing your feelings and they won’t grant the bond.”

“Are the Fates tangible entities? The way you guys all talk about them … I picture this round table of old dudes with long white beards just dictating everyone else’s lives. Watching things transpire through crystal balls.” I scrunched my nose. “Kind of pervy bastards, honestly.”

That made him chuckle, but then immediately wince. “Can’t say I’ve ever met the Fates. So maybe you’re right.”

“Don’t you guys believe in like a bunch of gods too? Are they different from the Fates?” There was still so much to learn about this realm I was apparently the ruler of. New deities, new species, new ways to die. It was overwhelming. Iwas only twenty-two. I didn’t even have a handle on my own world, let alone this new one I’d been unceremoniously hurled into.

“They are.” His jaw clenched which told me he was in more pain. “But maybe we can have a theology lesson another day?”

He was starting to spook me. Even though I’d only known him for a week, Maxar had very quickly cemented himself as the psychotic jokester of our ragtag crew. Chaotic, unpredictable, and just a little scary, if I was being honest. Not in a wear-your-skin-as-a-suit kind of way, but more like, he wouldn’t hesitate to roast, scorch, or broil someone who pissed him off. But he wasn’t acting like that at all right now. And that told me it was because he was channeling all of that normal smart-ass energy into healing and disassociating from the pain.

He swallowed, his gaze boring into mine. “I don’t foresee the need to touch, or be touched, by other women very often. It’s not that much of an inconvenience.”

My heart went out to him. I understood why he kept it from me, but if we were destined by the Fates to be together for eternity, surely that meant he was supposed to trust me with stuff like this. “I still wish you’d told me.”

He shifted closer to the wall the bed was up against and released my hand so he could pat the bed, encouraging me to hop up and sit down. So I did. “I won’t ever keep anything from you again, My Queen. I promise.”

Tears stung the backs of my eyes. “You’re going to be okay, right? I know you guys told me all the ways shifters, vampires, mages, and demons can die, but this isn’t one of them, is it?”

A bigger, more genuine smile stretched across his handsome face. “This isn’t one of them.”

“You’re like a cat with nine lives?”

His dark-red brows furrowed into a frown. “Ooh, don’t you dare compare me to a cat. That’s almost as bad as comparing me to a bear.”

That made me giggle, but only for a second. “How much pain are you in?”

“Less, now that you’re here.”

I rolled my eyes. “Be serious.”

He nodded. “I am. Your touch is healing me. Truly. Even though we’re notbonded, you are my mate, and your touch is healing. I can feel myself mending more than when Melissima was here doing her voodoo magic.”

“She’s a mage like you, and you make fun of her and call it voodoo?”

His expression was deadly serious. Gone was the playful glint in his whiskey eyes that I’d become so used to. “I’m not making fun. What do you think voodooists, witch doctors, and servitors are? They’re all mages. Just like magicians. Just like shamans. It’s all real. A lot of voodoo is done by healer and spellcaster-mages. It’s not all just poking pins in a human-shaped cushion. Hell, even psychics are mages.” His brows pinched again for a second. “Well, the real and good ones are. There are those human shysters thatpretendto see the future just to fleece people of their money. But the good ones are mages.”

Warm, pleasant tingles raced down my arm and into his hand. I could feel the healing power I had, just from being his mate, transferring into him. I wanted to do more. I hated this helpless feeling and seeing him so injured. Sure, it was because Zandren was possessed by my uncle and tried to kill Maxar, but the mage didn’t seem to be holding it against my bear. “Would more skin-to-skin help?”

A flicker of the old Maxar dashed behind his eyes making them flare with amber fire. But then he sobered and nodded. “Yeah, I think it would.”

“O-okay.” I released his hand and peeled off my T-shirt so that I was in my bra and the black sweatpants I borrowed from Melissima. I peeled out of those too, until I was just in bra and panties. Not once did Maxar take his eyes off me. The heat from his gaze cascaded down my skin as if made of real flames, triggering a rush of goosebumps to chase across my chest and down my arms and legs.

Carefully, I helped him out of his T-shirt, but left him in his black sweats—even though the erection he sported was very distracting. Gently, I slid my hands over his warm, smooth skin. He was almost too hot to the touch, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle.

“Straddle me,” he gritted out. “You won’t hurt me.”

Nodding, I lifted up onto my knees and swung one leg over his body, making sure to not be on his abdomen or even pull on it in any way. However, that meant I was sitting on hisveryhard cock.

Our eyes locked, and I swallowed. A cheeky, playful grin curled one side of his mouth more than the other. “I have my period,” I said, a little out of breath for no reason.

“Couldn’t give a flying fuck about that, sweetheart. But … I’m a little under the weather myself, so maybe just some heavy petting?”

That made me smile. Careful to avoid the magical dressings that Melissima had put on his wounds, I started at his hipbones and gently worked my hands up his torso. His eyes fluttered shut and he moaned deep in his toned chest. His cock twitched beneath me, and it was impossible for me not to grind down on him a little.

Warmth filled my entire body, along with a tingling sensation not unlike what I experienced when I drank carbonated water. Only instead of cold and refreshing, it was warm and comforting. Like carbonated hot tea.

---