Page 53 of The Anointed's Paladin

Fuck, I want this forever.

I gazed down at my Talon, the beautiful expanse of his body still heaving as I recovered. I leaned forward for a second, wanting to press a kiss to his knee. Now to make sure he was all right, help him get cleaned up.

The thought came unbidden, tangling in my brain as I came down from the high. I took a step backward, panting. No. He wasn’t actually mine, no matter how much I wanted him to be. I couldn’t be going soft on him.

I turned, not wanting to show him my face, not wanting to see his. I grabbed some fabric from the ground where we’d strewn our clothes, quickly wiping up.

I threw it to Talon and pulled on my pants. He frowned as he wiped himself off. It was his shirt.

“You better help me wash this off,” he grumbled.

I spared him a backwards glance, buttoning up my own—clean—top. I needed to get out of here. Before I had any crazier thoughts about trying to take care of him.

“You’ll have to make me,” I said, and walked out the room. I didn’t trust myself to stay. That was supposed to be a distraction from my issues, not create more.

What a fucking mess.

23

Mr. Brightside

Nidori

Iwas alone at camp. Kaine had disappeared earlier, and Talon had gone on his nightly perimeter check. He’d been gone a long time now, though.

The thought gnawed at me, making my anxiety heighten. My sweet baby Talon and charming Kaine could be in trouble somewhere.

I flew up, deciding to go and look for them. Though I couldn’t woodweave down here, my new dagger was at my side. I held the hilt as I flew along. I didn’t really know how to use it, so I’d have to ask Kaine or Talon to show me.

I had never felt as useless as I had in this cave. So bare. I was used to the almost endless auras of plant life around me, but here it was so…cold. I could feel the plants that grew in here—mosses and lichens, mostly—but they were foreign and strange.

I had my dagger. That was something. But I was so small in this world.

It wasn’t fair. I was finallyhere, living in the world I’d always dreamed about, but so much of it still seemedfar away.

I heard a noise up ahead. It sounded like a struggle, and my heart raced as I tried to locate where it was coming from. I flew up, peeking out onto a balcony. I was expecting trouble, hand gripping my dagger, and for a moment, I thought it was a fight.

It was Kaine and Talon, bodies intertwined in an intimate tangle. Talon’s muscular form was stretched out on a marble table, his eyes locked feverishly on Kaine. They were completely naked, pressed together.

Not a fight, afox.

I knew I should probably leave, but I couldn’t tear myself away. It was just like the other night; the way they touched each other was like nothing I’d ever seen before. The intensity,insistencyof their behaviour, I’d attributed to procreation, but that wasn’t it. What had Talon called it? A base need. Pleasure.

Something I wasn’t built to experience. My desire to be human, demon—whatever would let me experiencethat—had never been more intense. I was his wife; I was supposed to be a part of that.

It wasn’t just the way they touched. It was in their gazes as they looked at each other, intertwined in their own world together. A world I was locked out of.

I tore myself away, a lump of bitter disappointment forming in my throat.

Wiping my eyes, I blinked furiously as I returned to camp. Tears leaked out as I sat on Talon’s bed, sniffing. I knew it was silly, but emotions don’t have to make sense, so I let myself have a cry. Only a little one, though, because I didn’t want my boys to come back and worry.

I hugged my knees. It was nice here, on Talon’s bedroll. It smelled like him—cinders and cinnamon and soap. He liked to keep things clean. I fingered the fraying edge of the fabric and bit my lip, rippingoff a bit and bringing it over to my sleeping spot. I tucked it into the shirt I’d borrowed from Kaine and settled down. Now my bed smelled like both of them. I longed for my plants, and to be able to make this nest properly, but they were out of my reach here.

But there must be something I could do. I got to work.

24

That was quick

---