Page 60 of Elas

“I, um, made a mess of you.”

I grin at him, dragging my palm through his release and spreading it over my stomach. “Good thing I like smelling like you.” His eyes flare when he notices my erection, but I shake my head with a smile. “Ignore it. If I paid attention to my dick every time it perked up around you, we’d never get anything else done.” He opens his mouth, most likely to argue, when his stomach rumbles loudly.

“Let’s get you cleaned and fed. Really, I’m fine. I’m fuckingamazing, okay?” I lean down and press a kiss to his lips, and as I go to pull away, he grabs at my shoulders and stops me. Our eyes meet, something heavy passing between us.

“We’re going to figure this out, aren’t we?” The uncertainty in his voice forms a crack right down the center of my chest, but I force a reassuring smile.

“You trust me, don’t you?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Then trust when I say we’ll be okay.”

“I want to be more than okay,” he whispers, so very vulnerable as he tugs on my neck. I relent and give him what he needs, pressing a soft kiss to his lips.

“We will always be more than okay, August. If you believe nothing else in this world, believe that. You are mine, yes?”

“Yes,” he agrees, and something warm and cozy settles deep in my core. Something I haven’t felt since the day I walked away from my parents’ house almost a century ago.

Something that feels like home.

Elas

“Ah,Elas,thankyoufor coming on a weekend morning.”

Like I had a fucking choice?

I’d woken up curled around August under the warmth of the sheets, surrounded by his citrus, sunbaked scent. He’d released one of those sweet, sleep-riddled groans, and I guided his drowsy lips to mine, morning breath be damned. The knock at the door tossed my temper right over the edge, but I couldn’t ignore the summons.

“Of course, sir,” I manage to say, fighting the urge to rip his head off. He crinkles his nose, his gaze moving over my frame before finding mine again.

“You reek of sex.”

It’s not a question, so I don’t treat it as one. I raise my shoulder in a lazy shrug and force a salacious smile onto my lips. “You said to keep an eye on him.”

“I didn’t say to stick your dickin him.”

Another careless shrug makes his hackles rise, but I just laugh and shake my head. “How much do you know about humans and their love lives, Commander?”

Annoyance flashes across his eyes as he narrows them into sharp slits of jade. Sheer stubborn pride burns from him like a laser, but his curiosity to hear my explanation wins. “Not as much as I could.”

“They’re clingy. Offer a human the tiniest bit of affection, and they’ll follow you around wanting more. Hopelessly smitten creatures.”

“And is he? Following you?”

I chuckle again and lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees. Khors mimics my pose, and I barely keep my snort at bay. He’sdesperateto hear the juicy gossip. “He was already following me, Commander. Now he’s eating out of my hand like a fucking dog.”

“Good, good,” he murmurs, before nodding to himself as though he’s convinced this whole thing was his idea. “And has he done anything suspicious?”

“No, sir. But trust that I’m keeping a very careful eye on him.”

“I’m warning you, Elas—don’t get too close. Remember that he is disposable.” Instinct wars with common sense in that moment, and I fight the urge once again to tear his head off his shoulders.

I could do it, too.

He’d never once bested me in combat, and despite the decades that have passed, I’m positive that hasn’t changed.

Instead, I snort a laugh and sit back in my chair, waving my hand. “Of course he is, sir. These humans are likecattle. Cull the bad ones, and the herd that remains might be worth growing.”

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