Page 93 of Elas

“Mine,” he snarls, pulling me to him, and I click my tongue and roll my eyes. “You aremine.Not his. He doesn’t get to see your adorably soft belly.”

“Oh, good heavens, you really said that out loud,” I mutter, burying my face in his chest as Reyes snickers. “Show him your hand, then.” I pull back, and he takes another long moment to glare at me before gripping my chin and forcing my mouth to his again. I grunt, watching his eyes dart to Reyes in an obvious unspoken challenge, just as his teeth scrape my upper lip.

Why do I find it so sexy?

My lips tingle as he pulls away. The scoff that comes from Reyes is nothing more than white noise as my attention focuses completely on Elas. I’ve never been enthralled like this before, but Elas is the center of my universe, pulling me in with his gravity.

“Doc?” His voice is gravelly as he nuzzles my temple with his nose. “You gotta let go of me if you want me to take off my glove.”

I realize I’m holding on to him, clutching the edge of his armor in one hand while the other wraps around his enormous arm. “Oh, uh, right… sorry.” I clear my throat as I release him, my eyes darting to a very unamused Reyes.

“Gods, I love you,” Elas mutters with a kiss to my hair. “You’re the fucking cutest. Isn’t he the cutest?” he asks, whirling towards Reyes, who’s caught with a deer in the headlights panic.

“Not this again,” he whines, and Elas throws his head back in a laugh, infinitely pleased with himself.

“You’re a menace,” I hiss, and Elas is all cheeky grins as he allows me to pull off his glove, then displayshis tan palm. Reyes stares at it with open curiosity, even taking a small step closer to Elas to inspect it.

“Why isn’t it glowing?”

“According to our research, the mark changes once both of the mates accept the bond. Mine is the same color blue as his skin,” I say, tapping my chest and gesturing at a puffed up Elas. He’s adorably proud, and a mushy smile pulls onto my face.

“This is fascinating,” Reyes says, ignoring the gooey eyes we’re making at each other. “How do you know, though?”

“Know what?” I ask, finally moving my gaze back to his.

“Why it changed.”

“Oh, uh, well… we sort of… stole some files from the base before we left.” Reyes’s eyebrows shoot up as I gesture in the direction of the SUV. “Quite a few, actually.”

Reyes heaves a loud sigh, staring at me as the gears inside his head spin. Finally, he gives a resolute nod, gesturing towards the stairwell that leads to the hidden space. “Come on down, then. Sounds like we need to have a discussion.”

An hour later, we all sit back in our chairs around a small table in Reyes’s basement apartment, absorbing everything we just discussed. Reyes shares what he’s learned from his observations. It isn’t necessarily new informationto us, but it solidifies what we already know and adds another complicated perspective.

The military is transporting imprisoned sets of mates to Ljómur, and they’re using his camp as a stopping point on their journey. It makes me wonder if the cooperative mates are moved in a more civilized manner. The zip ties and armed guards might be saved for those who put up a fight.

We bring down the files we’ve already read, leafing through them to reference notes as we share what we learned. These experiments have been going on for decades, researching for something called Project V. Elas explains we left the base under the guise of transporting me to Ljómur to work, and came here to search for Ronan under Commander Khors’s orders.

Reyes’s lips pull tight, crossing his arms over his chest as he chews on the inside of his cheek. “I should’ve known that purple fuck would bring trouble with him.”

Elas stares at Reyes thoughtfully. “How did Ronan figure out you were here? He wouldn’t have known about the secret rooms. This one was so well hidden that even with my tracking skills, I never would’ve found it if August hadn’t shown me.”

“Oh, uh, well,” Reyes says, shuffling uncomfortably in his seat. “I may have… sort of stabbed him.”

Elas’s eyes grow wide. “Youstabbed Ronan?”

“And… kind of… hit him in the head with a pipe and knocked him out. But in my defense, I thought Cameron was his captive!” Elas stares with shock written all over his face, then lets out a bellowing laugh.

“You… ahuman…knocked outRonan?” The entire table quakes as he slaps it, and Reyes and I exchange a shocked glance as Elas laughs. “An Anunian warrior with a century of battle experience… and he was taken out by…this?” He gestures up and down Reyes’s seated body as he howls louder. Reyes looks like he wants to be offended, but both of us are so bewildered by Elas’s laughter that he can’t manage it.

Gleeful tears form in Elas’s eyes, and I finally break and laugh along with him. I have no idea why it’s so funny. His laughter is just infectious, his shoulders shaking as he swipes at his eyes. “Gods, I cannot wait to give him shit about being taken down by a human. This is the best thing I’ve heard in years.”

Still grinning, I look at Reyes. “So, you attacked Ronan—”

“You like to do that, don’t you, stupid human?” Elas howls. “You like to stab people!” I shake my head and try to ignore him, but a rogue chuckle slips loose.

“—and then what happened?” I ask, trying to look apologetic while I giggle at Elas.

Reyes is flustered, crossing his arms in a huff. “Well, obviously he wasn’t very happy about it—”

---