Page 51 of Etched in Stone
“I don’t feel any different.” She was a little sore, but that probably had nothing to do with his bite, and everything to do with how vigorously she had just been riding him.
“It may take a while. DNA doesn’t always get rewritten in a day.”
“That sounds a little ominous.”
“I warned you.”
“I know. But you could sugar coat it just a little.”
“I’ll find you just as pretty if you sprout horns.”
“I’m not sure that helps.”
Ray laughed. “Go to sleep. I’ll be right beside you.” With that, Ray’s features froze and he turned to stone. It was a sight she hadn’t seen too often, and it was miraculous all the same. Jesse wondered if come the morning, she’d be able to do the same.
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FR E L INR AY
Ray was worried, but he was not about to explain that to Jesse. Something should have happened by now, but Jesse hadn't changed at all. She'd had no reaction to the mating exchange. She was the same fragile, peppy artist that he had fallen in love with.
She wouldn't last a day on Duras. What the fuck had he done? Ray had a duty to return, no matter the cost to his own self. But if Jesse didn't change, he couldn't see how he was supposed to take her with him.
It had been over a day and they'd happily gone out shopping around Fort McMurray, buying a parka and other cold weather gear for her. Now that he had the ability to change into any form he wanted to, Ray had set his perception filter to a rather ordinary looking man closer to Jesse's age.
Now, they were Mr. and Mrs. Lark, newlyweds with some cash to burn. It was nice to be able to wander around town, holding hands, window shopping like any two humans could. This is what Jesse deserved, not being thrown off some roof or shot at by fat pastel sociopaths.
It was still not too late to settle down somewhere, out of the way on the edge of the civilized world and be able to live in relative peace away from the Syndicate. Ray didn't have to join his brothers back on Duras. They could just take him for one of the dead, one of those that hadn't survived the thousand year wait.
But Tas was alive. Tas would know. He couldn't abandon his brother twice in one lifetime.
“What's up?” Jesse said as they were walking back to their bed and breakfast from dinner.
“Nothing.”
“Oh, we aren't going to play that game, Spaceboy.”
Ray rolled his eyes. In no way or form was he a boy.
“Tell me,” she insisted.
“We don't have to go.”
“You mean you dragged me all the way to fricken' Canada and the cold just to get cold feet?”
“You have yet to change and Duras is an unforgiving world.”
“You're afraid to take me,” she said, quietly. “You've been waiting all this time, and I'm the one holding you back.”
Ray was silent. He couldn't quite put into words what he was feeling.
“I mean, it's alright if you want to go alone,” Jesse said. “I'll understand. I'm defective.”
Ray stopped and turned her toward him. To hell who could see, he folded his wings around her.
“You are my mate. We are bonded and I would give up all my years for you. We either stay together, or go together. I will not part from you.”
Ray claimed her mouth in a kiss and she met him passionately. It was definitely time to get back to the bed and breakfast before someone noticed something protruding from his front side. He was half tempted to fly her the short walk, but instead, he grasped her hand and the pair practically ran toward their suite.
