Page 15 of Rhaz's Redemption
I was in a foul mood for the rest of the night so I kept to myself until everyone went to bed.
It didn’t take me long to fall asleep, but a few hours later I woke up shivering. Axon’s moon cave had a huge opening at the cave mouth, and his protective webbing did little to keep out the wind.
I glanced over at the women who had placed their beds closer to the fire and none of them seemed to be suffering from the cold like I was. I’d somehow ended up surrounded by mated couples, and they were all nice and cozy huddled together under the furs.
I was debating moving my bed closer to the fire when I felt an extra blanket being draped across my shoulders.
I looked up to find a large badger shifter walking away from me. Rhaz. He laid down on the mossy floor in his shifter form with no blanket.
“Oh no you don’t,” I muttered under my breath as I got up, carrying Rhaz’s blanket with me.
I quietly stalked up to him and tossed the borrowed fur onto his body. He sat up and shifted back into his blue sirret form.
“You don’t get to take care of me from a distance,” I huffed. “I’m an all or nothing kind of woman, and you’ve chosen to have none of me, so I won’t have any of you.”
Rhaz furrowed his brows and stated the obvious, “But you’re cold.”
“Yeah? So? How is that your problem?” I shot back.
“I-” he cut himself off and a pensive expression spread across his face.
“Exactly,” I folded my arms over my chest. “No mate bond means no extra blankets. If I can’t be with you in the way that I want then you can’t try to take care of me from a distance like you want to.”
“What is it that you want?” he asked as a frown replaced his pensive expression.
“I already told you what I want,” I huffed. “and I won’t demean myself by saying it again.”
“You want to be with me as your mate even after everything I’ve told you about my bloodline?” Rhaz gave me an exasperated look as if I were the problem here for not accepting that he was the monster he believed himself to be.
“Yes,” I seethed.
He narrowed his eyes at me and confessed, “Your lack of survival instincts is appalling. You should not want to be with me.”
Oh now he was really pissing me off. I leaned in close so he’d get my message loud and clear. Rhaz’s nostrils flared as he took in my scent and his eyes darkened with desire.
“If you try to tell me what I should and shouldn’t want one more ti-”
I yelped as Rhaz pulled me down onto furs and placed his lips on mine. His action was just as bold and intense as he was, but his lips were soft and I melted under his touch. He lifted his lips off mine then kissed me again. Except this kiss was tentative, a tender curiosity, an attraction not yet explored.
My body hummed with desire and soon his hands were sliding up and down my sides as he dared to kiss me again. I let my hand rest upon his chest and felt the tight squeeze of his tail around my thigh.
He moaned deep in his throat and the action somehow woke him up to the reality of what we were doing. The kiss ended just as abruptly as it started and I found myself on the floor looking up at the sexiest male in the dekes as he stood and ran his hand nervously through his hair.
It took him a moment to collect himself, but once he did Rhaz narrowed his eyes at me and growled, “I will take care of you whether you like it or not.”
Then he stalked out of the cave, leaving me alone with the extra blanket I’d tried to give back to him.
What the hell just happened?
Chapter 9
Rhaz
I woke the next day as the morning light filtered through the trees. I slept outside in the tallest tree after I’d given in to my desire to be closer to Beatrice. Thoughts of her soft body and even softer lips bounced around my head. Goddess I yearned for her more now than ever, but I could not have her. It was just a matter of time before I turned into a monster just like my father, and when that happens Beatrice will be glad to be rid of me.
I had pondered her words that no one sees me as a monster and I wanted to believe her. I wanted to believe I was different that I wasn’t my father, but it just wasn’t worth the risk.
It is better this way. She might give me sad looks and angry words, but at least she will shed no tears when I leave her life entirely. I don’t know when that day will come, but when the same madness that plagues my father grips me, I will build myself a home far away from the mountain. So far away, that no one will be able to find me again.
