Page 13 of Lost in the Dark

“My soul. My sweet darling soul. You will make me break the promise that I made to myself just a few hours ago.”

I rake my teeth over his neck. He smelled so delicious. I want to mark his flesh and taste him all over. “Oh? And what’s that?”

“That I would put your needs above mine, even if it kills me.” He lifts me away from him and swaddles me in a plush blanket. “I endangered you once by visiting you while you were so close to awakening and making you a target to the wraiths. I vowed to take my time with you now that you’re in your physical body.”

He places a device against my neck. It pinches me, and I whimper. “What is that?”

“Something to suppress your pheromones so you can sleep for one more day.”

I let the blanket fall from me, arching myself against him. “And what if I don’t need to sleep?”

In an admirable bid for control, Vox clenches his jaw and tucks the blankets around me once more. “You are not used to the full potency of your pheromones yet. This is just the beginning. If we indulge your heat now, you will only remember it in part through your sleep-deprived haze. As this will be your first time, I want you to remember it and me.”

He punctuated his brief lecture with a kiss on my forehead. “Now sleep. Better now when you have a choice than trying to fight it and passing out unexpectedly.”

I succumb to his ministrations. He has a point. But there is another reason I fight sleep. The lingering fear in my belly that I won’t ever wake up is a hard thing to fight. I can’t cure a lifetime of fear with a random sleep study and jaunt through a nightmarish dreamscape, simulation or no.

“I’m afraid to sleep,” I say. A weight falls away from my chest admitting that when I haven’t admitted that to anyone before. “I’m afraid that they’ll come for me.”

“That who will come for you?”

“No one, anyone. Wraiths. Ghosts. Monsters. Beautiful creatures. Big, bad wolves.” It doesn’t matter who or what. There is always something else that stands in for the fear, and that thought frightens me most of all.

Vox cups my face. “Nothing will come for you. Not here. Never. You’re safe now.”

Vox

My sweet soul is finally at rest. I have much to answer for in front of the tribunal, but they have postponed my hearing until after Mahal is in the clear.

That includes the possibility of tending to her in case she experiences her first heat upon awakening as so many female souls do.

I’m not one to let the ends justify the means, but I wilI gladly relive my actions knowing that Mahal is safe and with me now.

It will take some time to work past her fears, but I don’t lie to her. She is safe from Void wraiths here. The energy surges that live within the ark program are what catches their interest. They don’t have enough power to gain corporeal form to harm anything.

I face an inquiry, and may need to resign from my position as leader. I find I don’t care. With my mate in my arms, it’s hard to worry about anything else.

I drink in her form. Gorgeous skin in a bronzed hue a few shades darker than my gold marks. Long legs. Elegant fingers. A heart-shaped face with large eyes and a heavy fringe of lashes. Her hair tumbles around her in rippling black. A few streaks of white trail down from her temple. It usually means that a soul has experienced great stress.

I run my hand over that part of her to soothe the anger from me and remind myself that she is alive. That is the most important part.

Dark nipples peak underneath her white cotton shift that I had to force upon her. The hem of which has ridden up to her waist, revealing her naked sex. I gaze upon the juncture of her thighs. My mouth waters at the sweet nectar that awaits there for me. I pull down the hem of her gown to cover her.

There will be enough time for us to be together after she rests. She’ll appreciate it more when she can remember.

Iwake to a hot mouth sucking a wet trail down the length of my body.

“Finally, you’re awake,” Mahal says, her sexy voice a breathy drawl.

“How are you awake? The injection should have kept you asleep for hours? You need rest.”

“I have rested enough.” She pushes me to my back, trailing her fingers over me. “Tell me, do you really want me to go to sleep? Or do you want me to keep tasting you like I want?”

She holds my gave, my entire universe resting in her deep, brown eyes. I say the words I’ve wanted to say when I first saw her in the bathroom. “Do with me as you wish.”

A wicked grin slashes across her face. I have faced countless horrors over my years of service to the Citadel without batting an eye. Now, I find myself a little intimidated by Mahal’s intensity.

My cocks push out of their pocket. Already, fluid leaks from the tips for her.

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