Page 125 of Dark & Dreadful Brutes

He squeezed me tightly. “I think we’ve had this conversation before. You’re still drunk, aren’t you?”

“Not sure.” I pressed my forehead to his neck. “I like you.”

“I like you too.” His lips brushed my arm. “I’ll find you something to eat, then we’ll get you showered and back to bed.”

I nodded. “Thanks for saving the Demon for me.”

There was a moment of silence as he opened the door. “I couldn’t very well kill him after you saw how sad and lonely he was,” Ravv finally said, setting me on my feet in the shower. “Stay here. I’ll find food and water.”

I nodded, leaning against the shower wall and closing my eyes. The water rained down on me, and it felt nice. It felt cleansing.

Ravv came back soon with food, and we both showered and ate, then collapsed in bed together.

A few hours later, we headed out to the city below the surface. Our group was bigger than it had been the last time we went there, and Coarse told me that was to help bring more people and their things. We had a group of unbonded idorr with us too, to carry some of the younger fae who had never had a chance to bond with a beast.

My head and stomach ached from all the alcohol the night before, but Ravv rode on Coarse’s back with me to make up for the time apart. The warm comfort of his presence eased the hurt, and his stories made me smile.

The gates opened as soon as we reached the bottom of the crevasse, with Ravv’s parents waiting just inside them.

We were at the back of the group, so we watched our fae and idorr spread into the city in assigned pairs, keeping an eye on each other just to make sure there weren’t any cultists left hidden among us.

When we finally reached the gates, Ravv lifted me off Coarse’s back and slid his fingers between mine as we approached his parents. There was pride in his voice as he said, “Mother, Father, this is my female. Laeli, these are my parents.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” I nodded at them, hoping I didn’t come off as awkward as I felt. I knew there was still strangeness between Ravv and his parents because of the way they’d abandoned him, but we seemed to be ignoring that for the moment.

“Hello.” His mother smiled, her expression kind and genuine. “My, you are beautiful.”

My face warmed. “Thank you.”

She stepped forward and put her arms around both of us for a tentative hug. “It’s good to see you happy, Ravvi.”

I bit back a snort.

Ravvi?

I loved it.

He looked a bit uncomfortable with the hug, so I leaned into him a bit when his mother finally released us and stepped back. His fingers dug into my hip, and I had the feeling it was for comfort when he pulled me closer.

“Your magic feels unusual,” Ravv’s dad said, his eyes a bit narrowed. “It’s warm.”

I was kind of flattered that was the identifier he used. It would’ve been rude to point out the weight in my breasts and ass, or my weak muscles.

“Laeli is human. Her power is the opposite of ours; heat and fire. Life, to our death.” Ravv said bluntly, his eyes narrowing right back at his father.

“If you seal the bond you’ve begun, our people will follow you,” his mother said, almost eagerly.

At least she didn’t care about my humanity.

His father’s expression softened a bit, too.

“If we seal the bond, it will be because we wish to be together for the rest of this life and every other that follows. I don’t care whether your people follow me; we are at peace now, so there are no battles to drag them into. If they don’t approve of their king, they can leave. Now, we have people to help.” Ravv led me away from his parents, and I squeezed his hand for reassurance.

“That could’ve been worse,” I whispered.

“It certainly could’ve. Thank you for staying at my side.”

“Of course.” I brushed my lips to his cheek, and noticed a fae child watching us curiously as Ravv pulled me closer.

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