Page 50 of Unfinished

“Understood,” said Jesthi, and then the comm cut off.

When he looked back up, Sienna was frowning, arms crossed over her chest. “I would’ve contacted Jesthi for you. What’s that mean, that your venom is coming in?”

“Like I said before, let’s make ourselves comfortable and I’ll explain everything.”

R’kash offered Sienna his arm. She gave him a long, unhappy look before she set her hand in his. The coming conversation wouldn’t be pleasant, but it was necessary. He glanced down at her golden haired head and swallowed hard as he led her towards the bed. It would be good practice, he told himself. He had more than one uncomfortable truth to tell her.

* * *

R’kash was obviously in pain.He wasn’t faking it, of that much Sienna was certain. From the little that she’d caught of the exchange with Jesthi, she knew it had to do with his venom. From the Mate Portal Program’s educational modules, she knew that venom meant mating bites. As he walked them across the room, he looked more like he was leading her to a funeral than his big, comfortable bed. What was the problem? She’d checked that little box. She was all onboard with making things between them official the Xithilene way, especially after the beautiful day they’d spent together. Did he not feel the same?

“What’s the med-device going to do? I thought the only way to relieve venom sickness was to bite,” she said as he released her hand and she sat down on the end of the bed. She looked all the way up at him as his dark feathers flared and his jaw dropped.

“You know about venom sickness?” He sounded so shocked.

“Yes. All humans are briefed on the Xithilene claiming ritual, whether or not they’ve indicated their consent to receive a mate bite. They made sure we were aware of the implications and that we could change our minds. I was warned that a male experiencing venom sickness might become irrational, but they made it sound like it was a longer process. If your response is supposed to be triggered by my pheromones or scent, whatever it is, isn’t it a little fast? I’ve only been here two full days.”

R’kash ground the heel of his hand against the bridge of his nose. “Then your effect on me must be especially powerful, lady.” It almost came out sounding a bit snappish, but she assumed the pain was affecting his mood.

“That’s a good thing though, isn’t it? I came here to be your mate. I’m ready for you to give me the claiming bite. Like I told you, I want it all with you, R’kash.”

He looked at her like a deer in the headlights.

“No!” he said, stepping back.

“No? What do you mean no?” How could she have been so wrong about everything? Had the R’kash from that afternoon, who’d planned the most romantic picnic and spoken of fate while staring into her eyes with the Evathi sunset behind him, disappeared?

“Let me explain! Please, Sienna.”

He strode over to the left side of the bed, walked back again and then paced some more before he finally sat down. A good three or four feet separated them, and she didn’t like it one bit. She heard his heavy exhale and glanced over her shoulder. He had his palm pressed to his forehead again, his pain evident, but whether it was currently physical or mental, she wasn’t sure.

“It would be wrong to give you the claiming bite now. You may say you’d accept it, but it’d be dishonorable of me not to give you more time to be sure of your choice. You must understand that there is no undoing a claiming bite. You’re not the only one who’s done some research.” He let out a jagged sound that hardly qualified as a laugh. “Humans often break their mating bonds. We’ve been told that much.” He shifted his body so he could face her. “A Xithilene man who has claimed hisk’lallsabecomes territorial. If I were to claim you and mark you with my bite, I don’t know that I could ever let you go. Are you that sure tonight? Because you shouldn’t be yet. When I sink my fangs into your soft flesh and give you my venom, I don’t want you to feel even a single instant of uncertainty. I want you to know down to the very depths of your being that you want to belong to me, becausethatis what it means to claim a mate on Xithilene.”

Sienna sat there struck silent. He had such fire inside of him, and just like a moth, it drew her right in.

“That’s not everything,” R’kash said, his voice going quieter. “I fear my control isn’t strong enough. If I give you what you want tonight and we join fully, I’m afraid I won’t be able to stop myself from biting you. I’ve never desired someone as I do you, Sienna. My experience pleasing females is…limited.”

That caught her attention. Sienna pulled her legs up onto the bed and shifted closer to R’kash. “What do you mean?” she asked.

“There was Veesha’s mother and then two others. All of them women who came to the temple seeking the services of a priest.”

“You didn’t want to tell me about Veesha’s mother before. In our messages, you said it was too painful to discuss,” said Sienna.

R’kash was so still she was tempted to touch him to make sure he was still breathing.

“Perhaps I didn’t want to admit the truth. L’eesha used me because she wanted a child of our blood who might one day serve the temple. I was with her once. I didn’t know that the night had been successful until the day that man abandoned Veesha here at my temple.” He bent his head. “I wish she had told me. I could’ve helped.” He looked back at her. “I would’ve taken her if I’d known and L’eesha couldn’t care for her.”

“Are you saying that you only slept with Veesha’s mother once? That she came to the temple, you were together one night, and that was it?” asked Sienna. When he’d avoided telling her about it before, she’d assumed that it was because he’d had some sort of painful history with the woman, not no relationship at all.

“That is correct,” he said.

“Were the others the same? Just one night?”

“Yes,” he replied stiffly. “Not even a night,” he added quietly.

Sienna reached over to take his hand. “I wasn’t trying to push you. If you’re not ready for more right now, I can respect that, but you should know you have nothing to worry about. Everything we’ve done so far has pleased me—very much. Thank you for telling me the truth.”

He squeezed her hand and glanced back at her again. He opened his mouth to speak, but a knock at the door stopped him.

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