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n*****

nGAHRYE - Human World

nGahrye was lost in kissing Kalle. He forgot he was holding her in the middle of a dark trail. Forgot that he had a human-Anima Queen back at the house who couldn't find herself. Forgot that the voices had told him he couldn't have Kalle without them. Forgot everything…

nThe only thing that cut through the haze of his mind was her lips on his, her breath fluttering against his skin, her heart racing in time with his own, her hands on his shoulders and buried in his hair, her legs clasped around his waist.

nDear god, her legs. Had there ever been a more beautiful pair of legs made by the Creator?

nHis body responded to the thought. Sucking in a deep breath, he pulled out of the kiss.

"I have to put you down,

" he rasped.

n

"Why?

" she gasped, kissing his jaw.

nGahrye groaned.

"Because if I don't, I'm going to take you right here, and this isn't how I imagined our first time,

" he said, his voice husky.

nShe did pull back at that, so quickly at first he thought maybe she was angry. But then she smiled and her eyes flashed.

"You've already thought about our first time?

" she whispered.

nHe snorted.

"Just a little,

" he admitted and looked down, but that gave him a perfect view of the rounds of her breasts pressed against his chest and that wasn't helping his current goal of not taking her in the dirt, so he manfully yanked his gaze back up to her eyes.

nShe was giving him a sly grin. He prayed she ignored his rather insistent body that was responding very urgently to the way she'd wrapped her legs around him.

nHolding her ass in one hand wasn't helping either, but he didn't want to let go. So he used the other hand to come up and push her hair off her face.

"Thank you for bringing me out here,

" he said carefully.

"I want to do this—be close to you—as much as we can. For as long as we can. But I don't want to rush things. I don't know how much time we have, Kalle, but what we get, I want to do it right. You aren't just a female to enjoy for a moment's thrill. You're my mate. The only one in the world. In any world,

" he corrected himself, sheepishly.

n

"You're right,

" she said, her voice awed.

"The only one, Gahrye. You're the only one.

"

nThen she looked at him, eyes wide in the dark, not smiling anymore. As they stared at each other he wondered if it was hitting her, the way it hit him, that their time was limited. And they couldn't ever know for sure how long it would be.

nHe cleared his throat.

"Kalle, I want to ask you—

"

nThe night still was broken by a sudden, trilling, jangling noise that startled Gahrye and he grabbed her close, looking for a threat. But she patted his shoulder and said,

"Don't worry, it's just my phone. But that's Shaw's ring, so I better answer it.

"

nHe let her slide down his body, stifling the call again when her legs brushed against his. Then, without taking her eyes off his, she pulled the phone out of her pocket and answered it.

n

"Yes?

" Her eyes dropped to the ground and her cheeks pinked, but then she jerked her head back up to look at him as a tinny, crackling voice said,

"You need to get Gahrye back here. The Queen is… she's not doing very well.

"

nGahrye grabbed Kalle's hand and they ran.

n*****

nSick. He felt sick. He had left her far too long. He'd known. And he'd let himself give in. He'd been self-indulgent, selfish, irresponsible… He shook his head as the car rolled around another corner. They'd been half an hour from the house and even with Kalle's faster driving, they still had another ten minutes.

nGahrye prayed for forgiveness, prayed that Elia had found a way back to herself and was just in shock. That there wasn't anything serious wrong. Shaw hadn't seemed to know how to explain what was going on, and just asked them to hurry back. Gahrye hadn't wanted Kalle to ask directly in case they didn't know Elia had shifted.

nSo instead, they sped through the streets of the town, Gahrye's heart in his throat, and Kalle reaching across the gap between the seats to hold his hand.

n

"There was nothing wrong with you getting out tonight,

" she insisted.

n

"Of course there was,

" he muttered.

n

"No, Gahrye, you are carrying everything. That's not healthy. You need to get breaks sometimes.

"

n

"Not when my Queen is in beast form for the first time in her human life,

" he snapped.

"I knew it was unwise. I was… weak.

"

n

"You are not weak.

" She used the word differently, a small smile popping up as she did. Gahrye's heart thrilled that she saw him as strong, that desire threaded into her scent when she said it. But at the same time, he wanted to curse himself.

nHe couldn't let himself be distracted this way!

nSqueezing Kalle's hand he took a deep breath.

"When we get there I can't touch you,

" he said, his voice rolling off into a resonant groan.

n

"Why not? I'm not ashamed of—

"

n

"Because I cannot let Elia know. If she knows she will make every effort to hide anything from me that would make me have to stay close to her rather than be with you.

"

nKalle blinked.

"That's a bad thing?

"

n

"It is when I'm vowed to the death to protect her. She's always determined to do things by herself as much as she can, and if she starts hiding things from me the risk is she'll push too hard and put herself in danger—and I won't be there to help her.

"

nKalle's lips thinned.

"I love that you're so devoted to her. That you take your role so seriously, but… but isn't it good that she'd want you to spend time with me?

"

n

"Not if it puts her in danger. We have no idea what the wolves will do to try to weaken Reth. She's their primary target. If they know where the portal is…

" he groaned and buried his face in his hands.

"I should never have left. When we get to the house, let me go in first, in case it's a trap.

"

n

"It won't be a trap.

"

n

"You can't know that. The wolves have already tried to kill or remove Elia at least four times that we know of.

"

n

"Four times?!

"

n

"Yes.

" He turned and looked at her. She glanced back and forth between him and road as he spoke.

"The danger to Elia is very real. It's why Reth made me blood vow to keep her safe and bring her home. He knew that they would stop at nothing. I was supposed to have help… though I suppose, if she can shift, at least she can take them by surprise and won't be as weak as she was,

" he said, a tiny kernel of hope springing in his chest.

n

"This seems like far too much for one person to take on alone,

" Kalle said.

"Good thing I'm here to help you now.

"

nGahrye's jaw dropped open as he looked at her.

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