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No breath in my lungs because Errok is gone.
And that means my heart is gone, too.
––––––––
“ZUH-TEPHANIE!”
I took a huge, sucking breath as if I’d been underwater for too long. Wild with panic, my limbs writhed, my eyes wide open but not seeing.
Where is he?
“I am here!” The forceful hiss cut through the inky darkness, steadying me. And it wasn’t just words. But a warm, solid touch. A wall of muscle against my bare back. Two strong arms wrapping around my front, holding me tight.Errok.
“I am here,” he repeated, more softly this time, against the top of my head. My heart pounded, but I slowly started to relax as his words drifted over me.
“You are safe,” he promised vehemently. “Any monster that has charged you, I will slay it. Any pain that’s dared to touch you, I will kill it. Nothing can harm you so long as I am here. Do you understand that, beloved?”
I panted, unable to answer. Instead, I rolled in the circle of his arms, buried my face in his chest, and cried. Errok went rigid against me as I sobbed.
“Zuh-Tephanie,” he said, panic edging into his voice, “precious creature, I think you’re bleeding.”
“It’s not blood!” I gasped, sniffing hard. I rubbed my forehead back and forth over the tense bulges of his pectoral muscles. “They’re tears.”
“If you don’t tell me what in the piercing peaks of the Deep Skytearsare right this instant then I will drag every healer in this mountain to your side.”
“No!” I stammered, throwing my arms around his neck and squeezing. “You can’t leave!”
“Then tell me how to heal the tears,” he begged, sounding distraught.
“You don’t need to heal them. They’re normal. It’s a human thing. Can we not talk about it right now?”
“Fine,” he grunted, though he didn’t sound convinced. “As long as you’re alright. Though it doesn’t seem natural for your face to leak that much fluid...”
A laugh choked through my sobs, then I hiccupped.
“Oh, no. Now what is that sound?” he asked, dismayed.
“It’s just a hiccup! You don’t hiccup?”
“Certainly not. What an undignified sound.”
“Well, excuse me!” I said, scowling at his annoyingly muscled chest. “I guess you’ll just have to get used to all my undignified human things. Jeez, how will you bear to be seen with me?”
“It’s not something I’ll need to bear at all. Hiccups or not, tears or not, you’re still the most glorious thing ever to have graced my world.” His hands skimmed up and down the naked skin of my back. “You may call it vanity, but I’ve decided I don’t care. I’m immensely proud to have you by my side. And I plan to show you off as such.”
Well, shit. I wasn’t quite sure what to say to that. I sniffed, no longer crying, and changed the subject.
“Sorry that I woke you up. Didn’t think I’d be the one having a nightmare tonight. Is this our new routine? Are we going to take turns or something, now?”
I felt Errok’s chin bump the top of my head as he snuggled closer. One of his hands began to stroke my hair, the other sealing its warm palm flat to my spine.
“No, I expect not. In fact, I do not believe I’ll ever have another nightmare ever again. Licking your cunt has cured me of every affliction, both mental and physical.”
“Oh, lordy. Has it cured you of your giant ego?”
“No,” he groaned, “spilling seed all over you with barely a touch of your hand did that well enough, I think.”
I smirked, heat flaring at the memory.
