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“Time?”
“There is time.”
With that cryptic comment, he put her in the bathroom and removed her clothing with three sharp tugs and a flick. He chuckled at her panties and eased them down her hips.
“Let me guess. You don’t wear anything under the clothes?”
“Nope. Too warm.”
The shower fell in a gentle rain, and she relaxed in his hands as he took care of her. She was tired, she was insecure, and she was homesick. It was the perfect storm for the slow tears down her cheeks. Not a stellar first day, but only three hundred and sixty-four were left. She could do this.
Chapter Four
Ven towelled her hair dry and wrapped herself in the fabric while looking at Syar. His skin was light bronze, his body tight with muscles, his hair was sandy, and his eyes kept changing colour as his mood shifted. His erection was surprising, but she had chatted with a few omegas, and the slick and weeping were normal if aroused.
“Hand me a towel?” he asked with a smile.
She unfolded one from the stack and handed it to him.
He wrapped the towel around his hips and shook his head violently.
She blinked as droplets ran off her nose. “Did you really just do that?”
He grinned. “I like doing that. Reynaldo’s reaction is fun, but you will see that eventually.”
She took a corner of her towel and wiped her face. “Yeah, I think I will skip it. He only needs to update the graze weekly.”
“If you are ever willing to get a full mark, he will be glad to oblige.”
Ven looked at him with a slight smile. “I will never again be marked by someone who doesn’t want to keep me. That was a horror that I am not going to live again. This is a nice place to visit, but so far, I wouldn’t want to stay here.”
“We could have the mark scrubbed before you leave.” He walked with her into the enormous bedroom.
“Have you had a mark scrubbed?”
He blushed. “No. Isn’t it simple?”
She opened her mouth, but Reynaldo came back inside, and she closed her mouth. He smiled. “Don’t mind me.”
Syar was looking at her curiously. “What is it like?”
“When you are young and stupid and your alpha marks you, there is usually affection. The moment the bite happens, your futures are linked together. Your hope for a life with them twists together, and you feel what they do, and if you are lucky, there is love as well as affection.”
She rubbed her face. “When you scrub a mark, you are destroying all those years of hope, and the connection that you had is severed, so your emotions spin into a void where no one hears you. The place your alpha was is grey ice inside you. When your child is dying inside you, you scream for your mate, and he isn’t there. There is nothing. There is no one, and you are more alone than you can imagine.”
Syar was crying. Reynaldo took him and held him, murmuring to him softly.
Ven swallowed but turned to walk back to her room. Arms wrapped around her, and the soft sniffling confirmed that it was Syar. He lifted her up and dragged her back toward his bed.
Ven said quietly, “Syar, what are you doing?”
“I don’t want you to be alone.”
“Honey, I am always alone. It is easier than flickers of warmth and hope. They are devastating.”
“You are here to help me, and I am sad.”
When he set her down, she turned and saw that he was genuinely upset. She sighed. “I am sorry. I will be more careful in the future, but you are asking me hard questions that prod sore areas.” She stroked his jaw and neck.
