𝐈 𝐒𝐄𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 | 𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐲𝐚𝐦

Chapter 9: Yours

His lips brushed against mine softly, his hand raising up to cup my cheek, then buried itself in my hair, pulling at it gently. The action made me hiss and he took the opportunity to slide his tongue into my mouth. He angled my head to deepen the kiss, our tongues sliding and dancing across one another. My lungs began to burn from the lack of air. I pulled away, bracing a hand on Aonung's chest. He looked at me in confusion and I tried my best to form a proper sentence.

I looked over his shoulder, out across the water and sawNeteyam watching us. His face crumpled, his eyes filled with hurt. Then his shoulders tensed and his face was filled with anger, nostrils flaring. His eyes hardened before he disappeared below the water, only to reappear down the beach, disappearing into the jungle.

"Shit." I put my face in my hands and cursed myself for being so stupid. "I'm sorry, I have to go."

"Did I do something wrong?" Aonung asked, following me out of the tree.

"No, you did nothing wrong." I reassured him, "You were great, it's just..."

"Neteyam." He said, his voice was sad. He looked into the jungle behind us, his eyes tracking movement in the sky. "I don't understand why you care what he thinks. He's already said that he does not want you."

"I know." I looked up and saw Neteyam's Ikran flying out of the jungle.

"I just want to understand." He grabbed my hand and held it against his chest. "I see you, Äeya. I see your soul, and know that you are too good for him."

I shook my head and pulled my hand away from him, taking a step back.

"If he valued you, he wouldn't have put himself in a position to lose you, Äeya." He took a step forward, trying to close the distance between us. "I wouldn't do anything to hurt you."

"I'm sorry I just... I need to think. I'm sorry, Aonung." I turned and jogged toward the jungle, calling Seraph down from the trees. He looked at me expectantly, lowering himself so that I could climb on his back more easily. "Fly, Seraph."

And he flew, leaving the island behind. Why did everything have to be so complicated. Why did I make everything so damn complicated.

I knew that I had done nothing wrong. Neteyam had told me to pursue Aonung. I was only listening to what he had told me to do, wasn't I?

The kiss with Aonung just didn't feel... right. It was good, as far as first kisses go, I guessed. But it didn't feel how I thought my first kiss would be, of course I had always imagined it with Neteyam.

We flew to the Three Brothers, Seraph landing on top of the middle rock formation. He knelt to allow me off his back, but I just sat there. Looking over the horizon. To the forest. To my home.

Maybe coming here had been a mistake after all.

We didn't fly home that night, opting to camp on top of the cliffs on the Three Brothers. No one came looking for me, not even Aonung.

We didn't return until eclipse the next day, I didn't want to see anyone. I couldn't bring myself to face Aonung, let alone Neteyam.

I'd made a mess of things, and I didn't know if I'd be able to fix it.

Seraph landed on one of the boughs that he and the rest of the Ikran had been hiding.

Dismounting carefully, I kissed him between the eyes before walking toward the village.

Movement from the canopy gained my attention before I could go any further. Neteyam's Ikran landed on a bough next to Seraphs and I watched as he dismounted.

He spared one glance in my direction before stomping past me, heading toward the village.

"You're just going to go back to ignoring me now?" I asked, following after him. "Neteyam!"

"What do you want me to say, Äeya?" He turned on me quickly, his teeth flashing.

"Anything!" I hadn't wanted to deal with this tonight. I wanted to do anything but have this conversation with him. "Say anything, just don't ignore me."

"You want me to tell you that I hated seeing you kiss Aonung?" He marched toward me, "You want me to tell you that I wanted to cut off his hands so that he can't touch you anymore? Huh? You want me to tell you that I hated seeing another man touch what is mine?"

"You're the one who told me to move on, Neteyam!" My back hit the trunk of the tree, the bark pushing into my skin. "You're the one that told me to pursue him!"

"You don't think I know that!" His chest rose and fell against mine, his heart pounding against my own. "I know what I said, that doesn't mean I have to like it."

"What do you want from me, Neteyam?" I shook my head and looked up into his eyes. "Just talk to me!"

"I want everything from you!" He confessed. "I want you, Äeya. But I can't have you, and it's driving me insane! I hate seeing you smile for another man who isn't me, I hate that he makes you laugh, I hate the way he touches you, I hate that he has what is mine, and it's no one's fault but my own."

"Neteyam..." I reached up and brushed my fingers against his cheek. He leaned into my touch, his hand reaching up to cover my own. "I am yours. From the day that we were born I have been yours, and not because the Tsahìk arranged our mating."

"I have done nothing but hurt you and push you away." He tried to pull away but I pushed my forehead against his. "I don't deserve you. I'll only put you in danger."

"I'm in danger where ever I go." I looked into his eyes, trying to make me see the sincerity in my words. "I was in danger when we were in the forest running assaults against human caravans and trains. I was in danger when we saved your siblings from the humans in false bodies. I'm in danger no matter where I go while the humans plague our land. I'm not afraid of it."

"Quaritch wants to kill my family."

"I don't care."

"He will kill you, if he knows that you are important to our family. To me."

"I'll die a warriors death then, fighting to protect those I love."

Love.

The words startled me, I had never said them out loud before. To my mother and father of course, to Seraph but never to another man.

But I did love him. I loved Neteyam. I've loved him since we were children.

"What about Aonung?" He asked, doubt flashing in his eyes.

"I am yours, Neteyam." I guided one of his hands to my chest, placing it above my heart. "I will always be yours."

He stared at me for a while, processing everything I had said.

And then his lips were on mine, pressing my body further against the tree. The kiss was needy and hungry, his lips claiming mine entirely. His hand traveled from my chest to my waist and pulled me hard against him, making me gasp. His tongue dove in hungrily, twirling against my own. His other hand left mine and buried itself in my hair, pulling tight enough to make me moan into his mouth.

He tilted my head to the side and broke the kiss, burying his face in my neck, planting kisses from my ear to my collar bone.

"Mine." He breathed against my neck, his sharp teeth scraping against my skin. "My Äeya."

"Yours." I repeated back to him. I had always been his. I would have no body but him.

ᖗ ⊹ ✦ 。°˖ ✧

i'm crying bricks!! he literally calls her 'my äeya' 😭