He was asleep one minute and completely alert the next, as he felt Mariah’s slender form snuggling up to him.
He could smell her tears, they were like burned plastic in his nose, and he tried to sit up, except the wound in his side wouldn’t let him. He willed on some candles so he could at least see her properly.
- Tahlly?
- Aghony, you’re awake!
She wiped her tears and smiled up at him.
- What’s wrong Tahlly?
- Are you ok?
- Yeah. Still healing, but fine.
He carefully lifted his arm and caressed her cheek.
- Why are you crying?
- Because I miss you, so much. And Rhage… he wouldn’t let me feed you. He let a Chosen do it instead.
Ahgony closed his eyes. He knew this had to be killing her because if it had been the other way around, if another male had fed her, he would lose his freaking mind.
- It’s ok baby. It meant nothing. It was only to get me to heal. Hell, I don’t even remember it.
- No, you don’t understand. I got here before her and he stopped me. Rhage held me back so I couldn’t get to you. If it wasn’t for him, I would have fed you. You would be healing because of me, not her.
Fresh tears threatened to fall from her eyes and then she asked him a question he would have never thought he would hear coming from his female.
- Did you have sex with her?
- Do you think I did?
- I… I would like to say no. But you have been alienating yourself from me lately.
He closed his eyes and sighed. He knew he couldn’t just flat-out tell her he had spoken to Rhage. But he should have known she would start to suspect something was up.
- Tahlly, no. Of course I didn’t have sex with her. Hell, I don’t even remember her feeding me then. And the two times she has been here since, I’ve fed from the wrist and that is it, she doesn’t touch me or talk to me.
Mariah stiffened next to him.
- She. Has. Fed. You. Here?
- Uh, yeah.
She got up from the bed and started to pace. She was furious now, the smell of burned plastic replaced by that of burned wood.
- I’m going to talk to Rhage.
It hadn’t escaped him that he hadn’t called him ‘dad’, since she had come in.
- I will tell him about us. He can’t keep us apart.
- No baby, don’t do that.
- Why the hell not.
- You want to talk to him just after I have been injured as D’s Ahstrux Nohtrum? Come on tahlly, even you have to realize he’ll be even more determined to keep us apart.
- What do you mean, more?
- Just, he doesn’t want you to be with an Ahstrux Nohtrum, we know this.
- But maybe if he knows how I feel about you…
- Tahlly…
- I can’t stand to know that you’re feeding of that… that… female.
