The blazing red gaze of Ulyen looks upon my mate with interest, and the swirling possessiveness inside of me rears its ugly head.
I roll Zhuliya over to cover her naked body while she recovers. Grabbing at her clothes, I help her dress before pulling on my own pants.
“Great god, we need some of your fur, please,” I ask without preamble.
Ulyen still doesn’t glance at me.
“Please, it’s for Aisyth to help Ilian and me,” Zhuliya adds, and Ulyen winks at her.
“How can I deny such a lovely creature when she screams so prettily for me?”
My head drops down, and I remind myself that not only do we need Ulyen’s favor, but stabbing a god with my horned strap-on won’t kill him, just piss him off.
“Is that a yes or a no?” My tone isn’t as reverent as it should be, but I’m growing impatient.
“Yes…if she takes it from me.”
And that’s why I said, ‘fuck it’ and plotted the murder of my people’s beloved deity.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Zhuliya
Beside me, Ilian twitches like he’s being electrocuted, and I grow concerned as something akin to murderous rage siphons into me through our bond.
“Can you excuse us for a moment, please?”
I’m not sure if my request is polite enough for the god, or if one can even ask them such a thing, but I tug Ilian a short distance away.
“Are you alright?”
“Absolutely.”
“Ilian—I can feel you through our link.”
“And?”
“And I know something’s wrong…very wrong.”
“I don’t like the way Ulyen looks at you.”
At this, I roll my eyes. “He’s your god of sex, of course he’s going to be lewd and undress me with his gaze. Who cares? I’m not interested. Red eyes are not my thing.”
“They aren’t?”
“Nope, I prefer pink.”
Ilian grins down at me, tucking a strand behind my ear. “Sometimes, when you talk that, everything feels…”
He trails off, not finishing, but I know what he meant. It feels real, but we both know the bond is devious and will do anything to obscure the veracity of true emotions.
“Right, well, sorry about that. I’m not normally a violent person, but Ithaqua often fight for their mates. It’s another right of passage to prove ourselves worthy.”
“I promise you have nothing to prove to me. Remember, I already find you worthy?”
Ilian nods, and the rage he once felt is replaced with a nearly unbearable sadness because I can almost hear him thinking.
If I find him worthy, why can’t I stay his mate?
There’s no way to explain to Ilian that it’s me who’s broken, not him. My parents loved one another deeply, but that love was rife with so many hardships.
In truth, I’m not sure they got to really enjoy the fruits of their labor. Everything in their life seemed to constantly test their commitment to one another.
Being with Ilian will be the same way—hell, the Russian government doesn’t even allow human-monster relationships!
I can’t ask Ilian to uproot his life to move to America because it’s my home and where we can be together.
No, breaking the bond is the right thing to do. It doesn’t matter how perfectly we seem to fit together, I can’t be the reason Ilian throws away everything he has in Berdsk.
The Ithaqua takes my hand and leads me back to Ulyen. I ignore his stare and walk over to stand before him.
“I don’t have any scissors, so I’m unsure of how you want me to take your fur. I don’t want to hurt you.”
Ulyen glances at Ilian. “What a strange, kind mate you have. Dear human, I’m a god. You can’t hurt me with something as paltry as pulling out some of my fur. Didn’t your dear mate break his own horn off for you without even a wince?”
My stomach twists at the memory. “Please don’t remind me. Can I be honest? I…I don’t think I can rip your fur, sorry.”
