Page 30 of Starlight

Lick: Do you think he would panic, since he’s already helped you?

Akai grabbed a fork and stabbed a slice of root, chewing on it as he stared at his screen and thinking about the way Cole had climbed into his nest, had gone foraging with him, and how they had sat on the deck drinking beer and playing games as if they’d been friends forever.

MothAkai: I don’t think so.

Which was not the same as being certain.

MothAkai: I’m not sure if I want to find out though. He’s hardly got any hair. He’s all bare skin.

That would feel weird, and he had no claws…but his touch had been gentle.

MothAkai: He’s also short.

Lick: You’re extra tall and hairy. It sounds like you’re making a lot of excuses because you’re scared.

Of course he was scared. They had history, and none of it was good, but he didn’t want to lose him. Not that he had him. And living in the cabin was only temporary. He tried to imagine what it would be like to spend summers in the cabin.

Cole wouldn’t want to move around with him as he had a job in town, and he didn’t want to live in the cabin all the time either. He liked traveling and exploring and making. Of course he wanted to do those things with someone, and he’d always imagined that someone would be another harpy…or at least another monster.

The idea that he’d have a human mate had never crossed his mind, even though he’d seen other monsters with their human mate at solstice.

MothAkai: I’m not scared of a human.

Even one who’d accidentally shot him.

Lick: Just fuck him and get it out of your system.

Akai wished it were that easy. He crunched through the burned parts of his dinner, ignoring the bitter taste, thinking about Cole, naked on the deck, dick in hand. The scent of his sweat and the way he looked sprawled on the sofa bed, sleeping.

Lick: How are you getting to Yellowstone if you can’t fly?

MothAkai: I haven’t worked that out yet.

Lick: Can you steal his car?

He was not stealing Cole’s truck, even if he could drive. However, if Cole was driving, he wasn’t stealing the truck. No, that was much worse as he’d be kidnapping him…unless he could convince Cole to drive him.

MothAkai: That’s the plan.

Even though it wasn’t.

And what would Cole get out of driving him?

He glanced at the bag containing the jewelry and knew there wasn’t enough gold to convince Cole to drive him to Yellowstone. It wasn’t gold Cole wanted.

Cole escaped from the town whenever he could to this cabin, so he could be on his own…yet he was still lonely. Cole needed more than what the human town had to offer. Could the monster world fill in the gap?

Was that why their fates had tangled?

Was he supposed to bring Cole to solstice?

It was only as he thought about Cole walking around the stalls and joining in the parties that jealousy rose and twisted around his heart. He didn’t want Cole to be with another monster.

And that was much more troubling than contemplating fucking the human.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“You can’t disappear every weekend. There’s work to be done now the weather is getting better,” Dad said over breakfast.