Chapter 35 - Polly

"What did they have you do this time?" I ask Aloryk when he comes into the hut we've been loaned here at Zarriko's tribe. He's sweaty and looks exhausted - just like he has done every day since I pleaded with them to stop treating him like a prisoner. Aloryk had warned that the High Spear wouldn't be lenient, but when I'd used the magic ‘m' word and claimed him as my mate, he did budge a little.

Aloryk is now allowed to walk freely, but he is constantly watched, and has to be of service to Zarriko's tribe - those were the terms. At night he is mine, during the day he is mending roofs, building huts, replenishing stores, tanning hides - anything that this tribe needs him to do. I don't think a lot of the other Trixikka here are particularly happy about the arrangement, but we only plan to be here until Zarriko deems that Aloryk has repaid his tribe for the upset he's caused.

Considering the punishment for these kinds of transgressions in the past have been a fight to the death , I'm pretty thankful right now that Zarriko and Rynn are trying to stay on each other's good sides for the sake of us human girls.

"I have been breaking open mountain rock to find lifestone for their offerings to the Temple," he tells me, sitting down beside me on the nest we are borrowing - much to Aloryk's disgust. "And it made me think that I would like for you to put your name on my hands this night. That way, I can see your mark when I am working with them.

I grin at him and nudge my shoulder against his arm. Every night so far since we've made up and Aloryk is no longer a prisoner, he's come back to me, washed up, made love to me, then asked for me to ‘tattoo' my name on a different spot on his body. So far, he has the original over his heart, one on his neck, another on his stomach and more running along the length of his…

Well …

Yeah, he's got my name on his dick .

On both sides.

In my defense, he insisted.

"You'll be covered in my name if we keep going at this rate," I tell him, though I can't help but keep the grin on my face at the thought.

"I would not mind that."

"Come on," I say, standing to go and drop a rag into the basin of fresh water we have in here. "Let me help you wash up."

His violet eyes sparkle at the offer, and he stands, stalking forward slowly, his huge frame towering over me as his tail twitches behind him. "I like when you wash me, female. May I wash you in return?"

I wring the rag in my hands and tip my head up to him. "You're only going to get me dirty all over again after this."

Aloryk leans his forearm on the hut wall above my head and takes some of my hair in his hand, letting the faded purple strands slip through his fingers. "This is true," he agrees.

I feel a bit flustered - but in that good way. The way that you can trust - the way that feels as though you're melting inside, like an ice cube rubbed over heated skin. I lift the damp cloth and drag it over the taut muscles of his lower abs, loving the way all his little twinkling skin-stars get kicked into hyper-mode, trying to buzz and whirl around my touch. My eyes get caught on one particular neon pink one that keeps disappearing into the waistband of his loincloth, only to reemerge and dance around the bit of skin I'm washing and then dip low again - as if the thing is trying to convince me to follow it.

My giggle at the insistent pink star that seems to have a mind of its own is cut short when the wet rag is snatched from my hands and dropped into the water again. "Hey! I was using that," I protest weakly. "What are you-"

Aloryk lifts the hem of my top and then jerks his chin in a way that suggests he wants me to raise my arms to help him out. "A male should always care for his female before himself," he explains, tugging the top off, leaving me bare from the waist up. "Let me bathe you, little female."

"But you're the dirty, sweaty one right now."

Aloryk's purple eyes stay on mine as he dips to pick up the rag, "I know," he rasps, leaning in to nuzzle and kiss the side of my neck. "And I would like for you to join me."

His rumble of appreciation when I tilt my head allowing him more access goes straight between my legs. He backs me to the wall, crowding me in as his purr vibrates from his chest. That very same purr comes to an abrupt stop though, and he pulls away. "What-" he starts, tilting his head as he focuses on one particular patch on my skin. "What is this?" Aloryk's hand comes up and the pads of his fingers brush over my heart - my tattoo.

I smile up at him, knowing what it is he's seeing for the first time. "I added to it today. Do you like it?" I'd had to use a combination of craning my neck and the reflection in a tub of water to see what I was doing - which was pretty difficult. It probably looks janky as hell, but I still love it. It feels complete to me now.

"It's…"

" It's your wings ," I say for him. Aloryk is still tracing my skin, but he looks up at me now, and I hope he understands. I hope he knows what it is I'm trying to say, because those wings around my heart? They're a little askew, they're a little worse-for-wear, they're a little broken. They're exactly how he carries his wings right now, with the left hanging lower than it ought to. "It's me choosing you, exactly as you are, in whatever form you come in." I swallow the knot in my throat and reach up to brush my hand over that first tattoo of my name he made me give him - the one over his heart.

"I-…"

In the end, Aloryk doesn't have to say the words caught up on his tongue. I understand him perfectly. It's in the way he looks at me, the way he treats me, the way he kisses me senseless whenever he can.

It's in the way we don't need his heart-stars to understand that this is us, choosing each other every single day.