Chapter 7

Taylor

He better be resting in that cave when I get back or so help me god. I muttered to myself as I gathered another mushroom. I hated that he pushed himself so hard, and that he did so because he thought he had to prove his worth to the dekes.

There was so much more to Brexl than just protecting the group. He was kind and sweet, and had amazing dry humor. He was a great person to be around. I enjoyed my time with him over the past week, pretending to be mates. It was nice to live the fantasy for a little while, even if we were bad at it. I liked being held by him and sitting on his lap as we ate dinner. I even liked defending him against Dameron after we luminesed. If the rest of the dekes hadn’t stepped up, I would have proudly stayed by Brexl’s side till the end.

I finished gathering my mushrooms, nuts, berries, and potato like tubers, and headed back to the cave.

There was movement in the trees ahead of me, so I proceeded with caution, but in the end, there nothing was there. At least that’s what I thought until I made it back to the beach to find Brexl cooking a small animal over an open fire.

“Where did you get that?” I asked stomping my foot, doing my best to rein in my frustration.

“It wandered into the cave,” Brexl murmured without looking up at me.

“Liar.” I tapped my foot on the sand, waiting for the real answer.

When he didn’t provide any further information, I pressed on. “Were you following me?”

“No,” he frowned, but kept his eyes trained on the meat he was cooking, refusing to look my way.

“You’re such a bad liar, and you’re a bad patient too.”

I sat down next to him and dropped my satchel of foraged food in his lap.

“Thank you.” he bowed his head in gratitude for the food.

“Don’t thank me yet. I’m going to re-wrap your bandage and check your gash, which is probably going to hurt like a bitch.”

“You may do what you think is necessary,” Brexl said still looking like a sad puppy.

“I’m about to do a lot more than what’s necessary if you keep disobeying me.”

I grabbed a tuber from the bag and set it down on the boulder next to me. Then I pulled out my knife to start cutting it up so it’d cook faster over the fire.

“I can do that.” Brexl reached for my knife and I slapped his hand.

“Ouch,” he said as he flinched away.

“If you try to do one more thing, I’m going to tie you up so you’ll have no choice but to lie still and rest.”

“Why is it so important to you that I rest?” Brexl asked as he rubbed his hand.

“Because you’re important to me! Your health is important to me! We might not be mates, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want you to be happy and healthy.”

Brexl furrowed his brows in that adorable way that he does when he’s confused.

“I am happy,” he admitted.

“No, you’re not,” I argued.

That won me a smile.

“I’m not?” He asked with an amused look on his face.

“No, you’re not. Happy people don’t put themselves last. Happy people take care of themselves and rest when they’re injured.”

He looked at the ground as he mulled over this.

“I’ll rest if you let me go with you when you forage for food again.”

“Brexl, that’s not resting.”

“It can be. I’ll sit and watch out for predators while you work.” He looked at me with such intensely hopeful eyes that it nearly ripped my heart out. I’d never wanted for someone to care about themselves as much as I wanted Brexl to. I didn’t just want Brexl to care for himself, I longed for it. I longed for him to see himself as worthy of care and rest and happiness.

“Ugh,” I ran a hand down my face in defeat.

“If I say no, are you going to follow me anyway?”

“Yes.” his answer was quick and firm, and I knew there’d be no arguing with him.

“Fine. You win this one. Now sit still, I’m going to check your gash.”

Brexl

I breathed a sigh of relief when Taylor agreed to my idea of joining her when she looked for food again. I did not like making her mad, but I wasn’t going to let her go out on her own, not when there could be a different predator lurking behind every tree.

I’d found this large rodent while watching over her as she foraged. I thought having some meat to go with the tubers and mushrooms would make for a nice meal. Taylor deserved to have a full, hearty lunch. I did not think about how cooking the rodent would be a giveaway to the fact that I had not stayed put like she’d asked me to.

This arrangement was better. I wouldn’t have to sneak around and, she wouldn’t be frustrated with me. It was a win-win, as I often heard the hu-mans say.

I winced as she pulled the bandage away from my skin. She was so close to me again, and despite the pain, I was starting to look forward to her checking my injury. My unruly cock started to rise, and it took all my willpower to get it back down again.

“It looks good. I’m not a doctor, but I think it’s healing nicely.”

I grunted in response hoping she wouldn’t notice the slight bulge in my pants.

She re-wrapped my wound and pulled away from me. I missed her warmth and her scent tickling my nose. I would never go so far as to injure myself again just to have Taylor close to me, but it was a tempting thought.

Later that day, we ate the remainder of the meat and vegetables for dinner. Leaving us with a few nuts to eat for breakfast before we went out foraging again.

Taylor gave me the one fur we had, and although we were laying deep in the cave, she still chose to put her body slightly closer to the entrance than mine.

That was alright. I would wait for her to fall asleep again like last night so she may have the blanket and I can protect her from whatever might enter the cave. She might be angry with me in the morning, but I would gladly take her wrath if it meant keeping her safe.

I waited for her breathing to slow before I got up and gently draped the fur over her body. Then I placed myself between her and the entrance, stretching out in the wide space.

I had just started to get comfortable when, to my surprise, Taylor got up, shot me a terrifying glare, and threw the fur at my face. Then she laid down slightly closer to the entrance than me.

This is fine. I tried to reassure myself. It’s just my luminescence, my very reason for existing, trying to put herself in the path of danger to protect me, that’s all.

With a grunt I got up, gently tossed the fur onto Taylor’s body, and laid down slightly closer to the entrance than her.

“Ugh!” Taylor got up, cursing my name under her breath, threw the fur at me again, then laid down closer to the entrance. If we kept this up, we’d soon be sleeping outside on the beach.

I grunted as I got to my knees, but before I could rise any further, Taylor held up one finger and said, “Stop right there. I swear to god, Brexl, if you give me that blanket and try to lay down closer to the entrance, you’re going to regret it.”

She leveled me with a glare that made me want to cower. I had to remind myself that I was a literal monster, and she was a tiny hu-man. The top of her head only came up to collarbone. Her threats were empty. What could she do to harm me?

I glared right back at her, threw the blanket to the ground, and laid down closer to the entrance.

“Do your worst.” I accepted her challenge.

Taylor pursed her lips and her moonlit face turned red. She stood at my feet with a vicious glare on her face. My heart began to beat faster as I wondered what she might do next. Maybe it was foolish of me not to fear the one person who wasn’t afraid of me.

She bent down, grabbed my feet and dragged my body until I was laying vertically toward the entrance. This was foolishness. There was no benefit to laying this way.

To my surprise, she did not try to lay closer to the entrance, instead she laid down right next to me, her arm touching mine. Then she threw the wide fur over both of us to share.

“There, now we’re both equally close to the entrance. Happy?”

“No,” I pouted. This was not a good arrangement.

I did not mind having her arm pressed against mine. That was pleasant. I did mind that she wasn’t letting me protect her as a mate should. Not mate. A luminescence friend, or whatever we were.

I started to sit up, but Taylor put her hand on my chest and shoved me back down.

“Stay,” she commanded.

“You’re not my sire. I will get up if I wish.”

This time when I tried to get up, it was not Taylor’s hand that shoved me back down, it was her entire body.

She sat on top of me, straddling my waist. Goddess above, seeing her like this was like a dream come true. Everything inside of me screamed to thrust upward, despite the fact that there were layers of clothing between us.

Then, she slowly pressed her body against mine as she laid the entirety of her body on mine. Her face was mere inches from mine. I swallowed hard, realizing that I’d been outmaneuvered.

“I will sleep on top of you all night, if I have to. I’ll do whatever it takes to get you to fucking rest.”

I did not know what mating had to do with resting, but this was clearly not the time to question it. By the snarl she wore on her face, I did not think she really wanted to mate anyway.

“Now do I have to use you as my bed tonight, or are you going to stay put like a good little sirret?”

I was tempted to argue with her to see what other tantalizing punishments she could come up with, but I decided against it. Having her on top of me was making it very hard to remember that she did not want me as a mate. Despite the fact that she was threatening me by making my dreams come true, I knew she didn’t see it that way.

She cared for me. That much was clear. So much so, that she was fighting with me to get me to rest. That alone is a memory I’d cherish for the rest of my days. It was nice having someone care for me this much, even if we were just friends.

Tarak and the other shifters cared for me in their own way, but this was different. This was Taylor, confident, intense, stubborn Taylor. This was...nice. I’d never seen myself as someone worth this much effort. If Taylor thought I was worth caring for, then maybe I was.

“I’ll stay put,” I relented.

“Good boy,” she tapped my nose with her delicate finger, and smiled at me like she’d won a prize. Then she rolled off me onto the cave floor.

I missed the warmth of her body and debated going back on my word, but I decided against it. For some reason being called a good boy had aroused me more than I thought possible and if Taylor laid on me now, there’d be no hiding the effect she had on me.

She fitted the blanket over both of us, and laid down beside me once again with her arm pressing against mine.

The urge to lay on my side and pull her to my chest was nearly overwhelming, but I willed myself to stay put. I’d never recover if I didn’t get any actual sleep.

I pushed aside all thoughts of Taylor, her silky black hair, her small curvy body, and her arm pressed against mine, and eventually sleep overtook me.