23. Sirex

23

SIREX

L ong after Phoebe drifted off, Sirex held her close. He loved the feeling of her soft, curvy body nestled against his own larger, harder frame. He studied her lovely face, relaxed in sleep. Her long dark lashes lay like fans across her cheeks and her curly black hair cascaded over the arm he had wrapped around her.

Is it possible? Does she really love me? Not in spite of what I am but because of what I am?

All his life, ever since his manhood ceremony when his uncle had told him the truth of his birth, he had felt nothing but shame for his dominant tendencies. He had hated that part of himself—the Scourge part—and tried his best to eradicate it. But if he had heard her right, Phoebe was saying she loved that part of him—that she wanted to be dominated. Maybe even tied up and punished occasionally…

No—stop thinking that way! the voice of guilt that had been with him since his manhood ceremony ordered. You can't give in to these urges—you must suppress the Scourge half!

But what if Phoebe really loved him—and loved his Scourge half too? Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to give in to it if the female he was with actually wanted him to…

I'll wait and see what she says in the morning, Sirex told himself. It's possible that everything she said was just because of the influence of the drug she took—she might not really feel that way at all.

But he couldn't help savoring her last "I love you" and remembering the soft press of her lips to his as he allowed himself to drift off into sleep.