Chapter Ten

Glass

He hates your cum?

I think Twirlie got stuck on repeat.

He hates custard and my cum made him gag and retch. I said it for like the tenth time.

But you're mates.

And now Red was doing the same. I was going to put them in the pan if we didn't move on.

Maybe Great Rhu got it wrong, and Apollo isn't really my mate.

A leaf slapped me hard.

Oww!

I glared at both brothers, or I would have if they could see my facial expressions. I'd been so lost in my thoughts, I wasn't sure which one hit me.

You're talking stalkin' nonsense, Glass. The Great Rhu never makes mistakes.

I wiggled to look in Twirlie's direction. There's always a first time. You should have seen Apollo. I thought he was being bratty when he refused, but I made him ill.

Tim didn't reply, which was kind of offensive when I was baring my soul to him. I huffed and wiggled away.

Hold your stalk. We're going home.

I am home, I pointed out.

Back to the pride house.

Hell no. I didn't want to go back there. Not now, not for a long time. At least until tomorrow, because an alpha had his pride, no pun intended, and I needed a little more time to figure out what to do.

Tim shifted, spraying me with soil. I gagged when it got all in my leaves, which, of course, made me think of Apollo. I realized I was in love with my lion, and his rejection of a part of me hurt me to the root.

"Shift your stalk," Tim ordered, like he was the alpha stalk of our patch.

Why?

"Because Drew just solved your custard issue. He's a clever llama."

My brother loomed over me. Being mated was a good look for him. He was settled and more confident. I envied him that security.

Tim nudged me with his toes after he got dressed, ignoring my growl. "Move it, move it! You're supposed to be with Apollo, not me. This is your story. By the end of today, your boy will be lapping at the alpha dick."

I wasn't sure what to make of that, especially coming out of my brother's mouth, but I wasn't going to get any peace and quiet. I knew Twirlie only too well, so I shifted and so did Red. We hardly had time to dress before Tim pulled us in for hugs.

"Thanks, bro stalks."

"You're welcome," Red said. "Go get your lion. I'm going home."

I wondered why he looked a little sad at that, so I hugged him again. "Don't you want to come with us?"

Red shook his head. "I'm going to go home and hide. Laters." He waved and left, leaving us staring after him.

"I'll make sure he's all right," Tim said, picking up my worries. "Come on. You've got a mate to apologize to."

I groaned at the truth. I'd overreacted for sure, but how was I going to make it up to my lion?

I was none the wiser as we approached the pride house. I slowed, nervous at the reception I was going to get from those inside.

Tim looked over his shoulder. "If you try to run away, I'll send Maximus after you."

I grimaced. The last thing I wanted was to be dragged back to the pride house in the mouth of the alpha lion. I'd never get my reputation back in town. Anyway, how bad could it be?

Tim opened the door, and I was confronted by the rest of the pride, their arms folded across their chests, all eyeing me up and down like I could be the one heading for the pan.

Yeah, it was that bad.

Maximus leaned forward and growled in my face, "You are going upstairs."

I waited.

He stepped back.

Was that it?

No threats, no demanding to know my intentions?

Drew spat at my feet.

Nice!

Then I realized he'd spat something out. He nodded at it and I picked it up. It was a cream love heart. I squinted to read the writing.

Ravished by the Rhubarb.

Oh yes, I wanted to ravish my mate. Right now!

"Good," Tim said brightly, once more digging around my head. "Now that's over, I'm in the mood for ice-cream."

Maximus slung an arm around his shoulders and steered him down the hallway. "There might be an issue with that, my love."

The others trailed after him, leaving me on the doorstep. The pink-haired dude looked over his shoulder at me. "Go on then, he's waiting for you. Shut the door."

I did as I was told, shutting the door and then bounding up the stairs. I heard an anguished, "not the ice cream!" but before I could process that, I saw a naked man on his knees, his head bowed, his wrists crossed behind his back.

"Apollo?"

"Sir." But he didn't raise his head. His cock, on the other hand, was reaching for me, bound with the leather cock ring. Naughty lion. I'm the only one who should put leather on him, but he didn't know.

I stalked over to him. "Lion of my heart?"

He looked at me then, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. "I'm so sorry, sir."

"You shouldn't be sorry. I'm the one who's sorry. I should have realized you were distressed. Please forgive me." I ran my fingers through his hair, loving the feeling of his springy curls. "It was such a shock that you got sick from tasting me. We can work this out, though. Blow jobs aren't essential, but you are. You're too important to me to lose." That I'd figured out on the way back. We had both been childish, and we needed to do better.

Apollo took a deep breath. "My pride suggested I could try it when you're in your stalk form. That way I get rhubarb and custard. The rhubarb might counteract the taste of the custard."

I hummed. That might work. But my mate was too important to me to risk his health. I kneeled in front of Apollo and cupped his jaw in my hands. "Baby, I don't want to make you sick. It doesn't matter if you can't give me blow jobs. We'll work around it. I can blow you. We could try condoms."

We both grimaced at the thought. No shifter used condoms. Why bother with rubbers when shifters couldn't transmit diseases?

Apollo shook his head. "I want to give you blowjobs. I practiced and everything. You're my mate."

"Making you sick it's the last thing I want."

"We may have an answer to that—besides me trying to suck on you in your stalk form," he murmured, getting to his feet and taking me with him. He opened the door to his bedroom.

My jaw dropped.

What! The! Fuck?

No, what the freakin' fuck!

I stared at the chocolate fountain in the center of the room glooping lazily downward, surrounded by tubs of cream, ice cream, and more candies than I'd ever seen in my life.

Apollo was back on his knees, the hands behind his back once more, and stared up at me. "Fancy an ice cream chocolate blow job, sir?"