Chapter 17

Seventeen

Silas

“ W ell fuck.” I run a hand through my hair and stare down at the unconscious woman. I had been retrieving my flag when I realized Moon was under attack. I need to follow the rules of the game. Keep playing, or I’ll be in exile for days, unable to protect her.

Magical contracts are something that even I can’t break. Well, not without killing innocent people.

“Ohh,” Moon lifts her hand, rubbing her head, and I grab myself some pants. She won’t want to open her eyes after being knocked unconscious to find a man standing over her naked.

I also grab a pile of clean clothes for her to change into and lay them next to the sleeping bag I have her on. Hopefully, she doesn’t notice the fact that it’s sitting atop a nest… I can’t help myself. I couldn’t. She won’t notice… Probably.

“What?” she groans, rolling over, and clutching her stomach. I hand her a bottle of water that she takes easily, not even checking to see who’s handed it to her.

This is why I had to take her. The others failed to protect her. Twice. She needs me. So, for the rest of the Games, until the very end, I’ll keep her by my side so I know she’s safe.

I place another pebble by her head and then retreat into the darkness of the cave. I’m not ready for her to meet me. For all the questions, even though I know I can’t hide forever.

Moon

I snuggle into the pillow, tugging the blanket up to my neck. I need a damn nap. My head is pounding, and the water I just drank did nothing to settle my stomach.

“There’s food. On the fire,” a deep voice says, and I’m too tired to care, so I just wave a hand at whoever just offered food.

That’s not a voice I recognize.

“It’s really annoying how I keep getting kidnapped and blacking out,” I hiss, as I roll over to face the direction the voice came from.

“I rescued you,” the voice hisses right back, and I waggle my finger in the air.

“No, I didn’t need to be rescued. Just needed to get away from them before the fourth trial.” I take a deep breath and finally, open my eyes. Okay, I’m in a cave. Why? I don’t see the person who took me, but I can sense where he is, that he’s close, as a shiver runs down my spine.

“Goblins are hunting you,” he reminds me oh so helpfully.

“Yeah, well, Goblins are dicks,” I say, squinting. “You gonna come out of there? Come into the firelight?” I ask, having a feeling I know who my captor, who thinks he's my savior, is.

“No,” he hisses, and it sounds awfully snake-like.

“You’re the little murder noodle I saw during the first trial?” I ask, but he remains silent. “I’ll just assume silence means yes, from now on,” I tell him, pointing to the pot on the fire. “Wanna help me get a bowl of that? I don’t feel like moving,” I admit, hoping the mofo doesn’t sense my weakness and attack. “If not, I’m going back to sleep.” I close my eyes and sink back into the pillow. I want food. But I also want sleep.

I wouldn’t mind answers, but I can deal with this when the world stops spinning every time I blink.

“Okay then,” I murmur, as I drift off to sleep. Safe? No. But it is what it is.

I wake up to a hand being held over my mouth and reptilian eyes staring into mine. The man that chucked Daire has the entire weight of his body on top of mine and is covering my mouth so I can’t scream.

Once again, I call to my powers, but they don’t answer. What the fuck is happening to me? I used to be able to restrain a freaking Phoenix with my power, and now I can’t even get this snake off me. Jerk-face noodle.

He lifts his other hand to his lips, shushing me. I glare, ready to bite his hand, but he points to his ear and then to the cave entrance. I stop myself for just a second, because what if this isn’t an attempted assault, but just him keeping me safe from something worse?

When he drops his head, so he can whisper into my ear, my body trembles under him. The feel of his lips touching me softly makes me want to melt. I get the feeling this isn’t intentional on his part.

“Ogre and Goblin,” he says, and I bite my lip. Shit. I don’t know if the danger noodle is as deadly in man form, but one thing I know for sure, is Ogres are hard as fuck to kill. “Hunting you,” he adds, and I nod, still nibbling my lower lip under his hand. I flick my tongue out, wanting to wet my lips, but all I manage to do is lick his palm. His head snaps up, and his eyes go wide as he stares down at me like I licked his balls.

He stares at me for so long, I start to wonder if I’m dreaming all of this. That or he’s some kind of illusion. Hallucination? When he moves off of me and removes his hand, he sits beside me, rather than retreating to the darkness. He moves quickly, and I cringe.

“They’re far enough away that they can no longer hear you. My scent will hide yours,” he says, and I watch, with a mix of shock and curiosity, as he lifts his hand and licks his own palm. My eyebrows shoot up, and I can only hope my expression isn’t screaming disgust.

“Why?” I ask when he’s still licking his hand a few seconds later, and I see his cheeks turn pink, but he remains silent. “Just like the flavor of my saliva?” I question, and his head snaps to me. I shrug. “Well, what else am I supposed to think? You licked your palm. You licked my saliva off of your palm like it was a Lollie-pop,” I press, and he sighs.

“It’s a snake thing,” he says but doesn’t elaborate.

“So, snake shifters like to lick each other’s spit off of stuff?” I push, but he just ignores me. “If I lick your cheek, will you wipe it off with your hand, and then lick your hand?” He makes a ‘What the fuck is wrong with you?’ face, and I smirk. “Remember what I said about silence? Means yes.”

“No. I wouldn’t.” He sighs, pulling some things out of his bag, and I just can’t help myself. I keep teasing him.

“So, you’d leave my saliva on your cheek? Would you let another snake lick my saliva off you? Oh! If I lick someone else, will you lick me off them?” I waggle my brows at him, and when he looks at me with so much annoyance, I just laugh. “So that’s a yes. Oh! What if I—“ I lift my palm to my lips and lick it in an overly sloppy way, and his eyes narrow. “Lick my own palm? Will you lick me?” I hold my hand out to him, expecting him to keep ignoring me. But no.

Noodle boy grabs my wrist and yanks me into him, before flipping me onto my back and hovering over me.

“If you want me to lick you, Moon, all you have to do is ask,” he whispers, before lifting my palm and giving it one long lick, all while holding eye contact.

“I can’t tell if I’m turned on or terrified right now,” I mumble, and he smirks. “So, you know my name, but I don’t know yours,” I add when he climbs off me and pulls me up with him until we’re sitting side by side and facing the fire.

He meets my eyes, and for a long moment, I can tell he’s debating telling me. I’m a little surprised when he finally says, “Silas.”

“Nice to be abducted by you, Silas.” I hold my hand out for him to shake, and he chuckles. His smile lights up the fucking cave, and I nearly die right then and there, because he’s definitely going to murder me and hide my body in a lake.

No one that attractive can be safe. Can’t be trusted with my life or my vagina…