26. OBSIDIAN: THE FUTURE

I stared at her face that was resting on the pillow only a few inches from mine. Her hair was a tangled mess around her face and she had dried drool sticking to the corner of her mouth, yet she was still the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.
My lips curled into a smile as she reached up to wipe her mouth with the back of her hand. Vanya turned onto her stomach a second later and threw one leg over my hip.
“Stop staring at me,” she grumbled.
My smile widened. “How do you know that I’m staring at you?”
“I can feel it.” She moved closer until her cheek rested on my shoulder. “Let me sleep.”
“I didn’t tell you to wake up.”
“Can’t sleep with you staring at me,” she muttered.
I pressed my cheek to her hair and reached down to grip her thigh. Vanya sighed as she snuggled closer to my side. She hooked her leg a little higher up, making her knee brush against my cock. It twitched and slowly filled with blood.
“Forget it!” she hissed. “You’re not fucking me again. If you want to get off you can use your hand.”
I laughed.
There was no strength left for anything, but she didn’t have to know that. Besides, I was tired and I knew that she was too because it had been hours since either of us slept for more than an hour. But before we could catch some rest, we needed to take a bath and eat.
Vanya moved, making my eyes flutter open. I looked down at her only to find her staring at me intently.
“I like it when you laugh,” she said softly.
I hooked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I like it when you laugh too.”
Colour flooded her cheeks. Vanya smiled as her eyes darted over my face.
“We’re bonded.”
“Yes, we are,” I told her.
“I thought that we would be able to communicate through the bond, but I don’t feel any different, except for all the aches and pains.”
“Give it some time, sweets.” I slipped my hair into her hair and pulled her face down to mine.
“Obsidian,” Vanya groaned.
I smiled against her lips, and a moment later, I kissed her. Despite her reluctance to go for another round, she kissed me back and even hooked her leg higher up my waist to rub her pussy against me.
Sliding my hand up her thigh, I gripped her ass and gave it a firm squeeze. Vanya’s next action caught me completely off guard. I froze as she straddled my hips and pressed her hands to my chest.
I waited but the panic never came. All I felt was. . .calm.
“I’m s-sorry,” she apologized the moment she realized what she had done.
My hands shot up to grab hold of her hips to keep her in place when she was about to climb off me.
“I forgot Obsidian,” she croaked. “I’m sorry. I—”
I swallowed as I studied her. This was the first time someone was on top of me, touching me, but not pinning me to the floor to hurt me. I could move and just to prove it, I shifted slightly.
This wasn’t some doctor trying to prove to me that he had more power over me. The woman straddling me was my mate.
“It sounds like you’re about to have a panic attack,” Vanya whispered.
“I’m fine.” I licked my lips.
“You don’t look fine.” She leaned forward. “Obsidian—”
“Kiss me,” I interrupted her.
Vanya blinked at me. Her eyes darted between mine before she raised her head to glance around the room.
Devrim had left early to go hunting.
I knew that she was looking for him. My eyes dropped to where my hands were resting on her hips. I slipped them higher up her sides and then down again to the top of her thighs.
“I asked Devrim to sit with us in the bathroom because having him around makes me feel comfortable.” I rubbed my thumbs across her soft skin. “I know that he will be there to stop me from hurting you if I lose it. But that’s not the only reason.”
Vanya sat up fully and cover my hands with hers. Pulling one hand away from her thigh, she entwined our fingers and smiled at me.
“Together,” she said softly. “You’re not alone, Obsidian.”
“I know.” I squeezed her hand. “I know.”
Her smile slowly faded as she stared down at me. After a few seconds, she raised our hands and pressed her lips to my knuckles. “Can I ask you something?”
I nodded.
Freeing her fingers, she guided my hand down to her stomach. I spread my fingers as I stared at the difference in our skin colour.
“Why. . . Why don’t you want kids?”
From all the questions she could have asked me, it was the one I least expected.
“I mean—”
“I know what you mean,” I interrupted her.
“Are you going to answer me?” she whispered.
“I can’t give you pups, Vanya. I’m sterile.”
“I know that but Devrim and Ezra can get me pregnant.” Her eyes narrowed. “Is it because I’m human because our kids will be half-human and not as strong as you would want them to be?”
“Stop making assumptions,” I growled at her.
“It’s true!” she hissed. “You’ve always hated the fact that I’m human. Deny it! I dare you.”
Pushing her off, I sat up and glanced around. I stood and walked over to the discarded sheet that lay a few feet from the mattress.
“You’re going to walk away again, aren’t you?” She laughed. “It’s easier that way, right? You just do whatever you want and to hell with the others. You don’t care whether you hurt our feelings or not.”
Once the sheet was tied around my waist, I turned around to stare down at Vanya.
She might not be able to feel the bond, but I could. I had felt it snap into place the moment I bit her. I could feel it all; her anger, irritation, her sadness, and her pain. It was all there, mixing with everything I felt.
Vanya turned her head away when her eyes filled with tears.
“I’m not emotionless, Vanya,” I said softly. “I feel just as much as you but I had learned to shut it out years ago when I was told that I’m nothing.” I swallowed. “It had been years since I allowed myself to fucking feel a thing and sometimes it’s just easier to turn it off than to try and make sense of things.”
Her eyes snapped up to mine. “You haven’t answered my questions.”
Pursing my lips, I walked over to the window and stared out at the mountains as I tried to clear my mind.
“With pups comes responsibilities and none of us are ready for that.”
“That’s your only reason?” she scoffed.
“No.” I turned to face her. “They would constantly be in danger. I don’t want our pups to be raised in a world where they aren’t allowed to live freely. I don’t want them to have to look over their shoulders constantly.” I sucked in a breath. “I don’t want them to live in fear like I do.”
“The danger will pass,” she said.
“When?” I took a step towards her. “For as long as the humans think of us as animals, there will always be danger.”
“And what about your people?” Vanya struggled to her feet. “They believe that humans are the enemy.”
“Because that’s how it has always been,” I yelled. “We were fucking created to be used as weapons. We were treated like shit since the day we were born and even though we had been freed, we are still seen as nothing more than animals.”
“Not all of us are cruel,” she whispered.
My shoulders slumped. “But very few of you have proved to us that you are not monsters.”
We stared at each other silently until she broke the silence.
“Do you think of me as a monster?”
“Would a monster have rescued me?” I questioned. “I admired your courage when you stayed with me instead of running the day you found me. While you cared for me as I healed, something inside me changed. I realized that not all humans are bad, Vanya, but the bad outweighs the good.”
“Obsidian—”
“We don’t have anyone to trust,” I interrupted. “We don’t have a home. We have nothing.”
“We only need each other.”
I closed the space between us and pressed my forehead to hers. “You’re right,” I whispered, “but until I’m sure that nobody wants to tear the four of us apart and that we have a home, no pups will be birthed.”
“It not your decision,” she hissed.
My hand shot up to grip the back of her neck firmly. “It’s ours,” I growled, “and until all four of us agree to have pups, I’m going to make damn sure that you don’t get pregnant. Don’t be stubborn, Vanya.”
Pressing a kiss to her lips, I pulled away. My eyes darted over her face for a few seconds to make sure that she was okay before I turned away. I had barely taken two steps when I heard the car pulling up.
“Go into the bathroom,” I hissed at her. “Lock the door and fucking stay there until I come to get you.”
Vanya grabbed clothes from the open suitcase as she hurried past it.
The moment I heard the lock slide into place, I moved. Jerking open the front door, I stormed outside, already half shifted and ready to fight, but my steps faltered when my eyes locked on the man stumbling out of the car.