  Nadyr paused in the bedroom door. &quot;Amelia,&quot; he said quietly.
  She stood, stunned by the suddenness, and the implied permission for them to be together. &quot;Nadyr,&quot; she barely breathed it. &quot;What game is this?&quot;
  &quot;No game, I think,&quot; he replied. &quot;Or at least none that needs to concern you, my mate.&quot;
  She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him, feeling his arms come around her. As she laid her cheek against his chest, sinking into his embrace, she sighed out. On the inhalation she scented the sharp, metallic scent of come on him. She recognised the scent from herself, from the many times that Rikash had smeared her with their combined come.
  She released Nadyr and recoiled. &quot;They said you had taken a mate,&quot; she said, shaken.
  &quot;No,&quot; he shook his head. &quot;Amelia,&quot; he braced a hand against the door fram

  Daevishk stroked his fingers through his new little mate s hair. It was fine stranded, unlike his own, and so soft to the touch, like the rest of her, that he found it irresistible to do so – and so he didn t resist. 
  Having his own mate and his own Bond now, he both understood better what his brother endured. 
  He had thought that his time in the penal colony had been the hardest experience of his life but holding his mate down so that Nadyr could do the required scent marking had been horrendous. And he had done it, knowing that once it was over, he could take his mate back into his own den and soothe her. 
  His brother did not have the same luxury as he did not possess his mate.
  Mira s end of the Bond was a white seeded with blue and green but faintly veined with pink. It had taken a long time to soothe her after letting Nadyr use her. As dominant, it was his right to share hi

  Rikash heard laughter as he approached his apartment and paused. Krithdeker and a woman. It came again, high, and bright. Amelia s end of the Bond glowed and danced golden and pink. Her laughter, he thought. He could not remember having heard it before, and that realization gave him an uncomfortable pain in his chest.
  He opened the door, and Krithdeker and Amelia turned on the couch towards him, their faces bright with their amusement. The telepath, Lilith, sulked at Krithdeker s side, her head on his lap as was traditional.
  &quot;Ah, there you are Arken,&quot; Krithdeker said warmly, patting Lilith to get her to sit up and then rising to his feet and drawing her up with him. &quot;I trust your battle today was victorious?&quot;
  &quot;Yes,&quot; Rikash was intrigued by what the older dominant male had spoken to his mate to make her laugh in such a way. &quot;You were laughing?&qu

Nadyr paused in the bedroom door. &quot;Amelia,&quot; he said quietly.
  She stood, stunned by the suddenness, and the implied permission for them to be together. &quot;Nadyr,&quot; she barely breathed it. &quot;What game is this?&quot;
  &quot;No game, I think,&quot; he replied. &quot;Or at least none that needs to concern you, my mate.&quot;
  She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him, feeling his arms come around her. As she laid her cheek against his chest, sinking into his embrace, she sighed out. On the inhalation she scented the sharp, metallic scent of come on him. She recognised the scent from herself, from the many times that Rikash had smeared her with their combined come.
  She released Nadyr and recoiled. &quot;They said you had taken a mate,&quot; she said, shaken.
  &quot;No,&quot; he shook his head. &quot;Amelia,&quot; he braced a hand against the door frame and placed a finger to his lips.
  He activated something on the cuff that rung his left wrist

Chapter 61