Forbidden Hunger by R.L. Kenderson

Twelve

“You okay over there?”Demi asked Siya from across the table.

They were the only two in the kitchen and living room area of the bunkhouse. Ram was sleeping, Reid and Tegan were in their bedroom—Reid was still trying to track down Monica through the internet, and Tegan had stayed behind for added protection—and everyone else was out doing whatever it was that sentinels did during the day.

“Yeah,” Siya said with a yawn. Except it was probably time for her to get some sleep. She hadn’t gotten enough last night, but the thought of going to sleep next to Ram unnerved her.

They’d had a civil conversation earlier—kind of—but everything felt awkward with him.

She had no idea what to make of the kiss outside. Had he really been trying to prove that he hadn’t rejected her? He had seemed pretty passionate about it. But why? Did he really not feel like he had rejected her, or was he someone who didn’t want everyone thinking bad things about him?

“Does Ram care a lot about what others think of him?”

Demi looked up from the cards she was shuffling and snorted. “Ram? The same Ram sleeping down the hall?”

“Yes. Obviously.”

“No, he doesn’t care what anyone thinks of him. He listens to Vance and his leader, Dante, and he plays by the rules, but I wouldn’t say he goes out of his way to make anyone like him.” Demi looked off into the distance, lost in thought.

“What?” Siya hated that she was eating up any little bit of information about the vampire.

Demi looked back at her. “Nothing. It’s just that, besides Saxon, he doesn’t really hang out with anyone unless it’s work-related.” She quickly shook her head. “Scratch that. He gets along with Sawyer better than the others.”

“Are you saying he doesn’t get along with everyone else?”

“No, he does. He’s just more…standoffish with most who live here. Except Zane.”

“Zane?” Siya didn’t remember a Zane.

“Yeah, he’s kind of a wiseass, and with Kendall about to have her baby, they switched places. Zane has a bedroom here but also has a place close by since he and his mate have a baby now.”

This was interesting. “So, Ram doesn’t like Zane?”

“I would say he likes him well enough, but Zane annoys him pretty easily.” Demi smiled. “It can be kind of funny. I hope Zane stops by, so you can meet him and see for yourself. It’s fun to watch.”

“I think I would like that,” Siya tried to say, but the words came out on another yawn.

“Siya,” Demi said, “go get some sleep.”

“But Ram only has one bed now. It’s not like last time.”

“Last time. You mean, when you two shared a bed even though there were two?”

Siya blinked at her friend.

“I’m kidding. I know. Things are different now after everything that happened. It’s not fair that you have to sleep in a bed with him.”

“Yeah, especially since while we were outside, he swore to me that he hadn’t rejected me, and then he kissed me.”

Demi’s jaw dropped. “You didn’t tell me that.”

“We haven’t been alone much.”

“We’ve been alone for the last hour or so.”

Siya sighed. “I think maybe I’m trying to block it out. I’m all sorts of confused.” She wrinkled her nose in thought. “Which almost makes it worse. If I were straight-up mad at him, I would sleep in his chair or on the floor.” Why that thought had only just occurred to her, she didn’t know. “That’s actually a good idea. Are there extra blankets around here? A sleeping bag maybe? I’ll just sleep on the floor.”

Having figured out a way to get around being close to Ram must have brought her a relief she hadn’t known she was seeking because, suddenly, she was ready to crash.

“You know what? I don’t know if there are any extra anywhere, but I bet there are some at the main house. Lilith seems like she would be prepared with stuff like that. Why don’t you go and sleep in my bed for now while I go over there and check?”

That sounded like an almost-perfect idea, except for one thing.

“What’s wrong?” Demi asked, immediately reading the look on her face by knowing her way too well.

“You and Saxon have a lot of sex. I don’t want to sleep in anything you…might have left behind.”

Demi seemed to think about this. “Okay, I wouldn’t either.” She stood. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

Siya put her head down on the table and was about to fall asleep when Demi came back.

“Okay, it’s all ready for you.”

Lifting her head, Siya asked, “Hmm? What’s ready?”

“I changed the sheets on my bed, so they’re clean.”

Siya stuck her lip out. “Have I ever told you I love you?”

Demi laughed. “Yes. Now, hurry up and go get some sleep. I’ll wake you when Saxon gets back, and in the meantime, I’ll go and get stuff for you to sleep on from Lilith.”

Siya hugged her friend and hurried off to the bedroom, where she could get some blessed sleep, all alone.

* * *

Demi opened the closet door down in the basement of her alpha and alphena’s home and caught a whiff of linens and other items that had been sitting in one spot for a long time. Despite the smell, everything was clean and neatly folded. The things in there just hadn’t been used in a while.

After Siya had gone to lie down, Demi had told Tegan she was heading next door and walked across the yard to find a sleeping bag or two. It would be nice if Siya could stay in the main house, where she knew there were extra bedrooms, but it wasn’t safe enough. Or at least, that was what she’d been told. She didn’t always understand her mate’s and other sentinels’ reasoning.

Just as she moved aside some worn towels, an arm snaked around her waist and yanked her close.

A deep voice that whispered into her ear every night asked, “Why was there a human in our bed, mate?”

Demi couldn’t believe that she hadn’t smelled Saxon sneak up on her. She knew why she hadn’t heard him. He was stealthy as hell, but she knew her mate’s smell as clearly as she knew her own.

It had to be the closet, and she cursed herself for not paying attention.

“Did you wake her up?”

“No, I’m not a monster. I simply carried her over to Ram’s bed.”

Demi winced. Siya was not going to be happy when she woke up, but Demi was glad that Saxon hadn’t woken her friend. She needed sleep.

“Demi,” her mate grumbled in her ear. “You didn’t answer the question. Why was there a human in our bed?”

“You weren’t supposed to be home for another half hour,” she said.

Saxon pushed her hair off her shoulder and bit down on her neck. “So, that’s all you have to say for yourself?”

Demi turned in his arms. “You said that no one sleeps with your mate but you. You never said anything about letting my friend borrow our bed while neither of us was in it.”

A smile spread across his face, and his scent called to her.

She put a hand on his chest. “Saxon, we’re in our alpha’s house.”

“ ‘Our alpha.’ I love hearing you say that.”

When she had first been introduced to the pride, it had taken her a while to believe that they accepted her, a half-cat-shifter who was also half-human.

“Almost as much as I love your boldness,” Saxon continued. “You snuck Siya in our room because I wasn’t home, didn’t you?”

“Would you have said yes?”

“Hell no. That’s where I make love to you, mate.”

Demi shrugged. “Then, I suppose I did.”

“God, the things you do to me.” Saxon leaned back to see past the open door and looked back at her.

“Saxon, I already said no.”

He grinned. “No, you didn’t. You said something about being in our alpha’s house. And he wouldn’t mind.”

Her eyes widened. “Wouldn’t mind what?”

Without any further warning, Saxon pushed down her pants and pulled one leg free. “If I do this,” he said, dropping to his knees and putting his mouth between her legs.

Demi laced her fingers through her mate’s hair. She supposed the sleeping bag could wait for a few more minutes.

* * *

Vance watched one of his best sentinels and the sentinel’s mate leave his house with some bedding.

“What’s all that for?” he asked his beautiful wife.

Lilith looked up and out the window. “Oh, Demi came over here and asked if I had something for Siya, the human, to sleep on.”

Vance frowned. “Do we not have enough beds over in the bunkhouse?” They had just added on to the place.

“With everyone finding mates, I think they’re running out of space.” Lilith looked over at him and put her hand on his. “Oh, Vance, it will be fine.”

It did seem kind of silly that he and Lilith lived in the main house all alone now that Vaughn and Payton were mated. Their house wasn’t huge, but it was made for a family. Not for an old couple.

If he retired, he and Lilith could move out, and Vaughn, Naya, and the kids could move in. That would open a room at the bunkhouse. Even though Vaughn didn’t stay there all the time, it was still Vaughn’s space, and he understood why the human wouldn’t want to use it.

Also, if Vaughn took Vance’s spot as alpha, the others might come over to the main house more.

He remembered being young and the sentinels being around his age. They’d all spent downtime together. Now, there was such a separation between him as the alpha and his sentinels. When he visited his daughter and saw the way Damien lived with his sentinels, it made him miss the old days.

When he’d first become the alpha, his first group of sentinels were some of his best friends back then—and still were—but they’d all retired from the life, and Vance understood why. He might be a shifter with a long life, but he was getting old, and he wanted to enjoy some time with his wife and travel before it got too hard to move around.

There was always something going on with the pride, and he used to love it, but he’d recently realized it was wearing on him.

“Vance, honey, are you okay?” Lilith asked.

He took a deep breath and smiled. “Yes, but I have been thinking…”