Page 10 of Golden Darkness

He chuckled. “Now we match.”

His toga made the engravings on his skin very visible. It hung a few inches above his knees and swayed when he moved.

His wings were huge. This was the first time she had seen him properly in decent lighting. She swallowed and looked from his carved face all the way down his body. “Can you stand up straight?”

He cocked his head but stood up. He was gold and bronze hair, gold skin, black eyes with galaxies swirling inside them, and huge wings with claws at the fold and tips. She remembered those claws.

“Oh. Kay. Right. Big. You are not standard.”

He grinned, showing bright white teeth. His canines were terrifying, and they were both upper and lower.

“I am not standard. There are five others who were created with similar features until it was determined that finding a companion was very difficult with a fearsome appearance. The younger Hmrain are all more elegant. We were built for power, to redirect civilizations. The more recent models are into search and rescue.”

“This seems like information the average citizen shouldn’t have.”

“You are now a citizen of my domain, and there is no going back. There is also no one closer to me than you are.”

“That is flattering, but there has to be someone else.”

He cocked his head. “No. Lovers, yes. Consorts, never. You are my first. The first that I have begun transforming, the first that I gave my seed to, the first that I watched over. Many firsts.” His expression was focused.

“They thought you were going to eat me.”

“Yes. I was going to until I caught your scent.” He braced his hands on either side of her against the med bed. “I had tasted your pain, and it woke me from my dormancy, but when I caught your scent, my mating hunger woke for the first time.” He snuffled at her hair.

“Is that different from regular hunger? I mean, I get hangry sometimes. Okay, a lot. That’s different from regular hungry.”

He murmured against her temple, “You are nervous.”

“You have very large teeth.”

“You have already felt the teeth. You lived to tell the tale.”

She swallowed and fought the urge to tilt her head for him. She had the feeling that he would dive right in anytime she offered herself. The fact that offering herself to him was very much at the forefront of her mind was hard to deal with.

“Yeah, but something tells me that you are going to have less control as things progress.”

“Not until you are strong again.” His head moved to the side of her neck, and his nuzzling got more insistent. “I think you used to be a very strong female. And you will be again.”

She slowly let her head droop to the side, and he started licking her slowly.

The doctor’s voice interrupted him, but he didn’t stop.

“Overlord, your lady requires sustenance.”

Kethen’s mouth moved down her neck, his teeth grazing her skin.

Janessa shivered, and he pulled her close to him. She breathed heavily and went limp. It would have been a surrender, but she was just so very tired.

She lifted her hand to his cheek, sliding her fingers through the silk of his hair. He paused and lifted his head. “Sleepy?”

Janessa took stock of how she was feeling and shook her head. “Just tired.”

He ran his finger gently down her face. “I took too much.”

“Oh, the blood? Probably. I think the doctor replaced a lot of it with the drip.” She looked at him. “I just feel weird.”

“We will get you some food and reintroduce solids slowly.” He bent to lift her in his arms in a bridal carry. “I will introduce you to my people, and they will worship you.”