Taken by my mate
Chapter twenty-nine

Covyn

We had been having such a good time on the run and then the thunder came. I found myself hating her cat a little more than I should for taking her attention. I tried to make due, holding her against me and petting Sequoia through the shirt. She was important to Evadiene so she was important to me.

Spencer stood off to the side in complete confusion, and honestly I couldn’t blame him. The storm had begun and she seemed excited , it wasn’t until we got back that she started to panic. Now that she had Sequoia she no longer felt panicked, more pissed off which only confused me further.

I leaned down into her neck, gently kissing along the raised skin there. Slowly her arms relaxed and her breathing slowed down. I noticed Spencer go off to sit on one of his couches and open whatever book he had sitting on the table.

“Do you want to explain what’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?” I asked softly.

She sighed. “I’d love to.”

I waited for her to continue but she didn’t so I asked. “Will you?”

Her tongue seemed to freeze up in her mouth before she uttered, “I can’t.”

I rubbed her back. “It’s okay. I’m here when you’re ready to.”

She nodded slightly and turned to leave. I followed her back to our room where she gathered some things before we went to the guest room beside mine. Evadiene was starting to shiver and went directly to the shower to warm up. When she came back out I had a fire going in the corner and she smiled lightly at me. She was wearing one of my shirts and a pair of cotton shorts, but I tried not to stare at the exposed skin with the hunger for her that I felt.

I had sat myself in a large chair in front of the fire and she came over to sit in my lap, laying gently onto my chest. “The storm sounds really bad.”

I nodded, kissing her head. “We get a lot of these out here, and tomorrow they will train in the mud.”

“That sounds like fun,” she told me softly. “I wish I was as strong as I use to be, I think I could have beat them in a mud race.” She yawned widely.

I laughed. “With how heavy most of them are I don’t doubt it. They’ll sink right down and you could slide over the top.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “For what it’s worth, I actually think it’s my fault.”

I paused, realizing quickly she was no longer talking about the storm. “Are you talking about this morning?” I gasped. “No Evadiene, never. You could never be to blame…”

She sighed. “I should have tried harder…”

My brows furrowed together. “Harder for what?”

“Never mind,” she muttered, going to the bed and laying down. “My head aches, I’m just going to try to sleep it off before dinner.”

Sequoia moved to lay on the pillow above her head, and I could hear her purr from across the room. I was sure I knew what Evadiene was going to say, but I refused to say it and save her having to admit it to me herself.

As she drifted off I felt the weight on her chest lighten with the carefreeness of dreaming. It brought back how she had felt before on our run and I wanted to give her more of that feeling back. To do that, I wanted to get whatever it was she had forgotten at her apartment. If it was gone it would be sold and I would buy it back. If it was broken or ruined I would have it repaired or replicated. Anything that I could do I would do it to bring that smile back.

I woke her for dinner, and she splashed some cold water on her face before going to our old room to change. I still hadn’t gotten her any new clothes and she stood naked in the closet making piles out of the clothes she pulled from the trash bags in an attempt to replace something she wanted to wear. One of the dressers was empty and I let her know it was hers to use as she’d like, and after placing all her things in the top drawer she settled on an ankle length skirt, a tank top, and then one of my T-shirts overtop, tied at her hip.

Not a single part of her was happy about going to dinner, but she faked it well enough that only Spencer seemed to notice as he brought her another whiskey. Ellion and Daley had offered their room for the evening so she could sleep, and with my reservations Spencer offered to sleep on the floor there as well. They had been about to say something about it being safe for me to remain with them but I had hushed the idea, saying I had work and would be up late, not wanting to wake anyone.

After food we checked in with the doctor for her arms. The bandages were redressed and she was given some pills for pain and sleep since she admitted to having problems with both. She was very reluctant to take them, but did as directed.

I returned with her to our temporary room and spent the next hour tending to her marks while she fussed in my lap, and I had her tell me about the book she’d forgotten at home. She demanded I let her shower alone after that, but I would never tell her I could still hear her soft mews through the door and over the fall of water on her skin. The sounds drove me absolutely wild, and as I heard her bring herself to climax for the third time I stepped outside onto the small balcony for the cold air.

She emerged from the bathroom twenty minutes later, face still flushed and hair in a towel despite being dressed, already in another set of my clothes.

“Are you going to shower?” She asked curiously, catching me through the window and joining me outside.

I shook my head. “Maybe later, Daley wanted to watch girl movies with you so I’ll walk down there with you first.”

“What are ‘girl movies’?” She asked suspiciously, one eye brow up.

I shrugged. “Romance or stuff that’ll make you cry I guess.”

Evadiene laughed. “I have my serious doubts that anything will make me cry, but I’ll try for Daley.”

I walked with Evadiene down to Ellion and Daley’s room, Spencer was already there with a bedroll in the corner. I was going to go to her apartment and get her book before she woke up but I would need to wait until she was asleep so she wouldn’t notice the pain of me going. I hoped the drugs the doctor gave her would be enough for her to ignore the ache in us being apart. I never told her that after Navi bit her it wouldn’t be so bad, there was a lot I felt terrible about never getting around to telling her, but this would be to my advantage.

I only told Ellion that I was going, knowing Daley is trash with secrets and Spencer would, as she said, tell her the truth. He thought it was a terrible idea, but also that I should have just sent someone to get it.

“Evadiene has already had her space violated, and she didn’t take much the last time. I want to go and replace her this book, and anything else I can that isn’t destroyed or has been stolen,” I replied. “I think I can cut a bunch of time off alone with the right mode of transportation.”

Ellion scoffed at me. “It’s your choice, and we’ll do what we can to make her feel safe.”’

I went to my office to work on things until he texted me that she was asleep. I had zero expectations for this trip, but I hoped I wouldn’t come back empty handed.