“You have me.” Luca petted Nox’s cheek and his fingertips rasped against the stubble. “Now let go.”
“I don’t want you to hate me.” Tremors shook Nox’s body.
“Never.” Luca placed a gentle kiss on Nox’s lips. “As your Alpha, I’m ordering you. Let go.”
* * *
It never ceased to amaze Luca how Nox could remain human in appearance and transform into an impending storm of doom.
“Nice to see you again.” Luca stroked Nox’s throat and his feral expression turned puzzled. He kept petting him, and then Nox’s eyes slid closed. “I think you like that.”
A thrum vibrated against Luca’s palm.
“You’re purring.”
It dropped so low it became an inaudible pulse, rising and falling,
“Now, I need you to listen.”
Nox opened his eyes and sneered. Before Luca could speak, he was on his back, pinned to the mattress. He glared at Nox and humanness bled back into his expression. But it was still the creature. Its fire filled Nox’s eyes, and the scent of old fertile ground and sweet spice bled from his skin.
“Are you listening yet?” Luca pulled from Nox’s hold and pushed up on his elbows. “I’m trying to get you two to talk to each other but neither one of you wants to cooperate.” He scooted up to the headboard.
Nox followed, his body gliding like liquid, smooth in a physically impossible way.
“You are beautiful when you do that.” Luca put a hand on Nox’s throat. “Move like that. It’s like watching a magic trick.”
Nox blurred and was suddenly in Luca’s face, teeth sharp, lips rolled up, growl building in his chest.
“Let Nox show you how to do more than just fuck me.”
The Anubis seized Luca by the ankle and yanked him down until he was directly under him.
Luca gasped and Nox blanketed his body.
“Please.” Luca traced a line along Nox’s jaw. “Let him show you. Then you can show him.”
Nox blinked and the normal grey color of his eyes returned. “It’s still here.”
“I didn’t tell it to leave. I asked it to let you show it how to do more. Then it’s going to show you what it likes.”
“I know what it likes.”
“Stop it.” Luca took Nox by the chin. “Quit assuming you know what it really wants. You said yourself you have a language barrier. For God’s sake, would it really hurt to just listen to it?”
Nox clenched his eyes.
“Do you ever ask yourself why the Anubis didn’t take over Koda?”
Nox shook his head.
“Well, I’m going to tell you something about Koda. He was patient to a fault. He loved completely. He was giving. He listened. If you did something wrong, he didn’t get mad. He explained why it hurt him or why it hurt others. He trusted until you gave him a reason not to. And the only one I can think that gave him a reason not to trust them was the mailman.”
“Why the mailman?”
“Because he kept eating the chocolates Koda ordered for me from overseas.”
Nox smiled. “Mail tampering is a felony.”