“But…if you want me…” he mumbled.
He inhaled a deep breath and let it out through his nose, bolstering his courage a little more. He raised his eyes to look directly into Sin’s.
Gray clashing with bright golden yellow.
“I came back for you,” he said in a rush. “I want you. Only you. Mangy, flea-bitten hide and all.”
He grimaced at his stupid words.
They weren’t exactly the wooing kind. Why couldn’t he find something more flattering to say? Why was he so dumb?
But he blundered on. He had to get it all out. It was too late to stop.
“I don’t…expect that you…would want me for a mate,” he stuttered haltingly, his discomfort spiking with the heat of his blood, crawling all the way up his chest to infuse his neck and face.
He wished Sin would put him out of his misery, stop him from making a fool of himself. Interrupt and say something, he wanted to shout at the Beast.
But Sin stared implacably back at him, simply waiting.
So Zai kept going.
“But maybe you won’t mind a companion,” he muttered quietly.
Then, more loudly he said, “It’s not safe to travel alone. Look at what could have happened just now. We could watch each other’s backs. We could…”
Sin didn’t blink as he stared at him, and Zai couldn’t hold his eyes any longer.
He swallowed again and looked away. Bracing himself with another deep breath, he decided to simply show Sin what he meant.
With ruthless efficiency, before this surge of madness or bravery could desert him, he shucked his weapons, tunic and boots. He untied his loincloth and let the last covering fall to the grassy ground.
Until he stood naked before the liger in every way.
He opened his hands at his sides and spread his arms a little.
“If you want me…I’m yours.”
For the longest time, during which Zai barely breathed, Sin just sat there staring at him.
Just how long had he been gone? What if Sin didn’t know him anymore? And Zai had made an unmitigated ass of himself for nothing?
Well, not for nothing.
The words needed to be said, however badly he’d mangled them. Even if he was too late, even if Sin no longer remembered him, much less cared for him, he didn’t regret coming back. He’d leave Sin alone, if that was what he wanted. But he’d always be close enough to protect Sin. Maybe he’d follow Sin the way Sin used to follow him.
To the ends of the earth if he had to.
He’d follow the liger anywhere and everywhere. Just to know he lived. Just to make sure he was safe.
And then, when his courage faltered and the beat of his heart grew more painful with each thud, Sin put one hesitant paw in front of the other and slowly hobbled toward him.
Until the liger was right in front of him. But he didn’t stop. He kept coming, pushing Zai backward. And because Zai stubbornly held his ground, not stepping back, he fell to his ass and then his back.
Until Sin stood above him, strong limbs caging his body, furry maw in his face.
Zai lay flat on his back, limbs loose, beneath the Beast. Whatever Sin wanted, Zai silently gave permission to take.
A thorny tongue rasped tentatively along Zai’s neck, then flicked slowly up his jaw and the side of his face that bore the feline’s decades-old claw marks.