Emerie reached up and grabbed his wrist to stop him. She pulled it down and looked like she was about to say something, only to cringe.
“Look, let’s get to that later. This... is a lot to unpack, and I really don’t know where to start. I cannot live in the Veil, Ingram, and I cannot be shared between you. I don’t see me living through that.” Then she placed his hand on her thigh to fiddle with his thick fingers. “If you had a fight with each other, and I was caught in the middle of it, one stray claw strike could see me dead.”
His immediate reaction was to deny her, to say he and Aleron did not fight, but that wasn’t true.
Although they shared everything, they also playfully fought over everything. Food, things that took their attention, an Elf they originally asked to name them until they almost tore her in half because they fought over who wanted to be named first.
The more he thought about it, the more he realised that if Emerie took both their attention at the same time, they could end up playing tug-of-war with her.
“But you can teach us things,” Ingram argued. “Show us how to be careful around you, as you have done with me. You are smart. You even stopped me from eating you – twice.”
Emerie slapped her face into her palm. She drew her hand down, and he noted her cheeks were red again as she stared up at his skull with nervous eyes.
“I guess I have to be more direct?” He nodded, hoping whatever explanation she gave would better help him figure out a way to convince her otherwise. “You liked it when I touched your, uh, dick, yeah?”
The thrill that tore through him was instant. It sent a shudder all the way down to his tail that smacked against the ground.
“Yes,” he grated.
“If you want me to do that, and Aleron sees, he may want it too.” Ingram’s sight turned a dark shade of purple at just the thought of her touch, and he absolutely knew his kindred would want to experience it once he learned of how... wonderful it felt. “Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”
His first thought was joy in letting his kindred experience someone touching his cock. If Ingram now craved it, Aleron would be the same.
However, the longer he wished this for Aleron, the more he began to picture it. When that image turned into Emerie touching Aleron, something strange spiked in his chest; it was a nasty emotion he didn’t particularly like.
He wrapped his hand around his beak once more as he looked out at the horizon. Emerie touching Aleron... How did he feel about this? He wanted his kindred to know what he did, to experience pleasure, but with this little female he’d found?
His mind turned to the last time she’d stroked him.
There had been something deeply satisfying about having his own seed scent marking her skin. Even just the memory of it had his cock twitching behind his seam.
But I did not like that other male’s scent on her. The one that had smelt very human and possessive.
His orbs turned green – a dark green – at just the thought of any kind of seed scent on her that wasn’t his own. Although he and Aleron were one being, they were two separate creatures. He liked having his kindred’s scent on his body, but it had been comforting and brought security in its familiarity. He would like that on Emerie, but he could already tell he wouldn’t like a sexual marking on her.
“What is it called when you want something that someone else has?” he asked, still holding his beak and keeping his gaze on the grass instead of her.
“Jealousy.”
Ah. So the emotion he’d been feeling since the first time she touched him, and he remembered her having another’s sexual marking on her... was jealousy.
He hadn’t liked how that felt, how it hurt and made him feel lonely at the same time. His orbs had turned bright green because of it.
“What about when something is yours and someone tries to take it from you?”
“Possessive.”
No wonder the marking felt possessive then, and he now understood that they were the two emotions warring inside him. He would be jealous if Aleron was to lay that claim on her, which meant the idea of Emerie touching him and bringing him release brought on a deeper, enraging pit of it in his gut.
His hand curled around her side tighter, as the word “mine” rumbled in his thoughts – towards Aleron.
“Ow!” Emerie winced, jumping forward to escape, only to be brought back to exactly where she’d been. He wouldn’t let her go.
“Stay,” he warned, wanting to keep her near as aggression flared within. He did, however, loosen his grip so it wasn’t hurting her. “We will find Aleron his own Emerie,” he decided. Then he nodded, agreeing with himself wholeheartedly. “We will not share you. Not like this.”
“Ingram,” she huffed out in exasperation, like what he said didn’t appease whatever objections she had.
Now that he’d placated his own concerns, joy filled him once more at Aleron learning all about pleasure, but with someone else. Yes, that would please him, and then there would be... four of them.
More companions, more people sharing their bond.
His tail tip tapped against the ground as he pictured it. One of his fondest memories with Aleron was sitting on a hill just like this one and staring up at the night sky, wondering what those twinkling dots were – Emerie had told him they were called stars. Doing so again, but with this little female and his kindred, sounded like bliss.
It would be even better if there were more butterflies in her hair, like the many that had latched on now.
He lifted his skull to the sky as tenderness bloomed at the picture he conjured. His tail curled so hard it turned into multiple rings halfway down to the base. A fluffy, pleasant feeling sprouted in his torso.
When the image was gone, but not the lingering emotions, he looked upon her. With a chuckle, feeling lighter than he had since his kindred left him, he fully wrapped his arm around Emerie. Then he laid back against the grass and pulled her to his side until she was lying against him as well.
A swarm of butterflies lifted off and fled from him and the surrounding area.
She tried to sit up, but he tugged her back down.
“What are you doing?” Her body tensed in his grasp.
“I am supposed to be sleeping. I wish to rest now.”
He’d like to relax with this warmth in his chest, something he’d only ever experienced within Aleron’s feathery wings.
“Yeah, but I need to stay awake and watch out for danger.”
He lifted his hand to gesture to the sky. “The sun is bright, Emerie. No Demons will come while it shields us. Sleep, enjoy its heat.”
She lifted onto her elbows, since he wouldn’t let her go any higher. She pursed her lips at him. “If I have a nap, I won’t sleep properly tonight.”
“Then don’t sleep,” he stated, lifting his skull so he could tilt it at her. “I prefer carrying you while you are awake.”