Agg saw Gregory stagger back on his heels, eyes going wide and his body putting off a sudden rush of heat just a fraction of an instant before Agg smelled the dark, dangerous scent of magic on the air. His lungs filled before he could stop to think that holding his breath might have been a smart idea.
Only that didn’t matter, because in the next instant he felt the surge of his natural form’s sex hormones flooding his body, and he sucked in his breath in a harsh gasp because it was impossible for him not to.
Ilson grabbed one of the medguns that had been sitting nearby and raced for the other side of the cavern, leaving Agg behind with his arms around Rafe, where he’d been trying to help Rafe to his feet, and his lungs full of the pheromonal magic Rafe seemed to have no control over whatsoever.
Thrace grabbed Gregory, just as Gregory frantically started trying to tear his trousers open, his low whimper sending a spark of fire through Agg’s blood. His vision narrowed and his heart pounded and his cock went so painfully hard he almost dropped Rafe.
Agg’s thoughts scattered like ash in the gale winds of the surge.
Rafe gasped and went limp in Agg’s arms.
But the magic had already worked its way into Agg’s lungs and started soaking into his skin, and all he wanted to do was spread Rafe out on the cool, hard ground and—
Instinct overwhelmed Agg and his human guise slipped away, his monster writhing against the powerful hold of the magic swamping his senses.
Thrace said something, something that didn’t penetrate the haze of Agg’s thoughts, and then Thrace reverted right there in the cavern, the writhing mass of his powerful Yeeru half on top of Gregory, doing—well, Agg had never thought about doing that to Rafe, but he wanted to do it—and he wanted to do it right that very—
Thrace’s sudden high screech jolted through Agg, sending a sharp shiver of fear racing through his flesh.
A micro dart caught Agg by surprise. He keened, caught sight of Ilson staring him down from across the cavern, then fell to the floor.
He woke up sprawled out on the ground, the uneven rock surface under him pleasantly cold against his sensitive flesh. He immediately forced himself to revert to his human form, then groaned and rolled over, rising up onto his elbow.
Ilson sat on the edge of the spare table he’d installed for sleeping in the cavern, on nights when he wanted to keep Agg company and study Rafe’s human body more efficiently. He held a bo-pad in one hand and a sty-pen in the other, studying something on the sleek, square screen and making the occasional mark in the air in front of him.
It felt odd to wake up so near the spot where he’d spent most of his nights sleeping in his second form, curled up on the ground beneath Rafe’s table, never failing to miss the warmth he and Rafe had shared during their short time together before Agg’s family had taken Rafe away from him.
A sound to Agg’s left drew his gaze.
Thrace had apparently woke up before Agg and he’d found a table leg to lean up against while he watched over Gregory who was stretched out on the floor close enough for Thrace to touch.
Thrace gestured toward Rafe. “That dick of his is going to be a problem. It’s obvious the sleep didn’t stop his magic from growing stronger. I doubt he knows what to do with it. Gregory seems to think he’ll have a hard time learning control since he wasn’t born with enough magic to ever need it.”
“We’ve known for years the sleep was only slowing things down. The mating didn’t stop progressing, not the way Ilson hoped it would.”
“That’s true,” Ilson said, taking his eyes off his bo-pad for only a moment.
“Can’t blame us for trying. You were too young. Couldn’t have that. And you needed a human for this. Mother knew you weren’t ready.”
Agg’s gaze flickered over Rafe, lying so still on the ground next to him. “I missed him so much, and he wasn’t happy at all to see me again.”
“This—” Thrace waved his hand up and down Agg’s body. “—isn’t who he thinks you are. Give him a little time.” Thrace scratched his cheek with his forefinger. “Maybe wear clothes the next time you try to talk to him.”
Agg sighed, shoulders drooping. “So that was a bad idea.”
“A very bad idea.”
“You really could have tried harder to stop me.”
“You seem to learn faster when you’re learning things the hard way.”
Agg winced, remembering the first fight he’d had with his nestlings. He’d learned to never let Cole at his back and never trust Thrace when he backed off—it usually just preceded an especially nasty attack to his most vulnerable spots.
Something ached deep inside his chest and he rubbed his palm over the spot and stared helplessly at his adopted nestling.
“Your Rafe’s not heartless. He took you in when he thought you were an oceandog. How many humans would do that?”
Agg looked again at Rafe, his throat tightening with unexpected emotion. He brushed away a tangle of hair that covered half Rafe’s face. “Not many. My Rafe is a very gentle man.”
He looked up just in time to see Thrace’s eyebrows lowering.
“You don’t know him like I do.”
“I don’t doubt that at all. But I also don’t think you know him as well as you’ve imagined you do. You’re still too young to appreciate—”
“Just because I’m not an old one like you doesn’t mean I’m naïve.”
“You’re very naïve, Agg. You’re so naïve I don’t even know if you know where to stick your—”
“I know how to have human sex!” Agg’s voice echoed in the cavern, and his skin had heated so much he half wondered if Rafe’s magic had flared back into existence. One quick glance told him Rafe was as unconscious now as he’d been the last time Agg had looked.
Thrace laughed. “Not too much of that commcast filth, I hope. Most of that stuff’s completely staged—and staged badly, I might add.”
Agg pursed his lips. He’d really never realized how annoying Thrace could be. They hadn’t spent a great deal of time together. He had, however, spent quite a bit of time with Gregory, who wasn’t shy about telling embarrassing stories of his and Thrace’s first few years together.
So, no, Agg didn’t think he was particularly naïve, despite what Thrace seemed to think. He’d had a very thorough education and spent most of his life learning about the mating from the people who knew the most about it: his adopted family.
It was how he’d known Rafe was his—Mother had warned him before he’d left the nest and set out on his own for the ocean that the Yeeru mating bond had made a resurgence on this world after having died out many, many thousands of years ago on the new homeworld—which as far as Agg was concerned should no longer be called the new homeworld, because in his mind this very small, very magic-soaked human-filled world was the new homeworld.
Only it really wasn’t, because his education had told him that the Yeeru mothership of his ancestors was only one of many such ships that had gone out into the universe in search of new trade and unintelligent life for nesting.
Of course, there was no way to prove that had been the mission the mothership’s inhabitants were on, because so many of the records had been lost during the Canton Wars, along with enormous swaths of Yeeru knowledge and culture, but there was enough left to piece together a reasonable hypothesis.
Still, this world was the only world Agg had ever known, and he had no interest, outside of random curiosity, about the worlds his Yeeru ancestors had come from.
“Not that we have anything against your Rafe here, but Mother was adamant that we were to protect you from him until you were old enough to understand your situation a little better.” Thrace looked to the side, where Ilson was still absorbed with what it was that had his attention. “Mother’s very fond of reminding me that I have an obligation to my nestlings, despite the fact that I keep reminding her that all my nestlings are old enough to take care of themselves.”
Thrace sighed as if he’d been put upon more than he cared to have been put upon.
It was an act, Agg was sure of it. Thrace had his ways, and Agg had gotten used to them. But there was no denying that Mother had taken advantage of Thrace at every turn when it came to Agg and his nest.
Agg had just recently started to wonder if there was a purpose behind Mother’s actions that had something to do with Gregory and his very vocal objections to the idea of anyone planting a nest in his gut.
Thrace pushed himself forward, then rose to his feet. He offered Agg his hand. “We’ll get them separated, put your Rafe somewhere safe, and you can try to explain everything that’s happened to him, make him see that there are perks to the mating. It’s not some terrible thing. And his lifespan’s probably going to be greatly improved by the mating, so these ten years… Hardly something to complain about.”
Agg let Thrace pull him to his feet. He might have been more sure of Thrace’s words if Thrace hadn’t been avoiding his gaze by looking toward Ilson for support.
Ilson eased off the table. “I’ve let everyone know he’s awake and doing as well as can be expected. Gregory’s the one you’re going to have to watch out for. He acts like this is all his fault.”
Thrace took a moment to glance down at Gregory before he crouched and hauled Gregory’s limp body over his shoulder. He stood. “He seems to think it’s his job to keep me apprised of all the goings on in the family and to keep me from ignoring all of you. If he were Yeeru, he’d be Mother of a nest someday.”
Ilson laughed.
Agg took one more look at Rafe, lying there with nearly the same lax expression as the one that had been on his face for the last ten years as he slept, and then Agg gathered his lovely Rafe up in his arms and tossed him over his shoulder.
Agg’s human body had more strength than was natural for its size, mostly because Agg had made several enhancements as he’d constructed it, and Rafe settled easily over Agg’s shoulder.
Ilson set aside the bo-pad he’d been working with and pushed away from the table, his attention on Thrace. “Maybe it’s time you started working a little harder to convince him you’re ready to plant your own nest. He’s had thirty years to get used to the idea.”
With that, Ilson started gathering up several of his devices and dropped them onto the table with the bo-pad and sty-pen, each landing with a muffled whump on the table’s padded surface.
“Maybe I will,” Thrace said. “He’s reaching middle-age for a human, even if he doesn’t look it.” A wistful look came over Thrace’s face. “I wouldn’t want to miss my chance to leave a bit us both behind.”
“He’ll have words for you if he hears you’ve been calling him middle-aged,” Ilson said, a laugh in his voice.
“I’m sure he will.” Thrace gave Gregory’s backside a firm pat. “I think I’m going to take him home and finish what we started here.” He smiled, showing teeth, and Agg felt the lightening of Thrace’s mood, just a soft pulse of heat that drifted on the air between them. “I might even let him wake up first.”