He hadn't meant to interrupt the game, but he felt the stillness that came over his mate as he joined them. There was a weight to it that spoke of thunder on the horizon, a shift in their world like the change of seasons. The sun was warm upon them, however, and Rory's scent calmed and centered him, a bright and living shield against whatever pain the world might cast their way. Jigano knew he could stay in that moment forever, feeling the rough fabric of his lover's trousers beneath his cheek and watching Ella's shed fur drifting in the sunbeams.
He smiled at the hound, feeling Isuma's sleepy thoughts from somewhere above where she had found a napping spot on the roof, and closed his eyes to drink in the moment and wait for his mate to find the words behind the silence.
A dozen questions cascaded when he did, hope and fear clashing in a swirl that might have brought tension to his broad shoulders if he hadn't been touching his lover, his lodestone, his summer storm. His ears flicked, betraying his surprise, but the hunter's presence soothed him now as it had for seasons - had it really been nearly two years since they had met amidst a tumbling pack of vampire gourds? - and just being with Rory calmed and clarified his thoughts in a way no one else could, distilling all he wanted to ask down to one simple concern:
"When would we go?"
He smiled at the hound, feeling Isuma's sleepy thoughts from somewhere above where she had found a napping spot on the roof, and closed his eyes to drink in the moment and wait for his mate to find the words behind the silence.
A dozen questions cascaded when he did, hope and fear clashing in a swirl that might have brought tension to his broad shoulders if he hadn't been touching his lover, his lodestone, his summer storm. His ears flicked, betraying his surprise, but the hunter's presence soothed him now as it had for seasons - had it really been nearly two years since they had met amidst a tumbling pack of vampire gourds? - and just being with Rory calmed and clarified his thoughts in a way no one else could, distilling all he wanted to ask down to one simple concern:
"When would we go?"
