Sam's Secret (Icehome)

He laughs, the sound unpleasant. "What's the matter? You think you've got your protector all lined up and don't need me? Be a shame if a pretty little thing like you found herself helpless. Don't worry, little thing. You can crawl into my furs if you need a male to protect you."

Vomit. I glance over at him, scowling, and he just watches me with an ugly grin on his face.

I'm suddenly less worried about me and more worried about Sessah.

Sessah and I eat our evening meal by the pool, facing each other as we sit on the warm rocks. For once, Kvasaht climbs down to join us. He stares at our dried meat with narrowed eyes, but there's a smile on his face that unnerves me. "More dried meat? You two are very industrious."

I offer him a strip to be polite, telling myself that we're both wary. That you can't be friends on a foundation of lies. Of course he has trust issues. We do, too. It's natural, but I don't have to let it ruin everything. I'm going to give Kvasaht every chance to be my friend because I think of Gren back at the beach and how we were all so terrified of him. And while I can't be the Willa to Kvasaht's Gren, we can at least be friends, I hope. "We're running low, but what we have, we'll share."

"Mmm, running low? Or holding back on old Kvasaht?" He snatches it from my grip and crouches a short distance away, watching Sessah. "You hold a great deal back, and I don't trust either of you."

I chew my food, determined not to show my unease. Maybe if we ignore him, he'll go away. It doesn't solve our problem of what to do with him, but at least the worry building inside me will be put off another day.

"We share what we have," Sessah says, offering up a piece of fruit.

Kvasaht slaps it out of Sessah's big hand. "You say you share, but you only share what you feel you must."

Sessah frowns. He gets up and picks up the fruit knocked out of his grip, the picture of patience. "We share all our supplies, my friend. We run low on meat, so we will need to hunt soon—"

"I'm not talking about meat," Kvasaht growls. "You don't share your female."

I go still, my heart fluttering in my chest with panic.

"You have a human bed-slave that you've stolen away and you won't share her. If we're to be stranded here, don't you think I deserve the same courtesy? Don't you think I deserve a round in her cunt?"

Sessah is silent, and the hard meat I've been chewing tastes like ash in my mouth. He moves toward Kvasaht, his steps slow and measured, the only sign of his anger the clench of his fists and the way the tip of his tail shivers, as if he desperately wants to flick it back and forth but doesn't want to give himself away. "You do not touch her," Sessah says in a deadly voice. "You do not even go near her."

"Greedy bastard." He hisses at us, just like an angry cat. "So much for sharing, eh? When it comes to the good stuff, you keep it all to yourself."

This time, Sessah growls. The sound is low and angry, and the look on his face is terrifying.

He's going to kill him.

I know this as well as I know my own face. Sessah's hands are white-knuckled and clenched, and his entire body shivers, just like his tail. He's barely holding himself back from attacking Kvasaht. Sessah is normally so calm, and it feels like he's right on the edge of exploding. I jump to my feet, moving in front of him before he can lunge for the cat-man.

I put my hands on his chest and shake my head. "Look at me."

He snarls, nostrils flaring, and his tail lashes so hard it whips some of the leaves off of a nearby vine. Behind me, I can feel Kvasaht take a step backward, although he laughs it off.

I shake my head at Sessah, who still has his gaze locked on his enemy. "Look at me, Sessah," I say again. "This isn't who you are."

His gaze flicks down to me. His mouth is flat and hard, and I can tell by the way his jaw flexes and the set of his broad shoulders that he's about to tear out all of a certain someone's whiskers. I rub his chest, and if my touch is a little more sensual than it probably should be, so what. He needs me right now. I smile up at him and shake my head. "This isn't you, Ses. You know it's not. Don't let him goad you into being an animal."

Sessah gives me a mutinous look, but his hand unclenches and he presses one over my chest.