The crushing weight covering him lifted and Lucas picked him up by the front of his shirt and pulled his face up to his. He gazed down frantically into Kai’s eyes and even shook him so that his head snapped back. He could feel Lucas’s hot breath against his mouth. “Are you hit? Speak to me, damn it. ”
“I-I…” He shook his head a little, making a sickening pain shoot through him, and he had to close his eyes.
“Kai? Stay awake. I took you down pretty hard. You might have a concussion. Don’t close your eyes, baby. ”
Kai, whose eyelids had been fluttering, opened his eyes all the way. Baby? He wasn’t a baby. No one had ever called him that before. What could it mean? Was this even his alpha?
“Kai, damn you, don’t you fucking close your eyes!”
Okay, there he was. Kai opened his eyes and stared up into Lucas’s, blinking rapidly. Lucas let out a long breath, nodded and stood up, hauling Kai to his feet, but wrapping his arm around his waist to hold him up.
“Is everyone all right?” he asked the others. Kai decided that while he was taking inventory of the damage, he might just close his eyes for a moment and doze a bit.
“We’re all good, Lucas. ” Someone answered, sounding far away. “Better watch your boy, though. He’s going out again. ”
Lucas dragged Kai around in front of him and shook him again, but very gently this time. He yelled in his face again. “Kai! I said, stop trying to go to sleep, damn it. ”
Kai pulled back his fist and punched Lucas on the chin. Lucas saw it coming and tried to duck, so it more or less bounced weakly off to the side, but it must have stung a little, because his mouth fell open in shock. Kai heard Lucas’s family laughing behind him.
“I think you’ve met your match for sure, Lucas,” one of them called out. “He’s a spitfire. You better sleep with one eye open tonight!”
“Spitfire, my ass! Let’s see how fiery he is in a cold shower. ” He strode off determinedly, dragging Kai behind him by his rapidly bruising wrist.
Kai tried to dig in his feet, but it was useless. Lucas just tightened his grip and jerked his arm. On the way out of the room, they passed the chair Lucas had been sitting in, and Kai grabbed at it, but Lucas patiently pried his fingers away from the arm and dodged another blow to the head as his hands came off. This time he threw Kai over his shoulder and stalked out of the room, his family’s raucous laughter following them down the corridor.
Kai tried to raise himself up off Lucas’s shoulder and got a stinging slap on the ass for his trouble. They went into a room that must have been Lucas’s bedroom and then into a small bathroom. Lucas plopped him down on the counter and pointed a finger at him. “Don’t you move!” He kicked the door shut and turned back to the tiled shower, turning on the cold water. Ignoring him, Kai had already slipped off the counter and was at the door, trying his best to make it out of the room before he turned around, but Lucas moved too fast for him. He put his hands around Kai’s waist and dragged him inexorably toward the tub.
“Noo,” Kai said, begging now. “Please. ” He was already shivering at the idea of the frigid water splashing down on his flesh and Lucas stopped, staring down at him. Something flickered in his eyes. “Are you going to stay awake?”
“Yes,” Kai said miserably, his eyes shooting darts of fury at his captor.
Lucas regarded him silently for a moment. He drew him into his arms, and Kai looked up in his face in alarm. What now? His hands were moving over his back and his hips. He pulled him even closer to him, tucking Kai’s head under his chin. Taking a ragged breath, he spoke in a rough voice, the words seeming to be torn from him, as if he might have wanted to hold them back.
“Kai, damn it. It’s getting more and more difficult for me not to touch you. I-I want to very much. ”
Kai opened his eyes wider in surprise. “You do?” Kai’s voice was muffled with his face pressed into the alpha’s chest, but he must have understood Kai, because he answered softly.
“I do. ”
“But I thought you hated me. I thought you wanted me dead. ”
Lucas seemed to recoil in horror, pulling him away from his chest and glaring into his face. “Dead? Whatever gave you that idea? I know I’ve been angry, but I would never harm you. ”
Kai glanced at him resentfully. “You already did. You hurt my head on that wall, and you-you fought with me. ”
Lucas closed his eyes as if he was in pain and ran a hand over his face. “I know. I was angry, and you gave as good as you got out there on that balcony. I have the bruises to prove it. ” Lucas pulled him back and looked down at him, regarding him with a look almost of pride. “Still, I never meant to hurt you. My wolf got carried away and tried to exert his dominance when you tried to run from me. Can you forgive me for hurting you?”
Kai shrugged, still wary, and Lucas cupped his cheek.
“I still don’t understand why you deceived me, but we’ll let that go for the moment. You’re my mate, Kai. I knew it from the moment I saw you. Like I said, I’m having a hard time not touching you right now. ”
“You are touching me. ” Kai raised his eyes to gaze directly into Lucas’s dark red ones. “I-I suppose I belong to you now. ”
“You suppose?” Lucas hissed in a sharp breath, and his eyes flashed. “Make no mistake, Kai, you belong to me, all right. ” He leaned toward him and inhaled again, shutting his eyes tightly and making a low, groaning sound in his throat.
“Kai…I won’t force you, no matter how I feel. But do you—do you like men? Is that why you dress as female? Am I reading you right?”
A wave of uneasiness coursed through Kai. He glanced away and then back up at Lucas. “Do men who dress as women on your planet always like other men, then?”