Dee's Hard Limits by Trinity Blacio Page B

before Dee could wrap her arms around him, Talhrn broke the kiss and shoved her behind him. “What do you want, Janek? You know better than to enter my home without being invited,” Talhrn demanded as Marquis and Todd advanced to her. Each one took up position beside her.
    “I thought I would be the first to welcome your meru to our world. I behaved badly when her mother was here,” The man stated from the open doorway as she peeked around Talhrn’s body.
    The man in question appeared to be a little smaller in frame than Talhrn. His dark, almost purple, hair appeared black, but when the light hit it one could see the true color. There was a tattoo of some kind of animal on his chest. It looked to be like a bear, but yet it wasn’t, and Dee could have sworn the thing moved on his chest. Almost as if it was turning to... She jumped back and bumped into Marquis’s body. “It moved,” she whispered.
    “I think it best you leave. Thank you for stopping by, but she just got here and she needs to rest.” Talhrn stated with a little less venom, but with enough of a push that Janek nodded and stepped out of their home.
    “As you wish. Again welcome, daughter of Maya,” the man said before bowing and disappearing.
    “Well, that was interesting. And what was up with that animal on his chest? It looked as if it was moving,” Dee said and looked up into Talhrn’s gaze when he turned to face her.
    “You don’t need to be looking at him, and his animal was moving. There are many of us who have other hosts that live inside of us. We provide food to them and shelter while they help us when they can. Come, you need to eat and to rest. It’s been a long day for you.” Talhrn settled his hand on her back and tried to escort her out of the main area down a wide carved tunnel, but she held her ground.
    “So you have one too?” she asked, looking at each man. Marquis and Todd shook their heads but Talhrn nodded.
    “I do, but he’s not ready to show himself to you yet. Our bond is not complete. When it is, you’ll meet him.” He tried again to get her to move, but she wouldn’t budge.
    “Not so fast, buddy. What do you mean he won’t show himself to me until we’re bonded fully? Am I also bonding with some other thing? Don’t you think I should have known about this?” She crossed her arms in front of her and glared at Talhrn.
    Bending at the waist, Talhrn brushed his nose against hers. “Don’t take that attitude with me. I’ve been easy on you because of what you gone through, but I will not tolerate a smart mouth,” he snapped and stared into her eyes till she looked down at the ground.
    “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get mouthy, but I have a right to know if I’m going to be mating with some strange creature, Talhrn.” She rubbed her arms. “You don’t share with others here do you? I don’t think I could do that.”
    With a sigh, Talhrn straightened and hugged her tight. “No, we don’t share. You are ours and if anyone touched you, they’d die. As far as Cedarclaw, he has claimed Marquis and Todd both so I would presume he would also claim you. They each carry his mark even though you can’t see it. He’s part of me, Little Kitten, and has been for over 500 of your Earth years.”
    For a minute, Dee held onto him, and then sighed. “Fine, I trust you, but if this thing hurts me, my cat is going to tear it apart,” she snarled.
    He laughed and stepped into the tunnel. “I think your cat will like him very much.”
    Once her eyes adjusted to the lighting in the smaller space, Dee stopped and ran her hand over the chiseled wall in awe. She’d never seen anything so beautiful in her life. Even her mother’s drawings were nothing compared to this. The colors and the emotion behind each scene just drew the person to the next picture as you moved down the passageway.
    “This is freaking amazing.” She took a peek at Talhrn. “Did you do this?”
    He shook his head and nodded to Todd. “No,