Thia made a noise of discontent at Darice before she scowled at Hauk. “Why are your eyes still glowing red, Uncle Hauk?”

His gut drew tight over her question. Damn. They should have stopped that while he slept. The fact that they hadn’t…

He was in deep Andarion shite. “I didn’t know they were.”

She nodded. “They’re very odd. I never knew Andarion eyes did that.”

That’s because it was exceedingly rare for them to glow in the first place. To remain glowing – that only happened one in a hundred billion cases.

Lucky me…

A tic started in Darice’s jaw, but for once his nephew held his tongue.

Bastien brought over a small plate of food and something that appeared to be a root of some kind. “If you took the punches I did, I know it’ll be hard to chew, but… that root will minimize the pain.”

“Thanks.” Hauk set the plate down beside Sumi.

“C’mon, guys,” Bastien said. “Let’s give them some quiet time.”

Darice hesitated before he followed them back to the small fire.

Hauk winced as he tried to chew the meat. Bastien was right. Eating was rough. “I need to go back for Illyse.”

“We already took care of it.” She gestured to the fire where the lorina was curled up and sleeping. “Bastien said you owe him a good night of drinking for the scratches she gave him.” She paused. “Can you really not tell that your eyes are glowing?”

He glanced over to make sure the others weren’t paying any attention to them before he took her hand in his and led it to his swollen groin. When he spoke, his tone was so low that it was barely audible. “I can only tell how much I want to be inside you. Which, given the amount of pain I’m in everywhere else, is ridiculous. Gah, how can I be horny and dying at the same time? It’s not right what you do to me, woman.”

She blushed at his teasing. “Is that,” she dropped her gaze to his groin, which made his cock twitch, “what causes it?”

Hauk hesitated before he answered her. “No, but it is what started it. It’s tied to my adrenaline and vasopressin levels.”

She narrowed her eyes accusingly. “You told me originally that you didn’t know anything about it.”

He wrapped a lock of her hair around his finger. “I didn’t want to scare you.”

“Why would it scare me?”

Hauk released her hair and swallowed his food. Why would it not? Even though it was a highly sought after trait, it terrified most females he knew of – and they were Andarions who knew and understood it.