by Zoey Draven
There was a long stretch of uncomfortable silence between them. Erin felt her cheeks heat briefly, but it was he that broke it.
“Last night was a mistake,” he rasped, studying her face closely as he said it. “It will not happen again, tev?”
She froze but managed to shield her expression—one of disbelief and hurt and anger—before he could see it. If she’d been the gaping sort, her jaw would’ve dropped.
His tone was dismissive. As if what happened between them last night—that world-spinning kiss and the orgasm that followed—meant nothing.
She should be relieved. She should be agreeing wholeheartedly with him to save some of her dignity. She should be the one saying last night had been a mistake. He was the asshole who had kidnapped her in the first place.
Erin hated that she felt hurt by his words. She couldn’t stand it.
Then again, there was nothing for her to do but nod. “Right,” she said softly, looking away from him. It wasn’t like she’d been planning to hate-kiss him again, anyways. Right?
“Rixella—”
Erin cleared her throat, hoping it would clear away some of the awkward tension between them. It was a hard thing to do, considering she was standing there in a tunic stained with his seed. And he was telling her last night was a mistake?
“I should probably clean out the cave,” she said, since she couldn’t think of anything else to say. It would give her something to do, help keep her mind off him. “It’s a bit of a mess in there.”
Just what does he plan to do with me? she wondered, turning away from him, her head swimming. A part of Erin had believed he’d brought her there because…because he planned to keep her. She was his fated mate. He’d admitted that much himself. And one thing she knew about Luxirian fated mates was that it was a forever type of deal. There was some major cosmic voodoo at work when it came to fated mates.
But if he told her getting to second base last night had been a mistake, that it wouldn’t happen again…then what the hell was he planning?
Regardless, Erin knew she should be on her toes. He was keeping her in the dark. If he didn’t plan on keeping her as his mate, then it meant he would use her for something else.
Fear jolted in her belly. She felt his gaze on the back of her neck, but she hurried inside the cave quickly. She looked around at the mess. Mess she could handle. Mess could easily be cleaned, fixed, tidied. There was nothing she liked more than cleaning.
Pushing back her hair, ignoring the way her head pounded, Erin got to work.
Jaxor was working at the furnace when she finished clearing out the cave. Earlier, after she’d dumped all the bloody furs out, with a plan to wash them that day, she’d seen him pumping out water from the base near the waterfall. When she emerged then, she saw the thin layer of water was mostly gone, leaving the stone floor of the crater wet and shimmering, but flood-free.
Now, the stone was beginning to dry, albeit slowly. The suns were peeking out every now and again from behind a thick shield of clouds.
Jaxor had changed his clothes, donning a pair of brown hide pants and a loose, dark grey tunic with a hole near his shoulder. She was still unused to seeing him with short hair. She wondered what he thought about it, if he liked it, but figured it didn’t matter. She’d already swept his hair out of the cave, piling it near the entrance until she could dispose of it. It had brought a flush to her face, looking at those silky strands, knowing what had happened after they’d fluttered to the floor last night. Remembering the heat between them, the intimacy of being so close to him…
Jaxor was hammering something near the furnace. Around it, the ground was dry, so she knew it burned hot. For the first time, she noticed that the kekevir was gone. There was no evidence that it had ever been there. The rain and the drainage holes erased any trace of blood and gore.
Erin allowed herself to watch Jaxor for only a moment before she turned to go back inside, planning to scrub the cave floor clean of his blood with an old tunic of his, one from the bundle she’d brought inside the cave yesterday. It didn’t take her long to do. By the time she was done, her knees were red and roughened and she felt even grimier than before she’d started. But she looked around at her work, proud.
The walls and floors were spotless, she’d reorganized both chests and pushed them back against the wall, she’d shaken out all the bloodless furs, she’d cleaned the ash from the little fire pit. Now all that was left was to wash the dirtied furs. And bathe.
It was all very domestic, but at least it gave her something to do. She thought she’d go insane if she puttered around all day. And since Jaxor wasn’t leaving the base that day, she couldn’t go explore the hovercraft again. Though, after what happened yesterday, Erin thought she should wait until he had a gate in place for the kekevir before she traveled down that tunnel again. Just thinking of being trapped by one of those things, alone and weaponless, made a shudder run down her spine.
Outside, she balled all the furs up and maneuvered her way down to the ground level from the cave entrance. It was early afternoon, she guessed, judging by the positions of the suns, which she’d tracked in the Golden City. There had been little else to do, after all.
Jaxor paused in his work to look at her when she approached. He was either fixing the cave door or working on a gate, she couldn’t be certain which.
Erin cleared her throat, suddenly nervous to have to speak with him after a morning of complete silence. He’d left her to her work and she’d left him to his. If he felt the tension between them, he didn’t comment on it and neither did she.
She stepped around a bucket that had floated all the way from near the crops and regarded him. “Do you have any soap?”
“Soap?” he repeated. His voice sounded more like a grunt.
“For washing,” she said patiently. “I need to get the blood out of these furs and,” she tucked her hair behind her ear, “I also want to bathe.”
His brow was sweating from the heat of the furnace. He paused to rake a hand through his hair and Erin’s mouth went a little dry. The muscles in his arms flexed as he did…and that haircut was just unfair. Why did he have to look the way he did while also having the grumpiest and moodiest disposition ever?
His lips, which she now unfortunately knew were surprisingly soft and plump, pursed and he nodded.
Stop staring at his lips, she ordered herself silently. Her eyes immediately cut to his eyes and her swallow sounded more like a gulp.
Last night was a mistake. She remembered his words, remembered that they should echo her own sentiments too. But it was difficult.
Now that they’d kissed, there always seemed to be the unspoken possibility that they’d kiss again. And again. It made her belly jolt with awareness, with little, terrible, crazed butterflies that battered at her bones.
Jaxor’s gaze locked on her but she turned towards the waterfall, which was pouring down more water than yesterday, a roaring, white rush. The pool was still overflowing, but Erin would make do.
She sensed Jaxor moving and when she chanced a peek at him, he was near the multitude of chests, rummaging through one. He brought out a large black vial with what looked like little pebbles rolling around inside. Erin recognized it from the Golden City. It was the same soap they’d used in the washing room.
For the first time, she wondered how Jaxor had accumulated all of these supplies. Did he still journey to the Golden City? Or even to the outposts spread across Luxiria? He’d admitted to her that he hadn’t been exiled after all, so that meant he was still allowed to go wherever he pleased, right?
When he handed it to her, Erin murmured, “Thanks,” and then walked over to the waterfall, all too aware of his gaze on her back.
She’d tucked one of his clean tunics and one of the cleaner furs in among the ones she needed to wash. That way, she could dry off with the clean fur and dress in fresh clothes after her bath. Studying the waterfall, she decided to bathe first because she didn’t want to wash in blo
ody, dirty water after she scrubbed the furs in it.
There wasn’t exactly a lot of privacy in Jaxor’s base, but Erin was, frankly, beyond caring. He’d seen her naked before—when he’d first seen her. He’d made it clear he didn’t intend to take her as his luxiva—not that she wanted that, anyways—and he’d also made it clear that they wouldn’t be hooking up again after last night.
So what was the harm?
None at all, that small, wicked little voice whispered in her mind as she stripped off her tunic.
Chapter Sixteen
Wicked rixella, Jaxor thought, his jaw gritting so hard he was surprised his teeth didn’t get pulverized in the process.
The rixella in question was undressing next to the pool of the waterfall. Unlike yesterday, it seemed she had every intention of going in, not simply crouching at the edge, rubbing her flesh with water in an attempt to clean herself fully clothed.
Jaxor wiped his forearm over his brow, stepping back from the furnace to cool off, his eyes glued to the bared curves of the female’s body.
My female, his Instinct corrected, purring.
Vrax, she was pleasing to look at. His fists clenched at his sides and Jaxor had to physically stop himself from taking an unconscious step towards her, towards the falls. His hand came to his workbench and he squeezed the Luxirian metal until his claws gouged into it.
Her flesh was tan like the delicious nectar from puxia fruits. Her hair was dark, but shimmering gold from the suns when their light managed to break through the clouds. A tapered waist, full hips, thighs he could grip as he—
Not yours, he reminded himself, squeezing his eyes shut. She is not yours.
And yet, she’d certainly felt like his last night. Just remembering her moans, her blunt little claws buried deep enough in his shoulders to leave marks, the frenzied, needful way she’d ground down on his cock’s length…
Her soft, warm lips on his own, the way his head spun when she suckled on his tongue.
Many lunar cycles ago, he’d traveled to the pools of the Lallarix. It was a scared place, touched by the Fates, and a secret place that only his family knew of. Often, his mother and sire would travel there. Sometimes, Jaxor and Vaxa’an would accompany them.
Not long ago, Jaxor had gone there to remember. The pools had been untouched, as if a span hadn’t passed since his mother had been there. But instead of finding her spirit there, he’d discovered a human female. The first he’d ever seen. And she’d been accompanied by none other than his brother.
Jaxor had watched them from shadows, his heart thrumming in his chest when he realized he was gazing on his brother for the first time in almost ten rotations. And he had found his luxiva, his fated mate, in a human female he called Kat.
He’d seen them press their lips together as they soaked in the Lallarix, though it had baffled him at the time. It was not a way that Luxirians showed affection to one another. It had seemed strange and foreign to him. Alien.
Until last night.
When Erin had leaned forward and kissed him, brushing her bottom lip over his top, drawing him in so deep he felt his heartbeat throb in his tongue, he’d finally understood the appeal. The heat. The closeness. The intimacy. The wicked way it had felt like mating. Soft at first, before demand and need overpowered it.
Jaxor swore he could still feel her there. He could still taste her on his tongue, scent her arousal in his nostrils, feel her fingers pulling at his newly shorn hair.
When he opened his eyes, Erin was, mercifully, in the pool. Covered. Only the tops of her shoulders and the delicate bones at the base of her neck were on display. When she turned, he saw the mark he’d given her last night, the blooming bruise where he’d bitten her neck in the heat of the moment.
She was watching him, but her expression made him pause.
She is teasing me on purpose, he realized, his brows lowering, his lips pulling down into a frown.
But there was no mistaking the challenge in her eyes. His female was intentionally tormenting him. Why? To make a liar out of him? Because he might have hurt her pride that morning when he attempted to brush off what had happened between them last night?
Jaxor growled and he turned from her, his cock pulsing, his blood hot and thick. What was he doing? What the fuck was he doing?
He didn’t know. He was wasting time. Procrastinating. He was not like this. When he made a decision, he committed to it. One way or another. He didn’t hesitate. He just…fucking did it.
So why couldn’t he do the same where Erin was involved?
Why couldn’t he decide to uphold his agreement with the Mevirax or keep her for himself? Or, the most honorable option of all, return her to the Golden City, far away from him and the Mevirax and the dangers that were connected to them?
He knew why. Because Jaxor was a selfish bastard. But, grimly, he realized that there was more at stake here. This was beyond her. Beyond him. Beyond any connection the Fates had given them.
This was about the future of the Luxirian race. It was about justice for all those lives lost, all those families destroyed. Giving Erin up to the Mevirax, who had a standing deal with the Jetutians, might be the only way Jaxor could get close to them. It might be the only chance the Luxirians had to seize the treatment, the cure.
Even knowing that, Jaxor tilted his head. The rixella had swum over to the falls, had perched herself on one of the rocks there, her full, perfect breasts on display, water lapping around her waist. She was massaging her long, wet hair with the soap granules he’d given her, scrubbing at her scalp before using the waterfall to rinse it from the strands.
Then she lathered up her hands and scrubbed at her flesh. When her hands trailed over her breasts, he felt a drop of his seed push from the tip of his cock, a small, rough sound escaping his throat. He didn’t think she heard it, but her eyes darted over to him regardless.
She’d been so different last night. So changed. But he wondered which version of her was the truest to her character. Was it the female who had stared him down in the Golden City when he’d first come to take her away, steady and calm? Was it the female who had worried over him after the kekevir injury, working diligently and without hesitation to stitch him up? Was it the female who had straddled his hips and had moaned when he marked her neck with his teeth? Or was it this temptress, who was massaging her slick breasts beneath a waterfall, knowing he was watching, knowing he desired her beyond reason, beyond logic?
The Fates had given him a beguiling, frustrating, and fascinating creature.
With a curse, Jaxor turned back to his work.
I will not look at her again while she is in that pool, he made himself promise. He repeated it in his mind, as if to make it stick, as if to steel his resolve. As if it would work.
But Jaxor felt like he was fighting a losing battle of wills. He wondered how much longer it would be until he broke.
Because it would happen. She would break him. And when she did, Jaxor prayed that she was prepared for the beast she would unleash.
The sky was black when Jaxor finished with the kekevir gate.
He was sweating, his chest heaving, his limbs aching with the amount of effort it took to embed it in the stone wall of the tunnel. But it was the only way it would be strong enough against the kekevir. They had watched him from the darkness of their nest. Jaxor had always wondered why they chose to stay so close to his home base when they had large caverns and endless tunnels all throughout the Pass of the Kokillix to explore.
But they’d proven useful over the rotations. Their meat might not be the most delicious, but it kept him fed most cold seasons. Their skin made good armor that he traded at the outposts and their sinewy muscle tissue made excellent fire fuel when his stores ran low. Having them close was beneficial.
For the most part, he thought, feeling his wounds pull slightly. He’d cut the stitches already and pulled them out, but the flesh was still tender as it mended. He would have to remember to put healing salve on it late
r that night.
The gate was sturdy, though it had used up the majority of his metal stores. It bolted and braced into the tunnel wall. Immovable. It would keep Erin safe. Now Jaxor wouldn’t have to worry about being gone from the base.
Still, Jaxor refueled the burning sconces on either side of the gate, casting light into the tunnel. By force of habit. He still didn’t want the kekevir anywhere near the gate, no matter how strong it was. Kekevir could be cunning and intelligent when it suited them.
When he returned to the base, he saw his female huddled by the fire he’d made in the early evening, staring into the flames. His chest clenched, watching the light play over her features. She didn’t look at him and Jaxor kept his distance from her, going to bathe in the waterfall pool, rinsing off the sweat and grime of the day, remembering the erotic vision Erin had made in that same place earlier.
Underneath the water, he squeezed his stiff cock once, as if in warning. Even that small contact made him groan. Even after the mind-numbing orgasm last night, his body was still charged and ready for another.
He hauled himself out before he was tempted to bring himself to release right there and dressed in loose pants, forgoing a tunic since he felt overheated from working in the tunnel most of the day. Cool, chilled air felt like a relief.
Inhaling a deep, steadying breath, feeling as though he was going into battle, he approached his female at the fire. He’d laid out dried meats and the best of his fruit stores for her earlier and he saw that most of it was gone. Good. She’d eaten well that night. She hadn’t seemed to care for the fresh, roasted kekevir meat, so until he could fish, his dried rations would have to be enough.
“Hello,” she greeted softly when he sat on the opposite side of the fire. “You’ve been working hard today,” she commented.