The Alien's Touch (A SciFi Alien Warrior Romance) (Warriors of Luxiria Book 4)

by Zoey Draven

  “Let me see the scans, female,” Privanax barked.

  Kirzalla’s scowl was more frigid than the ice storm outside but she quickened her pace towards the Coms and uploaded the scans.

  As Kirzalla looked over them a second time, her breath hitched and she said, “Wait, I know this sequence.”

  “What is it?” Rixavox demanded, smoothing a hand over Sessela’s forehead.

  “It is the sequence of anglavix. I saw it in a female fifteen rotations ago who had misused it for fertility,” Kirzalla said, realization dawning in her gaze. “It is dangerous if not properly administered. A poison.”

  Dread filled his gut. Poison?

  “How would she have access to anglavix?” Privanax questioned.

  “I do not know,” Rixavox started, shaking his head, racking his mind. He’d always prided himself on keeping a calm, level head. And now, when it came to his luxiva, he was failing her. “I—”

  His eyes caught on a familiar flask, wedged between the cushions of the fire pit. When he swiped it up and sniffed the contents, he knew.

  “Kirzalla,” he called, unfathomable rage filling his veins. He’d never known hate as he did in that moment. When the healer turned to look at him, he tossed her the flask. “It was Levrix. She must have been dosing her with it.”

  Kirzalla sniffed the contents and jerked her head in a nod. “Anglavix.”

  “How is it cured?” Rixavox demanded, stuffing his anger deep inside. Now was not the time. He needed to see his luxiva better first. She was his first and only priority.

  He didn’t like the shared glances that Kirzalla and Privanax shot each other through the Coms.

  “Rebax?” he demanded.

  “It is almost impossible to determine the concentration and the dose Levrix has been using,” Kirzalla said, eyeing him, as if afraid at any moment, he might channel his animalistic Instinct.

  “What does that mean?” he asked through a clenched jaw.

  “It means it is risky to administer the correct cure, even for a Luxirian. Much riskier than curing something simple like hellixaxava,” Privanax finished for her. “It could kill her if it is not precise. Not to mention that she’s human. We do not know how she would react since we cannot run tests first.”

  “What are you saying?” Rixavox asked. “That we do nothing?”

  “No,” Privanax said. “There is one other way that should be safer for her, but only the Fates will determine whether she lives or passes into the blackworld. At least we know a human has survived it before.”

  “Tell me,” he growled. “I will do anything.”

  “He means a blood bond,” Kirzalla said, facing him.

  “Rebax?” Rixavox asked, dumbstruck. A blood bond was only performed during a mating ceremony, one of the most primal and erotic experiences Luxirians could share with their mates as they bonded their life forces together. It would not only announce their matehood for all of Luxiria, but it would tie them together, with the magic of the Fates, for the rest of their spans. And the blood bond…even Rixavox didn’t know what that would feel like, to have another presence in his mind, to feel his Sessela, always. “I will not mate her while she is in this state!”

  For a blood bond could not be accomplished unless it happened during mating.

  “The Seeing will take her pain away. It will bring her back from this, return her health for a brief period of time,” Kirzalla argued. “Your blood is strong. Coupled with the power of the Fates’ blessing once the mating has been completed…I believe it will be enough, not only to cure the anglavix, but also her hellixaxava. The magic is strong there. It is strong within you both.”

  He knew what a blood bond meant. Their lives would always be intertwined. If one of them died, the other would as well, unable to live another span without the other. If Sessela did not survive the poison that Levrix had given her, if she did not survive the mating ceremony, Rixavox would enter the blackworld with her, perhaps that very night.

  But he would try anything to save her. He would gladly give his life, if there was a small chance that she would survive. Because without her, he did not wish to be a part of that world any longer.

  “Tev,” Rixavox said, inclining his head, standing. Carefully, he scooped his luxiva up in his arms. “We will journey to the Rillirax immediately.”

  The mating ceremony was always performed in a sacred place. Usually they were performed on the plains of the Ravrax’tor, where the Fates’ presence was the strongest. But there was no time for that now.

  “Ambassador,” Privanax called from the Coms. Rixavox looked back at him from the doorway, impatient. “Your Instinct will tell you when enough blood had been given and taken. To be safe, give and take a little more.”

  Rixavox inclined his head, mood grim. Sessela’s life was dependent on the blood bond. He would do everything he could to make sure it worked.

  Kirzalla packed up furs and bundled them into Rixavox’s hovercraft outside, for which he was grateful. The ice storm outside stung his skin and he held Sessela more tightly, trying to shield her.

  “Do you think this will work?” he asked Kirzalla softly.

  “I believe it is the best option you both have,” she answered honestly. She inclined her head and stepped away. “I will see that the Prime Leader is alerted to Levrix’s actions. Her crime is severe. She will not go unpunished.”

  But at that moment, Rixavox found he couldn’t think about justice. He only thought about his female, lying unconscious in his arms, who had told him just that night that she was falling in love with him and who had cried when she’d told him she couldn’t give him offspring.

  So, as he carried her onto the hovercraft and activated the cold shield, he sent a prayer around to the Fates and he repeated it over and over again the entire journey to the Rillirax.

  TWENTY-TWO

  Cecelia woke to darkness.

  Groggy and disoriented, she tried to remember what had happened, where she was. For a brief, terrifying moment, she thought she was back in the clutches of the Krevorags, the alien traffickers that had captured her and the other human women from Earth.

  But then she heard Rixavox’s voice and she smelled a familiar scent of stone and warmth.

  She relaxed.

  “Luxiva, I am here,” he murmured down to her. She realized he was carrying her in his arms, the way he always carried her to the…

  It was why it was so dark. They were in the tunnels.

  “The Rillirax?” she guessed softly, her voice sounding faint. She felt so weak and her skin felt like it was on fire.

  “Tev,” he said. “We must hurry. Try to stay awake, Sessela.”

  Dimly, she remembered their conversation before she’d passed out. She’d told him that she was falling in love with him…and the things he’d told her…

  A violent shiver racked her body and Rixavox cursed, his pace quickening. He was murmuring something in Luxirian, like a prayer, a question, his voice getting louder and louder as they approached the end of the tunnel where the Rillirax was hidden.

  Something was different.

  As Cecelia fought the urge to go back to sleep, to that blissful place where she didn’t feel like her insides were being burned, she felt what she could only describe as power. Pure power.

  And when they stepped through the Rillirax?

  Cecelia gasped, her back arching slightly. It was like soaking in the sacred pool—that same touch that was both light as air and yet heavy—was all around her. She felt the power gliding over her skin, soothing and incredible and comforting.

  Rixavox continued to speak in Luxirian on the threshold. When she glanced up at him, feeling some of the pain leave her body, his eyes were closed, his brows furrowed, and he concentrated on ancient words that Cecelia felt in her very soul. The feeling that he brought to every single syllable, every purring rasp, brought tears to her eyes.

  And she knew. She knew what he was saying, or rather, asking. It was a prayer, to the Fates
, to his deities.

  But it seemed more than that.

  It seemed ritualistic.

  Cecelia heard herself panting when he stopped, her breathing labored. Other than her harsh breaths, there was no other sound in the Rillirax. But Rixavox seemed to be waiting for something, eyes still closed, his body completely still, as if waiting for the Fates to pass judgment on them.

  And then it happened.

  An energy, as hot as lightning, ravaged through her body, beginning from the very tips of her toes to the top of her head. She felt it everywhere, coursing, exploring, prodding.

  “W-what’s happening?” she gasped out, clenching her fists tightly, fearing the energy would leak from her fingertips and that its power would be consuming. She didn’t feel the pain of whatever had been plaguing her body, whether it had been cancer or…something else. It was replaced by this intensity, this probing magic.

  Rixavox’s muscles were tight against her and she wondered if he felt it too. “The beginning of the ravraxia. The Seeing,” he said, looking down at her. She jaw his jaw was tense, teeth gritted. “I will explain soon, but just hold on to it, luxiva. Let the Fates look inside you and then let them pass on.”

  His words didn’t make sense and yet they did. She understood, in a primal part of herself, what he meant. She needed to be patient as this force, this energy was inside her. She needed to open herself to them, to let them see what was inside her heart, her soul.

  Cecelia gasped when they left, just as suddenly as they came.

  And in their place was a warmth. The pain from before vanished completely and something else was building, building in its place.

  Her eyelids fluttered shut, her lips parting.

  “R-Rixavox?” she questioned, her voice ending on a slight whimper.

  Instead of the stinging desire that began rising in her body, all Rixavox seemed to feel was a supreme relief. In a guttural voice, he said, “The Fates have blessed us, luxiva. We can begin now.”

  Immediately, he strode into the familiar cavern of the Rillirax, with its creeping silver vines and beckoning pool and humid warmth. With extreme care, he placed her on a small boulder next to the water and he undid the bundle of furs he had strapped to his back, shaking them out, before laying them on the ground.

  Her body was taut, overcharged, like remnants of the Fates’ energy she’d felt still remained inside her, would always remain. She rubbed her hands over her arms and gasped. Everything was sensitive. Overly sensitive.

  “B-begin what?” she asked, a wave of soft, gentle pleasure rolling through her.

  Rixavox gave a purring growl and when she looked at him, his eyes were squeezed shut. When he discarded his shirt, baring his chest, she saw his muscles were enlarged. His horns were completely straight.

  He feels it too, she realized.

  But he was fighting against it. She could see it in the rigid lines of his body.

  His back hunched slightly and he gave a ragged pant, leaning one hand against the wall of the cavern. The same wave of desire racked her body hard too and her moan echoed around the cavern, nipples tingling under her thin tunic.

  “A blood bond, female,” Rixavox rasped. When her half-lidded eyes found his gaze, his pupils were enlarged, darkened. Everything about him seemed bigger, larger. It was then she realized that she was seeing parts of his Instinct, that primal, animalistic force that he kept at bay. It was more apparent to her now.

  “The Fates have taken away your pain, given you the gift of desire that will fuel the ravraxia,” he explained, straightening from the wall when the wave passed. He approached her, sprawled across the top of the boulder. Even with his Instinct shining through, Rixavox’s eyes were soft as he looked at her and she almost choked on the emotion that welled up in her chest. “But they have only given us time, the illusion of health.”

  “I don’t understand,” she whispered, leaning up towards him, needing to be close, to feel his skin on her own.

  “Levrix was poisoning you,” he said.

  Cecelia’s breath hitched. “What?”

  “With anglavix, a powerful and dangerous herb. This is not the hellixaxava, but something different. The poison still resides in you and we must cure it before—,” he stopped, swallowing hard, “before it takes you.”

  “How?” she asked softly.

  “A blood bond,” he replied. “My blood is strong. The Fates’ will aid their power during it, strengthening it further. Kirzalla and Privanax believe it will be enough to cure you, of both the poison and the hellixaxava.”

  “Really?” she asked quietly. The light of the Luxirian moon illuminated her eyes and Rixavox knew he’d never seen anything so beautiful, so pure, than what he saw in her gaze.

  He exhaled a sharp breath. “You must understand that a blood bond is…powerful. Blood bonds are only performed during mating ceremonies, the ravraxia. What you feel now…it might only be a sampling of what will come.”

  Another wave of desire was rising within her again, each one more powerful than the last. She feared what she would do when it crested.

  “But you said Luxirians mate for life,” she whispered, trying to clear the fogginess in her head from the Fates’ presence, from the prickling, tingling lust that sizzled in her veins.

  He shook his head with a growl. “It does not matter, Sessela,” he insisted. “You will still have the choice to return to your home planet. This does not change that.”

  “But—”

  “You do not know the fear I feel, even now,” he said, maneuvering his forehead to lean against her own. Cecelia sucked in a breath, her eyelids fluttering shut at his nearness, before she opened them to look into his eyes. “Seeing you like that, afraid that the Fates would take you to the blackworld, away from me…it is the worse fear I have ever known.”

  “Rixavox,” she whispered, her throat beginning to burn.

  “I will do anything to see you healed,” he finished. “Anything, luxiva.”

  What she felt for him was unparalleled, she realized. And there was no one who was his equal in her eyes. There never would be.

  The wave of pleasure was beginning to crest and she found herself clutching at his arms, squeezing harder with every passing moment.

  He was waiting for her answer. And Cecelia knew that he would do nothing until she gave him her full acceptance, that this was something she wanted, even as the energy within her—within them both—was becoming unbearable and impossible to ignore.

  “Yes,” she whispered against him. She leaned forward, pressing her lips against his. “I’m ready. Yes.”

  Rixavox’s hands immediately encircled her waist, clutching her to him as he wedged his hips between her legs. Cecelia gasped, the pleasure of feeling him against her overwhelming.

  She felt so many different emotions at the same time…an intense need for Rixavox, fear that her body might not be able to heal, happiness that she was with him, awed by the power and magic of that place, but most importantly, she felt love. She felt love in her heart, something she’d never experienced before, and she felt loved by the alien male who was kissing her like she was the only woman in the entire universe for him.

  Because to a certain extent, she was.

  It was humbling, beautiful, pure. She would have probably burst into happy tears if the desire making every part of her body tingle had been any less distracting or intense.

  Rixavox hauled her up in his arms and she wrapped her legs around his hips, holding onto his shoulders as he walked them over to the padded furs he’d placed down on the floor of the cavern.

  “The blood bond,” he said, voice ragged as he laid her down gently, “is performed when we are joined together, when I am deep inside you, tev?”

  Cecelia sucked in a breath and nodded, feeling heat branch out from her center at his words. “O-okay.”

  The wave began to crest when he dropped down over her, settling his weight between her thighs.

  “Rixavox,” she gasped and then m
oaned, her back bowing. The only way she could describe it was like mini-orgasms throughout every part of her body, spreading, growing.

  His purr made his entire chest vibrate and she heard his jaw pop from how hard he was clenching it from the pleasure.

  “It will feel even better, luxiva,” he rasped, grabbing the hem of her tunic and pulling it over her head. He accidentally ripped it with his strength and tossed it away with a growl, before dropping his head to nuzzle her breasts, sucking the tips of her peaked nipples into his mouth.

  It was too intense. Cecelia was surprised when a soft scream tore from her throat as stabs of pleasure assaulted her body. She thought she might cum just from him sucking on her breasts.

  Dazed and moaning, she blindly reached down and fumbled with the material that covered exactly what she wanted, what she needed. Rixavox’s growl echoed around the cavern as he helped her with the fastenings, before tearing through them like tissue paper and tossing them next to her ruined shirt.

  Cecelia felt every inch of him. His cock bobbed between them and she whimpered when she felt his pre-cum pool just below her belly button, hot and searing, as his thick, ridged length dragged across her sensitive flesh. Rixavox rocked his hips against her and he groaned. She felt the sound fill her head as more wetness coated her inner thighs. She was more than ready for him.

  “Now, Rixavox,” she panted, arching her back as she could feel more of his flesh pressed against her. He felt like heaven. “Please!”

  She saw stars burst into her vision when another wave crashed over her, as demanding as it was exquisite. The flutterings of an orgasm teased her from between her thighs and her alien warrior hadn’t even touched her there yet.

  “Tev, luxiva,” Rixavox hissed. “Vellixa, ta vellixa.”

  The flames of lust licked higher and higher until she thought she might burn up completely. Mindlessly, she rocked her hips, trying to find him with a single-minded desperation that should’ve frightened her. Above her, Rixavox looked wild, undone. His rumbling growls and purrs echoed in the cavern and fueled her determination.