CHAPTER 30
“The surprise is here?”Callie asked as Urkot lowered her to her feet onto the wooden floorboards. This was the platform where Ivy and Ahmya lived with their mates.
Urkot grazed his mouth over her temple. A kiss. Callie smiled and looked up at him.
“Yes,” he said, taking her gently by the shoulders and turning her toward the dens. “But you must not look.”
He covered her eyes—along with half her face—with his large hands.
“Not even a teeny, tiny peek?” she asked playfully.
With his lower hand curled around her waist, he slowly guided her forward. “No.”
Chuckling, Callie stretched her arms out in front of her as she walked, a slight limp in her gait. Urkot’s steps were heavy behind her, sending faint vibrations through the planks, and she could hear the chatter of nearby vrix. The soft sound of far-off music floated lazily in the air.
It was hard to believe that she and Urkot had been trapped beneath the earth only two weeks ago. As excited as Callie had been by the things they’d seen, she wasn’t sure she could bringherself to visit a cave again anytime soon. Even Urkot, who’d been a delver all his life, had no desire to go underground again.
When Nalaki had visited Callie’s den to check on them a few days ago, he’d told her as much, offering to instead work as a shaper.
Upon impulse, Callie had chimed in and told Nalaki that Urkot was good with his hands. Very, very good.
Nalaki hadn’t understood the double entendre, but Urkot had chittered and given Callie a look that was both amused and heated.
That heat hadn’t led to anything, though; Urkot hadn’t touched her sexually since their return to Kaldarak. Only this surprise of his had delayed her from taking matters into her own hands, like she had their first time together. She understood his restraint, but that didn’t stop her craving for him from growing day by day.
She’d spent the first week cooped up in her den recovering from the spiritstrider’s attack. She’d never been more thankful to have had those injections from the Homeworld Initiative. Without them, Diego said her best outcome would’ve likely been losing her leg to the infection that had set in, and the worst case…she would’ve died.
Urkot didn’t like thinking about that. He’d been near inconsolable at the possibility, and he hadn’t left her side for more than a few moments at a time during her recovery, despite her fever having subsided by their third day back in Kaldarak. After that, it had been a matter of tending to the wounds on her leg. He hadn’t even allowed Diego to touch her, insisting that caring for her was his duty as her mate. He’d treated her as though she was the most delicate thing in the world.
Unfortunately, the injections had no magical healing properties, forcing her to deal with the pain and time it took to heal. Her calf had hurt like a bitch for that first week. That waswhen Diego had deemed the wounds fit enough to seal using his medical device. Now she was left with faint scars and fading bruises discoloring her skin, and she felt only mild discomfort when she walked. It was a huge improvement.
Callie was tempted to kiss Lacey to thank her for that herbal tea, which helped with the pain. The stuff was heaven sent.
It wasn’t until midway through the second week that Urkot had begun leaving her for extended periods of time. He hadn’t told her where he’d been going or what he’d been doing, but whenever she’d woken up in the morning or between naps, she would notice some of her belongings were missing. At first, she’d thought she’d simply been mistaken, that her mind was just foggy due to the stress of healing, the grogginess caused by the tea, and the trauma of what she and Urkot had survived.
Yet as more and more empty spots appeared on her shelves, she knew something was up. When her bowl of beloved rocks disappeared, she’d asked Urkot flat out what was going on.
He’d told her that it was a surprise and had been very firm in not revealing anything else despite her repeated attempts to get more information out of him.
Until today. Today, he was finally going to show her what he’d been up to.
She had a pretty good idea, but she wasn’t about to spoil anything, neither for herself nor Urkot. His excitement had been infectious.
“You are peeking,” Urkot said.
“I am not!” Callie laughed, walking forward, hands still in front of her. Despite his accusation, she was in factnotpeeking. She was completely at his mercy, and she trusted him explicitly. She was simply grateful he hadn’t done this while they were crossing one of the rope bridges. That would’ve been terrifying, and it would’ve called for much peeking.
“Are we almost there?” she asked.
A low, contemplative hum resonated from his chest.
“That’s not an answer!”
He repeated the sound, exaggerating and prolonging it.
Callie chuckled. “Big meanie.”
“My own mate throws barbs at me,” he said with a sigh.
