If it still haunted him, surely the gods were also aware of it?
The sensation of that limb having been restored vanished, leaving behind an intense tingling on his hide. He covered the rough scar on his side with his lower right hand, pressing his palm over it, but the sensation was slow to fade.
Urkot bowed his head. “Flamebearer, thank you for your guiding light. Delver, thank you for sparing us, even in our carelessness, and seeing us home safely from the darkness.”
Straightening, he lowered his arms and entered the temple.
The air within was thick, warm, and damp. Several spinewood sap flames provided light, casting slow-dancing shadows on the decorated stonework. Whatever his thoughts on the skill of thornskull stoneshapers compared to their shadowstalker counterparts, he could not deny the care and expertise that had built this place.
As he entered the main chamber, where the stone shaped by vrix met the natural walls of a cavern, he could not help but think of Takarahl again. Yet for as often as he thought about it,he did not miss it. Nor did he miss his siblings who yet dwelled there—ten brothers and four sisters who he’d worked alongside for most of his life but had never truly known. Not like he knew the family he’d made. Not like he knew his tribe. There’d been respect amidst his blood kin, and fondness, but what he felt for them wasn’t like the bond he shared with his chosen family.
Steam rose from the pools, filling the air, and the sound of water flowing down the tiers to eventually feed the waterfall was perfect for quieting thoughts. The light of the fires reflected upon the pools’ surfaces, granting them an alluring glow.
Only as he approached the lowest pool did he notice movement within it. A figure stood beneath the water spilling from a higher level, back turned toward him. A human figure, with bare brown skin.
Urkot’s hearts sped anew, hammering inside his chest.
Callie.
CHAPTER 3
Urkot had seenthe male humans without their coverings. Several moon cycles ago, when he and his tribe had first arrived in Kaldarak, he’d even glimpsed Ivy naked in this very place. She had shed what the humans calledmodestylong before they’d come here.
But of Callie, he’d seen only hints of the body hidden beneath her clothing, teasing him with her curves and softness. He’d never seen her utterly bare.
Until now.
The blue-green firelight reflected on the waterdrops clinging to her supple brown skin and her long, curly, dark brown hair, making her look like she was clad in stars. She shifted, turning slightly toward him, and tipped her head back. More droplets sparkled on the lashes of her closed eyes.
Urkot remained as still as stone. He was afraid to move, afraid to breathe, afraid that so much as blinking would make her disappear. All he could do was stare at the beautiful sight before him.
With a soft sigh, Callie raised her arms and smoothed her palms over her hair, rinsing the fizzy cleanleaf from the strands.His gaze caught on the large, plump mound on her chest and the darker tip at its peak.
What would her breasts feel like? Would they be as soft as they appeared?
His fingers flexed with an urge to find out.
All his life, he’d worked with unyielding stone, yet now he longed for nothing more than to feel the give of Callie’s flesh beneath his fingers, to feel her soft skin against his hard, tough hide, to feel her warmth seep into him.
His gaze dipped to follow the flow of shimmering water down her body, stopping on the curve of her hindquarters. Herass, as the humans called it.
It should’ve simply been another strange human body part to him, a curiosity at best. But he’d been fascinated by Callie’s ass ever since she’d performed her victory dance after defeating him in stonetoss a lifetime ago at the Pit. Long before he’d been able to understand any of her words.
Even if what she’d said had been meaningless to him then, the way she’d moved her body, her hips, had entranced him.
Now her ass was exposed to him, allowing him to see how lush and soft she was all over.
And there was something else revealed to Urkot now—a marking on the right side of her hindquarters, just above the lapping water.
His eyes narrowed.
There were human letters on her skin, between two symbols called hearts.
Callie moved again, swaying her hips as she continued rinsing her hair, but Urkot could not take his eyes off that marking. Vrix females did not have natural markings, and seeing one on Callie’s skin rekindled that desirous stirring in his belly. The sensation warmed, spreading down to his stem, which pulsed behind his slit.
Every part of her begged for his touch. He knew his hands would fit perfectly around her waist and over the curves of her hips, knew her breasts would fill his eager palms.
Urkot clenched his shaking hands against the surge of longing. His cock swelled, pushing on the inside of his slit.
