Xexis wasn’t just anything. Being his mate, no matter the unknown, following him into the stars, would never be anything just…it would be a great adventure.
And maybe that’s what I want more than anything.
She kissed his forehead. Pressing her lips to the center of his brow, an inch above his eyes. His body softened under her lips, his hands wrapping fully around her, and his torso leaned into her. A soft purring sound rose from within him as she kissed down his brow and the bridge between his eyes. She stopped at the top of his mouth, pulling back.Right, no lips.He gazed at her, two hands racing to cup her face. His thumbs brushed along her lips and mouth before tracing her jaw.
“Would you choose to hunt with me?” he breathed.
“Yes,” she confessed. Then, with a pained laugh, she added, “But, uh, this time, can it not be in a broken ship?”
“Of course,” he chuckled, pressing his forehead back against hers. “Where would my mate like to be hunted?”
Aphrodite took a moment to think. He gave her all the time she wanted. With another deep breath, she pulled back. “Somewhere with trees? And foliage?”
Her hunter warmed, a dark, possessive look coming over his face. “I’ll make it so.”
And Aphrodite was scooped off the ground and into his arms once more.
Chapter Eleven:
Xexis
Afreshhunt,aproper one, one she deserved. Xexis returned to his Council chambers, while Aphrodite slept, to look at the stellar maps. Grooug, always awake even when he should sleep, slithered inside, and plopped down beside him. “So, a new hunt?”
“A proper one.” Xexis nodded, pulling up the map. Their ship was projected home; they’d arrive within a few rotations if they kept at their current speed. He wanted to be close if anything happened. They could slow, but there was an eagerness to bring her home. Present her to his father, show her the court, bring her into his arms where they might never part. Quagmor did tell him mating fever happened quick. Excessive need to be near, know they’re breathing, feel their heart, it surged through his veins like poison. If he’d known the glory and the pain of such emotions, he’d have hunted for his mate more seriously.
And to think it had been an accident. He’d stumbled upon her in a forest, reading to her floating drone. The memory replayed before his eyes like a hologram message.
Pulling off his helmet, he could hear her voice clearer now. Not the beast he’d been after, but the very thing he needed most. A sweet face, yellow hair, wide smile as she proclaimed into the foliage. The drone bobbed and weaved over her head, cheering on her boisterous reading. “To war! He cried, we raise our arms to war! And never shall weflinch! Never shall we fear! To war…and shall only victory or death may we return to this cursed place.”
Xexis knew in that moment as he leaned against a tree, watching her from the shadows… this is my mate. There was no other possibility. He imagined her reading to him and his heart thundered like feet against the metal of his ship. Whoever she is, he must find out, she is the other part of our soul, the beating in our chest.
Xexis only learned her name that day because one of the other people from her crew yelled, “Aphrodite! Where’d you go?”
She said a rather spicy, naughty word, scowling with distaste. That’s where he went wrong…he took her anger in that moment as permission…she clearly hated them; it made sense she’d sacrifice her useless crew mates to the hunt.They were unworthy.
Grooug tapped his hand over the map once and the pair stopped the map’s scroll. Grooug pointed at Fravsin 12. “You said trees, correct?”
“She did ask for a forest,” Xexis breathed, wicked delight filling his face. “Perfect. Spot on concentration, as always Grooug.”
His stoic hunter nodded once in acknowledgement before sitting back in his seat. He pulled a snack bar out of his pockets and ripped off a piece before offering a bite to Xexis. “Kiefgr’s going to want a souvenir.”
Xexis groaned, nodding in agreement. His trainee, his young hunter would, indeed, want a trinket from the planet to take home. “Ensure he gets…something.”
“I shall as you willbe busy.” Grooug wiggled his facial muscles suggestively before slithering out of the room.
Chapter Twelve:
Aphroditestoodinaforest unlike anything she’d seen in textbooks. They were skinny and tall with bulbous heads of foliage. Branches and leaves of muted pinks and purples. The bark was a deep rose with plum veins. The clovers beneath her feet bloomed with her touch. Thick bunches of swirling colors, soft as silk, and bouncy. Bushes of rainbow-colored leaves, flowers that opened and retreated into the bush at any movement. There was sunlight but it wasn’t direct. It cast shadows through the trees at a forty-five-degree angle. Fresh water flowed in creeks through the forest. The ship parked over a massive lake of water. While others on the ship took the opportunity to rest or swim or climb the mountainous terrain on the other side of the forest, all of Xexis’ men were given one directive- The mating hunt was not to be disturbed. They were armored and prepared to keep sentient beings from wandering into the forest while Xexis chased his mate.
The rules were simple—there were no rules. Xexis would not harm her. His intention was to best her and claim her in the forest. Her purpose was to either win or decide when that happened. Excitement turned her stomach into a churning sea of bubbling soda. It burned and made her giddy at the same time. Her stitches had healed fully, and she was able to breathe fine. She was warned that she should still be careful of puncturing or harming the breathers for the first year they were in, but her flesh and ribs had fused with the devices.
Which is why she was in a pair of leggings and a cropped shirt. She had her data pad strapped to her arm with Velcro—not sure how they found that—and her drone was back. He even seemed happy, bouncing above her head, and swaying his metal tentacles as she cracked back into her programs. She was given flares, a small knife, and all her tech they’d found on her suit. Xexis explained he wanted to have as fair a chance as she had before.Granted, he said the knife was for small creatures or invasive species and not for his throat.
Aphrodite looked at the pocketknife and smiled to herself.A week or more ago, she wouldn’t have hesitated to bury it in his throat.Now? Aphrodite couldn’t imagine trying to actually hurt him. Out run him? Definitely. Wrestle for freedom, kick and scream and give him her best fight? Absolutely. But she knew how this ended—and for what it was worth, she was excited for it to end.
Xexis waited as she entered the trees. She turned to face him.It is tradition to face your hunter, or so he said.She squared her shoulders.Nerves of steel.He removed his helmet, offering his face to her one last time. Then, as he secured it back in place, the hunt was on. Aphrodite broke away from the entrance of the forest. Sending her drone up into the air, she made him scan the trees as she made a break for it. Her heart thundered like a drum solo in her chest. Arms pumping at her sides, her boots slapped against the bouncy earth. The breathers kicked in and she could inhale deeply.
Her data pad lit up with a map of the next few miles of forest around her. The drone dropped through the trees, floating over her shoulder. She set it to analysis and sent it back to find Xexis. Other than her own heavy breathing and the crunch of her boots against sticks, there was no sound. The hollow reverberation was terrifying and exhilarating.I can’t hear him…meaning he is taking this seriously.Grinning from ear to ear, she checked her data pad. Her drone spotted him seconds before he disappeared into the upper canopy.
