For a moment, Kate was sorry that she’d said anything at all—what had even possessed her to say such a thing?—but then Keriva said, “It was a long time ago.If you feel uncomfortable in my presence then you only need to tell me.”
“No!” Kate exclaimed.“That’s not what I meant at all.I don’t care about it.I—I just know that you two have a history and I didn’t know if me talking about these things was weird for you or not.I love my mate very much and I know that I mention him quite often.I didn’t know if you…”
Understanding dawned on her friend’s features as she trailed off.After a moment, Keriva resumed her work and Kate relaxed, just a little bit.
“I would not call it a ‘history,’ Kat.Vaxa’an never returned my feelings,” Keriva told her.“And I have not felt that way for him in some time.I was young.Vaxa’an was handsome and an exceptional warrior and the future leader to our people.There were many females who wanted him in the same way I did and he was certainly not lacking in his admirers.”
Kate smiled, imagining that Vaxa had had quite the fan club.Her matewasa magnificent specimen.Then her smile faded when a stray thought crossed her mind.“Did you know his brother very well?”
“Jaxor’an?”Kate filed that name away, for her mate had never spoken his brother’s name, at least to her.“Yes, I did know him,” Keriva continued.“I came here with my mother quite often when she made dresses for thelavrix’an.The latelavrix’an, I mean,” she corrected, nodding at Kate.
Vaxa’an had told her that his brother abandoned the Golden City after their parents died.He abandonedVaxa’anto seek out a rogue tribe of Luxirians that broke away from the whole.And her mate had not heard from or seen his brother since.Ever since he’d told her about his brother, she’d found herself wondering about him, wondering why there had been bad blood between them, wondering what had happened to him.
“What was he like?” Kate asked.
“Jaxor’an was…very different from Vaxa’an.He was rebellious, a little wild.They never seemed like blood brothers to me.They did not mesh well.Where Vaxa’an is serious, Jaxor’an liked to push boundaries and question authority.They were both stubborn, though.That trait seemed to run in their family like an infection.”
Kate laughed, her curiosity about the younger brother only slightly satisfied.Vaxa’an never seemed to want to talk about him, so she never pushed him too hard about it.She even felt a little guilty trying to get information out of Keriva…but who could blame her?She’d always been too nosy for her own good.
Still, Kate decided to hold off on her mini-inquisition for a while.As Keriva worked, they talked of other, more pleasant things—Keriva told her all about the cranky older woman she’d been crafting dresses for and her seemingly crazy antics—and it felt nice to simply chat with a friend.It took her mind off more serious issues, at least for a little bit.
Keriva packed up and left just as the suns began their descent in the sky.It had been over three hours since she’d first arrived and Vaxa had settled for calls over the silver pad instead of physically checking in on her since he knew Keriva was there.But he’d be home from the training pits soon and she was hoping that tonight, she would finally be able to persuade him to resume their intimacy.There was no way in hell she wanted to remain celibate until their child was born, not when just the thought of him turned her brain to mush.
As she waved goodbye to Keriva from the terrace as the woman guided her own hovercraft up into the darkening sky, she marveled at the strange position she was in…of having to actively seduce her mate into having sex with her.Not when just a couple weeks ago, she’d had to actively fend him off of her so that she could go about her day in peace.
Kate smiled, turning back to the house.She supposed she would just have to make it so that he wouldn’t be able to resist her advances.
But what to do?
The answer didn’t come to her until she was washing up in the bathroom.On one of the shelves, where Kate kept the soaps and shampoo-like liquids that Vaxa had given her, was the little vial of oil that he’d purchased from the vendor in the marketplace that one afternoon.
Curious, she uncapped it and dabbed her finger over the rounded top before swiping some on the underside of her unbruised wrist.It was like silicone lubricant, clear and deliciously slippery.But a moment later, she gasped when her fingertip and wrist began to tingle and warm.It felt like fingers of heat were stretching outwards from the oil and the place between her legs gave a responding throb at the exquisite sensation.
Kate’s lips curled.
This would do nicely.
Now, if only her mate would return from his training session so she could thoroughly seduce his brains out.
NINE
Vaxa’an knew he was in trouble the moment he saw his mate.
Actually, he’d known he was in trouble before he’d stepped foot inside his own dwelling because he’d scented his female all the way from the terrace.
Vaxa’an groaned, his cock already thickened and swelling fast within the confines of his leg coverings.His blood heated, his pulsed raced, and it took everything in him not to immediately locate hisluxiva, push her down onto all fours, and fuck her like he’d been aching to, like he’d been dreaming to.
She wasn’t in the central hub, but he found her in their quarters.
And all the breath left him when he saw her.Specifically when he saw what she was doing.
His whole body stiffened and he swore that every ounce of blood he possessed went streaming down to his cock.It could be used as a deadly weapon, given how hard it was.
His mate was nude, lying in the middle of their sleeping platform.Her pink nipples were tightly pinched into peaks, her full breasts on display.Her dark hair was spread over their furs, catching the light of the moon just outside their window.
And her delicate fingers were working furiously between her thighs.Her scent was so thick in the room that he could almost taste her on his tongue.
His rumbling purr started in his chest and that was what alerted her to his presence, since her head lolled to the side to regard him.
