“What happens now?” she asked once they were settled.Carefully, she placed her head on his unmarred shoulder, tracing the line of his jaw, the curve of his horns with her eyes.
“The Lunar Celebration happen this next night,” he said.
“But you are injured,” she protested.“You can’t possibly think of going.”
“I will heal by morning,” he said.“It takes much to kill a Luxirian, as our enemies well know.”
The thought sobered her and the only thing she could manage was a nod.“You fought well today,” she whispered.“If I wasn’t so scared for your life, I would have thought that the way you fight is almost…mesmerizing.”
“Fighting is not beautiful by any means,” he murmured.“It is costly.”
“I am sorry for your warriors,” she murmured.“I know that it must’ve been hard for you…to take their lives.”
He blew out a breath that ended in a slight grunt.“They chose willingly.”
They lapsed into silence.Kate left him to his thoughts, intentionally not tapping into their blood bond.Some things needed to be felt privately and Vaxa needed to mourn what had happened that day.
Kate decided against not telling him about the male from the marketplace.She always found herself in the position of purposefully not telling her mate something in fear of his reaction.And if she told him that the same male that had attempted to assassinate him today had been the same one to harm her in the marketplace…he would jump out of bed, injuries be damned, and go wring the male’s neck himself.
Instead, she told herself it could wait until the morning, when Vaxa—and Privanax—was sure he would be well recovered.
The full moon’s light spread across the floor of their room and Kate drifted off into a relieved sleep with her mate’s palms carefully cradling her belly between them.
The baby kicked just as she closed her eyes and she felt Vaxa stroke her stomach in response to his growing child.
THIRTEEN
The Lunar Celebration was unlike anything that Kate had ever expected.
Once the suns sank into the horizon the next day, she heard those damn drums begin again and for a brief moment, a thrill of fear went through her, thinking that Vaxa had somehow tricked her and that he would be fighting once more.
Once he calmed her fears, she realized that the beat was different than the deep, ominous pounding from the day before.It was livelier.It was animated, full of bright energy.
True to his word, Vaxa was back on his feet by the morning.While the dagger wound hadn’t healed completely, the skin around it was closed and he denied that it caused him any serious pain when she’d questioned him.He had recovered from many injuries before, he’d assure her, and he knew the limits of his own body.
She let it slide, squashing the urge to fuss over him, which Kate highly suspected he enjoyed to some extent.Frustrating male.
Keriva had finished her midnight blue dress at the end of the previous week and had dropped it off a couple days before the Trials.The last time she’d looked at it, Kate hadn’t known if she’d get a chance to wear it.Vaxa’s fate—and hers—had still seemed so unknown at that moment.So that evening, after they had both bathed and Kate had successfully fended off her handsy mate, still not convinced he was fully healed, she laid the dress out on their bed and touched the soft material, incredibly thankful that shewouldget the chance to wear it.
Vaxa helped her put it on, since she still had trouble with the clasps, and her rounded belly prevented her from being too flexible.It flowed over her, although the waist was a little tight.Keriva had made accommodations for the baby’s growth, but it seemed they had underestimated just a tad.
“You make me a proud male,” Vaxa announced once she turned to face him for his inspection.
Her mate was bare-chested and he’d cleaned the golden bands that wrapped around his biceps, polishing off the blood and grime from the Trials.She approached him, her eyes scanning down his body, briefly distracted by the piercings through his nipples.She reached out to touch one, pressing her hand against his warm, hard pectoral.
His chest rumbled and she almost smiled.Her mate was most predictable in situations like this and she withdrew her hand.
“You are aroused, mate,” he murmured, leaning down to nuzzle behind her ear, inhaling her scent.“I can lick your—”
“We’ll be late,” she said quickly, knowing that if he started down that path, they would never leave their bedroom.She wasn’t completely opposed to the idea but she knew that her mate’s presence, especially after the Trials, would be a comfort to his people.He needed to be there.Theyneeded to be there.
The Lunar Celebration was held on one of the largest terraces in the city in order to accommodate the most people.It was the level just below the archives where a few homes and shops were situated.And the moment their hovercraft zoomed over the terrace, Kate gasped.
It was lovely.The terrace had been decorated with long tables, a banquet already set out on each one.The smells of cooked meat and herbed spices floated up to her, making her mouth water.Similar to the blue floating lights in the arena yesterday, the terrace was illuminated by golden balls that gave a soft, almost ethereal glow.
Many Luxirians were already present.Dressed in bright colors like turquoise and ruby red and emerald green, men and women milled around below, socializing, laughing, drinking.Like her mate, the men were bare-chested, showing off bronzed muscles and light scars, much to the delight of the small population of females in attendance.
Cheers rang up into the night sky when they saw Vaxa and her mate landed the hovercraft with some of the others on the terrace just below.He helped her walk up the steep flight of stairs to join the celebration.
