Yours.
Cara swallowed, feeling heat creep up her neck.Why did that word feel so good?
Devix stopped, his footsteps soft under what looked like dark blue moss, highlighted from the swirling silver strands in the sky.He set her down gently, but kept her tucked into his side, his pack looped around his other arm.
“There,” he said, gesturing in front of them towards a dense grouping of trees.Except these trees were white and they looked…fluffy.A canopy of branches extended down and from them hung small pods the size of footballs.
But inside the thicket of the wild, tangling branches, Cara spied a small, domed structure.And as they approached, she knew that that was where Devix had chosen to make his home.
The dome was a light grey in color and looked to be made out of smoothed rock.It blended in with the trees so well that she knew Devix chose the color on purpose.Not for the first time, it made her wonder why he’d chosen to live his life in isolation.Or perhaps it hadn’t been a choice…
From the front, the dome had four windows of clear glass, similar to the ones on the spaceship, which would allow ample light to flood in.The door was a dark grey metal.
As they approached, it became larger and larger.And the trees became taller and taller until Cara had to crane her neck up to see the branches clearly.
The home was massive, even hidden underneath those giant trees.Devix glanced at her before tapping on the metal band around his forearm.Cara heard an echoing, thunderous click from the door and Devix unlatched it and pushed it open.
The groaning metal of the door protested and echoed around the small clearing and through the trees.If Cara listened hard enough, she swore she could hear them creaking.
“What’s that sound?” she wondered softly.
“Thepillervatrees.They breathe, just like us,” he replied, before leading her inside.
She smiled, thinking that the sound was soothing.
“Let me light a fire,” he murmured to her, brushing her arm when they both stepped inside.It was slightly chilly, but the weather on Rozun was so far very agreeable.Nothing like the extreme heat at the Pit she’d experienced.And she would take being cold over being hot any day, especially if it meant Devix would warm her up anyways.
Cara licked her lips and blew out a breath.
Down girl, she told herself.She should probably let him get situatedbeforeshe jumped his bones.
Golden light filled the house as Devix made quick work of the fire.Cara looked around after she managed to tear her gaze away from how the fire made golden colors dance over his skin.
The front half of the ‘dome’ was what she assumed was the living room.The floors were clean and a dozen vibrant rugs and furs were laid around the center, radiating out from a fire pit, like a patchwork quilt of deep indigos and emerald greens and eggplant purples.She’d recognized similar rugs from the market, earlier that afternoon.The living room was cozy and warm and she just wanted to sit in front of the fire with Devix all night.
Next to the living room was a slab of a dark rock the color of obsidian.Along the wall were metal hooks of drying plants and, perhaps, seeds or fruits.In the center of the obsidian slab was an even blacker, rectangular pit, and immediately Cara knew that it was used for cooking.The domed area above the ‘kitchen’—and in the living room on closer inspection—had hidden grooves in the stone to allow for ventilation.
The other half of the domed house wasn’t visible.Beyond the living room and kitchen, there was a wall, where she assumed the living quarters were, or perhaps his own version of a training room.
When Cara wandered over to the wall that bisected the house, Devix followed silently, letting her explore at her leisure.She found the hallway that allowed entrance into the back part of the house.The hallway was dark but Devix touched the side of the wall and it illuminated, lit by golden orbs that hung down from the high ceiling.Cara followed their path, her feet brushing against the plush furs and rugs that continued beyond the living room.
There were three doors at the end of the hallway.One revealed not a training room but a room that looked similar to the bridge on the spaceship, complete with a control panel and a large, silver screen that reflected strange writing she instinctively knew was Luxirian.Weapons lined the walls and parchments with ink were stacked neatly on a cleared table.
He has an office, she thought, turning from her inspection and shooting him a small, teasing smile.Although she wasn’t at all surprised.
The next door was a bathroom, similar to the one on the ship.It was much smaller than the office, but had its own shower tube and a silver chamber pot.Still no mirror, however, and she wondered if she could ask Devix to procure one.A girl needed her mirror.
The last room was the bedroom.And the only similarity to the bedroom he had on the spaceship was a curved, floor-to-ceiling window which opened to the dark, beautiful quiet of the strange forest surrounding his house.And just like in the living room and hallway, colorful carpets lined the floors, softening the stone beneath them.And the bed…it was raised on a metal pedestal, but the mattress and coverings themselves looked like heaven.Furs spilled off of it, brushing the floor, and Cara wanted to dive head first into them and sleep with Devix wrapped around her.
A part of her could hardly believe that she was there.That she didn’t have to worry anymore about being another prisoner, for another alien, on another planet.She was on Rozun, free, with an honorable male who’d given her another option, with a male that she was caring for more and more with each passing hour, something that should frighten her, but didn’t.She felt safe, protected, and cared for with him.That was what was most important.
Cara went to the bed and managed to hop up, spreading her palms over the furs, the softest she’d ever felt.They were all colors…white, brown, black, tan, grey.
Devix approached her, pushing off the threshold of the room, where he’d been hovering.Cara widened her legs, sitting just on the edge of the bed, and Devix came between them, pressing their bodies together, as if heneededto feel her against him.And she liked that.A lot.
Cara was almost eye-to-eye with him in that position and she looped her arms around his neck.
“Can you live here in comfort, female?” he questioned, his tone something she’d never heard before.It took her a moment to realize he was nervous.
