A sob tore from her throat and she spun around to look at him.He was standing between her and Sarkon’s still, lifeless body.Fresh blood coated Devix’s right arm, but otherwise, he was unharmed.
Cara rushed him and he caught her against his chest, squeezing her tightly in his arms.She didn’t care if he got blood on her.She was just so relieved.
“Are you okay?” she asked, reaching her hands up to his face.“Are you okay?”
“Tev,” he murmured, his eyes scanning her face.His voice was guttural with emotion when he asked, “Did he hurt you?”
“No, no,” she said softly, shaking her head.“I’m fine.You got to me in time.”
“You did well,luxiva,” he rasped, burying his face into the crook of her neck.His arms trembled around her and she realized she’d never seen him so shaken.“So well.”
“I’m sorry,” she murmured up at him, running her hand down his chest, as if trying to assure herself that he was okay.“I’m sorry.I shouldn’t have left like that.I didn’t know—”
“We will talk about it, Cara,” he said.“For now, let us get back to the dwelling.I will need to make sure there are no others.”
* * *
There were no others.Cara had locked herself in Devix’s ‘office,’ the only room in the house that had a separate lock, as he’d gone out to patrol his land.Waiting there had almost been as nerve-wracking as those moments when Sarkon had been at her back, but she knew that Devix was stronger than them.
But she didn’t need to worry.He’d cased the entire area quickly and had found a small transport craft, only big enough for a few aliens the size of Azatians.He’d scented no others and in the morning, he’d go to Rozun’s center to ensure there were no other scouts left behind.
He’d told her this when he returned to her and immediately, Cara went to him, needing to feel him, safe, against her.
His arms were still coated in blood and she murmured, “Come.”She led him into the bathroom, concerned that he was so quiet, and she turned on the shower tube.
She unlaced his pants and undressed him before herself and then led him inside to wash away the blood.
“Are you okay, Dev?” she asked, feeling the water sting the slice on her neck and arm, which she’d wrapped while she waited for Devix.
“I—I could have lost you tonight,” he said, his voice guttural, echoing in the enclosed space as steam rose between them.“I have never known such fear,luxiva.Nothing has ever come close to that fear.”
Cara’s heart softened and she swallowed the lump in her throat.
“I’m here,” she told him, taking his hands, watching the dark blood lighten before swirling away.“I’m here.”
Devix wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his body.Slowly, he lowered them to the floor of the shower tube, his back against the glass, her in his lap.Water continued to spray from above, darkening his hair, which he hadn’t shorn in the past week.The strands were thick and lush and beautiful.
Slowly, Cara leaned forward and kissed him, trying to assure him that she was there, safe.He returned her kiss before dropping his forehead to her own, sharing her breath, holding her in the circle of his arms.
“I was hurt earlier,” Cara whispered, deciding she might as well be honest, considering everything that had happened that night.Devix met her eyes.“That’s why I left.When you told me about the trader who could get me back to Earth, I was surprised at how disappointed I felt.”
“Luxiva,I—”
“No, wait, let me get this out,” she said, touching his lips.He inclined his head and she continued, “I was hurt because all of sudden I started to wonder if you wanted me to leave.And it’s ridiculous thinking back on it now, but that’s what I thought at the time.I realized that you’d made me no promises about a future with you, even though in my mind, I’d started making plans,” she confessed.“It hit me all at once and I kind of freaked out.I thought that I was only…a pleasure mate to you, nothing more.”
Devix’s brow furrowed, his expression growing grim.
“But I’m not, am I?” she whispered, the words that Sarkon said bouncing around in her mind.
He swallowed.“Nix, you are not just a pleasure mate.”
“I’m…I’m your fated mate,” she said softly, her eyes searching his as she spoke the words.“I’m to you what your parents were to each other.”
The confirmation was in his gaze.He inclined his head and his eyes burned brightly as he murmured, “Tev, myluxiva.”
Her lips parted.Thatwas whatluxivameant?But he’d been calling her that since…
“How long have you known?”
