Taylor was watching over the fire, but the moment she saw him, a flash of emotion crossed her features.Relief, he realized, feeling that knowledge settle.
“You are still worried I will leave you,luxiva?” he questioned softly as he stepped towards her, dropping his catch on the ground beside the fire.
The firelight softened her face and made her eyes gleam gold.
“No, not that,” she answered.Her eyes traced the lines of his body and trailed over the droplets of sea water that ran down his torso.Even past the smell of the sea, he scented her interest, her arousal.He had scented it at odd times during the span, which had driven him absolutely mad.
“What then?” he asked, his voice dropping slightly as his Instinct perked up in his chest.
“I was…worried for you,” she admitted, nibbling on her full bottom lip.
“I have lived in the west for many, many rotations,luxiva,” he murmured.“I know these lands well and not much can bring down a Luxirian warrior.”
Taylor blew out a breath, watching him shake out his hair by the fire.The flames sizzled whenever a drop of sea landed into it, briefly turning it blue.
“What doesluxivamean?” was her next question.It took him by surprise, his shoulders bunching.
“Mate,” he rumbled in reply.
She sucked in a breath.“Did you…did you call Nitav that?”
The cave went quiet.Both of them had frozen.Even the fire seemed to be waiting for his reply.
“Nix,” he said softly.“Luxivameans mate, but more specifically, it means ‘fated one.’Nitav…” He trailed off before trying again.“Nitav was not my fated mate.She was a Breeding partner, a chosen one.”
Taylor’s gaze flicked to the fire, her expression unreadable.“Why do you think she wasn’t your fated mate?”
Vikan had often wondered the same thing during their time together.“The Fates had other plans for me,” he answered, holding her gaze, hoping that his unspoken meaning reached her.
“What happens,” she started slowly, “when fated mates part ways?”
Death, he immediately thought, but didn’t voice this to her.He wanted Taylor to choose him willingly, not because she felt obligated to.
But the fact remained the same.Many fated pairings didn’t survive without the other.Although, Vikan did not know if this went both ways if one side of the pairing was not Luxirian.But many males, once their fated mates died during the Plague, decided that they could not and would not live without their other half.They’d not only lost many females during that period, but many males as well.
“They survive if they can,” was what he told her.
When he saw her brow furrow in confusion, he quickly unsheathed one of his blades, settling beside her so he could begin preparations on their meal.
“Now,” he murmured, “let me feed my mate.”
* * *
Taylor wasn’t used to being taken care of.She’d been independent from the time she was young, ever since her dad died and her grandmother had taken her in.
She told Vikan this as she watched him prepare what looked like a monstrous fish from the Jurassic period.He expertly plucked out long, white spines, and scraped away the gray, shimmering scales before filleting it with clean, confident strokes.
The sound he made was almost like an incredulous snort when he replied, “Your previous males did not take care of you?”
“Well they didn’t go hunt things for me to eat, if that’s what you’re asking,” she replied, her tone slightly teasing.
A scowl appeared on his lips and he turned his horned head to regard her.“How many males came before me?”
Taylor made a surprised sound in the back of her throat.“Are you asking me how many boyfriends I’ve had?”
His expression was quizzical at ‘boyfriends’ but he seemed to grasp her meaning.“Tev.”
She swallowed, but decided to tell him.“Five.”
