“Thank you,” she breathed.
“However, you must keep his actions to yourself and tell no one.I have managed to keep the matter quiet in the Golden City, so I do not need other males thinking they can do something so rash without consequence,tev?”
She made a zippering gesture over her mouth, which no doubt went over his head.“I promise.”
Vaxa’an huffed out a sharp breath and jerked his head in a nod.“Then go.Find your mate and tell him the good news.Tell him I will speak to him before I depart this next span.”
Unable to help herself, overcome with relief and happiness, she stepped forward and embraced him.Vaxa’an was clearly taken aback, but patted her shoulder in a polite gesture that made her smile.
When she pulled away, she said again, “Thank you, thank you.”
He jerked his head to the entrance of the large room.“Go.I am sure he is not far.”
Vaxa’an didn’t even finish his sentence before Taylor turned her back and ran to the door, eager to see her mate.
Behind her, she swore she heard the Prime Leader laugh.
TWENTY-TWO
VIKAN RUBBED HIS wrists, still feeling the heaviness of the chains and trying to shake them from his mind.Instead, he took a deep breath, tilting his head back to look at the sky overLopixa, wondering if he’d ever see it again if Vaxa’an stripped him of his rank.
But even the thought of imprisonment or the thought of never seeing his home again couldn’t compare to the deep, aching fear that his female would choose to leave him.
Much was unresolved between them, much still needed to be said.Vikan could hardly believe that just the night before, he had been inside hisluxiva, had loved her with his body, had taken every gasping sigh and every moan of his name into his soul, and felt incredible hope for their future together.
And now?It was all falling down around his head.To go from the highest high to the lowest low in less than a full span?It took everything in Vikan not to roar his anguish to the Fates.
He had lived in misery for too long.Vrax!All he wanted was to make hisluxivahappy.But what if she was happier without him?What if she was happier not being tied to another male who had mourned his ex-mate for the past ten rotations and who was sometimes moody and gruff and who had important duties that, at times, would take him away from her?
The thought was sobering.In all of his arrogance, he had never once considered that she might be happier without him.
“There you are,” her soft voice sounded as she rounded the corner into the darkened alleyway he’d tucked himself into.
His breath hitched.
“I was looking for you everywhere.Why are you back here?” Taylor asked, furrowing her brow when she stopped in front of him.
Vikan swallowed, immediately standing from his crouched position, his eyes only on her.He was unable to shake the thought that had entered his mind and suddenly, he had to know.
“Do you think you would be happier back on Earth?”
“What?” she asked, lips parting.
“Do you think that you would be happier…without me?” he forced out, more vulnerable in that moment than he’d been in his entire life span.“I realize I have only brought you problems since…”
“Vikan,” Taylor breathed, reaching out a hand to squeeze his forearm, letting her touch linger.
Instead of filling him with hope, he couldn’t help but wonder if it would be one of the last times she touched him.
She sighed softly, looking around the little alleyway they were tucked in.Then she met his eyes.“Will you take me to our spot?On the shore?I want to see it.”
Vikan’s shoulders sagged but he eventually jerked his head in a nod.Even if Vaxa’an didn’t want them to leave, he would damn well show her the shore, consequences be damned.Nothing would matter anyways if she chose to leave Luxiria.
He took them along the back alley of thenuvera, the tallest building inLopixa, until they reached the terrace where a few hovercrafts were landed.He commandeered one, knowing it wouldn’t be missed for the rest of the span, and helped his female climb inside.And then he lifted them off the ground and the hovercraft shot into the sky, out of Vaxa’an’s reach, gliding in the air over the expanse ofLopixa’scliff.
It didn’t take them long to reach the edge and then he steered them downwards, towards the gentle shore of the nearest beach.
Soft sand billowed out beneath them as he landed the hovercraft.Taylor placed her hand on his arm as she jumped down and he steered her to the place where he had brought her in her dream.
