Crystal ran her hand over the water, observing the shadows and the highlights, wondering how she could capture it on her tablet.
“Are you okay?” Erin asked quietly. “You seem quiet this morning.”
Crystal simply said, “I had another dream.”
Erin sobered. “I’m sorry,” the brunette said quietly. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“No,” Crystal said, looking up at her. “I just want to—”
She froze.
Erin was silhouetted by the light coming in from the window just behind her. But a shadow had suddenly appeared, a shadow that cast a darkness over the surface of the water.
It was a Luxirian male…emerging from some kind of hidden door in the mountainside that slid open and closed seamlessly behind him.
Except, he was unlike any Luxirian male she’d ever seen.
His dark hair was wild and loose, trailing to the middle of his back. He had strange markings on his arms, blue markings that ran from his wrists to his shoulders. He was bare-chested, his nipples pierced just like many of the Luxirian males she’d seen. But he wore a fur covering over his genitals, like a loincloth, and he hurriedly raced around the edge of the domed house, silent and quick.
Alarm went through her, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end.
“There was a male,” Crystal said, her brows furrowing. “He came out of the mountain.”
Erin immediately turned around, staring out the window, before hunching down in the water to cover her bared breasts. “What? Did he see us?”
“No,” Crystal said, but the unease she suddenly felt didn’t leave her body. Something about him, the way he moved, the determination in the lines of his body screamed that something was off. “We need to go tell Horex and Vixron.”
Their guards. The ones assigned to protect them and keep them out of sight.
Hurriedly, they waded to the edge of the bathing pool but just as they ascended the steps, they heard commotion in the front of the house. Harsh Luxirian words, curses even, and the sound of large bodies thudding onto the stone floor.
It all happened too fast, too quickly, that neither women had any time to think before a dark male figure appeared on the threshold of the arched door of the bathroom.
Crystal gasped, stumbling back into the water, crouching low to shield her nudity. Panic infused her veins, panic she hadn’t felt for a little while though it was not a new sensation to her by any means.
Erin stood her ground, however, her spine straightening, her arms loose at her sides, eyeing the strange male, who, to Crystal, seemeduntamed. Unlike any Luxirian she’d encountered thus far, males who seemed in control and disciplined at all times.
It was that wildness, that unpredictability, that alarmed her the most.
The male had striking blue eyes that cut to Crystal first, given her sudden stumbling movement back into the bathing pool. But quickly, his eyes darted to Erin…and it was in that moment thathefroze.
A loud growl emanated from his throat, making Crystal’s heart lurch in her chest. She heard Erin swallow thickly, saw the way her hands trembled at her sides, though the rest of her nude body was still.
The male never took his eyes from the brunette. He took a step towards her, as if he was tugged into the humid, sticky room by a force unseen.
But what struck her the most was that the male seemed togrow. Physically grow in size the longer he stared at Erin. His exposed muscles bunched before expanding slightly, his spine grew straighter, and the massive breadth of his shoulders widened.
“What do you want?” Erin asked, her voice calm despite her trembling hands. The male hissed at the sound of her voice, taking another step towards her. “We want no trouble.”
The Luxirian male shook his head, as if trying to clear a fog. He grit his teeth before tearing his eyes away from the naked woman in front of him, but the move seemed to pain him. Crystal froze when his eyes returned to her, crouched in the water, before he looked down at Erin’s feet, as if he refused to meet her gaze.
“Cover yourself, female,” he growled out unexpectedly, his English rough, like he was speaking it for the first time. He’d gotten a language implant, Crystal realized.Recently. “Both of you,” he amended, casting a glance to Crystal. “We leave now.”
“No,” Erin said. “We aren’t going anywhere. Our guards will—”
“When they reawaken, you will be long away from this place, female,” the male said, his voice so harsh that he sounded angry. The lines of his body screamed his discomfort. “Nowcover yourself,” he barked, making both of them jump.
Crystal caught Erin’s eyes, who gave her a small nod. This male seemed unhinged, just slightly. They didn’t want to anger him. If he could take down two trained Luxirian males…there was no telling how strong he was.
