“I’m done,” she said softly, watching as the steam from the clothing rose. Cruxan’s gaze came to her immediately. As if his eyes had their own will, they dropped down to her breasts, at her peaked hard nipples through the fabric.
His nostrils flared. He made a gruff sound in the back of his throat and her lips parted when she saw his claws curl inwards…as if hewanted,neededto touch her.
Crystal froze but then he blinked, his gaze sliding away, and he made a grab for a water gourd, hacking a small notch open with the dagger before handing the hard bulb to her. Not meeting her eyes. Not looking at her at all.
“Thank you,” she said quietly, their light mood from before gone completely, snuffed out by heady, thick tension. Crystal found she was desperate to break it, so she scrambled for something to say and settled for something she’d been wondering since that morning. “IsOtalaa place?”
His surprised gaze cut to her before it flashed away. It struck her as wrong. Now she understood why Cruxan didn’t like it when she looked away from him.
“You said you were the Ambassador ofOtala. I’m assuming its a place,” she continued.
“Tev,” he murmured. “My home.”
Just like the other Ambassadors, Cruxan didn’t reside permanently in the Golden City and she wondered about his home.
“What’s it like there?”
“Harsh,” he murmured immediately. “Stark. Beautiful.”
“Where is it?”
The corner of his mouth lifted. “A long journey from here. It is one of the farthest outposts from the Golden City. It resides in the black mountains of theOtylia.”
“You live in a mountain?” she asked. Like the Golden City? Or actuallyina mountain, much like the two little goblins from her imagination?
She couldn’t help but be amused at the picture that made. Of Cruxan living in a mountain like a goblin. Somehow shecouldn’timagine it.
“Some parts of the outpost are underneath thefacev,tev. Like the training pits for the warriors and the barracks.”
“SoOtalais the base for the military training?” she questioned, bringing her knees up to her chest, watching him from across the fire.
“Every outpost has a section dedicated for military training,” he informed her, “butOtalais where the best warriors train. The ones with the most potential, who wish to dedicate their lives to protecting Luxiria.”
“Is that where you trained?” she asked softly, her eyes briefly flickering to the piercings through his nipples, knowing what they meant.
“Tev. It is where all of the Ambassadors trained—Lihvan, Rixavox, Vikan, Kirov—where Vaxa’an trained. It is how we all met, pulled from different outposts all across Luxiria but united under our shared goal.”
“And what was that?” she asked, rapt. Even though he didn’t look at her, she found she couldn’t take her eyes off him. His voice was deep and husky and she knew that she could listen to it forever, if only he kept talking.
Her heartbeat was racing in her chest and she wondered if he was putting her under some kind of spell as she watched him. That was how she felt at least.
“To be better,” he said simply, finally lifting his gaze from the flames to look at her. She almost gasped, his blue eyes alight, his skin gleaming gold. “To bemore.”
He looked like a warrior right then, all gleaming muscles and hardened eyes.
Crystal licked her dry lips and then realized the water gourd was still dangling from her grip. She hurriedly took a steady drink before swallowing the sweet liquid down.
He was watching her still, though eyes still on fire. Why was it suddenly so hot? Why did she suddenly feel like she couldn’t get enough air?
“Is—is that where you grew up?” she asked, trying to distract herself from the strange otherness that was consuming her body. “Or somewhere else?
He inclined his head and she saw his eyes rest on her now-moistened lips. “Tev,” he said, his voice gruff, his shoulders rising at the word that seemed to boom from deep in his chest. “I was born inOtala. I was raised there.”
She wondered about his parents. “Does that mean your family is there?”
The question made him jolt, but his eyes never left hers as he said, “Nix. Not for a long time.”
She didn’t know what to say to that. She wanted to ask, but thought it might be too pressing.
