Realization hit him. She was affected by this too. Byhim.
He ignored the way his pulse sped. He ignored the way his cock further thickened with that knowledge. He ignored the dark, wicked need that flowed beneath his skin, hot like his roaring blood.
Jaxor stepped towards her until he could touch her. He hoped she understood it for what it was: a warning.
“What is it that you think you are to me?” he questioned. “Other than my captive?”
She didn’t even blink. She simply said, “I’m your mate.”
“You seem certain,” he murmured, reaching out to thread his hand around the back of her neck. Her breath hitched at the contact. He pulled her closer, scenting her. If he listened closely enough, he swore he could hearherheartbeat, thundering in her chest, in time with the pulse that flickered in her neck.
“Aren’t you?” she asked, her voice quiet.
Jaxor stilled. He caught her eyes and though her voice was steady and strong, it wastherethat he saw the uncertainty. The fatigue. The fear. She put up a strong front, but inside, she was vulnerable. Soft. How easily he could fix this. How easily he could get inside that mind and make her think something different.
His hand flexed around the back of her neck.
“You are,” he confirmed, seeing no reason to deny the truth. It was obvious.
She didn’t blink. “Even still, you were planning to give us to those males, weren’t you? Why?”
Jaxor almost laughed. And he hadn’t laughed since…he couldn’t remember.
Why?
It was strange to hear another voice in his home base. He’d lived there for so long, alone. It was a foreign sensation—the nearness of another—one he craved and one he hated.
“I need sleep,” he repeated, leading her to his main shelter. His base was large and sprawling, but he slept in one of the caves that tunneled into the crater. It wasn’t large, but he’d lined it with furs to help with the cold and he’d blocked off the opening with a door that bolted shut.
He opened that door now, snagging one of the lanterns he kept just outside and lighting it. He ventured in, holding the lantern with one hand and holding the back of Erin’s neck with the other. The cave was tall enough that Jaxor could stand without crouching and wide enough that it doubled as his sleeping space and his emergency storage—water gourds, dried meats, cold season clothing—complete with a handful of weapons.
He set the lantern down within, illuminating the room, and bolted the door behind them, ensuring it was secure. Paranoia from his time living with theMeviraxstill hadn’t left him in the last five rotations. It was probably for the best.
Erin stiffened under his touch when she saw the furs rolled out on the cave floor. He knew what she thought, but he didn’t bother to assuage her fears. Any other male would’ve soothed her, especially if it concerned a fated mate. He felt that impulse even now, deep within, to calm his female’s fears.
He released her, pushing her towards the furs. He felt the loss almost immediately, the loss of contact with her. Pushing it from his mind, he dropped down by the door, leaving the lantern lit. He made sure it had enough fuel to burn through the night. There was nothing he hated more than waking to darkness. Because then he would rememberthatplace.
Erin was still standing, watching him as he unhooked his travel sack from his shoulders and tossed it into an empty corner. The furs he’d lined the floor with tickled his bare flesh as he stretched out on his back. The dim light cast deep shadows on the cave walls. Her shadow did not move once.
“Sleep, female,” he murmured, deep, drugging drowsiness already tugging on his eyelids.
A moment later, he slept.
* * *
Jaxor woketo a serrated blade at his throat.
Enemy near my mate, he thought immediately.
Acting on instinct, he grabbed the wrist attached to the blade handle, his mind still in a deep fog. He heard a startled gasp. When he touched smooth skin and registered delicate bones, he growled, his heart stopping, his grip easing. His jerky motions caused the knife to press into his neck, a thin line of blood no doubt appearing in its wake despite the thickness of Luxirian skin.
His gaze flashed up to Erin, who was kneeling over him. Her bonds were cut. Her eyes were wide, but her lips were set in a stern line.
“Are you out of your mind?” he rasped. “I could have killed you!”
Anger and frightened realization made his hands shake. His heart thundered when he realized he could’ve broken her bones with a simple twist of his fingers. He’d been about to!Vrax!
“I want to go back to the Golden City,” she informed him, her voice slightly breathless. From fear? “You will take me back.”
