No unmated Luxirian warrior would ever willingly shear their hair. Only those exiled, disgraced, or insane would.
Considering Jaxor was an odd combination of all three, perhaps he should have cut his hair long ago. He hated it anyways. It tangled in his horns and fell into his eyes at inopportune moments.
“I can?” she asked, pushing up from her spot on the floor, shuffling towards him on her knees. She looked thrilled, shocked, excited at the prospect. Jaxor wondered if short hair among human males was seen as more desirable.
Jaxor couldn’t deny her now.
He inclined his head and said, “There is still a small knife in the other chest. I shoved it inside the lump of fuel.”
Now,hewas testingher. She would have a knife very near his throat. She was drunk. She could get very brave, very reckless ideas in her head…and not the kind he would welcome.
Erin was already crouching in front of the chest. She dug through its contents, shuffling aside rations and water gourds, until she found the lump ofkibbisathat held the knife. The soft fuel crumbled in her hands and she returned to him with the blade.
“Are you certain?” she asked, kneeling by his side, the side where she’d stitched him up. She reached forward, swaying a little as she repositioned herself, and picked up a handful of his hair.
Little pricks of pleasure tingled his spine. Her hands in his hair felt sublime and Jaxor jerked his head once, in a nod. “Do it.”
Erin hesitated for just a moment. She whispered, “This is ridiculous, you know. I can’t believe you’re letting me do this.”
“It is just hair,rixella. It does not matter,” he said. At least, it didn’t seem to matter tohimanymore. Not when her fingers were sliding through his hair and she was so close that he could scent her.
“It’s just…” she trailed off. “Your hair is so pretty and I’m a little drunk off that horrid stuff. What if I mess up?”
“Are you scared,rixella?” he asked, turning his head carefully to look at her. She was eye-level with him, kneeling at his side, with him sitting down. She was so close that he saw flecks of gold in her dark eyes and saw the way her eyelashes fluttered at his words.
“No,” she said, frowning, that delicious anger rising in her eyes. “Now I’m gonna give you a hack job because you said that.”
He gave her a dark grin. “Do it then.”
The challenge in his tone was unmistakable. Jaxor didn’t remember the last time he’d had this much…fun. He wanted to laugh again at her ruffled expression.
“Do something bad to me,” he rasped, his voice lowering. “I know you want to.”
Chapter Fourteen
Erin’s spine steeled in determination even as her heartbeat thudded wildly in her chest. Her head swam pleasantly from the alcohol, though her vision was beginning to blur and swirl.
Tomorrow, she would think that this was a terrible decision. To challenge Jaxor to a drunken haircut just because shecould. But right now, this seemed like the best decision.
He was so close to her that they shared the same breath. She could feel his heat. She could see the way his flesh wavered in the light, going from shadowy blue to a darkened silver. The rain still roared outside, a chill weaving around her, but she felt decidedlyverywarm at that moment. The alcohol and Jaxor banished all the cold.
Gently, she brought the strand she was holding up higher, so he could see out of the corner of his eye.
He stiffened when she flashed the blade, but then relaxed. Did he worry she would try to cut him again?
But she only used the sharp knife to shear off the strands. The blade was sharp and the cut was clean. She let his beautiful, dark hair fall to the floor of the cave and Jaxor watched it fall, his eyes unreadable. Erin watched it too before she met his gaze, looked at the little tuft at his temple that was now only a couple inches long.
“Maybe I should leave you like this,” she teased, brushing her fingers over the shorn hair. “It’s payback for you kidnapping me. Every time I look at you, I can laugh. You would hate that, wouldn’t you?”
She laughed at the amusing picture he made, her blood rushing from the alcohol, her head fuzzy and pleasant. She wanted him to laugh again. She wanted to make him laugh. He had such a nice laugh.
But he didn’t. He simply watched her with narrowed eyes. He was a proud male. He wouldn’t stand to be laughed at for long, but Erin was pressing her luck.
“You are as mad as I am,” was what he said, but he didn’t say itunkindly. It seemed almost…affectionate.
Erin sobered in a rush, licking her lips. Her eyes flitted over the cut hair. She’d given Jake many haircuts since he was young. She wasgoodat cutting hair.
The space between them was beginning to feel different. Warmer. Closer. Her fingers smoothed the little tuft down and his breath hitched at the contact.
