There wasn’t exactly a lot of privacy in Jaxor’s base, but Erin was, frankly, beyond caring. He’d seen her naked before—when he’dfirstseen her. He’d made it clear he didn’t intend to take her as hisluxiva—not that shewantedthat, anyways—and he’d also made it clear that they wouldn’t be hooking up again after last night.
So what was the harm?
None at all, that small, wicked little voice whispered in her mind as she stripped off her tunic.
Chapter Sixteen
Wickedrixella, Jaxor thought, his jaw gritting so hard he was surprised his teeth didn’t get pulverized in the process.
Therixellain question was undressing next to the pool of the waterfall. Unlike yesterday, it seemed she had every intention of going in, not simply crouching at the edge, rubbing her flesh with water in an attempt to clean herself fully clothed.
Jaxor wiped his forearm over his brow, stepping back from the furnace to cool off, his eyes glued to the bared curves of the female’s body.
My female, his Instinct corrected, purring.
Vrax, she was pleasing to look at. His fists clenched at his sides and Jaxor had to physically stop himself from taking an unconscious step towards her, towards the falls. His hand came to his workbench and he squeezed the Luxirian metal until his claws gouged into it.
Her flesh was tan like the delicious nectar frompuxiafruits. Her hair was dark, but shimmering gold from the suns when their light managed to break through the clouds. A tapered waist, full hips, thighs he could grip as he—
Not yours, he reminded himself, squeezing his eyes shut.She is not yours.
And yet, she’d certainly felt like his last night. Just remembering her moans, her blunt little claws buried deep enough in his shoulders to leave marks, the frenzied, needful way she’d ground down on his cock’s length…
Her soft, warm lips on his own, the way his head spun when she suckled on his tongue.
Many lunar cycles ago, he’d traveled to the pools of theLallarix. It was a scared place, touched by the Fates, and a secret place that only his family knew of. Often, his mother and sire would travel there. Sometimes, Jaxor and Vaxa’an would accompany them.
Not long ago, Jaxor had gone there toremember. The pools had been untouched, as if a span hadn’t passed since his mother had been there. But instead of finding her spirit there, he’d discovered a human female. The first he’d ever seen. And she’d been accompanied by none other than his brother.
Jaxor had watched them from shadows, his heart thrumming in his chest when he realized he was gazing on hisbrotherfor the first time in almost ten rotations. And he had found hisluxiva, his fated mate, in a human female he calledKat.
He’d seen them press their lips together as they soaked in theLallarix,though it had baffled him at the time. It was not a way that Luxirians showed affection to one another. It had seemed strange and foreign to him. Alien.
Until last night.
When Erin had leaned forward and kissed him, brushing her bottom lip over his top, drawing him in so deep he felt his heartbeat throb in his tongue, he’d finally understood the appeal. The heat. The closeness. The intimacy. The wicked way it had felt like mating. Soft at first, before demand and need overpowered it.
Jaxor swore he could still feel her there. He could still taste her on his tongue, scent her arousal in his nostrils, feel her fingers pulling at his newly shorn hair.
When he opened his eyes, Erin was, mercifully, in the pool. Covered. Only the tops of her shoulders and the delicate bones at the base of her neck were on display. When she turned, he saw the mark he’d given her last night, the blooming bruise where he’d bitten her neck in the heat of the moment.
She was watching him, but her expression made him pause.
She is teasing me on purpose, he realized, his brows lowering, his lips pulling down into a frown.
But there was no mistaking the challenge in her eyes. His female was intentionally tormenting him. Why? To make a liar out of him? Because he might have hurt her pride that morning when he attempted to brush off what had happened between them last night?
Jaxor growled and he turned from her, his cock pulsing, his blood hot and thick. What was he doing? What the fuck was he doing?
He didn’t know. He was wasting time. Procrastinating. He was not like this. When he made a decision, he committed to it. One way or another. He didn’t hesitate. He just…fucking did it.
So why couldn’t he do the same where Erin was involved?
Why couldn’t he decide to uphold his agreement with theMeviraxor keep her for himself? Or, the most honorable option of all, return her to the Golden City, far away from him and theMeviraxand the dangers that were connected to them?
He knew why. Because Jaxor was a selfish bastard. But, grimly, he realized that there was more at stake here. This was beyond her. Beyond him. Beyond any connection the Fates had given them.
This was about the future of the Luxirian race. It was about justice for all those lives lost, all those families destroyed. Giving Erin up to theMevirax, who had a standing deal with the Jetutians, might be the only way Jaxor could get close to them. It might be the only chance the Luxirians had to seize the treatment, thecure.
