Even knowing that, Jaxor tilted his head. Therixellahad swum over to the falls, had perched herself on one of the rocks there, her full, perfect breasts on display, water lapping around her waist. She was massaging her long, wet hair with the soap granules he’d given her, scrubbing at her scalp before using the waterfall to rinse it from the strands.
Then she lathered up her hands and scrubbed at her flesh. When her hands trailed over her breasts, he felt a drop of his seed push from the tip of his cock, a small, rough sound escaping his throat. He didn’t think she heard it, but her eyes darted over to him regardless.
She’d been so different last night. So changed. But he wondered which version of her was the truest to her character. Was it the female who had stared him down in the Golden City when he’d first come to take her away, steady and calm? Was it the female who had worried over him after thekekevirinjury, working diligently and without hesitation to stitch him up? Was it the female who had straddled his hips and had moaned when he marked her neck with his teeth? Or was it this temptress, who was massaging her slick breasts beneath a waterfall, knowing he was watching, knowing he desired her beyond reason, beyond logic?
The Fates had given him a beguiling, frustrating, and fascinating creature.
With a curse, Jaxor turned back to his work.
I will not look at her again while she is in that pool, he made himself promise. He repeated it in his mind, as if to make it stick, as if to steel his resolve. As if it would work.
But Jaxor felt like he was fighting a losing battle of wills. He wondered how much longer it would be until he broke.
Because it would happen. Shewouldbreak him. And when she did, Jaxor prayed that she was prepared for the beast she would unleash.
* * *
The sky wasblack when Jaxor finished with thekekevirgate.
He was sweating, his chest heaving, his limbs aching with the amount of effort it took to embed it in the stone wall of the tunnel. But it was the only way it would be strong enough against thekekevir. They had watched him from the darkness of their nest. Jaxor had always wondered why they chose to stay so close to his home base when they had large caverns and endless tunnels all throughout the Pass of theKokillixto explore.
But they’d proven useful over the rotations. Their meat might not be the most delicious, but it kept him fed most cold seasons. Their skin made good armor that he traded at the outposts and their sinewy muscle tissue made excellent fire fuel when his stores ran low. Having them close was beneficial.
For the most part, he thought, feeling his wounds pull slightly. He’d cut the stitches already and pulled them out, but the flesh was still tender as it mended. He would have to remember to put healing salve on it later that night.
The gate was sturdy, though it had used up the majority of his metal stores. It bolted and braced into the tunnel wall. Immovable. It would keep Erin safe. Now Jaxor wouldn’t have to worry about being gone from the base.
Still, Jaxor refueled the burning sconces on either side of the gate, casting light into the tunnel. By force of habit. He still didn’t want thekekeviranywhere near the gate, no matter how strong it was.Kekevircould be cunning and intelligent when it suited them.
When he returned to the base, he saw his female huddled by the fire he’d made in the early evening, staring into the flames. His chest clenched, watching the light play over her features. She didn’t look at him and Jaxor kept his distance from her, going to bathe in the waterfall pool, rinsing off the sweat and grime of the day, remembering the erotic vision Erin had made in that same place earlier.
Underneath the water, he squeezed his stiff cock once, as if in warning. Even that small contact made him groan. Even after the mind-numbing orgasm last night, his body was still charged and ready for another.
He hauled himself out before he was tempted to bring himself to release right there and dressed in loose pants, forgoing a tunic since he felt overheated from working in the tunnel most of the day. Cool, chilled air felt like a relief.
Inhaling a deep, steadying breath, feeling as though he was going into battle, he approached his female at the fire. He’d laid out dried meats and the best of his fruit stores for her earlier and he saw that most of it was gone.Good. She’d eaten well that night. She hadn’t seemed to care for the fresh, roastedkekevirmeat, so until he could fish, his dried rations would have to be enough.
“Hello,” she greeted softly when he sat on the opposite side of the fire. “You’ve been working hard today,” she commented.
Jaxor’s eyes went to her lips. “So have you,rixella.”
They hadn’t spoken once since that morning, but he’d caught glimpses of her as he came and went from the tunnel. She’d been cleaning and scrubbing the furs voraciously and he saw that she’d set them out along the pulley system to dry.
“What does that mean?” she asked, her eyes like dark, glittering little jewels in the night. “Rixella?”
They had seemingly called another of their truces, Jaxor realized. It had happened before…when both of them just simply gave in to the other. Like last night. When they were too tired to argue.
“It means…” he trailed off, trying to think how to translate it into her language. “Enchantress. Wicked one. Or like a witch.”
She laughed, the sound momentarily stunning Jaxor.
“You’ve been calling me a wicked witch this entire time?” she asked, shaking her head.
Jaxor hesitated. Her tone implied something he didn’t think he understood. He couldn’t discern if she was genuinely amused…or insulted. So, he explained, “To Luxirians,rixellasare only in stories. Old stories and legends. They beguile males, using their wiles and their magic to control them.”
Her lips quirked. Those eyes shined. “And that’s what you think I can do to you? You think I can control you? Beguile you?”
Haven’t you already? he asked silently, his brows furrowing. At the way her lips twitched, he knew that she’d heard the unspoken question.
