“I teach young children on Earth,” she started, sliding her arms over her knees. “That’s my job. And over the years, I’ve seen all sorts of things, all sorts of interactions, but one thing I will always remember is this little boy named Nate and a girl named Julie. Nate was convinced he loved her and she was convinced that she loved him…and that’s what they told everyone who would listen. And all the teachers would smile about it, thinking it was a silly, young kind of love. Because when you’re that young, how do you even know what love is?
“One day, Nate got hurt during recess and Julie immediately went to comfort him. She hugged him and bandaged his knee and fussed over him and even started crying herself, seeing him so upset. And looking at them both, I thought, why did everyone doubt they loved each other? It doesn’t even have to be romantic love. If they said they felt love in that moment, then they did. Everyone has this grand idea of love, that it can’t be something unless it’s a specific, intense feeling. But you can love someone for a short period of time and it doesn’t make it any less real. If you love someone in a single moment, then that feeling is valid, isn’t it?”
Erin gave Jaxor a small, sad smile, regarding him over the fire. Jaxor’s heart was beating like a war drum in his chest as he watched her.
“So maybe you don’t think you loved her after all. But maybe you loved her in little bits and pieces along the way.”
Jaxor wondered if she’d loved any male in ‘little bits and pieces’ as her words sank in. As her meaning sank in. He looked at her steadily, feeling that finally, he understood a small part of her.
“And you,rixella?” he murmured, his voice raspy and soft. “Have you ever loved someone in singular moments?”
A soft laugh tumbled from her throat, the sound husky. She paused, like she’d done last night when he asked her what bad thing she wanted to do. She bit her lip, looking at him.
“Maybe I loved you a little bit last night, when you looked so ridiculous with a little tuft of your hair cut, when the rest of it was long,” she teased, making his heart pump even more ferociously in his chest.
Jaxor growled, amusement welling in his chest. He thought, with stunningly bright clarity, that he wanted to kiss her again, right then. That he would last less than a span after declaring that morning that nothing would happen between them again.
Fool.Did he honestly think he—
He saw something out of the corner of his eye, behind her.
Jaxor stood suddenly, his eyes narrowing on the thin stream of curling grey smoke in the distance. It was lifting higher and higher in the sky on that clear night.
“Jaxor?” she questioned, frowning, craning her neck around quickly to see what he saw. “What is it?”
It was a message, only for Jaxor. Beyond the walls of the crater and between two of the mountains of the Pass of theKokillix, he saw the beckoning, the calling. He’d seen the smoke every so often, sometimes during the day, sometimes during the night. But it always meant one thing.
TheMeviraxhad come…
And they wanted to speak to him.
Chapter Seventeen
“Stay here,” Jaxor commanded, walking down the long tunnel towards the hovercraft, Erin following behind him. The contented ease he’d felt with her only a moment before had vanished, another threat taking its place. Jaxor mourned the loss of it. “Thekekevirare gated in. You will be safe.”
“Where are you going? What did the smoke mean?” she asked, stubborn determination coloring her tone.
“I have something to take care of,” he said. “Trespassers. I do not want them finding the base.”
A partial lie. TheMeviraxwere trespassers in a sense—expected ones—but he did indeednotwant them to find his base. He’d taken great care to hide it from them, using valuable shield links over the top of the crater so that if any passed over in a hovercraft, it would look like the mountains surrounding it.
“Other Luxirians?” she asked, her eyes narrowing. He turned towards her, sensing the interest in her voice.
He took her chin in his hand, tilting her face upwards. Her lips parted and Jaxor remembered the way she tasted, the breathy little sounds she made when he suckled on her tongue and ground the head of his cock against her sex. He remembered her husky laugh, her face lit by firelight just a few moments ago.
“They are dangerous,rixella,” he rasped. Even the prospect of seeing theMeviraxdid nothing to lessen his need for her. The clawed tip of his thumb stroked over her cheek as she quieted. His tone was gentle as he said, “Stay here.”
She blew out a long breath.
“I will be back soon,” he assured her, releasing her, turning towards the hovercraft. With a quick look at the gate, he saw thekekevirwere nowhere in sight. Erin watched him climb on board, watched as his fingers flitted over the controls.
“And what if you don’t come back?” she challenged.
“Nothing will stop me from coming back,” he rasped, starting up the hovercraft. He didn’t want theMeviraxto know he had one in his possession. He would have to be careful about his approach.
Without another word, he shot from the tunnel, hurtling straight up through the single opening. It was the only entrance into his base that wasn’t covered in shield links—he hadn’t been able to find enough—but it wouldn’t look like anything from above. Just a darkened hole in the mountain.
Once he rose, he couldn’t see his base from above. The shield links covered even light. All he saw was dark, rocky terrain below. Though if one studied it very closely, every now and again, the shield links wavered, making the surface shimmer. He gritted his jaw, knowing that he would have to make repairs soon—only he didn’t have the parts he needed.
