He closed his eyes at her words and a lump lodged in her throat. When he finally spoke, it was to say, “I never imagined, in a thousand rotations, that the Fates would tie me to another.”
“Why not?” she asked.
“Because of all my mistakes. Because I had turned my back on my family, on my people, on the Fates,” he told her, his voice ragged. “Thislife was supposed to be my punishment.”
He didn’t believe that he deserved a life partner. That was what he was telling her. That he had isolated himself here, in this place, as a kind of penance.
“Jaxor,” she whispered, touching his jaw.
“I want you,” he rasped. “I want this with you. But I fear that I do not know how to be what you need. Not anymore.”
“Don’t think like that then,” she told him. “Maybe you’re exactly what I want and what I need, as you are now.”
“You want me angry?” he asked quietly. “Because you have seen my temper perhaps more than anyone in the past ten rotations.”
“I like your temper sometimes,” she said softly, truthfully. “Sometimes I like when we fight. I like when we don’t fight too. I like when you smile and I like when you’re a little broody.”
He frowned, his brows furrowing.
“My point is that you’re not perfect and I don’t expect you to be, orwantyou to be. Not for me. Because I’m far from perfect too.” He opened his mouth, like he was going toarguewith her, which made her lips quirk and made her kiss him before he could. It silenced him long enough for her to whisper against his lips, “I like you right now, as youareright now. Okay?”
When he pulled back to look at her, he exhaled a long breath and kissed her again. It was his acceptance.
“This is all new. For both of us,” she said softly. “For now, let’s just take it one day at a time and see what happens.”
Jaxor’s arms tightened around her briefly. “No more going to the hovercraft?” he asked, as if he needed to be completely sure. He obviously still worried about the dangers.
Erin nodded. “I promise I won’t. As long as you’re here in the mornings when I wake up,” she added, tossing him a small smile, wanting to lighten the expression on his face.
His lips quirked in response and a part of hermeltedat the sight.
“Thentev,rixella,” he finally said, capturing her lips again. “One span at a time. We can do that.”
Chapter Thirty-One
“This isbeautiful,” his female exclaimed, twirling around in the grove in that forgotten place.
Jaxor had stumbled upon the ancient ruins a few rotations ago. It had been a temple, he guessed, a large one centuries ago, but now, only columns of oldfacevstone and the pedestal for offerings—or perhaps even sacrifices— remained. Cracked and crumbling. Everything else was overgrown in that place, as if the planet was trying to erase the fact that it had ever been.
The ruins were not far from his base, a half-span journey, perhaps. They’d been scavenging that morning and afternoon, almost about to turn back when he remembered the ruins were nearby and thought that his female might like to see them.
“What is this place?” she asked, turning to him, taking his hand in hers, something that seemed to bring her comfort since she’d been doing it often the past few spans.
Jaxor could hardly take his eyes from her, rubbing at that spot on his chest that always warmed whenever he looked at her.
“A temple, I believe. A place of worship. Or sacrifice,” he said.
Thatpulled her up short. “Sacrifice?”
His lips quirked. “An ancient place. Remember, our ancestors were a more violent people who revered blood and war.”
Erin shuddered a little at that. “Right,” she said, looking around the grove with fresh eyes. “Maybe not so beautiful then. But still fascinating.”
He caught her around the waist, pulling her into him. He tucked his nose into her long, dark hair, inhaling its scent, before he trailed his lips down her neck. She’d been driving him mad all morning. Most of the time in the hovercraft, he’d been tempted to put it on automatic navigation and mate her on the floor of it.
“We can’t have sex here, you know,” she informed him, her tone teasing.
He grunted. “Why not?”
