His hand loosensthe moment both of mine grab his wrist. Sliding from the wall, I release him and hurriedly back away, deeper into the house toward the dining area at the center along the rear wall. He follows me for a couple of steps before pausing midway.
I quickly lift the neck of my shirt and hang it off my nose. I don’t want to chance smelling his pheromones and based on how unhappy he appears and the distance he’s allowing between us, he doesn’t want that either.
“What was that?” I gasp, still feeling his hand on my neck. “I didn’t know you could come and go as you please.” I cross my arms tightly. Poised by the long, gray-slated dining table at the back of the room, I brace for his anger. He shakes out his hand like touching me had bothered him. Afterwards, he shifts slightly closer until he’s between me and the front windows of the house, clearly trying to shield me from the prying eyes of others.
“Zaku trustssss me,” Krellix hisses, checking me out. “He knows who is worthy of it. He knows if something were to happen to him, I would do everything to keep his family safe.”
My lips twitch, knowing full well I’m not a part of Zaku and Daisy’s family, and therefore not included in his protection. I hate how his words make my chest tighten. I love Daisy and her little boys. “I would do everything to protect them as well.”
Yet, I don’t have the door’s code.
Not like it matters as until today, I hadn’t planned on wandering outside for any real reason.
But still…
I glance around his large, serpentine form to see if we were indeed being watched but only find the deepening shadows cast by the trees as the sun sets behind them. There are no glinting eyes in the darkness. No one is around to offer me protection againsthim.We’re alone.
We haven’t been alone since that day he found me with my hurt ankle.
My gaze slides back to Krellix. “I understand he’s trying to keep everyone safe and I can’t fault him for that. I’m just surprised he trusts anyone at all with that information. Why are you here?”
He obviously didn’t show up for me like the others had.
Remaining stiffly by the dining table, I watch him carefully, ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble. Thankfully, he stays in the middle of the room.
Oddly, unlike the other nagas, I feel… safer in his presence, far safer than I’d feel with any other naga outside Zaku. Even so, I’m not taking any chances.
It’s been six months since we were last alone. After I missed getting to the ship in time, and with my ankle being hurt, I had limited mobility. Trying to decide what to do then, he appeared, having gone out in search of me. My breath left me upon hisarrival, hanging on a sound that never escaped my lips. His golden gaze and handsome face took me in, his enchantingly warm eyes landing on the hands gripping my foot.
I can’t remember if it was fear or relief I felt at his appearance. At least I knew him. He wasn’t someone new to me. He’d helped Azsote earlier upon getting us all to Zaku’s.
Krellix carried me halfway up the mountain and back to his friend’s home. At the time, I’d been so nervous that he was going to kidnap me, that I’d get a whiff of his scent, or that his kindness was an act, yet he insisted I keep the collar of my shirt over my nose, and scoffed at my fearful paranoia.
He didn’t have to say it but it became clear that he didn’t want me. At least he didn’t want to be accidentally mated to me. Unlike every other unmated naga on this planet, the one who’d be perfect to take me away from here didn’t seem to want anything to do with me—which was what makes him a perfect choice to begin with. I eye his coiling tail slowly moving under him.
My gaze shifts upward and his narrow eyes consider me. “I am here to speak to Zaku,” he says, his expression marred with suspicion. He takes in my oversized nightshirt and baggy sweatpants. “What were you doing with those other malessss at the window? Are you not aware it can break with enough force?”
I hesitate, unsure if telling him my plan would result in him stopping me from executing it. It’s why I haven’t told anyone anything. I lick my lips, trying not to let my gaze drop to his chest or lower. But it’s hard when his body is so appealing. Krellix is ripped, and even despite my paranoia, I can’t help noticing. The nagas can be so distracting in their almost nudity.
“I’m doing exactly what Zaku wanted from the very beginning,” I argue. “I’m leaving and…” I glance into the growing darkness outside. “I was trying to decide who I was going to leave with. WhoIcould trust. Who would respect myboundaries?” Krellix, if anything, has proven that not all naga males are woman-nappers and completely irrational.
He frowns.
I grimace in response, my heart dropping lower, not sure if he’ll stop me now that he knows what I was trying to do. Still, as I continue adjusting to his abrupt appearance—and being inside the house with me—I can’t help thinking how unfair how attractive he is. Especially now after seeing so many other male nagas up close. Krellix is and has been one of the most beautiful beings I’ve ever laid my eyes upon.
While with his long, golden hair with hints of bronze and brown, it’s silky and wavy. His hair sprouts thickly, lusciously, from his head to drape over his broad shoulders, tumbling down his back in loose waves. The hair around his ears and brow has been slicked back, accentuating his defined jaw line and perfectly symmetrical features.
Some of it’s uneven on the right side, which is new from the last time I saw him. It looks like he tried to cut it but it appears choppy, slightly uneven.
Even in the growing darkness, I can see the color of his eyes glint in the airy blue light left over from the sun’s descent. His irises are a light brown to match the rest of him, his brows a shade darker, arching above. They soften his expression rather than add to the sleek structure of his symmetrical features. Brown, beige, and gold patterning starts from the back of his neck and travels down the long length of his tail. Bands of darker brown patterning are interspersed throughout, leading all the way to his tailtip, eventually merging with his gilded skin tone and scales. Which… as my gaze roams over his tail shifting out from under him, I realize he’s making a barrier between me and the rest of the house.
With the table at my back, the kitchen to my right, and the hallway ahead and to the left where my room is, he’s got me trapped.
I should be more alarmed but my gaze lingers on his features and the unique patterning along his tail. Large, dark brown spots line the frontside of it, slowly tapering to smaller spots up the triangle of his hip bones. The arrow-like sharpness of his pelvis leads my eyes down his frontside where I don’t want them to go.
His stomach tenses under my gaze and my eyes snap back to his face. They’re still narrowed on me, frustration now bleeding out from them.
Handsome and kind, that’s how the other women describe Krellix, but despite the soft illusion his brows give his face, there isn’t a fleck of kindness in them for me at the moment.
