"Alien." She huffs. "Youare the alien here."
"Fair point."
She's silent for a moment, her fingers still tracing along my forearm. Then she shifts, turning in my lap until she's facing me, her legs straddling mine beneath the water. The movement is slow and deliberate, and the look she gives me as she settles into this new position makes me go very still. Her eyes are half-lidded, filled with amusement and a want that makes the heat of the water seem tepid in comparison.
Her hands come up to frame my face, her thumbs resting under my cheekbones.
"A'Vanti.My mate," I say, testing the word.
The effect is instantaneous and startling.
A'Vanti's eyes widen. Her pupils contract to narrow slits. A flush spreads across her throat and chest, her scales darkening to deep amber, and her grip on my shoulders tightens.
"Say it again," she rasps.
"Mate."
She makes a sound, halfway between a growl and a purr that vibrates between us, and then she's kissing me. Hungry and demanding.
Her hands slide from my face to my shoulders, gripping tight, and she pulls me toward the edge of the pool with a strength that catches me off guard. Before I can fully process what's happening, she's out of the water and pulling me after her by the wrist. We stumble back toward our shelter, dripping and half-blind because we can't stop kissing long enough to watch where we're going. Her hands are everywhere, and mine aren't much better behaved.
I barely manage to snag our discarded clothes from the rocks as she hauls me past them.
"A'Vanti—" I start, half-laughing, half-gasping.
She silences me with another kiss, pushing me through the opening of our shelter and onto the blankets, following me down.
Afterward,we lie tangled together, breathing hard and grinning at the ceiling like two people who've lost their collective minds.
"So," I say, once I've recovered enough oxygen to form words. "The word mate. That's, uh. That does something for you."
A'Vanti stretches beside me with the languid satisfaction of a cat in a sunbeam. "In Cerastean culture, the word carries… significant weight. It is not a term used lightly. It implies a permanent, sacred bond."
"And hearing me say it…?"
She props herself up on one elbow, looking down at me. "When a Cerastean female hears her mate claim her, it activates bonding hormones. The effect is—" she pauses, searching for the word "—overwhelming. Like a wave you cannot resist."
"Noted." I grin up at her. "So basically, I've discovered a cheat code."
"Do not abuse it."
"Wouldn't dream of it." I trace the line of her jaw with my finger. "Mate."
Her eyes go dark immediately, that flush racing down her throat again, and she hauls me toward her.
"You," she hisses, but she's smiling as she says it, "are incorrigible."
"Guilty."
The storm continuesto rage above us. We can hear it during the quiet moments, a deep, persistent rumble that vibrates through the rock like a bass note played on the world's largest subwoofer.
But down here, in our underground world of heated water and muted light, it feels far away.
We swim again in the main pool, this time without the urgency of desire. We enjoy the simple pleasure of floating in water, letting the minerals work their magic on muscles that have earned their ache. A'Vanti floats on her back in the pool, her eyes closed, her hair fanning around her like a golden corona, and I sit on a rock ledge and watch her because it's become my favorite pastime, and I see no reason to stop.
"Tell me something," she says suddenly, her voice echoing slightly off the cave walls. "About your life. Before all of this."
I've been expecting this question. Dreading it a little, honestly. Not because I have anything to hide, but because my story feels so small next to hers. She survived genocide and years of captivity and the loss of her entire civilization. I grew up in a small town and learned to fly jets. My life has been so easy compared to hers.
