whispered, wiping the grin off his face entirely. With an anguished growl, he hit his temple hard, as if it could help erase the stray thought. He hit it again when the first time failed.
“Stop,” the female cried out, frowning, reaching up to grip his forearm. “Why are you doing that to yourself?”
Jaxor snarled at her, pulling his arm away.
Halting his sandcraft next to Cruxan’s much-improved model, Jaxor gathered the few belongings he had onboard and, with his temple throbbing, grated down to the female, “Come.”
Her eyes went to the hovercraft. She was intelligent, he would give her that.
“No,” she murmured. “Crystal needs that to get back.”
“I am leaving this here for Cruxan,” Jaxor told her. “They will still make it back to the Golden City safely.”
His fingers dipped underneath the console when she eyed the hovercraft warily and plucked the starter pod from its place. He crushed it in his palm before he replaced it. He wouldn’t take the chance that Cruxan would pursue him, especially if Vaxa’an had tasked it to him, but she didn’t need to know that.
“It was not a request,” he informed her, taking her by the arm and pulling her off more roughly than he intended. His stomach squeezed when she stumbled in the sand, but the withering glare she threw at him helped ease his concern.
“You’re a real asshole, you know that?” she seethed, pushing her hair out of her eyes with her bound hands.
He figured it was an insult in her language, not to be taken literally, and he bared his teeth at her in reply. He threw his travel sack into the back of Cruxan’s hovercraft—Jaxor’s hovercraft now—and lifted her up by her small waist, his grip lingering.
She shook him off, her displeasure evident, and she plopped down close to the side of the hovercraft. Jaxor wanted her close to him but knew that once they got into the air, there would be nowhere for her to go.
Something uncomfortable, something he didn’t recognize, tightened his chest when he saw her looking down at her bound hands. He’d tied the knots tight earlier that morning, so he knew they were irritating her delicate flesh.
Still, he didn’t release her.
Walking past her to the console, he started up the hovercraft with minimal effort. It was new technology to him, but he’d tinkered with wreckage he’d come across often enough to be able to navigate it easily.
In another moment, the quiet engine kicked up and they shot off from the ground, hurtling above the forest, and into the quiet night sky. The wind rushed loudly around his ears as adrenaline pulsed through him. He hadn’t been this high off the ground since warrior training.
Jaxor shook his head and looked over his shoulder to distract himself. The female was still there, curled close to his travel sack, her face turned from him. Unease prowled in his chest as the newfound sensation inside him gave warning. It warned him not to push her too much…or else he might lose her forever.
With a huff, he turned. It couldn’t be helped. Not right then. Jaxor didn’t know what he intended to do with the female…whether he would hand her over to the Mevirax after all, or if he would take her back to the Golden City.
Or if he would keep her all to himself.
His claws dug into the brushed metal of the console, already marking his newest possession.
Jaxor’s eyes returned to the female again.
He wondered how much longer it would be before she, too, was marked by him.
Chapter Three
When Erin woke, it was to stillness, warmth, and a lack of rushing wind.
Her breath hitched and her eyes immediately flashed to Jaxor’an, who was—
“What are you doing?” she asked in alarm, though her voice remained steady.
A fur blanket had been draped over her in sleep and she struggled to push it off with her still-bound hands.
Why had he covered her?
Jaxor’an’s eyes met hers as she pushed to a sitting position. He was on his back, underneath the hovercraft console, pulling strands of metal and wires.
When Erin looked around, they were landed in yet another forest clearing, but the trees were much larger and the air was much crisper. She shivered, craning her neck to spy the tops of the trees…and couldn’t. They were massive.
A pang went through her. She’d once taken Jake and Ellora to see the giant sequoia and redwood trees in California. Ellora had declared she’d never seen anything more beautiful.