the most honorable option of all, return her to the Golden City, far away from him and the Mevirax and the dangers that were connected to them?
He knew why. Because Jaxor was a selfish bastard. But, grimly, he realized that there was more at stake here. This was beyond her. Beyond him. Beyond any connection the Fates had given them.
This was about the future of the Luxirian race. It was about justice for all those lives lost, all those families destroyed. Giving Erin up to the Mevirax, who had a standing deal with the Jetutians, might be the only way Jaxor could get close to them. It might be the only chance the Luxirians had to seize the treatment, the cure.
Even knowing that, Jaxor tilted his head. The rixella had swum over to the falls, had perched herself on one of the rocks there, her full, perfect breasts on display, water lapping around her waist. She was massaging her long, wet hair with the soap granules he’d given her, scrubbing at her scalp before using the waterfall to rinse it from the strands.
Then she lathered up her hands and scrubbed at her flesh. When her hands trailed over her breasts, he felt a drop of his seed push from the tip of his cock, a small, rough sound escaping his throat. He didn’t think she heard it, but her eyes darted over to him regardless.
She’d been so different last night. So changed. But he wondered which version of her was the truest to her character. Was it the female who had stared him down in the Golden City when he’d first come to take her away, steady and calm? Was it the female who had worried over him after the kekevir injury, working diligently and without hesitation to stitch him up? Was it the female who had straddled his hips and had moaned when he marked her neck with his teeth? Or was it this temptress, who was massaging her slick breasts beneath a waterfall, knowing he was watching, knowing he desired her beyond reason, beyond logic?
The Fates had given him a beguiling, frustrating, and fascinating creature.
With a curse, Jaxor turned back to his work.
I will not look at her again while she is in that pool, he made himself promise. He repeated it in his mind, as if to make it stick, as if to steel his resolve. As if it would work.
But Jaxor felt like he was fighting a losing battle of wills. He wondered how much longer it would be until he broke.
Because it would happen. She would break him. And when she did, Jaxor prayed that she was prepared for the beast she would unleash.
The sky was black when Jaxor finished with the kekevir gate.
He was sweating, his chest heaving, his limbs aching with the amount of effort it took to embed it in the stone wall of the tunnel. But it was the only way it would be strong enough against the kekevir. They had watched him from the darkness of their nest. Jaxor had always wondered why they chose to stay so close to his home base when they had large caverns and endless tunnels all throughout the Pass of the Kokillix to explore.
But they’d proven useful over the rotations. Their meat might not be the most delicious, but it kept him fed most cold seasons. Their skin made good armor that he traded at the outposts and their sinewy muscle tissue made excellent fire fuel when his stores ran low. Having them close was beneficial.
For the most part, he thought, feeling his wounds pull slightly. He’d cut the stitches already and pulled them out, but the flesh was still tender as it mended. He would have to remember to put healing salve on it later that night.
The gate was sturdy, though it had used up the majority of his metal stores. It bolted and braced into the tunnel wall. Immovable. It would keep Erin safe. Now Jaxor wouldn’t have to worry about being gone from the base.
Still, Jaxor refueled the burning sconces on either side of the gate, casting light into the tunnel. By force of habit. He still didn’t want the kekevir anywhere near the gate, no matter how strong it was. Kekevir could be cunning and intelligent when it suited them.
When he returned to the base, he saw his female huddled by the fire he’d made in the early evening, staring into the flames. His chest clenched, watching the light play