Erin didn’t know if her words were meant for Jaxor’an or for herself.
His body tensed beneath her but then a growl tore from him, animalistic and roughened. When unfamiliar voices reached them—male voices, speaking in Luxirian—she froze again, her fingers curling unexpectedly into the hardened expanse of muscle underneath her. There were more Luxirians in the forest with them? Searching for them?
Or were they the original party Jaxor’an had set out to meet?
“Vrax,” Jaxor’an rasped and changed directions, heading south. Back towards where they’d been waiting initially.
Another thought occurred to her. What if Jaxor’an was still planning to trade her off? He no longer had possession of Crystal, but he still had Erin.
I can handle whatever comes, she thought, steeling herself. I’ve made it this far.
The voices were closer and Erin struggled in Jaxor’an’s grip again. His claws pricked the back of her thigh in warning and before she knew it, he leapt high, reaching up to grip a sturdy branch from the nearest tree.
Somehow, someway, he managed to haul the both of them up the tree with a single arm. His strength palpable, Jaxor’an made a small grunt as he climbed up yet another set of branches, bringing them at least twenty feet off the forest floor.
Once he was stabilized against the trunk, Jaxor’an slid Erin off his shoulder, her tunic riding up in the process. But her bared ass was the least of her worries as the Luxirian male positioned her so that her back was against his front. His hand, impossibly large and covered in scars, closed over her mouth, another warning.
In her ear, he rasped, his hot breath brushing the sensitive flesh, “If you scream, it is them you will fear, female.”
Erin’s heart pounded faster in her chest and her eyes flickered down to the dark forest floor, not that she could see anything.
But a moment later, she froze when she heard them. Males. Speaking in Luxirian, though…it sounded different. She’d heard a lot of the Luxirian language since arriving on the alien planet.
A different dialect? she wondered. Were they from one of the outposts she’d heard so much about? But then why were they roaming around that forest in the middle of the night?
Jaxor’an’s grip tightened on her mouth and she realized his other hand was clasped around her hip, as if reminding her to keep quiet.
What if he’s lying? What if they are a search party? What if Jaxor’an is the one I need to fear the most?
She reached her bound hands up to push his palm away from her mouth and whispered, “Where’s Crystal?”
She turned her head to look at him. He was close enough that she could smell him and feel the warmth radiating off his skin like a furnace. His eyes were a bright blue, eerie in the low light.
Her stomach tightened, her breath quickening, but she ignored her body’s response to him, just like she had since the first moment she saw him.
“Tell me where she is and I won’t scream,” Erin whispered through a tight jaw. “I promise.”
The other Luxirian males were closing in on the clearing. Their voices were clear now. The closest one was only a couple yards away from the base of the tree.
Jaxor’an’s eyes flashed. The fur from his loincloth tickled the backs of Erin’s legs as he moved ever so slightly.
“I do not take kindly to threats, female,” he growled in her ear.
With a quick inhale, she filled her lungs, about to scream.
His eyes widened ever so slightly as his jaw ticked. Was that panic in his gaze?
In a moment, Jaxor’an pulled her flush against him, replacing his hand over her mouth as his other arm wrapped around her midsection, just underneath her breasts.
Something hard pressed against her lower back. She knew what it was. She was just surprised she hadn’t seen it tenting his loincloth before now.
And then he bit her. On the side of her neck. Erin felt his teeth squeeze against her unprotected flesh with just enough force that it would probably leave a mark.
But what surprised her the most was her reaction to that bite. Erin felt her nipples pebble under her tunic and desperate, frantic heat slid into her belly.
Which only made her furious.
She glared and bit his hand which once again covered her mouth. She didn’t think she’d bit anyone in her entire life, but damn, did it feel good when he stiffened. And still, she didn’t remove her teeth from the