her. Well, he couldn’t touch her palm to holy palm. This would initiate mating compatibility.
He turned his head to stare at her again in the dim light cast by his Illibrium. Dark lashes rested against her colorless cheeks. Strangely, he didn’t find this lack of pigment unsettling. In olden times an offspring born in such a colorless state would’ve been thrown into the wildlands so that nature could reclaim its mistake. But he found the discrepancy between her lack of pigment and his golden brown Margol delightful.
Luckily he had recently grown used to humans. Leah of One, Hook’s human Bride, often worked alongside their crew in the mines, but she almost never came over to their domicile. For some reason Hook found their compound unacceptable quarters for his Bride. Zayzon still didn’t understand why his brother felt this way. Yes, this dwelling wasn’t nearly as nice as the compound they’d been raised in, but to leave and take his Bride with him? To Zayzon this was a safety risk. At least Hook and Leah were living in the biggest high-rise on the planet. This was good, especially since his Bride was carrying his brother’s offspring.
A strange, subversive thought entered his mind. His eyes drifted down the length of her covered form. What would it be like to mate this female and fill her with his seed and watch her grow large with his offspring? All Xylan remained celibate their entire lives until the moment they found their mate. Usually this was through the clasping of claws during a mating compatibility ceremony. He was lucky to possess this rare ability to be able to scent his mate prior to their touch—this was the only reason he knew she was his.
He would have to convince her of the necessity to clasp claws in order to initiate his mating pheromones so he could claim her. And fill her with his seed. He smiled again, pleased at the thought of eventually mating with this female. He pulled up the covers, closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep, his female’s scent filling his lungs.
4
Lila smiled.
She was warm and dry, and something smelled fantastic. She raised her arms and felt her breasts move freely against the bedding.
Holy gods.
Her eyes flicked open and she tensed, her fingers digging into the sheets under her chin. The events of last night came crashing back. Oh wow. This wasn’t her bed, or even her own home. She could’ve died last night, except the first killer to arrive was the ethical assassin. She’d been shoved onto a transporter disk and left New Earth in order to hide from Daniela and an untold amount of assassins, on some random planet. She’d run through a dark rainstorm, terrified, until finding a derelict building to hide in…and she’d taken off her wet clothes and went to bed naked.
Naked.
Why had she done that? Why had she thought she could just fall asleep here, without her clothes on?
A soft snore pierced the quiet morning.
A tiny squeak escaped her lips.
She crooked her neck. A huge form slept in the bunk next to her. Holy hell. When had this happened? She’d originally gone to sleep in an empty bed. She stared at this unknown being, terrified of what this meant. She glanced up at the square jaw, the wide shoulders and confirmed, yep, a male. A very large male. His forehead had a series of ridges and she glanced down at the huge, green-gloved hands that lay on top of his bare chest.
She’d been so deeply asleep she hadn’t even noticed this hulking being walk inside the room and fall asleep next to her? And…was that all that happened? He’d simply lain next to her and slept? She wiggled her toes and moved her legs slightly, giving herself an assessment, and felt no discomfort, nothing out of the ordinary.
Hmm. Apparently she was still a virgin.
She turned to study him, trying to figure out his species. His skin was medium-toned and those ridges that lined his forehead were deep and went from his hairline all the way to the top of his nose. Fangs peeked past his full lips. His hair was long and dark and went past his shoulders in a series of black and gold braids. And holy hell, his gloved hands had four fingers each—she gave them a closer look—and were so large they covered his entire stomach.
Her mouth dropped open.
She was in bed with a Margol Xylan warrior. That explained why she was