by Zoey Draven
Not like I’m going to have sex with him, she amended silently.
At least not tonight, the little devil on her shoulder whispered in her ear.
Lainey exhaled a shaky breath.
“Vrax, luxiva,” he said, his voice going husky, inhaling deeply, his breath whistling in her ears.
“Sorry,” she whispered, though the word was whipped away by the wind, wondering what luxiva meant in his language. Lainey wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to know.
She couldn’t help but smile when his hand clenched on her waist, a warning to behave. But even Kirov should know by then that she didn’t like being told what to do.
“Will you tell me where we’re going now?” she asked, to distract herself, to distract him. She had a feeling if he propositioned her again, if he growled at her in that sexy, dark voice, if he slid his hand slightly lower…she wouldn’t be able to resist him a second time.
Behind them, the Golden City looked like a speck, although they hadn’t been traveling for more than ten minutes.
Kirov relented and pointed in the distance to a mountain range.
“At the base is a stream,” he said. “I go there often. It calms my mind when I need it. I wish to show it to you.”
Her heart skipped, liking that he wanted to take her to a place that was special to him entirely too much.
It was sweet. And Lainey wasn’t used to sweet.
If she was being honest, she’d never met a male like Kirov. All her ex-boyfriends, if they could even be called that, were...not good. But Lainey hadn’t been allowed boyfriends during high school—her mother claimed she needed to focus on her music more than flirting—and the moment Lainey had moved out at 18 and quit piano, she’d gone through a rebellious phase.
After her early-twenties, she’d sworn off men altogether after an incident with her then-boyfriend, when he’d gotten drunk and dislocated her shoulder when he shoved her into a wall.
Like she said, her taste in men had been bad.
Lainey liked to think she’d grown up since then. It was perhaps why she hadn’t had sex in two years, why she turned down dates from men she knew wouldn’t be good for her. Why she’d closed herself off and kept her heart encased behind a steel wall.
Then Nadine had died. And the world got darker.
Lainey shook herself and blew out a breath, not wanting to think about it, not right then at least.
“Thank you, by the way,” she said, tucking a rebellious strand of hair behind her ear. She turned a little, tilting her head up to look at Kirov. “For my hat. I never thanked you this afternoon.”
Kirov’s eyes warmed with pleasure and Lainey could feel herself melt a little at that look.
This is bad, bad, bad, she thought.
“I was pleased to see it functioned properly,” he told her. “I hadn’t had much time to test it properly before I had to be at the command center this morning.”
She frowned. “Test it?”
“Tev. The idea came to me when I left you last night.”
Her lips parted. “Don’t tell me you actually made that thing last night.”
He looked down at her, assessing her expression, before his eyes returned to the horizon. The hovercraft veered right, taking them closer to the mountain, and they began a slow, descent.
Lainey had always thought men driving cars with confidence were sexy. But Kirov expertly controlling a goddamn hovercraft?
Mindblowingly erotic.
Lainey swallowed and tried to focus on the conversation, but it was hard watching his large, masculine hands move in front of her on the control panel.
“I did create it last night,” he said. “I used a similar material from armor technology I am developing for our warriors. Then I programmed it accordingly.”
Lainey’s brows rose.
Forget flying a hovercraft. Knowing he was apparently crazy intelligent was…damn, Lainey had a feeling she was already a goner.
He’s definitely getting a handjob in this hovercraft later.
“That’s…that’s…” she swallowed.
Use your words, girl, she thought.
Kirov’s gaze returned to her and that crooked smile returned, though there was a confidence behind it that almost bordered on arrogance.
Her knees trembled.
“Does that impress you, luxiva? Does it make you soften towards your male?”
Your male.
Jesus H. Christ.
She reached up and shoved his shoulder a little, though when she turned around, she couldn’t help but grin. God help her, but she liked when he flirted with her.
“Is that what a technology advisor does then?” she asked.
“Tev. And I oversee the technology branch of our labs, the majority of which is based in Troxva.”
“Troxva,” she repeated, remembering last night, when he’d informed her that he had to return there in three days and that she would be going with him. “What is that?”
“My outpost,” he said, lowering them further as the mountain drew nearer and nearer. “I am one of the Prime Leader’s Ambassadors.”
“And what does that mean?” she asked, her voice quiet, though her mind was soaking in everything he said. She wanted to learn about him, though in the back of her mind, she told herself it might not matter, that she’d been leaving him soon anyways.
She frowned at the thought, her chest tightening unexpectedly.
“There are six outposts spread across Luxiria.”
“Like other Golden Cities?”
“Tev, but slightly smaller. The Golden City is the hub of our planet, the capital. Outposts have significant populations but each has a specific purpose.”
“What’s the purpose of Troxva?”
“Technology. It is the furthest outpost to the east, nearest to the Jaxvara. It is…” he seemed to search for a word in English. “It is a sacred place of the Fates, but specifically a sacred place of Jaxveer, the Fate of Knowledge. A long time ago, males and females that dedicated their lives to the pursuit of knowledge congregated there, where they could feel the pull and influence of Jaxveer most. It was there that our first vessel, that could breach our atmosphere and travel in space, was created.”
Lainey liked hearing him talk about these things. It fascinated her, but also overwhelmed her, knowing that there was so much still to learn about Luxiria and its people.
“And you said it’s your outpost?” she asked, blinking.
“Tev,” he said, jerking his head in a nod. “I was born there, raised there, until I left for warrior training. Once Vaxa’an appointed me Ambassador, he gave me control of the outpost. Troxva is my home and my responsibility. It is why I must return soon. I have been away far too long already.”
There was a strange tone in his voice at the end, like he was speaking to himself, like he needed to remember that was why he had to return.
“Why has it been so long?” she asked.
He glanced down at her, his arms tightening briefly, telling her that the question might’ve caught him off guard. It only made her more curious.
The mountain range loomed next to them, so much larger than she could’ve imagined. They were so close that Lainey felt she could simply reach out in front of her and touch it.
“For reasons you may see, since you will be coming with me,” he murmured.
Lainey couldn’t help but roll her eyes, though she was itching for an actual answer. “Yeah, okay.”
“Look, we are almost there,” he said next.
Lainey went on her tiptoes, her butt brushing against his crotch as she did, and then gasped.
Because at the very base of the mountain they were closest to was what she could only describe as a meadow. A little, lush, moonlit meadow.
A little oasis amid the black sand desert that they’d traveled over.
“How?” she whispered.
“The stream,” he answered, pointing at something that Lainey didn’t think was a stream, but rather resemble
d a river. It ran straight through, cutting through the meadow, until it disappeared behind the next mountain over. “There is a spring inside that trickles out. That gives this place life. That draws life.”
Kirov lowered them further until they were hovering just overhead. He landed the hovercraft next to the mountain, in a flattened area that told Lainey he’d parked there before, many times.
Like a gentleman, he helped her step down until her feet sunk into the impossibly soft sand. Soon, that sand gave way to what looked like blue moss. Blue moss that shimmered in the moonlight. It covered the entire floor of the meadow, crawling up from the banks of the river, drinking and sustaining itself on the water, stemming and growing in all directions.
When Lainey closed her eyes for a brief moment, all she heard was a gentle breeze and a babbling brook. And another sound that had her cocking her head in puzzlement.
“What’s that whispering sound?” she wondered aloud, though she kept her voice quiet.
When she opened her eyes and looked at Kirov, he was watching her, his expression something she couldn’t read, but an expression that made her straighten in awareness.
With his hands on her shoulders, he turned her until she faced where the stream came out from the mountain. And there, every so often, she saw gently flashing pink lights.
Just like…
“Are those fireflies?” she asked, wanting to chuckle.
“Fireflies?” he asked.
“Little bugs that fly, that light up.”
“Tev, they are a kind of insect,” he said. “They come a long way to drink from the stream.”
Lainey found comfort in that, in a strange way. That even in a different part of the universe, on this strange alien planet she was only beginning to understand and experience…there were fireflies.
Pink fireflies.
Lainey cast her eyes around the rest of the meadow, hardly knowing where to look next. It wasn’t huge by any means, but it was surprisingly colorful.
As Lainey walked closer to the gentle flowing stream, she saw that the bottom was covered in what looked like stones, not sand. And those stones resembled moonstones, shifting in color, from blue and green and milky white, depending on how the moon hit them.
Every so often, from the blue moss, grew sprigs of what she could only describe as mini-blue pine trees, no taller than her waist. And on these pine trees, grew little round berries that shimmered like opal gemstones.
From blue moss, to pink fireflies, to a river full of moonstones, to opal berries, the only word Lainey could think to describe this place was magical.
Kirov gave her time to look around, to process what she was seeing. Her senses were overloaded, considering she’d only just moved out of the room they’d all been kept in for the last several weeks.
Because the best part about the meadow? There were no walls, except for the mountains
She could see as far as the moonlight would allow her in the darkness, far into the black, vast plains of Luxiria, where she could make out other mountain ranges and hills.
Lainey shivered a bit with the breeze. A moment later, she felt Kirov envelop her from behind, wrapping his warmth around her, squeezing her to him.
She pressed her cold hands into his strong arms, letting him warm her, taking what he was offering so generously.
Why did it feel so right, so natural with him? It was as if they’d known each other for far longer than a few days.
Was it his Instinct? she wondered. It was the first time she’d allowed herself to acknowledge whatever was happening between them. Had he been right? Was a great force binding them together, a force she didn’t yet understand that both frightened and intrigued her?
Lainey shivered, despite Kirov’s heat, looking at the magnificent view in front of them.
Again, he’d given her another gift. An unexpected one. And the sweetness of it made her throat close.
He’s really good at this first date thing, she thought, blowing out a breath in defeat.
Kirov - 6
Lainey - 0
“Thank you,” she said, tilting her head to look back at him.
His beautiful blue eyes glowed in the moonlight and she remembered the first night they’d met. Of him, standing naked, on the terrace, his body drenched in light.
“Thank you for taking me here,” she continued, feeling like she might’ve just lost a piece of her heart to him. A piece she might not ever get back.
“You are welcome, luxiva.”
Chapter Twelve
“Ten?” Lani asked, her voice rising in what Kirov assumed was astonishment. “You were only ten-years-old when you left home for this warrior training?”
“Tev,” he replied. “All males must leave for warrior training at ten rotations.”
“That’s…that’s crazy,” she exclaimed, her lips parted in shock. “You were just a little boy.”
Suddenly, her eyes dropped down between them to look at his exposed arms, where a multitude of scars marked his flesh.
He’d told her warrior training was…intense. She assumed that was where he’d received his scars. Some yes, but not all.
“These are also from battle, luxiva,” he told her. Vaxa’an had told him, in secret once, that humans tended to be more adverse to violence and war. He needed to tread carefully. “Soon after we completed warrior training…we were called to war. I was not on Luxiria for a long while.”
They were sitting on the banks of the stream, side-by-side, Kirov’s thigh pressed against hers. Lani had her small, pale feet in the water, since he’d told her it was warm from the mountain. He glanced down at them often, feeling affection, awe, tighten his chest.
Some moments, he still couldn’t believe that he’d found his fated mate. Some moments, even when she was with him, it didn’t feel real. Even when her scent filled his nostrils, even when her warmth was pressed into him, and her beautiful voice calmed the buzzing inside him, it didn’t feel real.
Softly, she said, “Kate told us about an attack on your planet. That it killed your females, most of them, and left the rest…unable to have children.”
Kirov’s gaze held hers as he said, “Tev, that is true. We went to war shortly after, for five long rotations.”
“Did you…” Lani began to ask, her fingers picking at the moss on her other side. “Did you lose anyone?”
“My mother,” he said and Lani sucked in a small breath. “Many lost mothers and sisters and their elders. Many lost sires as well, who took their own lives to be with them in the blackworld.”
“I’m sorry, Kirov,” she said quietly. “Did you lose your father as well?”
Kirov inhaled a sharp breath, his gaze sliding away, familiar guilt eating at his chest. “I may as well have.”
He saw her brows furrow, perhaps in confusion at his strange answer, but he didn’t wish to speak of his sire. Not right at that moment. He wanted to learn about his female.
Kirov changed the subject and asked, “Will you tell me about your life on Earth?”
Lani frowned, clearly wanting him to elaborate, clearly wanting to ask more. And at any other time, he might let her. Kirov didn’t intend to be secretive, didn’t intend to deliberately leave her in the dark about certain aspects of his life.
However, when it came to his sire, he was ashamed. Mostly about how he’d dealt with his sire’s situation. It was not something he was proud of and he didn’t want his luxiva to look at him any differently. Not that night, their first night where they could be alone, where they could talk and touch freely, without worry.
Nix. Selfishly, Kirov wanted her all to himself that night, without anything coming between them, not even long-held guilt.
Thankfully, his female seemed to read him well and allowed the change in topic.
“What do you want to know?” she asked, swishing her feet in the water.
“Everything.”
She smiled in a way that made him grin. A shy smile that Kirov would never suspect
from a female like her.
“‘Everything’ would take a very, very long time,” she noted.
Kirov said quietly, “It is good that I want a very, very long time then.” Lani bit her lip. He said, “Tell me what you do on Earth. What your profession is.”
Her pink tongue darted out to wet her lips and his belly tightened in need.
“I’m a pianist,” she said.
Kirov’s brows drew together. “What is that?”
“I’m a musician,” she explained further. “A piano is a musical instrument. I’ve been playing since I was four-years-old. I guess you can say it’s my calling in life. My true talent.”
His expression softened, something locking into place about her.
“That does not surprise me,” he commented.
“Why?”
“There is something about musicians, tev? They see and hear the universe differently and translate it for the rest of us into something more beautiful.”
Kirov couldn’t read the expression that crossed his female’s face at his words. Perhaps…recognition?
“We have very few musicians here on Luxiria,” Kirov said softly, “but I have always found them fascinating. Perhaps because they are so different from me.”
“How?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.
“I prefer hard facts, numbers, equations. The basis of technology are these things. They are…concrete. Unchangeable. But musicians, hearing them play their instruments…” he trailed off, finding it difficult to put into words.
“They can create something intricate, from something so simple,” she finished for him. “Notes. Sound.”
“Tev. They are creators. They make others feel things, unexpected things,” Kirov said. “So, nix, it does not surprise me that you are one of them.”
Lani processed his words slowly, letting silence develop between them.
Then, she said softly, “I’m glad you see music that way. It is how I think of it as well.” She exhaled a small breath and asked, “What types of instruments do you have on Luxiria?”
Kirov smiled, tilting his head up to look at the silver moon before he looked at her. “You will see when you come to Troxva.”
She raised her brow. “Oh really?” she drawled.
