by Zoey Draven
“And which Fate do you pray to?” she asked. He knew what she assumed. That he was among those who still sought bloodshed, given Oxandri’s mark in his flesh.
“I have not prayed to the Fates in a long while,” he confessed, turning to look across the Lopitax Sea. “But when I did, I prayed to Kollasor. As my mother did.”
“And which Fate is Kollasor?” she asked quietly.
His eyes burned into hers as he murmured, “The Fate of Rebirth.”
Something flickered in her eyes. Relief?
“So the Mevirax rebelled because they wanted to return to the old ways? They wanted to conquer, to extend their power across the universe, because they were not satisfied with peace?”
Jaxor inclined his head. “You must understand that there has been a long history between the two sides. The modern and the old ways. The rebellion was always going to happen. Many had happened before, even, but Likar proved to be a capable and strong leader. He was determined and driven to create a people who could prosper without the aid of the Golden City. And he did.”
“How many of them are there?” she asked quietly.
“Hundreds now,” he said, inhaling a long breath.
Erin hesitated, but he knew what she would ask next. “And do you consider yourself one of them?”
His hands dug into the black sand behind him, the grit digging into his palms.
“Once,” he confessed. “I sought them out when I left the Golden City. I wanted revenge against the Jetutians, as many did. That hatred fueled me for a long time and I knew that the Mevirax would understand that need for violence.”
Erin touched his arm. Just one simple touch. As he spoke, he hadn’t realized the way his muscles had bunched tight, but she helped relax him.
“But I realized my mistake, perhaps too late,” he told her, not looking at her. “They were not what I believed they were. Likar had created a place for his people, tev, but they had descended into rage. They were unpredictable. They had no weapons, or technology, no means of transportation or space flight. Nothing. Without those things, war—revenge—was impossible.”
But they had those things now. And it was perhaps Jaxor’s own fault, though he hated to admit it. It had been a harmless, frustrated remark, made in the presence of Tavar about three rotations into his leadership. War with the Jetutians had always been the common ground between him and the Mevirax, though they’d had no means of bringing the Jetutians there.
Jaxor had thought that in luring the Jetutians to Luxiria, perhaps the Golden City—and his brother—would finally realize the threat they posed, entering their atmosphere at will. Perhaps then, his brother would declare war and use their vast resources to take their revenge.
The comment Jaxor had made while he’d been in talks with Tavar had been just that…why not lure the Jetutians here instead of trying to acquire a spaceship to meet them on their own planet?
Unbeknownst to Jaxor, Tavar had begun to think of how to do just that. And his answer had been the one thing Luxiria was known for, a resource prized across the universe.
Luxirian crystals.
The Caves of the Pevrallix were riddled with them.
“The leader of the Mevirax now is a male named Tavar,” he told Erin. “The youngest son of Likar. It was under his guidance that the Mevirax were able to contact the Jetutians, to gain access to technology and weapons.”
“How?” she asked quietly.
“There are those even in the Golden City that are sympathetic to the Mevirax’s beliefs. Even in the command center. One such male there was able to contact the Jetutians with the promise of Luxirian crystals and allow their vessel to enter our atmosphere undetected while Tavar met with them on the surface.”
Realization was spreading across her face. But then she looked down in her lap and said, “And were those the crystals that allowed them and the Krevorags to travel to Earth?”
Dread churned in his belly, but he didn’t want to lie to her. “Tev.”
“I see,” she whispered, raking a hand through her hair, blowing out a small breath. “Tell me what happened next.”
This was where he needed to tread carefully. He hated that he needed to, but too much was at stake.
“I left the Mevirax five rotations ago. Most held radical and dangerous beliefs, Tavar most of all. So I left. I journeyed from the Cave of the Pevrallix and made my way here. I settled here, building my home slowly over the rotations. I trade with outposts, I scavenge for spare parts, I make traps…I survive.”
“It’s a hard way of life,” she noted. “A choice not many would make if there were other options.”
His lips pressed together. He could have lived at one of the outposts, but the Ambassadors would not have welcomed him, given their relationship with his blood brother. Even now, he snuck in and out, keeping a low profile. Most had forgotten his face over time, had forgotten the spare heir to the throne of Luxiria. His only real danger would have been if he’d come face-to-face with any of the Ambassadors—Lihvan, Rixavox, Vikan, Kirov, Cruxan—males he’d known well during warrior training.
“But even being out here, being away from them, you still meet with the Mevirax. You still communicate with them,” she continued.
Jaxor blew out a breath, knowing he would have to lie to her. Hating the churning in his gut at the thought of it.
“I meet with them to try to get information,” he said. A partial lie, then. A half-truth. “Because if I truly believe that they are close to endangering the whole of Luxiria, I will return to the Golden City myself and tell the Prime Leader. But for now, they are no great threat.”
She seemed to buy his answer, which only made the guilt so much worse. It was unnatural to lie to a mate. To keep things hidden. His Instinct was punishing him enough for it, the way it prowled in his chest and beat at his mind.
“And us? Were you planning to trade Crystal and me to them?”
She was looking at him, straight in the eye. She would believe him, whatever he told her. He could see her desire to trust him, and that nearly broke him down completely, nearly made him want to confess all so they could begin anew. Would she even want that?
“At first,” he found himself saying. Another half-truth? “They knew of your presence in the Golden City. They had planned to ransom you to the Prime Leader in exchange for technology they did not yet possess. That was all.”
Her lips parted. He hated the dawning of understanding that entered her gaze. Jaxor had never hated himself more than in that moment, a terrible, horrific feeling when just moments before, he believed he’d never been happier.
Wrong, wrong, wrong, his mind screamed.
Just like he was. Wrong in the head and wrong in the heart.
“And what was in it for you?”
“I had worked so long to gain their trust. They asked this of me, as a test. They needed to believe I was loyal to them, or else I would not have been privy to their plans.”
“You were a spy,” she said, tilting her head to the side.
Jaxor couldn’t look her in the eye. “It was what they asked of me,” he finally said, feeling the lies growing and growing in his mind.
A part of him couldn’t help but wonder if, when his rixella found out the truth—because eventually she would—she would ever be able to look at him again.
“But you didn’t go through with it,” she said, hope tinging her tone.
He swallowed. “Nix.”
“When they came that night in the forest, you kept me hidden from them.”
The guilt was making it difficult to breathe. He didn’t say anything. For all his faults, that night, he wouldn’t have been able to hand her over. Not when so much had changed, not when so much was uncertain.
Perhaps he did need to start praying to Kollasor again. Because after this, he might not have a soul left.
Erin sighed when he didn’t answer. She surprised him by brushing back a strand of hair that fell across his forehead. When he could finally
meet her gaze, she was looking at him with understanding and he wished she would look at him with disgust. After finding out about the Luxirian crystals especially, she should never want to touch him again.
“Thank you for telling me,” she said softly.
And slowly, as if he would be spooked by the movement, she leaned forward to kiss him.
Though she was sweet like the obiraxi, all Jaxor could taste was the bitterness of his lies.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Later that night, after they’d both eaten their fill of obiraxi and jerky and the crunchy tubers that Jaxor grew in his base, they retreated to the small cave. Jaxor had fixed the door after pulling it off its hinges, keeping out most of the cold once he secured it tight.
The single lantern flickered softly as Erin crawled into Jaxor’s lap and straddled his thighs.
He’d been quiet the rest of the day, after telling her about the Mevirax and his involvement with them. She’d sensed the truth in his voice. Her gut told her that he spoke the truth, that perhaps, this was his way of mending things with her. For the first time, Erin wondered if there really was something to be explored with him.
Of course, there were so many other things to consider. But that night, she just wanted to be present with him and not worry about what would come.
Sitting in his lap, she tugged her tunic over her head. It was dark enough in the cave that she didn’t feel an overwhelming sense of self-consciousness about her body, which she was aware was very different than Luxirian females. But heat flared in Jaxor’s eyes, telling her everything she needed to know.
That he desired her greatly, that he wanted her just as much as she wanted him. Things had changed between them so rapidly. The past couple days had felt like weeks together. She wondered what the next couple days would bring, the feelings that would he would stir.
Jaxor didn’t touch her though. He remained still—though she felt his cock straining in his loincloth, which she realized he mostly wore at night—and simply gazed at her bared body, at her breasts, her waist, the flare of her hips, her sex.
“You haven’t had any release today,” she murmured, leaning forward to drag her lips across his granite jaw. She heard his deep swallow, felt the way his muscles tightened. She smiled. He’d called her a temptress last night and for the first time, she actually felt like one. “Don’t you ache?”
He’d brought her to two orgasms that morning, but he’d denied himself entirely. She wondered why.
When she reached down, he bit out a quiet curse as her hand wrapped around his straining cock. His hand came to hers, his eyes a little wild.
Her lips parted, swallowing when she realized how hard he was. Heat was pouring from him and when she looked down at the tip, pre-cum shimmered there, leaking down the sides.
“You have been aching,” she whispered, raising her eyes. She almost felt ashamed that he’d been like this without her knowledge.
Even though his hips jerked when she tightened her grip, he attempted to pull her hand away.
“Rixella, I do not think we should—” Erin stroked down and up quickly, making him hiss in pleasure. “Vrax!”
He was sensitive. He needed to come, that much was obvious. It turned her on just thinking about pleasuring him.
Erin smiled, her nipples tingling, her belly fluttering with anticipation. Slowly, she stroked his cock, up and down, tightening her grip around the head and at the very base. The knobs and ridges that lined the top and bottom of his shaft felt good across her palm. She could only imagine how exquisite they would feel inside her.
He shook his head, again trying to pull her hand away. “Rixella, you do not need to do this.”
“I want to,” she corrected. “Do you want to feel how much?”
Jaxor said something in Luxirian, looking down between their bodies as she slid her sex against his cock. The heat made her moan, made her pussy clench with want and need as she left a trail of her arousal on his cock.
His expression was one of desperate disbelief when he met her eyes. He wanted this, but for some reason, he was trying to dissuade her.
“Let me make you come first, luxiva,” he said, his tone hurried and pleading.
Erin stilled. He’d called her luxiva. And this time, it wasn’t in mockery. He’d called her fated mate in his language, and he’d meant it.
Did he even realize?
“No,” she whispered, pressing her lips to his, softly stroking his tongue with her own, making him groan into her mouth. “This time, I get to make you come first.”
When she pulled back, his head fell back, resting on the stone wall of the cave, the column of his neck exposed, the strong line of his jaw even more prominent. His eyes were hooded in defeat and his abdomen clenched violently when she gave him another long, hard stroke.
“Yes?” she whispered.
His eyes closed for a brief moment. For some reason, Erin thought she caught a flash of guilt on his face, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared, making her think she’d imagined it.
“Tev,” he rasped.
She grinned in triumph as his hands finally came to her. One curled around her hip, the other toyed with one of her nipples, making her bite her bottom lip.
When the stimulation became too much, too soon, she quickly slipped off his lap and knelt between his legs, which she moved until they bracketed around her.
His eyes were burning into her, his pupils blown wide again, dilated. She threw her hair to one side, over her shoulder, and then leaned down.
Jaxor hissed when she ran her lips over his shaft, his thighs tensing around her.
She grinned. “Sensitive?” she asked, quirking a brow.
“Wicked rixella,” he murmured, though he said it like a curse.
“Yes, I am,” she whispered. And then she opened her lips and drew the head of his cock inside, sucking softly.
His bellow echoed in the cave, his hips hitching ever so slightly, though at the last moment, he stopped himself.
Erin moaned around him, her clit throbbing, arousal beginning to coat her inner thighs, and the vibration made him hiss.
This was fun. Watching such a powerful male lose control, knowing she was the cause. She tried to widen her jaw, to take as much of his cock into her mouth as she could, but he was big. Her jaw was already aching with his sheer size, but she wouldn’t let that deter her.
Her cheeks hollowed as she continued to suck, bobbing her head over his hot, thick length.
Luxirian words she didn’t know poured from him. His eyes closed when she suckled on his sensitive head, lapping at the pre-cum there, before they opened immediately, as if he needed to witness every moment of what she was doing to him. That action alone made her feel confident and sexy and desired.
It didn’t take much. Jaxor had seemingly been on edge all day, ever since that morning. Before long, a wildness entered his gaze, his throat bobbing, his jaw gritting.
She licked a line up the side of his cock, her eyes shining with desire that sizzled through her entire body. She was soaked and aching too. “Are you going to come now?”
“Tev,” he grunted. “You make me crazed, rixella.”
She squeezed her thighs together and sucked on his head, wrapping one of her fists around his base and stroking quickly.
“Ahh,” he bellowed, dragging deep lungfuls of air into his lungs. “Vrax, luxiva, I am—”
His body bucked, his muscles seeming to grow in size. She felt the way his cock grew, swelling between her lips, before hot lashes of his come began to pump inside her mouth.
A surprised noise came from her, her pussy fluttering helplessly, as he filled her. His expression was one of ecstasy, though his eyes were dark and promised revenge. Eventually, she had to pull away and his seed continued to arc from the tip of his cock, shimmering as it landed over her breasts and stomach.
Eventually, it stopped and Jaxor slumped, a deep groan echoing from him when he watched her throat bob, knowing she’d swallo
wed his seed.
His cock was still hard and Erin was still very turned on. That kind of arousal made her want to be reckless, made her want to do things she knew she shouldn’t for a variety of reasons. When she straddled his hips again, she pressed close, ignoring his seed coating the front of her body, and pleaded, “I want to feel you inside me, Jaxor. Please. I need to. I need to so much.”
Erin felt like if she didn’t get him inside her right then, she would never be satisfied. Never in her life had she ever felt this kind of crazy need. She almost felt panicked, needing him that much. Was it the Instinct’s doing?
Just as she was reaching for his cock, he rasped, “Nix.”
Frustration ate at her. “Why?” she cried.
She watched as he brought one of his hands up and tore off the pointed tips of two claws with his teeth, dulling them.
Realization made her roll her hips over him. Delicious heat was still pouring from his cock and it would be so, so easy just to feed him slowly inside her.
But Jaxor, for whatever reason, wouldn’t allow it, perhaps because he was too sensitive after coming that hard.
Instead, he placed his fingers against her sex and Erin didn’t hesitate as she rocked her hips against him, sliding down onto the claws he’d dulled for her, to prevent hurting her.
Moaning, she thrust against him. His fingers filled her, a poor replacement for his cock, but they still felt so good.
“Vrax, you are so wet, rixella,” he murmured, his brow furrowing in disbelief.
“Your cock would slide right in,” she said, still trying to persuade him in her recklessness.
He hissed out a sharp breath, as if imagining it. Instead of giving her what she wanted, however, his fingers curled ever so slightly, and her body jerked when he, perhaps unknowingly, hit her G-spot.
“Oh God,” she whispered, squeezing her eyes tight. “Yes, right there!”
She ground her hips down, fucking his fingers, pretending it was his mouth-watering cock. She still tasted his seed on her tongue. When she reached down with her hand to rub her clit, it only took a single moment before a violent orgasm was racking her body.
