NINE

Cecelia woke abruptly when Rixavox hoisted her up in his arms.

Her throat felt scratchy and her eyes stung when she blinked them open.  She saw that it was dark outside, even though she’d assumed they would be arriving at their destination around the middle of the afternoon.  Overhead, she saw black clouds, fogging the sky.  For a moment, she thought something was wrong.  Why was it so dark?

But then she heard Rixavox murmur down to her, “We have arrived at Velraxa, female.  I did not mean to wake you.”

Cecelia tried to shake the fog that wrapped around her sleepy brain, but found that her body relaxed even more at Rixavox’s voice.  For once, she didn’t question why she reacted this way with him.  She didn’t know why his presence was a comfort, like a warm blanket on a snowy winter day.  Instead, she accepted it, if only for a little while.  She was just too tired to fight it.

She perceived him walking.  She felt the vibration of his strong stride in her back.  She was cradled in his arms and she let herself rest her forehead against his chest.

It was cold, she realized belatedly, but his body was warm.  He’d draped a heavy fur over her and she snuggled more deeply inside, letting her eyes flutter closed.  She lolled in and out of sleep, only half awake, dreaming for brief stretches before resurfacing.

Suddenly, she heard a creak, like a heavy oak door being opened on rusty hinges.  When she opened her eyes, she saw it wasn’t an oak door, but a stone one.  Rixavox shouldered it open and then shoved it closed when they stepped across the threshold.

It was dark, wherever they were.  The air felt still, like it had been waiting.  Rixavox tinkered with something in the entryway and then a gentle golden glow illuminated the room.  Cecelia squinted against the light, but saw that they were in a house.  Rixavox’s house?

It must be, she decided, eyelids lowering again.  The house smelled like him and she couldn’t stop herself from taking a deep lungful of air.  It smelled so wonderful that it made her dizzy.

He began walking again.  While it was still chilly inside the house, it was much, much warmer than the outside.

“Is this where you live?” she found herself whispering, trapped once again between sleep and reality.

“Tev,” was the response she received.

“Do you live here alone?”

A slight pause, before he said, “Tev.”

“I figured,” she murmured back.

“Why?” he asked softly, more softly than she’d ever heard his voice.

“Because it’s much too quiet.”

He didn’t say anything to that and she slipped back under for a brief moment.  She woke again when Rixavox lowered her body onto a comfortable fur-lined pallet on the floor of what she could only assume was a bedroom.  And, strangely enough, once again, she didn’t feel threatened.  She felt it in her chest that he wouldn’t do anything to her.  It was maddening, but she physically felt the truth of it.  An odd sensation…

“Frixavir,” he said down to her, his voice gruffer now.  She felt his broad, calloused palm stroke her forehead once.  “Rest, Sessela,” he translated.

As if Rixavox controlled her body, she did as he commanded.

*     *     *

Rixavox sat on the edge of his sleeping platform, his knees tucked against his chest, watching his luxiva, his fated mate, sleep.  Nothing had ever felt more right.  Nothing had ever felt so natural.

Yet, he couldn’t touch her.  Not in the way he wanted.  She would be his ward only, to protect and to heal, until she was returned safely to the Golden City.  Here, she slept on his sleeping platform, her dark hair against the soft furs of beasts he’d hunted himself, her scent mingling with his own, his Instinct on the verge of madness, and he could only watch from a distance.

Perhaps it wasn’t so natural after all.  Perhaps this was the most unnatural thing he’d ever experienced.

She’d spoken to him as he’d carried her to his quarters.  She said it was quiet, that he must live alone.  He didn’t know why those words struck something in him.  He had never given too much thought about his mostly solitary life, interrupted only by pleasure partners and battles and long journeys to and from the Golden City.

Yes, his dwelling had always seemed quiet to him.  He thought that he hadn’t minded.  But having his luxiva in his home—their home—was…something indescribable.  It was something he thought he’d never experience.  It was a…fullness, an answer to a long-asked question.

Even though Rixavox wished to watch over her as she slept, he knew he had matters to attend to, like informing Vaxa’an that he’d arrived back at Velraxa.  He’d also promised to contact Privanax.  He would let his luxiva rest for now, but later that night, they would travel to the Rillirax, the sacred pools of the northern lands to begin her cleansing.

The sooner, the better, he thought, touching her forehead once more.  She seemed warm.  Too warm.  With regret, he drew the furs away from her, hating that she would feel the bitter cold that seeped into the dwelling.  But her body was overheated.  He couldn’t risk it.

It was harder than he expected to leave her side and he did so with gritted teeth and a furious Instinct.  But he had a duty…and he’d never hated that duty more fiercely than in that moment.

First, he informed the Velraxa inhabitants that he had returned through the Coms.  When the suns rose the next span, he would hold a council for any Luxirians that wished to voice a problem or concern, which he did every half lunar cycle.  While no Luxirian could disturb him at his dwelling without invitation, at least his outpost would know that he was in residence once more.  As per Vaxa’an’s orders, he intended to keep Sessela’s presence a secret.  All the outposts already knew of Vaxa’an’s human fated mate.  There had been unrest in some outposts, mostly by warriors, old and young, who did not believe that they should pollute the strong Luxirian blood.

The unrest had been dealt with swiftly, but Rixavox feared that the animosity still remained among a few.  The other concern was that desperate Luxirians would try to force a fated bonding.  Luxirian females, those that survived the Plague, could no longer bear young.  Their race was in the midst of a precarious time in their long history.  Many males, Rixavox included, had abandoned the thought of siring young.  Unless their researchers found a cure for their females infertility, no full-blooded Luxirian would ever be born again.

Many struggled with this fact, evidenced by the small rebellions that Vaxa’an had had to crush already.  The rebellions wouldn’t change their new reality.  Luxirians would need to adapt, to continue their race with another species, or they would die out.  It was simple.

Not for the first time, Rixavox imagined young.  Children were a possibility now, an unfathomable thought.

Nix, he berated himself again.  He should not entertain hopes that depended on many outcomes.  Siring young with his mate was a distant dream, a fantasy.  She could still choose to leave Luxiria, after all, once she was healed.

With a growl, Rixavox paced the floor next to his fire pit.  When he felt calm enough again, when he banished the fear that his luxiva might not accept him, he made contact with Vaxa’an and Privanax, informing them both of their successful journey and his plans for Sessela.  Afterwards, he contacted the small Velraxa council for any updates while he’d been away.

Besides a small scuffle over a higher priced fur in the bazaar, nothing too concerning had happened, which was a relief.  His priority was Sessela’s health and now he would be able to dedicate more of his time to her if Velraxa was running smoothly.

Outside his dwelling, over the loud shrill of the winds, he heard the faint hum of a hovercraft landing on the terrace.

Vrax, he cursed silently, striding to the door.  If it was who he thought it was, there was a chance his luxiva would be discovered.

Levrix was waiting for him when he forced open his door, feeling a slash of wind hit his face.  Levrix brushed past him before Rixavox could turn her away.

“I will not entertain you,” Rixavox said in Luxirian quietly, feeling annoyance claw up his chest.  Not an unfamiliar feeling when Levrix was involved, but usually it was drowned by mating lust.

“Why not?” Levrix asked, cocking her head to the side.  She was beautiful, one of about eighty remaining Luxirian females within mating age.  While Rixavox had always told her that a mating bond was out of the question, they had still enjoyed one another’s company more often than not.  Levrix didn’t get jealous over Rixavox’s other pleasure partners either, which had worked well for their tidy arrangement.

Instead of the usual intrigue and sizzle of attraction he felt for her, all he felt now was a slight sickness, a dread.  His Instinct was physically repelled by the scent of another female.

Fates, he thought, shaking his head.  This is my reality now.  The only female in his life would be the human sleeping just a short distance away.

Unable to help himself, Rixavox’s gaze flickered to the hallway that led to his sleeping quarters.  Levrix caught the look before he could avert his eyes.

“You already have a female warming your furs?” Levrix questioned.

Rixavox’s jaw ticked.  He was completely thrown off guard and unsure how to handle this situation.  He should’ve anticipated that at least one of his pleasure partners would come seek him out.  He had never turned away a female before, after all.  But his thoughts had been completely on his newfound luxiva that he had thought of little else, which was so unlike him.  It was his duty as a war general to think of all possible outcomes.

Levrix was an honorable female, who he had known for many, many rotations.  He trusted her, even though they’d had their differences.  Even if he knew that she would not expose Sessela if he asked her not to, Rixavox knew he didn’t want to risk it.

“You need to leave,” he murmured.  “I apologize, but you cannot be here.”

Levrix’s face morphed into surprise.  “Is this a jest?”

“No.”

“What is this, Rixavox?” she demanded, her voice rising.  “You would turn me away for another female you have in your furs?  We have known each other for a long time.  This is an insult.”

If Levrix knew that the female warming his furs was in fact his fated female, she would not be so brash.  Even Luxirian females knew that there was no competing with a luxiva.  The females honored their ways, just as much as males did.

Impatience coursed through him.  He worried that Levrix might wake Sessela if she continued like this.  And his female needed to rest before they began the cleansing process.

“Lower your voice, female,” he said gruffly, his Instinct bristling.

Levrix glared at him for a brief moment, but then her gaze dipped to his leg coverings.  When she saw his hardened cock—which was erect only because of his luxiva and not for the Luxirian female standing in front of him—her demeanor changed completely.  She stepped towards him.

“Is this another of your games?” she murmured, her voice ending with a soft purr that would make an unattached male cum in his leg coverings.  “I brought tevvax specifically for your return to Velraxa.  I thought we could partake it together, but I will share you with the other female if you like.  We have done that before.”

She was wearing a thick fur coat that had protected her on the journey over, but Rixavox saw she was nude underneath when she slipped it off her shoulders.  It fell heavy on the floor of his dwelling.  Her mating scent, which had always aroused him before, only served to sicken him.  Not to mention the jealousy that swirled in him at the mention of him sharing his female.  He would never share her with anyone.  Ever.  Nor would he ever be with another female in his entire life span, even if Sessela rejected him.  No female would ever arouse him again, except for her.  It was the Luxirian way, the Fates’ decree.

“Cover yourself, female,” Rixavox demanded, stooping down to pick up her fur.  Her heavy breasts swayed as she approached him, pressing herself against his body.

When her hand stroked his cock through his leg coverings, he cursed, feeling repulsion pool in his belly, not pleasure.  As gently as he could, he tried to disentangle her from him without hurting her.

“Stop, Levrix.  Stop!” he growled.  “I meant what I said.  I want you gone.”

But just when Levrix finally began to understand that he was completely serious, he heard movement from the hallway.  His stomach lurched and his neck craned around, fearing what he might see before he ever saw her.

Sessela stood there, in her thin tunic and vulnerable bare feet.  And she was watching them, wide-eyed, shock evident on her strange, beautiful features.  Even from a distance, Rixavox watched as she took in the scene before her: a naked Luxirian female, whose hand was on his cock.  Even he knew what it looked like.

When Levrix spotted Sessela, the female stilled and then stiffened, uncharacteristically quiet.  Her eyes were just as wide as his female’s and he knew that it was the first time she’d ever seen a human.

Sessela was the first to speak, stuttering an apology as her hands fluttered around, “I—I…I’m sorry.  I just heard—never mind.  I’ll, uh, I…”

Her broken words trailed off in a strange gasping sound and she immediately turned on her heel, retreating back into their sleeping quarters.

“Vrax,” Rixavox cursed, not able to keep the word silent.

Already, he was fucking everything up.

Levrix stood in stunned silence, as quiet as he’d ever heard her.  The urge to go to his female, to explain that he had not been unfaithful to her, that it was all a misunderstanding, rode him strong.  But would she understand?  He didn’t even know for sure if humans were monogamous or not.  Perhaps she wouldn’t care…

But that thought stung more deeply than he thought it would.  He wanted her to be as possessive of him as he was of her.

He squeezed his eyes shut, plagued by conflicting emotions, before he shook himself.

Turning to Levrix, he settled her fur coat around her shoulders, shielding her nudity.  “You need to leave,” he murmured softly.  “I must attend to her.”

“She…she is a…” Levrix seemed unable to say it.

“She is human, yes,” Rixavox said.  In a low voice, he told her, “You must not tell another Luxirian that she is here.  Our Prime Leader wishes that she be protected.”  Softly, he added, “I want her protected.”

Levrix inhaled sharply through her nose and she turned her gaze from the hallway onto him.  “Her?”

Rixavox kept his jaw tightened, but he inclined his head.

“So that is why you smell different,” Levrix said softly.  “Another Luxirian male lost in the clutches of a strange other.”

Even Rixavox could see how the thought cut her.  Levrix, he knew, had wanted a family unit, had wanted to have offspring, a dedicated mate.  With the loss of her fertility, those desires were just dreams.  She could still find a mate.  But she’d wanted it all, wouldn’t settle for anything less.

Still, the word in Luxirian for ‘other’ was derogatory and his spine went straight when he heard it fall from her lips.  “You will not speak of this, Levrix.  If word gets out, I will know who it came from and I will find you.”

Her eyes narrowed and she tugged her fur up farther around her neck.  “You threaten to hurt a female?  Perhaps you are more like your blood brother than I thought.”

His heart stopped in his chest, ice infusing in his veins.  “Never hurt a female, no,” he rasped.  “But the law is the law.  You will not disobey an Ambassador, especially when my orders are the Prime Leader’s.  Even a female cannot escape that consequence.”

She stared at him for a long while and then seemed to deflate.  Her head bowed and she murmured, “Forgive me.  I did not mean…I know you are not like your brother, Rixavox.  You have been my friend for many rotations now.  I spoke in anger and shock and I feel shame.”

“You are forgiven, Levrix,” Rixavox sighed.  “I wish…you know I wish only the best for you.”

Levrix’s eyes flickered the hallway entrance once more and she backed away.  “I will leave.”  Rixavox said nothing and opened the door to his dwelling for her.  When she turned back, she asked quietly, “Will you let me meet her?  Once she is settled?”

“I do not know if that is wise,” Rixavox said honestly.

“Think on it.  She might need a companion.”

Rixavox jerked his head in a nod, if only to quicken her departure.  He itched to speak with his luxiva.  “I will think on it.”

Levrix stepped back, inclined her head, and then turned away to approach her hovercraft.  Rixavox waited until she safely departed his terrace and then he shouldered closed his door, latched it, and immediately spun to approach his sleeping quarters…unsure of what to expect.