FOURTEEN
Cara woke to the tips of Devix’s claws tracing her bare hip bone. He was careful not to leave a single mark on her skin, but the tingling sensation was so delicious that Cara arched into him, smiling, sleepy.
“Tervax rixa,” he purred and Cara laughed, remembering their conversation about ‘good morning.’
Her alien was exceedingly charming, she was discovering. And she was more than a tiny bit obsessed with him, especially when he looked at her like she was pure gold and when he gave her mind-blowing orgasms that made her see more stars than they passed in their spaceship.
She would almost be happy. If only her soreness from their training sessions didn’t remind her that her little ‘honeymoon’ would soon be coming to an end. Reality would come crashing back in, bursting her hazy bubble that she’d constructed around her and Devix.
It had been nice while it lasted, she mused, surprisingly level-headed about the whole situation, considering she had no idea what awaited her with this Azatian.
Her thoughts made her smile melt off her face and she sighed, snuggling deeper into his side. They were sprawled together. Devix was naked, as was she, and her eyes traced over the numerous scars etched into his skin. She’d meant to ask him how he received every one, but Cara didn’t think they had enough time for that now.
“What is this for?” he rumbled, running the pad of his index finger over the frown lines carved between her brows. Then he traced her lips, which were probably downturned. “And this?”
“Day five,” was what she replied. “One more and that makes six.”
Six days…the timeline he’d given her for when the Azatian expected her. For when Devix, her kind and gruff captor, who seemed more like a friend, was supposed to deliver her. To drop her off in a strange place and never look back.
And Cara couldn’t even be mad about it, she found. It just made her sad, but not angry. He’d told her from the beginning, straight up, what would happen to her. In a way, she appreciated his honesty. It gave her time to prepare mentally.
But damn, it was beginning to hurt more and more.
“Luxiva,” he murmured. “Turn around.”
Cara’s brow furrowed at the odd request, but she did as he asked until she faced the large, floor-to-ceiling panel of glass that allowed her to glimpse into space. Her first day on the spaceship, she’d spent the majority of her time in that very room, looking out that very window, in awe but also terrified.
And there, she saw it.
A planet. Still in the distance, but she could see it was large, with swirling colors of green and light grey.
Dread pooled in her stomach, making her want to vomit.
“We’re here already,” she whispered. “Azatia.”
“Nix,” he murmured into her ear. His arms wrapped around her front, just under her breasts and even then, Cara didn’t want to push him away. She still wanted to feel his warmth next to her, even when he was showing her her future. His horns tangled in her hair, surprisingly intimate, as he said quietly, “That is Rozun.”
Cara froze, a small breath escaping her. “What?”
“Rozun,” he repeated, his voice rumbly and deep. “My home.”
Immediately, she flipped in his arms, heart pounding, but she tried to keep her hope tamped down. If she finally allowed hope to creep in, only to have it stomped out again, it would ruin her that time.
Cara’s eyes searched his own, but they were so damned unreadable. “What does this mean?”
“I am not taking you to Sarkon,” he told her, lips set in a straight line.
“Like…ever?”
Those lips quirked slightly. “Never.”
Cara sucked in a breath, hardly daring to believe it.
“When…when did you…?” she tried to ask, her thoughts racing a mile a minute.
“Two spans ago, I set an alternate course for Rozun.”
“Two days ago…” she said, trailing off. That was before they had ever been intimate. But it was right after she’d accused him of not being a villain he thought he was.
He’d changed, she remembered. Something about him had changed after that night. Had it been this? Had it been his decision to bring her to Rozun and not to Sarkon?
She’d always been right about him.
He said, although hesitantly, “Luxirian crystals are scarce, Cara. It may take some time to acquire one to take you to the Fourth Quadrant, but I vow to you that I will try to find you passage, so that you may return to the life you were stolen from if you wish.”
Cara expected elation to swarm her at his words. And she did experience an intense longing for Earth, for her home, her friends. What she hadn’t expected to feel was a sharp pang of loss at the thought of leaving him.
“But it will take a while,” she said, swallowing past the tightness in her throat. “And I’ll be with you on Rozun until then?”
“Tev, of course.”
Relief made her eyes shut for a brief moment, letting that thought settle deep inside, soothing the uncertainty that still lingered.
“I hardly know what to say,” she confessed, looking at him.
Devix frowned. “You are not upset by this, tev?”
“No,” she said, huffing out a brief laugh, and burrowing her face into his chest, her limbs trembling from the intense emotion coursing through her body. “I’m happy. Relieved. Overwhelmed.” She paused and glanced up at him, saying slowly, “But also a little sad, because I’ve felt trapped for so long that the possibility of freedom literally overwhelms me. And no one should ever feel that way.”
Devix sobered, his brow bone squeezing together tightly, the anguish on his features so apparent to her that it made her chest seize.
“I feel shame for the part I have played, female,” he murmured to her, stroking a hand over her forehead, pushing back a stray strand of hair. “I still have much to atone for with you, but I need you to know how sorry I am for what has happened to you, how I only added to your stress and worry.”
Cara bit her lip, touched by his apology. “I forgive you, Devix. You never lied to me about what this was. I know what was what at stake for you.” His features tightened and another realization made her stomach sink. “What is going to happen? With…Sarkon?”
Devix huffed out a breath. “He may try to find us.”
Cara processed the information, but kept her emotions steady in her breast. “And if he finds us?”
He turned his gaze to her and finally, she could read him. In his eyes, she saw his ferocity, an intensity that stole her breath and made her realize that…he would do anything to keep her safe. A strange realization, but she knew it was true.
“I will allow no harm to come to you, luxiva. Ever,” he rasped. “Believe me in this, if nothing else.”
Cara licked her lips, feeling something stir in her chest.
“I do believe that.” And it was the truth.
* * *
“Hiding your face will draw more attention, female,” Devix assured her, when she offered to wear the same cloak she’d worn when he’d first encountered her.
“Okay,” she sighed, but her features betrayed her relief. “Whatever you say.”
His female was dressed in her training leg coverings and a dark tunic that reached her upper thighs. It was the smallest one he could find on the vessel and she’d altered it so it wasn’t so large around her chest, something Devix approved of.
“I’m a little nervous,” she admitted, as the elevator tube lowered them to the bottom level, the only access point off his vessel. He’d landed it in the north docking bay on Rozun, the farthest one from his home towards the south. Perhaps it would throw off Sarkon, or the scouts he would send in his stead, who weren’t always the most intelligent.
“Do not be, luxiva. This will be your home,” he told her, before another thought occurred. He added, “For the immediate present, at the very least.”
Cara glanced at him and nodded slowly. She was pressed into his side and he had an arm wrapped around her waist. It was part of his plan to make it apparent to any beings that saw them that she was his mate. And a universal truth that extended to most species was that no one ever fucked with a Luxirian and his mate, unless they cherished a slow and painful death.
His mate’s footsteps were steady beside him as they walked down the narrow hallway and Devix activated the ramp so they could disembark.
The north docking bay was always empty, save for a few fuel hands milling around. Considering it was the furthest docking bay from the colony’s center, not many journeyed there. As they stepped from the vessel, only one fuel hand approached, the being’s gaze darting briefly to his mate before looking up at Devix.
“A gilvex of fuel,” Devix told him in the Rozian language, which was a mixture of many. It was a language that had been difficult at first to pick up, but Devix had learned eventually, forgoing a language implant because one didn’t exist for Rozian. He jerked his horns back towards the vessel. “How much for docking?”
“A cential,” the fuel hand replied, a creature whose planet resided in the Second Quadrant, but Devix couldn’t remember the name of.
Devix paid him, pleased the being never looked back at his female. That was what he appreciated about Rozun. There were too many species living on the colony that if a new one appeared, no one raised a single question.
“Let us depart,” he murmured softly down to his female, tugging her closer, once they were out of hearing range.
“That was kind of sexy,” she whispered up at him. “You speaking another language.”
Devix huffed out a breath, feeling those words in his cock. “I speak many languages, female.”
“What was his species called?” she asked, briefly glancing back over her shoulder at the being they just left.
“I cannot recall,” he said honestly.
“What did you talk about?”
“He told me the price for fuel and the fee for docking.”
“Hmmm. Does…does anyone speak English here?” she questioned, raising her eyes to him. They were almost at the doors of the docking bay. Outside, there would be a transport craft he’d rent.
Devix thought about it, but figured it was unlikely. “Your species is newly discovered, luxiva,” he told her. “Most who live here are uninterested in receiving language implants, so I would not think so.”
“Oh,” she murmured, seeming disappointed by what he’d just said.
Devix could understand that it felt strange to realize not many spoke one’s language. “I can teach you Rozian,” he offered. If she accompanied him to the markets, she would need to know a few phrases.
Cara perked up at that. “Is that what you just spoke?”
“Tev.”
“And is tev Rozian…or Luxirian?” she questioned, smiling a little.
Devix’s hand squeezed her hip, feeling her lush curves underneath his palm. He was pleased to discover that she’d regained some of the weight she’d lost at the Pit.
“It is Luxirian.”
“And will you teach me some Luxirian as well?”
His throat went tight, affection warming his chest, an odd sensation that he’d only ever experienced for members of his family unit. “Tev, if you wish.”
They stepped through the docking bay doors and Cara gasped.
Devix took his eyes off her to view the landscape of Rozun. He tried to remember what he first thought of it when he’d first seen it, but couldn’t. Instead, he tried to see it through her own eyes.
Rozun was rich with plant life, with wild, and untamed vegetation that stretched across most of the planet. The actual colony itself, where the markets and shops and center lay, was towards the south. Devix could see the high, stone buildings, reinforced with black metal, where the Rozian council sometimes met.
The soil was soft and its color was light grey beneath their feet. It was still early dawn, but the air was humid yet cool. And the sky was unlike anything he’d ever seen. He didn’t appreciate the beauty and calm of Rozun nearly enough.
“It’s beautiful,” she breathed. “And the sky! It looks like the northern lights.”
Devix tilted his head back to watch the swirling colors of green and blue and silver. It only appeared that way at dawn and dusk.
“It looks like this on Earth?” he wondered.
“Only in certain places,” she replied, eyes rapt on the sky. “And only during certain times of the year.”
“Do you like it?” he couldn’t help but ask, wondering if she could like living there.
“From what I’m seeing right now,” she started, tearing her gaze away from the sky to look at him, “yes.”
Devix purred, eager to get her to his home…to their home. He needed to taste her again. He’d grown addicted to his little mate and needed his next fix.
“Are you ready, female?” he asked, leading her over to a transport craft.
It would be a long journey to his dwelling, not just distance wise, but because Devix wanted to be careful. No being on Rozun knew where he lived and he intended to keep it that way. They would need to take multiple transport crafts and then walk on foot to where he’d stashed his own before they could finish their journey. But first, they would need to buy supplies at the market, especially since he wanted his female to have a good, fresh meal.
“Yes,” she murmured, squeezing her hand, which was wrapped around his forearm.
He marveled at her bravery. It was a frightening thing, confronting a new place, especially when she’d told him humans had yet to discover that other beings existed in the universe. He couldn’t even imagine what must be running through her mind. But his luxiva was strong and she made him proud to stand beside her.
Cara smiled up at him, taking a deep breath, and said, “Let’s go.”