TWENTY-ONE
It was just a few days later when that other shoe finally dropped.
They’d just returned from a long afternoon at the market, the transport craft loaded down with supplies that Devix had spoiled her with. Throughout the afternoon, she’d kept her eyes peeled for a potential area to open a small restaurant. And she thought she’d found the perfect place.
Her favorite spot had been located towards the quieter edge of the market. An old, run-down, and vacant stall that Devix had told her used to be owned by one of the largest game suppliers on Rozun. When he’d died, however, the stall had shut down and no one had taken it over. Devix told her he thought it was because it wasn’t in a prime location, too far from the bustle of the marketplace where most vendors captured the majority of their customers.
But to Cara it was perfect. A sturdy stall with a large enough overhang for a makeshift roof. She could put tables and chairs just beneath it, like an open patio, a more peaceful place to eat when market-goers needed a reprieve. It would only seat maybe ten, if she could fit the tables just right, but it was small enough for her first venture, just to test out whether her business would be well-received.
All the way back home, she’d thought about that stall. And ideas started swarming her mind so quickly that she’d pulled out her spare parchment and wrote them all down so she wouldn’t forget. By the time they were home, she had five pages of crammed, tiny notes and she was buzzing with excitement.
Now that she had a potential location in mind, it seemed more real to her. Attainable.
And at her first opportunity, once all the supplies were unloaded, she pounced on Devix to show him just how happy she was.
Afterwards, with trembling limbs and tingling from multiple orgasms, she’d lounged in bed with her male and pressed her cheek to his chest to listen to his heartbeat, reassuring and strong. He was purring steadily, stroking his fingertips down her back all the way down to the swell of her ass before venturing upwards.
But something seemed off to her.
“You’ve been quiet,” she murmured.
He’d seemed distracted for most of the afternoon, after he spoke with a tall, broad alien he knew at the marketplace. Cara wondered if it was because he was worried about Sarkon in such a public place or if it was something else.
Devix grunted and turned his head to look at her. She couldn’t count how many times they’d done this, just lying together, being with each other.
“Tell me,” she whispered. “Who did you talk to at the market and what did you talk about?”
Devix stilled. He continued to stroke down her back until his hand paused and then he lifted up on his elbow to look down at her.
Cara watched him carefully, the high of that afternoon slowly fading, dread replacing it.
“He was a trader I have known for many rotations,” Devix murmured. “He lives on Rozun but he has connections off planet.”
“Okay,” she said slowly, waiting.
Devix’s lips tightened briefly but then he said, “I vowed to you on my vessel that I would try to find you passage to Earth, whatever it took, so that you might return to the home you were stolen from. To give you your choice back, which was taken from you.”
“Dev…” Cara trailed off.
“The male knows of another trader who travels to the Fourth Quadrant. This trader comes to Rozun every lunar cycle to deliver fuel. I asked the male to contact me when he does the next drop.”
Cara searched his eyes, his words lodging in her chest like stones. She hadn’t expected the reaction she felt. And she certainly hadn’t expected to want to cry…and not the good kind of tears.
Suddenly, she was questioning everything.
And she couldn’t help but be…hurt.
Because she was now wondering if Devix had always expected her being there to be a temporary arrangement, whether she’d misread the situation between them.
“Cara,” he said, trying to capture her attention.
Jesus, she’d been thinking about opening up a goddamn restaurant all week, making plans in her mind for their future…and Devix, at the first opportunity, had asked an acquaintance about getting her back home.
Did he want to get rid of her that quickly?
It was all too much. And she’d gotten in too deep and she’d realized it too late.
She was lying there in ‘their’ bed, his cum still inside her, his scent all over her body, and she felt like she was the verge of heartbreak at the thought that he might want her gone.
She felt like a fool.
And that was when she realized…she was a pleasure mate to him. Just a pleasure mate. This was exactly how he’d described it to her: a lover with no promises, no expectations.
Well, he’d made her no promises, except that he’d help her search for a way home.
“I—I need some air,” she murmured, sliding out of bed before he could touch her. Quickly, she slipped on her shift dress lying at the base of the bed.
“Luxiva,” Devix said, his feet already on the floor.
“No, please, I just need to think. Alone. I won’t go far,” she said softly, not looking at him, before darting out of the room.
In a daze, she walked out of the house, drawing deep lungfuls of Rozian air, trying to clear her head. Her feet took her in the direction of the valley and she knew the way by heart, since Devix had taken her there almost everyday.
Tears stung her eyes, blurring the path.
What had she truly expected to happen? That she would just live there, on Rozun, happily running her restaurant, doing what she loved, with the male she loved?
The sex had messed with her brain, she decided. And now, she had so many questions, so many doubts.
Just thinking back to earlier that afternoon, when she’d asked Devix about the vacant stall, when she’d actually thought she could build something there…it made her feel so, so stupid.
Cara walked faster, wiping away the tears that fell to her cheeks. How did such a good day take such a dramatic turn?
She was halfway to the valley when she heard the footsteps behind her.
Cara shook her head, staring straight ahead, not breaking her pace. “Devix, I told you I wanted to be alone.”
“Unfortunately, my pet,” a voice rasped from behind her, “you are far from alone.”
She froze, her heart chilling and goosebumps breaking out over her skin at the unrecognizable, hissing, crawling voice. When she whirled around, three alien males were only a couple meters from her.
And she knew who they were.
Azatians.
She recognized their similar forms to the hologram on Devix’s spaceship. The same reptilian features, the same tail jutting from behind, the same red medallion protecting their glowing, blue hearts under slightly transparent flesh.
The Azatian in the middle stepped forward and she gasped, stumbling back against one of the pillerva trees.
His nostrils flared and his slitted eyes narrowed even further. “I see my mercenary has been mating what belongs to me. I did not expect him to succumb to you, but it seems he is not above betrayal, that exiled filth,” he spat, his pupils flaring.
Sarkon.
Cara flinched and felt around the tree, never taking her eyes off of him.
“How did you find us?” she asked, her voice surprisingly steady even though her heart was trying to beat its way out of her chest.
“I sent out my scouts at the bazaar,” he said, tilting his head back to the two Azatians that accompanied him. “We have been searching for spans. One discovered you and alerted me. We followed you here,” Sarkon looked around, his distaste obvious.
“Devix isn’t far,” she told them when they started forward at Sarkon’s beckoning, trying to corral her like a wild animal. Her gaze darted from each one before settling on Sarkon. “He won’t let you take me.”
“We will be quick, my pet. He will not even realize you are gone.”
Run, run, run, her instinct screamed. That was what Devix had taught her. He’d told her there was no shame in running, if it kept her safe. Then her mind remembered…the hatch down to the safe room! It wasn’t far. If she outran them, she’d be able to reach it. She could lock it from the inside.
Sarkon lunged for her without warning, so similar to what Devix had done in the training room on the spaceship. And her body reacted, recognizing the maneuver and she managed to evade him.
It gave her just enough time.
As loud as she possibly could, she screamed, hoping that the sound would carry and echo through the trees towards Devix.
Sarkon bit out something in his language, an ugly word.
And then she ran.
Behind her, in the distance, she heard Devix’s roar. It filled the forest and a sharp prick of relief bit her heart.
* * *
Devix’s blood froze, his hand pausing on the lacings of his leg coverings, just about to follow his mate, despite her wishes.
The dull sound of her scream reached his ears and the purest sensation of fear and dread ate at the lining of his belly.
He roared, his body launching itself into action, hitting the end of the hallway so hard that a piece of the wall crumbled away.
He burst through the front door and the hinges tore off, but he didn’t care. His only thought was reaching his mate, keeping her safe from whatever or whoever was threatening her.
That was when he scented them.
Azatians.
Their metallic scent filled the air and he roared again, his Instinct pushing to the forefront of his mind, his senses sharpening. Then he scented Sarkon. He was there, somewhere. He had come for her, had somehow tracked them all the way out here, despite his precautions.
Devix followed his employer’s familiar scent, tearing through the forest as he desperately tried to reach his female, pushing his body to its fullest capacity.
It seemed like an eternity and Devix was lost in the darkness of his rage and fear, which only made the distance seem longer.
But finally, he came upon two Azatians in a clearing where Cara’s scent was most concentrated.
“Where is she?” he growled, coming for them.
They didn’t answer, which he’d expected. Most Azatian scouts had their tongues removed from an early age, so as not to reveal their master’s secrets. Instead, they launched themselves at him, both at the same time, baring sharpened blades of Azatian steel. Devix had no weapon, but it didn’t matter.
He was a Luxirian warrior, whose fated mate was in danger.
The Azatians had no chance of survival. He dispatched of them without hesitation, his claws tearing through their armor with a ferocity that surprised even him. He squeezed their hearts in his fists and Sarkon’s scouts dropped, eyes widened in disbelief, dead before they hit the Rozian soil of his land.
It had taken him less than a moment to kill them and then he was moving again. Sarkon’s scent was ahead and that was when Devix realized Cara was heading towards the valley…towards the escape quarters he’d built.
His relief was short-lived. He knew that Cara could outrun Sarkon for a short period of time, but he worried that her leg would begin to fail her. If Sarkon caught her before Devix could reach her…
He didn’t want to think about it. Instead, he pushed his body harder, desperate to protect her, desperate to hold her safe in his arms.
Nothing would keep him from her.
And he almost felt sorry for Sarkon, but his death was imminent from the moment he stepped foot on Rozun. Because any male that threatened his female would journey to the blackworld. His only regret was that he hadn’t realized they’d been tracked earlier. He’d been too distracted by the possibility that his female would choose to return home.
Devix shook his head with a growl. Nix, he decided. He would convince her to stay. But only after she was safe and out of Sarkon’s reach forever. Only when she was protected and warm and in his arms once more.
When he burst from the edge of the pillerva forest, he froze, a rough growl tearing from his throat.
Because Sarkon had his female. They were steps away from the hidden door of the hatch and she was struggling against him, trying to break free. Her back was to Sarkon’s front, a position she’d been in with Devix during their training many, many times.
Only this time, Sarkon had an Azatian blade to her throat.
When Sarkon saw him, when Cara’s tear-streaked gaze met his own, a strange calm settled over him. He channeled the training he’d received as a warrior, an old saying floating into his mind. That emotion was good during battle, but only when controlled. Otherwise, emotion was deadly.
He needed to be in control for his luxiva.
So, even though it was the most difficult thing he’d ever experienced, even worse than his exile or his rotations on Petrika, Devix waited for Sarkon’s next move.
More importantly, he waited for his opportunity.