Chapter 25
ELENA
We had a stack of tiles to analyze, several very serious problems to solve, and mountains of our own research awaiting our attention. But I didn’t have the heart to think about any of it.
Nova Cal’s bare walls and floors and humming machinery were cold and alien to me now. My lab had never been more devoid of life. I didn’t even want to be in it.
“Take me to the forest, Ardruc,” I said once we’d hauled our equipment back inside the station and left it all stacked in one of the empty, echoing hallways. “Get me out of here.”
He kissed me and took my hand.
We walked out the main door and down the stairs to ground level with Forux trotting along behind.
Halfway across the little clearing, Ardruc scooped me up and buried his face in my hair.
I closed my eyes and rested my head on his chest, trying to drink in his scent through my nose, my mouth, my skin—every way I could.
My body ached with both my own heartache and what I thought was the planet’s own anger and grief.
Ardruc stopped. “Elena,” he murmured. “Look.”
A soft mossy path lined with bioluminescent mushrooms and lichen led from the tree line deep into the forest. It had not been here yesterday. I was willing to bet it had only appeared after the forest had retreated from Nova Cal.
Ardruc toed off his boots, took mine off too, and left them at the edge of the clearing. He carried me down the path, his bare feet almost soundless on the soft moss.
Forux followed us for a while, then found a mossy spot in a patch of sunlight and settled in.
“He will be fine,” Ardruc said when I made a little sound of protest. “He will know where to find us.”
About fifty meters later, the mossy path ended at the threshold of a shelter with a tall, peaked roof. Vines woven between trees and branches formed the walls and roof. Warm welcome thrummed through the soil and air as we approached.
“A gift for us.” Ardruc nuzzled my hair. Chest rumbling, he carried me inside. A loose curtain of vines fell over the doorway. Narrow openings covered with leafy vines in the roof and walls allowed only slivers of daylight.
In the middle of the hut was a mound of thick blue-green moss—the same kind that had formed our little bed yesterday in the forest.
“If I did not know better,” Ardruc mused, his eyes glowing in the dim light, “I would think this planet wanted me to comfort and worship my mate on this bed.”
I didn’t even have the energy to reply. I felt completely gutted.
I expected him to coo, and I might have welcomed it this time. Instead, he placed me gently on the moss. It was so thick and plush that it felt wonderfully close to the bed in Ardruc’s quarters at the station, and its fragrance was light and sweet. I wished I had the heart to enjoy it more.
Ardruc took off his shirt and pants and left them draped on a branch. He stripped me down to my undershirt and shorts, added my jumpsuit to the branch, and lay down next to me.
He drew me into his arms, tucked me against his chest with my head under his chin, and draped his wing over us.
“Elena,” he said into my hair. “Let it out.”
I let out a guttural scream against his chest.
Fists clenched and hot tears sliding down my face, I raged for a long time. Every choked sob and curse coursed through me into the mossy bed and pulsed through the forest. The leaves shivered, the soil hummed, and a strong wind swept around and through our little refuge.
The betrayal. The lies. The hypocrisy. How dare the Nyvorans do this to beautiful Vorsa World?
A planet full of wonders and beauty beyond all understanding, sliced into and plundered by the very people who had promised to protect and guard it.
The Nyvorans had made it difficult for scientists to study here not because they wanted to keep it pristine, but to keep their secret.
Ardruc didn’t become impatient or restless or ask me anything. He simply held me quietly and let me process everything.
Somehow, he knew when it was time to coo. His song began to resonate in his chest just as I took a deep, shaky breath—the first deep breath I’d taken since the forest retreated from Nova Cal. My chest had hurt too much and been too tight until that very moment.
Warm comfort washed through me and out into the forest, taking with it my rage and grief just when I was ready to let them go.
Maybe he gifted me peace via pheromones too, or maybe it was just the gentle way he held me.
I no longer cared to distinguish between the ways he soothed me.
The forest quieted until not even a leaf stirred.
We lay together for a long time. Ardruc stroked my hair and my back, cooing and letting me breathe until it didn’t hurt to do so anymore.
When I raised my head and kissed him, he was ready for that too. His kiss was so gentle I barely felt it—a far cry from the more ferocious kisses he’d lavished on me before.
I rested my forehead on his. “Tell me we’ll figure out how to make this right.” My voice was rough.
“I cannot promise that,” he said, with kindness in his eyes. “But I can promise we will do everything in our power to make this right.”
“That’s good enough.” I took a deep breath. “I feel like I ran away from Nova Cal like a child. I’m too old to run away.”
“Not true.” He caressed my cheek. “You were hurting and wanted away from the pain. You sought comfort. There is nothing childish about that.” He smiled slightly. “And I left with you, if you did not notice. Dragons are very much not childish.”
“Hmm…debatable,” I said, which earned me a chuckle.
He kissed me again. “Elena,” he murmured. “Beautiful Elena. Did you know ele’ana means ‘time away’ in my local dialect of Forusian?”
“No,” I said, surprised that he’d brought up his first language. I’d never heard him speak anything but Alliance Standard. “I don’t know any Fortusian.”
“It is what we say when we go away to the beach or the mountains or a secret, secluded romantic place.” He tucked loose hair behind my ear.
“Epet mar ele’ana means ‘I am taking time away with my mate.’ If you say that, it is understood that you are not to be bothered because you will be devoted to caring for your mate.
” He kissed the tip of my nose, which tickled and I loved it.
“Epet mar ele’ana, Elena. We are taking time away. ”
It made sense that Fortusians had a specific phrase for a romantic getaway with their mates. And I liked the way the words sounded when Ardruc said them.
“Epet mar ele’ana,” I said, or tried to say. I failed catastrophically.
To his credit, Ardruc didn’t laugh, though his lips twitched. “Fortusian vowels are notoriously difficult for human vocal cords. I am sure your pronunciation would improve with a bit of practice.”
“Probably so. Or…” I moved to my hands and knees to look down into his beautiful glowing eyes. “Rather than having Fortusian coming out of my mouth, I’d rather have one coming in it.”
He picked me up with his hands on my waist and put me on top of him with my thighs astride his hips. His cock, already half-hard and growing harder by the moment, pressed against my ass through the thin fabric of our undershorts.
“Little mate.” He pushed my top up to bare my breasts and cupped them gently, stroking my nipples with the pads of his thumbs. “That is a very enticing offer, but I have already laid claim to this bed in the name of worshiping you. If anyone’s mouth will be filled on it, it will be mine.”
“You laid claim to this bed?” I scoffed. “Since when—”
“Since we first discovered it,” he said easily, and pinched my nipples. I gasped at the little twin bursts of pain and pleasure. His thumbs resumed their caresses over the hard peaks. “Do you not remember me saying the forest had made it for me to worship you upon it?”
“I’m not at all sure that’s the reason the forest made it.” My eyes narrowed. “But fine, I’ll make you a bet. If I can pronounce that romantic getaway phrase correctly in Fortusian, I get to fill my mouth. And if I can’t—”
“—You will sit on my face until I drink my fill,” Ardruc said. His eyes gleamed. “I accept this wager.”
Three minutes later, I was naked and on my knees above Ardruc’s face, my arms extended out to the sides and my wrists and forearms wrapped in vines that had obligingly unwound themselves from the walls of the little hut for Ardruc to use. And I was fuming.
Between my thighs, Ardruc chuckled. His hot breath against my delicate skin made me quiver. “I have never been so pleased to win a bet, little mate. And I have never seen a better view.”
“If anyone else had been judging, they would have said I pronounced it well enough to have won the bet and you know it.” I scowled. “You weren’t going to let me win whatever I said. I’ll get even for this.”
“No, you will not, little mate. I will keep you coming until you have no strength to seek vengeance.” His arms curled around my thighs and pulled me down to his mouth.
I expected a lick or a swirl of his tongue on my clit. Instead, his long, hot tongue speared straight into my pussy.
The invasion was so abrupt and felt so good that I wailed and yanked on my bound wrists. All I got for my trouble was a satisfied rumble from Ardruc and tighter restraints.
Ardruc, on the other hand, got his first taste of what he wanted most when I gushed hard for him. His tongue swirled around inside me as if he wanted to capture every drop.
“Dragon,” I gasped, eyes closed and head falling back.
“Little mate,” he murmured, his lips tickling my delicate skin. “How good you taste. I want more.”
His arms tightened on my thighs. A thrill of anticipation ran through me and made me quiver.
His tongue traveled along my slit up to my clit and swirled languidly. My gasp and shudder made his fingertips dig into my thighs. The pain was exquisite.
“Yes,” I breathed. “Harder. Make me hurt for you, my dragon. Make it good.”