Chapter 44
Alex stretched beside her mate and pressed her body close to him so that she could breathe in his scent.
It was subtle since she didn’t possess the abilities of Seshanamitesh to scent each other’s pheromones, but the faint aroma was pleasant and warming as she burrowed closer to him beneath the blanket.
Therxian vibrated with a small rumbling hum and turned toward her, his body curling around her contently as he enveloped her within his arms and beneath the coil of his tail, his wing curling around them both.
“Awake already, are you?” he murmured sleepily, his gavo rising and falling, betraying his present alertness.
Even with his eyes closed, he was aware.
Alex smiled and wiggled against her mate to get more comfortable. “I really don’t want to waste time sleeping when I have you all to myself right now. No Jathella, Kitanara, or Buosoa. No plans and strategies. Only you and me, and pretending like we are the only ones in our little world right now.”
“I like this pretending,” he rasped. His breath fanned her hair as he chuckled, and his arms gathered her in to press her firmly against his chest. “Do you feel it, hithana? My hearts sing for you.”
She smiled and rubbed her cheek against his scales, the double rhythm of his hearts beating steadily under her ear. “What are they singing?”
“A very lamentable song about how they wish to remain right here beside you rather than return to the upper palace and disturb this dream of ours.”
“Mmm,” she hummed in agreement. “You have to go back up soon, don’t you?”
His sigh rustled her hair, conveying with it a sound of regret.
Tipping his head, he drew in air with his mouth slightly open.
Alex watched with undisguised interest as his tongue lifted to the roof of his mouth and he compressed the air through an independent airway that led to the ethin organ in his clavicle.
The way Seshanamitesh determined the surface daylight and marked the passage of time via the moisture level in the air was an endless source of fascination for her.
His mouth finally snapped shut, and he lowered his head with a small huff.
“Soon,” he agreed. “The sun will be setting on the surface and the Seshanamitesh will be rousing. I will need to return to the palace before it begins to stir to life.” Groaning, he tucked her head beneath his chin as he hugged her to him. “I do not wish to return.”
“At least you get to do something useful,” she grumbled. “You have no idea how maddening it can be to be stuck here with nothing to do—and no way to help. I can’t even help chase off all the noble daughters trying to sneak into your nest.”
Therxian chuckled and rubbed his cheek against the top of her head.
“My ferocious mate. Surely the noble daughters should be quite frightened of you, despite your diminutive size. But you have nothing to fear, ashlava. My mother has forbidden them entry into much of the palace and revoked all access to me. While there are some who will dare to go against her decree, they will not be doing so directly.”
“Like Gareiia,” Alex replied sourly. She had been less than thrilled to hear about the trap the female had gone through the effort to lay. “Or Ferinia,” she added in afterthought. “Whatever she intended by driving off Gareiia, I don’t trust her motivation to be as honest as she makes it out to be.”
Therxian rumbled in agreement as he issued a sharp burst of air between his teeth. Not quite a hiss, but something far more unpleasant to match his obvious disgust.
“I do not trust this female either, but I have no evidence with which to refute her claims,” he grumbled. “All I can do is maintain distance.”
Alex muttered unhappily, but she couldn’t disagree. “Fine. Maybe I will use the materials Vorahna left behind to paint Ferinia’s likeness for target practice.”
A chuckle rumbled in her mate’s chest, and he brushed his mouth lovingly against her brow. “Ferocious female. I feel well defended with you at my side.”
“Not that I can protect you when I am stuck down here,” she pointed out. She looked up at him hopefully. “Maybe, in light of your mother’s changed position on the matter, we can smuggle me back to your nest where I can be more effective?”
He dipped his chin with noticeable reluctance so that it brushed lightly against her temple.
“I will not risk your safety by having you there,” he stubbornly refuted in a quiet voice.
“You are not Seshanamitesh. You are small and vulnerable in ways that we are not. If Gareiia is determined enough, she will be unpredictable. And if she discovers your presence... she would not hesitate to kill a perceived rival. If that happens, there will be no salvaging the situation. The council will have every bit of evidence that it could possibly want against me. Because I would kill her.”
Alex’s breath caught at the intensity of emotion in his voice. She listened to his heart for a long moment, hearing his certainty in its even, steady beat. Turning her cheek against his chest, she pressed a kiss against the scaled muscle, and his flesh trembled beneath her lips.
“I shocked you,” he rasped.
“Maybe a little,” she admitted with a husky laugh as her fingertips ran in absent-minded patterns across his chest. “You have an unusual sense of humor, but it has never bent in a particularly violent direction. It was unexpected to hear you speak that way. That’s all.”
He fell silent, considering his words, his hearts thrumming a steady vibration that soaked into her, relaxing her muscles further so that she melted against him.
“Perhaps I had lacked anything worth defending,” he rumbled, breaking the silence.
“My decision to enter the shinara was not an easy one, and it required me to allow my pride and strength to be broken into something that was more acceptable. Causing meaningful change within the shinara required it. Having a Seshanamitesh mate that I could influence the shinara through would require it. A female of the shinara would never have accepted a male who betrayed even a hint of aggression.”
He sighed heavily and gently ran his fingers through her hair.
“I knew that because these are basic lessons that we are taught within the haga. The females and lesser males beat it into us when we aggressively opposed them and the shinara laws. My words would have certainly alarmed a female of the shinara. Here it is unthinkable for a male to rise against a female, even to protect his mate. It is indisputable and indefensible.” He fell silent, his fingers gently twisting a lock of her hair.
“It seems that the Vehal shaped me in ways that I did not consider when I came here. I did not predict my own distaste when I watched as the small males made themselves meek and humble in ways that I fell significantly short of and was incapable of perfectly mimicking. Only then did I realize how much I stood out within the court, and how lonely I would be—even with the females vying for what I could give them.”
“Must have been a real joy for you having another thing to worry about when you were given a human to care for,” Alex teased.
He pressed his mouth to her temple, and she felt his mouth curl into a smile against her skin.
“Actually, it was. When you were unconscious, you gave me something to focus on and care for. And when you awoke—I looked forward to escaping my duties in the palace so that I could be with you, where I could more naturally just be myself instead of diminishing myself as much as possible before the court in hope to gain some supporters.”
“Was it worth it? Did it work at all?” Alex whispered.
Therxian grunted unhappily. “A couple of elderly females gave me pitying looks, but none approached me to even speak to me other than their daughters that they flung at me. And even they did not appear impressed with what they saw even if they were determined to compete for me. Some were even wary and frightened despite my gentlest behavior. Of course, according to my mother, every one of their mothers believes I am a danger to their offspring. Judged me before I even had a chance,” he murmured.
“Despite my best efforts, I am incapable of making myself small enough to satisfy them that I would be a good mate.”
“Their loss,” Alex retorted, and she wiggled a bit so that she could comfortably bend her head back, forcing him to lift his own head so that she could get a good look at him.
“For what it is worth, you are a wonderful mate.” She gave a shy, quiet chuckle.
“I really never thought that a love like this could ever find me.”
The contours of Therxian’s sharp face softened and visibly warmed. “Higthar really knew what he was doing when he brought your people down from his heavenly abode.”
Alex giggled as she relaxed back into him. “I’m not so sure that counts as to what really happened with our discovery and arrival on this planet.”
“It does not matter,” he huffed, dismissing her argument as his tail drew higher along her back and thigh.
“All the heavenly abode is his, and it is from there you came as you were meant to come. As far as I am concerned, you were sent here for me, regardless of how long it took for me to find you.”
She tipped her head and met his gaze solemnly. “Do you really think so?”
He inclined his head, his gavo flaring slightly before lightly snapping.
“I do. You are the direct manifestation of the other half of my heart. You see me. You do not turn away from me even if I cannot show you the face of a perfect male—not even by Vehal standards because the wounds I carry from the shinara always ran too deep to attract a female from the Vir Mountain.”
“Oh, Therxian, no one expects you to be perfect,” Alex whispered.
“I certainly am not. Perfection is an illusion that people put on to intimidate and control others as a method of control—not because they are exactly as they show themselves. I love the real you. The male who is combatant and clever. Who makes me laugh and makes me feel protected. Who is bossy but loving. And if Higthar or any other divinity sent me to you, then I will count myself lucky.”
He smiled—a vulnerable, sweet smile that made her heart go soft and quicken in reaction. She was truly far gone. She had drunk the love juice and wasn’t even mad about it.
“I feel this,” he whispered, her tail hooking around her.
“But hearing you say the words elevates you to an even greater position in my heart. It is something I did not even think was possible. I did not believe that there was a world of new and deeper feelings I could experience as a mated male. And yet you surpass every expectation. And this is why I can say with all honesty and sincerity... I will destroy any threat that comes to you. So, for the shinara’s sake, stay put,” he chuckled, drawing laughter from her in answer.
“Fine, since you put it that way,” she teased. She arched as his extruding sant rubbed against her mons and belly, stroking the arousal within her. “Then you better give me a goodbye kiss before you go anywhere.”
And he did. His mouth and tongues teased her, drawing her pleasure rapturously. And when he filled her with every roll and snap of his pelvis, sinking his sant deeper into her, she felt something new and primal stir within her in response.
He would kill to protect her... but it is a good thing he could not see inside her head and see what sort of hell she would unleash for him.
He would definitely keep her tied up far away from the shinara then.
She bit back a giggle that quickly turned into a moan as his thrusts quickened, and her thighs tightened around him in response as she rocked against him, taking the heavy, thick length of his sant into her.
Meeting him thrust for rapturous thrust.
If any of those females tried anything with her mate, or did anything to hurt him, then there would most definitely be hell to pay.
Being born and raised non-gratas at the edge of a swamp never prepared her for this kind of life, but her mother didn’t raise a fool, and she was a quick learner.
And one way or another she was going to make sure that she was the bitch on the brimstone throne collecting dues.