Chapter Fifteen
Taryn
The quiet hit me the moment the door closed behind us. It shouldn’t have surprised me since I’d already experienced it the night before, the heavy stillness that seemed like the stone itself was listening, but after the noise and distractions of the Market, it felt suffocating.
Life was out there. In here was…
I wasn’t sure.
I stood just inside the doorway, the fabric draped over my arms suddenly heavier than they were moments ago. Rhydek moved past me carrying more, crossing to the table and dropping them in a single, efficient motion.
“You should change.”
No comment about the Market or our experience there. No acknowledgment of what was building between us. Just a reminder that there were expectations.
Flattening my lips, irritation made my kethra flicker before I forced the reaction down. There was no reason for me to expect anything different. He’d made it clear from the beginning that this was a duty.
Nothing more.
“Of course.”
I forced myself to move across the room, grabbing the clothing he’d carried for me from the table as I went. The moment I crossed the threshold into the bedroom, the sunlit crystals glowing in the ceiling, something in my chest eased.
It was strange.
This place.
The new life I faced.
Everything.
But the bedroom didn’t feel as alien as the rest of Korvashan. It was… softer. More welcoming. Beautiful in a way nothing on Earth could be, despite the fact that Morrakan would kill me in a blink if it got the chance.
I put my new clothing on the bed and stared for a moment. I hadn’t meant to come back with so much, but it was as if once I started exploring what was available, I couldn’t stop.
New textures, colors, and styles. No day job stealing my hours and taking away any reason to have variety. No need for me to look respectable or professional.
Everything about the last few days was as different from my previous life as it could be, but some things were too ingrained to let go.
I picked up the teal wrap first. I shouldn’t have liked it as much as I did. It was soft and pretty and would have been impractical in my previous life.
But I hadn’t missed how Rhydek’s eyes lit up when he saw me with it. Or the way he’d paid for it without me saying a word, taking away the dilemma before I had the chance to talk myself out asking for it…
I traced the edge of the fabric, shaking my head.
“This is how it starts. First it’s living in caves, then it’s bathing in public pools. And then suddenly I’m speaking Morraki and strutting around naked.”
The words sounded ridiculous, but they didn’t feel wrong. Everything was strange now, but it was only a matter of time before this was the new normal.
With a quiet breath, I rummaged through the pile of clothing until I found the bundle of fabric I’d grabbed. What I’d created for myself on the ship had worked, but I found myself wanting something better. Something that wasn’t half torn and made from old, worn relics from my previous life.
The golden fabric was lighter than anything I’d ever felt, cooler than silk without the delicate feeling that made me think it would rip.
A narrow strip bound my breasts, and a wider piece wrapped around my hips to give me a sense of modesty.
It still left more exposed than I was used to, but I wasn’t naked.
My throat tightened as I adjusted the skirt, tucking it the way I’d seen other Morraki women do as they’d tried on clothing at the Market.
I had always told myself I wasn’t a girly-girl, and it hadn’t bothered me to spend my days in scrubs, but a piece of me I’d buried had been drooling over the vibrant colors and soft fabrics, dying to see how they looked on me.
And how Rhydek looked at me in them.
It wasn’t just clothing. It was… a statement. I didn’t know why, but there was something in me that wanted this new life to be more than just show. That wanted something I had never dreamed of before.
I swallowed, pushing the thought aside before it could spiral into something I wasn’t ready to face.
When I stepped back into the main room, Rhydek was exactly where I’d left him, and his gaze landed on me immediately.
It lingered on the shimmery gold around my hips before rising to the straining strip holding my breasts.
Heat crept up my neck as I stood and waited. It wasn’t the first time he’d looked at me like that, but it was the first time I’d actively wanted it.
He looked tense enough to storm over the way he had on the ship, but I thought he might rip the skirt off completely instead of just making it shorter. Unable to stand the waiting any longer, I crossed my arms over my chest in a poor attempt to hide the sudden self-consciousness eating me.
“Well? Is this acceptable?”
His jaw tightened, his tail lashing as his kethra shone pure yellow. For a moment he seemed to strain towards me, as if he wanted to come closer but his feet were glued to the floor.
Then he let out a breath and shook himself. His shoulders loosened and orange crept back into his markings, only his tail remaining stiff behind him.
“Yes.”
That was it. A single yes.
But his eyes remained on me, as if he couldn’t bring himself to look away.
I shifted my weight, my own kethra flickering with uncertainty. It suddenly seemed very foolish to provoke him, especially when his reactions were so hard to predict.
“Then stop staring.”
My moods flopped so fast it was giving me whiplash, and I took advantage of the excuse that my hormones had been tampered with. Still, I couldn’t blame him for blowing hot and cold when my own body was doing the same.
“I am assessing.”
My eyes narrowed but the way his lips curved kept me from getting too irritated over the comment. I had wanted to see if the golden fabric would get his attention, and I’d succeeded.
What exactly was he assessing?
The question made something inside me tighten again, but it wasn’t the insecurity I’d expected. There was no fear lurking in my thoughts that he didn’t like what he was looking at.
How was I so sure of that?
I drew in a deep breath, leather and pine filling my lungs, but there was something else in the air. Something warmer.
Something dangerous.
I turned away before I could dwell on it, moving back into the bedroom. I was more comfortable there.
Until his massive form filled the doorway, trapping me inside, with a bed, and no panties on.
“Thank you again for the clothing. I didn’t mean to make you buy so much.”
I kept my back to him, but I felt him move closer. For someone so large I’d have expected heavy thumps from his boots on the stone, but he’d always moved with graceful silence.
“You will need them.”
I huffed, running my hands over the pile. Considering I was expected to be naked at home and didn’t think I’d be going out much, I’d certainly gone overboard with nine outfits.
I busied myself folding them, organizing them into what I thought went together, even if I wasn’t entirely sure where I was going to put it all.
When I finally turned to look at him, he lingered halfway between the door and the bed.
He had a look that said he thought he should leave, while still putting off the certainty that he would stop me if I tried to.
“Is there somewhere I can put these?”
He hesitated before gesturing to the wall behind the living curtain.
“The storage compartments are built into the wall.”
Of course they were. It was the most efficient use of space, especially if they didn’t have wood to build furniture from, but it also left the rooms feeling empty when I was familiar with more clutter.
Carrying a pile of clothing around the bed, I used one hand to feel along the stone and find the hidden seams, pressing the latches to open them one by one.
The available space was larger than I had expected, deep enough to hold far more than I now owned, even though two were filled with what looked like more pillows and blankets.
The bed was already heaped with them, and the room was warm even without covering myself while I slept, but I was swamped with the desire to toss them all onto the bed with the rest and bury myself in them.
Which was… odd.
I was tempted to ask Rhydek if it was an omega thing but decided not to reveal more of what I hadn’t fully read in the briefing. It had been foolish to skip so much, but at the time, I hadn’t expected it to matter.
Why had he chosen me? Why not one of the other candidates who had been more willing? One who was probably better prepared than I for his world.
The question lingered as I placed my things on the shelves. Rhydek continued to watch me in silence, but he seemed as reluctant as I was to breach it. I didn’t know what would come out if I opened my mouth and gave voice to my thoughts.
This was his world.
His home.
His life.
And I was just… thrust into it. Not quite belonging anywhere. He didn’t want a mate, but he was doing his duty to protect his people, and I came with the job.
Could we ever be anything more than that? If I let him in, would he give it a chance?
I closed the compartment and leaned back against the wall for a moment, staring at the crystals above me. The glowing curtain of lavender leaves blotted out the rest of the room, letting me pretend Rhydek wasn’t there.
Still watching.
“Get it together, Taryn.”
His vision was good enough he could probably make me out perfectly even if the soft light threw the room behind it into shadow for me. It wasn’t the time to spiral.
I pushed myself off the wall and strode around the bed. Rhydek had taken my bags and was stuffing them into another compartment beneath a bench against the wall, but he was tense. Alert. Like he was expecting something.
“Are you always like this after outings?”
His gaze snapped to mine, hands freezing. His tail moved slowly, but something about the way it had pulled back reminded me of a snake preparing to strike.
“Like what?”