Chapter 14 - Lexa
LEXA
I woke to heat and the steady rhythm of breathing that wasn't mine.
Nyx's chest rose and fell against my back, each inhale pressing scales against my skin. His arm was draped over my waist, heavy and possessive. His tail had wound itself around my thigh sometime during the night, the tip resting just above my knee.
His wings cocooned us both. The membrane blocked out everything beyond our small space, created a pocket of warmth and darkness and his scent.
Smoke and stone and sex.
My body ached in all the best ways. Muscles I'd forgotten I had protested when I shifted slightly, testing my range of motion. The bandages on my ribs pulled tight, reminding me I was still healing even if the Drakarn salve was working miracles.
Between my legs was a different kind of soreness. The pleasant burn of being thoroughly fucked by someone who knew exactly what they were doing.
I should move. Should extract myself from this tangle of limbs and scales and get my head on straight. We had a mission. People depending on us. No time for lying around in post-orgasmic bliss.
Except I couldn't make myself move.
Nyx's arm tightened fractionally, like even in sleep he knew I was thinking about leaving. His face was buried in my hair, his breath warm against my neck.
What the hell had I done?
The question circled through my mind, gaining momentum. Last night came back in flashes. The knife. Him kneeling. That word he kept using.
Kyvara.
I'm yours if you'll have me.
I'd said yes. Had grabbed him and kissed him and then we'd fucked against a canyon wall like the world was ending. And then again on the ground. And I'd fallen asleep in his arms like it was the most natural thing in the universe.
Like I belonged there.
My chest tightened. Panic started to creep in around the edges, cold fingers wrapping around my lungs.
This was for real. It had to be. The formal presentation of the blade, the kneeling, the specific phrasing. I'd watched enough of the other mated pairs to recognize the pattern. Darrokar had claimed Terra. Rath had claimed Orla. And now Nyx had claimed me.
And I'd accepted.
Holy shit.
Sure, I'd been dreaming about him for a month. Sure, the sex was incredible. Sure, something in my chest pulled tight every time I looked at him, and being away from him felt wrong in a way I couldn't explain.
But that didn't mean I was ready to bind myself to him for life.
Did it?
I thought about Terra. How she'd gone from fighting Darrokar tooth and nail to standing beside him as an equal. How she'd found her place in Scalvaris, found purpose and partnership and something that looked an awful lot like happiness.
Vega had been so suspicious of the Drakarn, so determined to maintain her independence. And then Zarvash had happened. Now they moved like two halves of the same weapon, finishing each other's sentences, working together with the kind of synchronization that came from absolute trust.
All the mated pairs seemed content. More than content. They seemed complete in a way that made something in my chest ache with want.
But how could I trust this? How could I trust that what I felt was real and not just biology, not just some alien bond hijacking my brain chemistry and making me think I wanted something I didn't?
What if I woke up in six months and realized I'd made a huge mistake? What if the attraction faded, and I was stuck with someone I barely knew, bound by customs I didn't fully understand?
The panic squeezed harder. My breathing went shallow, too fast. I needed out of this cocoon, needed air that didn't taste like him, needed distance.
I extracted myself carefully. Lifted his arm, slid my leg free of his tail. His wings shifted, responding to my movement even though he was still asleep.
I froze. Waited. His breathing stayed even.
I got myself free. We’d slipped on some clothes before fully surrendering to sleep. This was still hostile territory, and we needed to be prepared, but I had to strap my leathers back on. I clipped the new knife to my belt.
The weight of it was different from my old blade. Heavier. The balance point sat farther back. I'd need to adjust my draw, compensate for the changed center of gravity.
A weapon made specifically for my hand. Crafted by him, carried by him, offered to me with his heart laid bare.
I'm yours if you'll have me.
I shoved the words down and moved away from where Nyx still slept. Around the corner, behind a cluster of rocks that would give me privacy for the morning necessities my body was demanding.
The air was cooler here. Not cold, never cold on this hellscape of a planet, but the absence of Nyx's body heat made goosebumps rise on my arms.
I took care of business quickly. My mind wouldn't shut up, kept circling back to the same questions. What had I agreed to? What did being his mate actually mean? Was I ready for this? Did I even have a choice anymore, or had accepting the knife locked me into something irreversible?
I'd known Nyx for weeks. Had been actively avoiding him for most of that time. And now I'd jumped straight into the deep end without checking if there was water in the pool.
Smart, Lexa. Real fucking smart.
I finished and stood, adjusting my weapons belt. My hand found the knife automatically, thumb running over the pommel. The leather was soft, broken in despite being new. Like he'd worked it specifically to match the calluses on my palm.
How long had he been planning this? How long had he been carrying this blade, waiting for the right moment to offer it?
Since the Skalanth holiday and our throwdown? Earlier?
The questions wouldn't stop. I needed to talk to him. Needed to ask what this meant, what he expected, what the hell I'd signed up for by saying yes.
But I wasn't ready for that conversation. Wasn't ready to see the certainty in his eyes, the possessive satisfaction that had been there last night when he'd buried himself inside me and called me his.
I needed time to think. To process. To figure out what I actually wanted versus what my traitorous body was demanding.
The sound of footsteps snapped me back to the present.
Multiple sets. Moving fast.
My hand went to my knife, fingers wrapping around the grip. I turned toward the sound, every sense suddenly screaming danger.
Six figures emerged from behind the rocks. Human and wearing dark armor. Armed with blasters that I recognized, the distinctive shape of military-issue energy weapons from Earth.
They surrounded me in a formation. Military training evident in the way they moved, the way they covered angles, the way they kept their weapons trained but not quite aimed.
I froze. My brain tried to catch up with what I was seeing. Humans. Here. Armed. Looking at me like I was something they'd been searching for.
"She's safe!" one of them yelled. A woman, maybe mid-thirties, with short dark hair and the kind of scars that came from combat. Relief flooded her voice, made it crack slightly.
Safe from what?
I opened my mouth to speak. To ask what the hell was going on, who they were, how they'd found us.
Sound erupted from around the corner. The scuffle of bodies hitting stone. A growl that I recognized, that made my heart lurch sideways in my chest.
Nyx.
He was awake. Fighting.
The blaster shot cracked through the air. Distinctive sound, the whine of energy discharge followed by the sizzle of impact.
"Monster secured!"
The words smacked me in the face.
Monster.
They'd shot him. These humans had shot Nyx and were calling him a monster and probably had him restrained or unconscious or hurt.
Rage ignited in my chest. White-hot and all-consuming. I moved without thinking, took two steps toward the corner before hands grabbed my arms.
"You're safe now." The woman who'd yelled earlier. She was in front of me, blocking my path, her expression a mix of concern and determination. "It can't hurt you anymore."
It.
They thought they were rescuing me. Thought Nyx was a threat, a captor, something I needed saving from.
I opened my mouth to tell them they were wrong. That Nyx was mine, that I'd chosen him, that if they'd hurt him, I'd make them regret every second of their miserable lives.
The words died in my throat.
Six humans. Six blasters. All trained on me now, though their postures were relaxed. Friendly. Like they were expecting gratitude, not violence.
If I defended Nyx, if I told them the truth, what would they think? That I'd been brainwashed? That I had Stockholm syndrome? That the Drakarn had done something to me to make me compliant?
They wouldn't trust me. And if they didn't trust me, I couldn't help Nyx. Couldn't figure out who these people were, what they wanted, why they were here.
Couldn't protect him.
The realization washed over me like ice water. Cold and clarifying and absolutely infuriating.
I let my body go slack. Let my expression shift from rage to confusion, to something that might pass for shock or relief if they weren't looking too closely.
"You're human," I said. My voice came out rough, uncertain. Not hard to fake when my throat was tight with the effort of not screaming. "How did you find me?"
"We've been tracking you for the last day." A man this time, tall and lean with the kind of tan that came from living under these suns for months. "We've been following, waiting for a chance to extract you safely."
Apparently, they hadn’t been watching close enough because the only grabbing Nyx had done had been more than consensual.
The woman's expression softened. She released my arm, stepped back slightly. "You're safe now. We have a place not far from here. Food, water, medical supplies. We'll get you checked out, make sure that thing didn't hurt you."
That thing.
My fingers tightened on the knife grip. The one Nyx had made for me, had offered to me on his knees.
"We should move," another voice said. A younger man, maybe early twenties, with the kind of nervous energy that came from adrenaline. "The sensors are picking up those damned giant birds. Another swarm in the area."
The woman nodded. "Fuck. Can you walk?" This last was directed at me.
"Yes." I tested my weight, made sure my legs would hold me. The soreness between my thighs was a distraction I couldn't afford. I shoved it down, compartmentalized it with everything else I couldn't deal with right now. "I can walk."
"Good. Stay close. We'll explain everything once we're safe."
Safe. Right.
I’d spent so long desperate to find these humans that it had never occurred to me that they might have rescued themselves.
And we’d walked right into a trap.