Chapter 6
Lacey clutched the long, thin, silk-wrapped gift to her chest as she walked across a swaying bridge, one hand on the rope rail to keep her steady.
She grimaced at the tenderness of her palms and the stiffness in her fingers.
Wind tugged at her short yellow dress and whipped her hair.
Though she’d grown used to traveling across Kaldarak’s bridges, it didn’t stop her belly from doing a little somersault with every sway and bounce.
But that feeling was overcome by her nervousness today.
She looked up to the platform in front of her. Telok’s den was here on the outskirts of the city, perched atop one of the highest tiers. It’d been two days since she’d last seen him, two days since their altercation, and she wasn’t sure what to expect.
Was he still angry? Was he still hurt?
Did he…hate her?
“Guess I’ll be finding out,” she muttered as she tightened her grip on the gift, fighting back threatening tears.
God, she’d been doing a lot of crying lately, and she hated it. She hated the guilt, the worry, the uncertainty. Hated that it was her fault to begin with.
Most of all, she hated that she’d hurt Telok.
As Lacey stepped onto the platform, she glanced around.
The area was vacant. That wasn’t surprising.
Many thornskulls preferred to gather near the center of town to work and socialize on warm, sunny days like today.
This platform was tucked away in the boughs, where little sunlight could reach it.
Not ideal for sunbathing—which most vrix seemed to enjoy.
A tingling, unsettling sensation spread through her chest as she approached Telok’s den, and her palms became clammy.
Maybe he’s not home?
She could just leave the gift and go without having to face him.
Coward.
Lacey stopped outside Telok’s den and stared at the brown curtain covering the entrance. No, she wasn’t going to run from this. If he wasn’t home… Well, she’d just have to find out where he was or wait until she could present the gift to him in person.
Taking in a deep, fortifying breath, she raised her fist and knocked on the doorframe.
She didn’t hear movement inside, but a large, clawed, black hand with a scar across one finger caught the curtain and moved it aside. Then Telok was standing before her.
His broad shoulders spanned the doorway, and his headcrest nearly touched the top. Standing at least seven feet tall even in this casual stance, he towered over her five-foot-eight self. Lacey couldn’t stop her eyes from roaming over him.
Though his upper body was more or less humanoid, there was no mistaking Telok as human.
He had a second set of arms tucked beneath his upper ones, both pairs with dangerous points extending past their elbows.
The way his black hide sculpted to the powerful muscles beneath made it look like his torso was covered in armor plates.
His lower half was all spider. Six long, segmented legs positioned toward the front, large hindquarters, complete with spinnerets in the back, and two claspers on either side of a closed slit at his pelvis.
Bright green patterns, bordered in strips of white, marked his back, legs, arms, and headcrest, and ringed the joints of his fingers and mandibles.
Behind his three-pointed headcrest, his black hair, threaded with strands of green and white, was gathered in a thick, messy bun atop his head.
His hide was a tapestry of scars in all shapes and sizes, wounds inflicted by both beast and vrix through a life of danger and conflict.
The most wicked looking of them all were the three deep slashes across the right side of his throat and the jagged scarring running down the left side of his face.
But out of everything, it was Telok’s eyes Lacey was most drawn to. Glowing vibrant green, they possessed all the emotion his mask-like face was unable to express.
And those entrancing, inhuman eyes were staring at her now. His mandibles twitched as his hand tightened on the curtain.
Lacey smiled awkwardly and waved. “Hiiii... I just wanted to drop by. Hope I’m not disturbing you?”
Telok narrowed his eyes, slowly lowering his mandibles.
“Can I…come in?” The weight of the gift pressed against her shoulder, and she wrapped her hand around it as she shifted on her feet.
His silence only exacerbated her rising dread.
Lacey eased her foot back. “Or…would you prefer I leave?”
Telok’s chest swelled with a slow inhalation. He released it in a harsh huff through his nose slits and stepped aside, holding the curtain open.
Surprised, she paused, her gaze flicking between him and the entrance. She’d really expected him to tell her to fuck off. Hell, some part of her would’ve been relieved to hear it. That would’ve been better than this silence.
Offering him another smile, Lacey stepped past him. As soon as she entered his den, she was struck by his heady wood and smoke scent. Warmth stirred within her.
Not here to get turned on, Lacey. Focus!
Yet she couldn’t help but breathe in more of his scent. He just smelled that damn good.
She’d been inside his den once before, but she hadn’t really looked around—her furious, misguided mission had consumed her. Now, she took her time to study his home.
Though natural light came in through the open windows, it was scant, and the blue glow of the crystal shards on the walls and worktable didn’t add much brightness. But if it was a bit gloomy to her, it was probably perfectly acceptable to the keen eyes of a vrix.
Brown silk curtains were tied off beside the windows, and a few furs lay on the floor.
Telok’s bag, made of well-worn, carefully tended yatin hide, hung beside the entrance, not far from the rack that had held the spears Lacey had stolen and damaged.
There were a few other weapons hung on the walls, including obsidian hatchets, knives, and even a heavy club with shards of obsidian embedded within it.
She wandered farther into the room. A few small shelves along one wall held some clay jars and baskets, while a larger one had folded pieces of silk stacked atop it. Telok’s bed, a huge nest of fluffed silk and animal furs, lay in the corner.
The place was tidy and sparsely furnished. Practical. No personal items on display, no decorations. It was…
Lonely.
The doorway curtain fell back into place, deepening the gloom.
Her gaze settled on his worktable. Based on the tools and materials upon it, including the long, carved poles propped against it, she guessed he was in the process of crafting new spears.
She tightened her hands around the gift as a fresh wave of guilt washed through her.
“Do not touch,” he warned from behind her.
Lacey turned to face him. “Touch what?”
“Anything.”
“Oh,” she said, laughing nervously. “Got it. Don’t touch Telok’s things.”
He crossed both sets of arms over his chest. “Why did you come, Lacey?”
He doesn’t want me here.
She looked down at the floor and nibbled her bottom lip. More than ever, she felt like an intruder. Maybe she shouldn’t have come. Maybe she should’ve just left the gift outside his den for him to find after she was long gone. Maybe…
No. Telok deserved better.
Squaring her shoulders, Lacey approached him. “I came to tell you again that I’m immensely sorry for what I did. It was wrong of me. I was angry and hurt, but I should never have snuck into your home, taken your things, and damaged them.”
She stopped before him and looked up to meet his eyes. Hands still clutching the gift, she lifted it from her shoulder, turned it long ways, and held it out to him. “I also wanted to give you this.”
Tilting his head, he glanced down at her offering, and his mandibles twitched again. She couldn’t tell whether it was reluctance or uncertainty fueling his hesitance as he slowly unfolded his arms, reached for the gift, and took hold of it.
Telok lifted the gift off her palms. Before she could drop her arms, his eyes flared, and his lower hands darted out, catching both her wrists. Lacey gasped.
He brought her hands higher and lowered his head to study them, letting out a displeased grunt. “You are hurt.”
She stared at him with wide eyes. “I’m…okay.”
He met her gaze and dipped his chin sharply down as if to ask if she was seeing the same thing he was.
Lacey gave her arms a tug. “Really, I’m fine. My hands are just a little raw from…working on your gift.”
Telok held her wrists and her gaze as something smoldered in his eyes. Her thumping heart tracked the passing seconds. His hands were solid and callused, but they were also restrained and warm, and his scent was everywhere, suffusing her every breath.
Finally, he emitted an unsatisfied buzz and released her. She took a step back, fighting the urge to brush her fingers over the heated skin he’d touched.
He turned his attention to the gift, which he passed to his lower hands so the upper pair could untie the strings she’d used to secure the cloth wrapping. After the strings fell away, he peeled aside the silk almost delicately, as though he feared damaging the object within.
Another sound escaped him, but it was much too soft for her to tell if it had been a hum or a trill.
As Telok examined the spear she’d made him, Lacey clasped her hands behind her back, squeezing them too tightly. The pain in her hands seemed to be the only thing grounding her. He let the silk fall away and tilted the weapon, bringing its head up and running his fingers along the edge.
Both his attention and his hand trailed down, past the silk cord she’d used to bind the obsidian to the shaft and down to the strip of leather she’d wrapped two handspans below the spearhead, from which a few trinkets dangled.
She’d used a couple of feathers, a claw, and a strand of bone beads from the spears she’d broken and added something new.
Something more…personal. It had been an impulse, and now that she was looking at it, she wasn’t sure if it’d been the right thing to do.
Why would he want something so intimate from her after what she’d done?
He took that new trinket between forefinger and thumb and lifted it, stroking it gently. It was a length of her hair, plaited into a thin, tight braid. And he remained like that, staring at it, running his thumb over it, utterly silent.
Lacey blushed, heat creeping down her neck and over her chest, and unclasped her hands. “You can take that off. You don’t have to keep it on there.”
Telok grunted and curled a hand around the shaft, sliding it down slowly.
His calluses rasped over the wood. When he stopped his hand, he took the weapon in a firm grip and held it out with the shaft tucked along his arm, lowering his head to stare down its length.
Then he turned his wrist and held the spear on the palm of his hand, checking its balance.
“Not straight,” he said, “and the head is too heavy.”
Lacey’s face burned hotter. She took a step toward him and extended a hand. “If you don’t like it, I can take it back.”
He snatched the spear out of her reach, leveling a glare at her. “No. You gave it to me. It is mine.”
She started, hand hovering in the air. “Oh.”
Turning the spear upright, Telok rested the butt on the floor, and one of his hands again found the braid she’d attached to it.
Lacey dropped her arm to her side as she watched him. Her mind was once more taken back to the first time they’d met, to how fascinated he’d been with her hair, to the way he’d hooked it with his fingers and examined it like it was the most wondrous thing he’d ever seen.
He was doing that now, but there was heat in his gaze, and that heat turned into something primal as he returned his eyes to her.
Something visceral slammed into Lacey, making her core clench and her breath hitch. God, she’d felt sparks of desire around him before, but they’d been nothing like this. And that…that frightened her. Most of the time, it seemed as though he couldn’t stand to be around her.
So why was she feeling like this?
And why was he looking at her like that?
Since coming to Kaldarak, she’d been convinced he hated her. But there was no hatred in his eyes. Only lust.
And fuck, her body was reacting in kind, which meant…he would know. He’d be able to smell her arousal and would know she wanted him too.
Licking her suddenly dry lips and tucking her hair behind her ear, she retreated from him. “Okay then. I’m just going to…go.” She jabbed her thumb toward the exit “I’ll see you later!”
Lacey spun around and hurried to the doorway. Flinging aside the curtain, she rushed through, but came to a panicked halt an instant later to avoid running straight into Rekosh, who stood just outside. “Shit!”
Rekosh jerked back, his red eyes flaring as his hands came up in front of him. He blinked at her. “Lacey?”
She chuckled and sidled to the side, slipping around him. “Oh, heeey Rekosh. Sorry about that. I was just on my way out.”
God, can this get any more awkward?
He canted his head as he lowered his arms. “Is everything all right?”
The curtain was once again swept aside to reveal Telok. He didn’t so much as glance at Rekosh. Every bit of his attention, all its weight and fire, was directed at Lacey.
She cleared her throat and walked backward. “Yep. All good. Peachy keen. Was just dropping something off to Telok. Tell Ahmya I said hello!”
She turned and scurried off, feeling Telok’s gaze on her back.