Chapter 14
Lacey peeked up at Telok as he carried her through the jungle.
His eyes were in constant motion, keen and alert, searching for danger.
He’d been this way for as long as she’d known him—always on guard, always watching for potential threats, always ready to leap into action.
Did he ever rest? Did he ever just let himself… be?
His gaze dipped, meeting hers, and she quickly looked away as her already warm cheeks flushed hotter.
Telok’s hold on her tightened.
She had been bold with him many times. She’d stared him in the eye and insulted him, had stood her ground when he got all snarly, had argued with him without a hint of fear.
The other day, she’d taken hold of his hand like it had belonged to her.
Yet when he treated her like this, with this commanding but gentle care, she couldn’t find the will to hold his gaze?
Lacey lowered her arm, resting her hands in her lap. She was just…feeling particularly vulnerable right now, that was all. She was groggy, exhausted, and in pain, not to mention embarrassed that he was carrying her in front of everyone.
“So where are we going?” she asked.
“You will see, vi’jatai,” he replied.
Telok had called her that many times when he was angry or frustrated with her, but the irritation with which he’d first done so was nowhere to be found now. The way he’d just said it had almost been…tender, despite the roughness of his voice. Like an endearment.
And damn if that didn’t make her belly flutter and her heart quicken.
She rubbed at her sweat-slickened chest. “No hint?”
“Ikesh’al sothak ursh ul vi’selyek.”
We will arrive in a small time.
She grinned up at him. “I guess I’ll just enjoy the ride until we get there then.”
“Like I said,” Cole quipped from behind them. “Princess treatment.”
Lacey looked over Telok’s shoulder. “Silence, peasant.”
Cole scoffed at her. “That’s how it’s gonna be, huh?”
“Well, if I’m getting the princess treatment, I might as well act like one, right?”
“You’re not my princess.”
“If you ask nicely, Cole, I’m sure Garahk would carry you for a little while.”
“Yeah, he probably would. Because Garahk’s a bro.”
“What I am?” Garahk asked, confused.
Cole fell back to nudge Garahk’s arm. “You’re a bro. A dude. You know, my guy.”
“So descriptive, Cole,” Lacey said, rolling her eyes.
“Ah! Dude.” Chittering, Garahk thumped Cole on the back, making the man stumble forward, before catching him by the backpack and ruffling his blond hair. “Kess elad kir’ani guy.”
“Hey!” Cole ducked away from Garahk’s hand to fix his mussed hair. “Watch the hair.”
Lacey chuckled.
“What is princess?” asked Telok, drawing her attention back to him.
“A princess is the daughter of a king or queen.”
His mandibles widened along with his eyes. “You are the brood of a queen?”
“Absolutely not,” she replied a little more forcefully than she’d meant. Gentling her tone, she continued. “Cole is saying it to me because princesses are usually pampered and spoiled.”
Telok tilted his head, a brief, uncertain grunt sounding in his chest. “Pam-purred?”
“It’s when someone is taken care of without having to lift a finger themselves. Like being picked up, set down in the shade, and getting served fruit and water, or being carried around…”
“I did those things.”
“Mmhmm…”
His mandibles ticked. “It is…wrong?”
“No, not wrong. But did you give fruit to everyone? Did you offer to carry Cole?”
“Cole can walk.”
“So can I.”
He shook his head firmly. “No. You are hurt.”
“If Cole was hurt, would you carry him?”
Telok huffed. “Yes.”
She wasn’t sure how he infused that little word with such comical grumpiness, but she knew he wasn’t lying. Maybe he wouldn’t be happy about it, but he’d do it.
Lacey smiled as she ran a finger down Telok’s chest, relishing the shiver that coursed through him and the way his jaw clenched. “Would you carry Cole like you’re carrying me?”
“No.”
No hesitation, no second-guessing.
Her smile widened into a grin. “Telok, are you pampering me?”
With that fire in his eyes, he held her gaze. “I am taking care of you.”
That fluttering in her belly intensified, spreading through her like warm honey, but a sharp ache followed the tenderness.
No one had ever taken care of her before.
Turning her face forward, she curled her lips in and bit down on them, struggling to keep her emotions at bay. She was tired and in pain, and she knew it wouldn’t take much for her to cry. She really didn’t want to have to explain to Telok why she was leaking again.
The jungle here looked like it did everywhere else.
Gigantic trees with gnarled roots and long, thick branches, rocks covered in moss, dense foliage with varied leaves and colorful flowers.
She’d become somewhat familiar with the area around Kaldarak, but this far out, everything bled together, and she had no landmarks by which to situate herself.
But Telok remained a constant, cradling her against him like she was something precious. As long as he was with her, she wouldn’t be lost.
“Do you hear?” he asked, voice low.
Lacey’s brow furrowed. “Hear what? I don’t—”
Telok pressed a long, clawed finger over her lips, silencing her. “Listen.”
For a moment, she heard nothing other than the jungle’s usual bird songs, animal calls, and rustling leaves. But then she noticed it—gentle burbling, steadily growing louder as Telok strode onward.
Lacey perked up as she swept her gaze ahead of them, seeking the source of the sound. “Is that water?” Had Telok’s hold been even a tiny bit looser, she might’ve leapt out of his arms in excitement to race ahead. She looked back at Telok with a grin. “Is that what you wanted to show me?”
His only response was his mandibles lifting into the vrix version of a smile.
Her anticipation grew along with the volume of the water.
When the jungle finally opened up to reveal a stream, Lacey’s breath caught.
Given the way she’d felt for the last few days, this was the most beautiful sight she could’ve imagined.
It was larger than the brooks they’d stopped at recently, spanning at least twenty feet from bank to bank, and was shaded by leafy branches stretching high overhead.
Scattered columns of sunlight broke through to make the crystal-clear water sparkle.
She guessed the water would reach her knees, meaning it was plenty deep enough to drop her ass into and let the water flow around her.
“Good, Scarhide,” Garahk said in vrix from behind Telok. “We will wash here and take more rest.”
“Hell yeah!” Cole cheered. Almost as fast as Lacey could blink, he dropped his bag and weapons on the ground, kicked off his boots, and shoved his pants down. With his dick swinging in the air, he ran toward the water.
“Enthusiastic as ever,” Lacey muttered, looking away.
“I must tend to Lacey,” Telok declared. “We will be near.”
She blinked up at Telok. “Huh?”
He gestured to Elharat, who strode over and handed Telok Lacey’s backpack and spear. And then Telok was walking upstream, leaving the others behind.
“Why are we not staying with them?” she asked.
“They do not need to see.”
“Don’t need to see what?”
His gaze flicked down to hers. “You.”
That brief, possessive look sent a rush of desire through her. She tamped it down. “I don’t understand. We all stayed together whenever we stopped for water before. What does it matter if they see me or not?”
“You wanted to bathe. I am giving you privacy.”
Meaning…he was going to keep watch so she could take off her clothes and bathe for real? With soap?
Lacey squealed softly. “I could totally kiss you right now.”
Telok’s gait faltered, and his face snapped toward her, eyes flaring. Though she didn’t hear a sound from him, she felt a low, deep rumbling in his chest.
Someone likes the sound of that…
Reaching up, she skimmed a finger along his jaw. “Do you…want a kiss, Telok?”
He stopped, and his gaze dipped to her mouth. She didn’t need his words for confirmation; it was in his eyes as he hungrily stared at her lips.
Leaning forward, Lacey kissed his cheek. It was a fleeting press of her lips, but a shudder coursed through him, and his grip on her tightened before she pulled away. Her lips tingled from the contact.
His head dropped, giving chase, and his mouth pressed roughly to hers.
Lacey’s eyes widened, and her heart thumped.
Though he had neither lips nor experience, Telok’s kiss was confident and demanding. She felt his faux fangs against her lips, felt his breath on her skin, felt heat radiating from him like he was a furnace. And despite everything, she longed for that heat.
Closing her eyes, Lacey cupped his jaw and returned the kiss, brushing her lips back and forth along his unyielding mouth.
How many times had she wondered what it would be like to kiss him?
How many times had she fantasized about this?
Before, she thought it was an impossibility. Now…it was reality.
The scrape of his mouth and the prick of his claws sparked ripples of sensation across her skin, all of which seemed to drift low in her belly, making her core ache with arousal.
His intoxicating scent permeated her, branding her senses with rich, earthy jungle and smoke.
And she wanted more. She wanted to taste him.
Telok pulled her closer until her breasts were pressed to his chest, stimulating her hardened nipples. A soft moan escaped Lacey before she parted her lips and licked the firm seam of his mouth.
He growled, jaw clenching and claws digging a little deeper. Then he jerked his head back, breaking both the kiss and her hold on him. Tension seized his every muscle as he shut his eyes and breathed, slow and deep, his broad chest swelling with each inhalation.
Lacey touched her fingers to her mouth as she brought her own breathing under control. Her lips were tender from the abrasiveness of his hide.
We kissed. Holy shit, we kissed.
She grinned. “Telok?”
“What?” he rasped.
“Was that your first kiss?”