Chapter 14 #2
He opened his eyes. They gleamed with something deep, heated, and barely contained. “Yes.”
Her gaze flicked to his mouth, and she eased closer, voice low and husky when she asked, “Did you like it?”
Telok grunted and adjusted his hold on Lacey, forcing her to lean back again, before striding forward. “Behave, vi’jatai.”
She chuckled.
He absolutely liked it.
As he walked along the stream, Lacey noticed the water was deepening. He stopped when it looked about waist deep.
It was like he’d already known this spot was here and would be ideal for bathing.
Her brow knitted. “Wait… When you went scouting, what were you looking for?”
He dipped his chin toward the stream.
“You found this place for me?”
“Always questions,” Telok said with a huff as he lowered Lacey onto her feet, but she didn’t miss the barely audible trill that preceded his words.
She smiled as she stepped back from him, trying to ignore the flare of pain as her thighs rubbed against each other. “Admit it. You did this for me.”
Telok set Lacey’s things down atop a low rock, standing his spear—the spear she’d made for him—beside them. “Yes.”
All those warm fuzzies came rushing back. Not only had Telok called for a rest for her sake, but he’d searched for this little slice of paradise just so she could cool off and bathe. He’d been listening to her, taking her human needs to heart…
Like a mate would.
Had Cole been right? Was Telok treating her like she was his mate?
Well, he did kiss me.
As though to further prove her suspicion, Telok dropped down, kneeling on his forelegs. He took her hand and placed it on his shoulder. “Hold on.”
Bracing herself, Lacey watched as he bent down, plucked her boots off, and set them next to her bag. She smiled. “I could’ve done that, but thank you.”
Straightening, he moved his upper hands to her vest, swiftly untying the bow at the bottom and pulling the lace free. When her brain finally caught up to what he was doing, her vest was already gaping, with only the highest loops over her breasts still laced.
Alarmed, she caught his wrists. “Telok!”
His glowing green eyes met hers. “I said I am taking care of you.”
The firmness with which he’d spoken brooked no argument. He was going to do this, wanted to do this. For her.
Lacey had never been comfortable showing her body.
She’d overcome that discomfort with Ahmya, Callie, and Ivy, but only out of necessity.
It wasn’t like everyone had private bathrooms in Kaldarak, so communal bathing was the only real choice.
And though Telok had admitted to spying on her, though she knew he’d seen her naked, he’d never seen her body from this close.
If he undressed her now, he’d see everything. Every stretch mark, every scar, every imperfection.
Her eyes flicked downstream. She could hear the others, but they were out of sight. “What happened to privacy? You know, human modesty and all that.”
“You have privacy.”
“But not from you.”
Telok cocked his head, narrowing his eyes. “Ah. Kir’ani vi’jatai is afraid.”
He didn’t have lips, but she swore he was smirking at her.
Lacey scrunched her nose. “I’m not…scared.”
“Good. I will protect you.”
He moved to continue undoing her lacing, but she tightened her grip on his wrists, keeping his fingers at bay. “Telok, wait!”
Telok caught her chin with a lower hand, forcing her eyes to lock with his. “You need no privacy from me, Lacey. Let me take care of you.”
Lacey stared at him, worrying her bottom lip as she warred with herself.
Why was he doing this? Why was he trying to care for her when he’d spent months doing all he could to keep her away?
Was it really because he wanted to fuck her?
Would things go back to the way they’d been once he got what he wanted, once he scratched his itch? Would he…
Would he abandon her as soon as he was done with her?
No. Telok wasn’t like that; he genuinely cared about her. There had to be more to this. Why would he have stalked her, watched over her, protected her, if she didn’t mean anything to him? Why would he be here with her now, tending to her?
She loosened her grip on his wrists.
A gentle trill escaped him as he stroked her chin with his thumb. Releasing her, he resumed removing the lace with his upper hands, slowly pulling it free. The vest fell away, baring her breasts.
Telok’s eyes flared briefly before darkening with lust. She’d thought that only happened in books, yet here it was right in front of her.
Moving with the slowness and wonder of someone caught in a dream, he dropped the lace to the ground and leaned closer. His breath, hot and heavy, brushed over her chest, making her skin pebble and her nipples harden. Telok’s mouth opened slightly.
Had he extended his tongue and licked her nipple, she wouldn’t have stopped him.
She curled her toes against the mossy rock underfoot as heat gathered in her core.
He raised his upper arms. Lacey’s hands fell away from his wrists, and it was all she could do not to bury her fingers in his hair and draw his head closer.
Those big hands covered her shoulders, thumbs hooking beneath the fabric of her vest, and he slowly slid the garment down.
She shivered from the rasp of his palms over her skin.
Telok inhaled deeply and groaned, the sound descending into a growl. He tossed the vest to join her other belongings and leaned back, raking his gaze down her torso, his upper hands now hovering mere inches from her breasts with fingers curled.
Touch me. Touch me, please…
They were so close to her breasts she could almost feel them. She was desperate to feel them.
Hesitantly—as though it pained him to do so—he moved those hands down to grasp her waist. His upper hands held her in place while the lower pair caught the ties on her pants and unfastened the knot.
Once her waistband was loosened, he peeled the pants down her legs, keeping her steady as she stepped out of them.
Leaving her completely naked.
Telok’s fingers tightened around her waist, pressing his claws into her skin. A swift but subtle shudder coursed through him, and his next exhalation was shaky.
His gaze, darker and more ravenous than before, was locked on her pussy. Tension pulsed from him.
Lacey held her hands up, uncertain of what to do with them. Everything inside her screamed to cover body, to shield herself from him. And yet…
And yet the way he looked at her made her feel like she never had before. Beautiful, desired. Like no one had ever wanted anything as much as Telok wanted her right now.
And then his gaze dipped. His mandibles twitched and fell, and he emitted a distressed buzz. “Ah, Lacey…”
Delicately, he touched the fingers of his lower hands to the insides of her knees and guided her to widen her stance.
She couldn’t help the mortification that overcame her as she spread her legs.
There was no hiding the long, puckered, jagged scars on her inner thighs, or just how inflamed and raw they and the surrounding skin had become.
Some of the scarring had been chafed so badly it was bleeding.
Telok curled his hands around her knees. “You stubborn, foolish female.”
Growling, he snapped his gaze back to hers. This time, it held not the heat of lust, but of anger. “You said days. For days you had this hurt, for days it grew worse, and you did not tend it?”
Unable to withstand that burning, reproachful stare, Lacey crossed her arms over her chest and turned her face away, brow creasing. “I didn’t want to slow everyone down.”
“When the pain is too much for you to walk, we will be stopped. Not slowed.”
Lacey pressed her lips together and dug her fingers into her arms. She hated this. Hated feeling so vulnerable in this moment, naked in the damn jungle, hated feeling like she was the weakest link of the hunting party.
“What is there to do about them anyway? Anytime I walk long distances, they get irritated.” Her eyes stung with tears, and her throat tightened with building emotion. “You wanted to me to stay in Kaldarak. I bet you’re wishing I had.”
He wrapped his fingers around her jaw and forced her to face him again as he leaned close. His eyes were eight emerald flames, blazing into her, through her. He growled, “I wish for you to be safe. I wish you were not hurt.” Mandibles twitching, he let out a harsh breath. “I wish you had told me.”
“And why would I have told you?” she asked, voice thick. “Until a few days ago, I was convinced you hated me.”
“Never hated you,” he rasped fervently, fingers flexing.
“Uh, you guys okay over there?” Cole called.
Telok snarled, whipping his face toward the others. “Fuck off!”
“Okay, okay!”
When Telok looked back at Lacey, he stared at her silently. As he drew in a deep breath, his gaze softened, and he loosened his grip on her jaw, stroking it. “You would rather suffer than ask me for help?”
That question, asked so quietly, showed her the cracks in his armor. Showed her the hurt and vulnerability hidden inside his scarred, intimidating exterior.
Her own anger deflated as swiftly as it had come. She leaned into his touch, her vision blurring with tears. “These scars are just something I have to live with.”
“But you do not have to face the hurt alone.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Kir’ani vi’jatai…” Telok brushed his thumb along her jaw one more time before he released her and stepped back.
Wiping her eyes, Lacey watched as he turned toward her backpack, bent down to open it, and rummaged inside until he took out a cloth-wrapped bar of soap.
He unwrapped the soap, lifted it to his face, and sniffed. His mandibles perked, and he trilled appreciatively as he took a deeper inhalation. Dropping the cloth onto a rock, Telok turned back to Lacey, wrapped his left arms around her, and lifted her as he stood.
Eyes rounding, she squeaked as her body came into contact with his and her breasts squished against his chest. She clutched his shoulders. “Telok, what are you doing?”
Water sloshed around his legs as he stepped into the stream. “Caring for you.”