Chapter 12 #2
“That’s the raiding, thieving organization they belong to,” he corrected. “The name of the beings that attacked us is Berulians, and they do not like Virilians.”
“Yeah. I guessed that last part.”
“Sifters are made up of many species. There are some Virilians, from what I’ve been told.
They haven’t just infested this planet, but others in the quadrant.
” His breath sounded more labored as they went.
“They recently attempted to take over the neighboring city, Exir. The king there lives with his human queen and their daughter.”
Jessa’s head came up at that casually inserted fact. “Is that so?”
“Yes. They seem very happy.”
There was something layered into that, that she wasn’t going to begin to take apart.
Virak was being his usual enigmatic self and Jessa was too tired and freaked out to delve in and give it more thought than that. “A number of women decided to remain with their Virilian males, or stay to raise their children. It’s nice for them.” That was the end of it, she hoped.
Or not. “Were we to procreate, would you consider staying with the child?” he asked.
Her footing stumbled on the dirt floor. “You’re seriously asking me about this right now?”
“We have a long walk ahead of us,” he replied. “And we’ve had few deep conversations. This is a convenient time to remedy that.”
Convenient? No. She didn’t think so, but one advantage to being in the dark was that she could make as many panicked facial expressions as she wished to, without worrying about him seeing her. “I wasn’t planning on staying,” she answered carefully.
“Then what are you planning on doing?” he asked gently. No offense or disappointment came through in his voice, only curiosity.
Jessa relaxed a bit. “I planned to return to Earth, invest the money from this and buy a small farm for myself. Maybe on a lake, someplace remote. I like the woods.”
“That’s it?” he asked after a pause. “What will you do with the rest of your life on this small farm?”
“I…don’t know.” Okay, so her plan hadn’t formulated much past that point. “Anything I want, I guess.”
“What do you want?”
“I don’t know, okay?” She winced at her defensive tone. Questions she couldn’t answer were so inconvenient. “I guess I was so focused on just the first step, I didn’t get past it.” That was the best answer she could come up with and it was pretty bad. “What’s with all the third degree?”
“I don’t know what your third degree is, Jessa,” he said patiently. “I would just like to know more about you.”
His deep voice, spoken gently in the dark, did things to her belly.
She tucked closer to his side, letting her shoulder slip against his. “Why?”
“Because you interest me,” he murmured. “You have done something no one else has in teaching me to touch. Or rather, to trust enough to touch. How could I not want to know more about you?”
Jessa didn’t have an answer to that. Fortunately, a light illuminated something ahead, and they hurried forward, toward it. The tunnel ended in a round chamber with a high ceiling. Three small tunnels branched off from this one, in addition to the one they just came from.
She let out a breath of relief. The space was filled with crates of supplies, cots, and even a small vehicle perfect for fitting down these passages. “Wow, you guys stock these chambers well.”
“This isn’t ours,” Virak said grimly. “These are Sifter supplies.”
She got a good look at him and drew in a breath. He had gashes on his arms, one on his ribs. Blood smeared over his torso and stained his tight pants. A bruise ran from his temple into his hairline. “We need to find some medical supplies. You’re pretty torn up.”
“I’ll be fine.” He glanced down at himself and winced. “Maybe a few bandages.”
Jessa opened a metal crate and glanced inside. “So, where do the other tunnels lead?”
He began looking through containers, too. “One goes to Exir City. Another goes into the desert and wasn’t completed.”
“And the third?”
“I don’t know,” he replied. “I thought there were only two tunnels off this terminal.”
“Great.” Jessa pulled what looked like a pack of medical supplies from a bin and raised one eyebrow. “How long have you lived here?”
He chuckled. “I never expected to be trapped in this tunnel and thus need to have the entire system memorized. Even a king can’t foresee every possibility.”
She sighed and lifted a pack of ointments and rolls of black tape from the crate. “You’re right. Sorry.”
He walked over to her. “No apologies. I don’t blame you for your fear. This was not what you expected when you arrived in Tagja City.”
“Nothing is what I expected,” she replied with a quick grin. “I thought a gorgeous, horny alien male would be jumping my bones.”
“If I were not…impaired, that is what you would have gotten,” Virak said, moving closer. “I wanted you from the moment I saw you.”
“You are not impaired.”
He loomed above her like a beautiful warrior. Those light blue eyes blazed down on hers with the bright heat of desire. “Oh, but I am.” He looked down at his hands, large and capable, and shook his head regretfully. “It has taken me until now to undo a childhood wound.”
Her pulse quickened. Her breathing went shallow. “You think you can…” She couldn’t finish. She’d run out of air.
“Yes, Jessa.” His voice was a growl. “I can. And I will.”
Good grief, maybe there was low oxygen in these tunnels because Jessa struggled to fill her lungs with air. She turned blindly to the medical supply crate. “Let me see those wounds.”
She didn’t know what any of the items did, so he instructed her on how to use the supplies.
Instead of ointments, there were sprays and multi-pronged needles, which looked like torture devices.
She did as he instructed. Some of his wounds, he could have tended himself, but he stood still and allowed her to tend him.
He didn’t flinch as her hands moved over his body, touching, applying strange bandages that seemed to meld to his skin in perfect seals.
Perhaps it was a test for him. For both of them.
When she was done, the gashes inflicted by the creature were clean, treated, and covered. The closeness of him intoxicated her. With reluctance, she dropped her hands from him and put the supplies away. “That should be better,” she said. “Until we can get you to a doctor.”
He raised a hand and ran his fingers over her jaw, down her neck. Shivers trailed in his wake. He slowly tracked down, sending fire over her collarbone, to her chest and the V of her cleavage. “Thank you,” he murmured.
He could surely feel the pounding of her heart and see the hot flush on her skin. There was no way he could miss her desire.
When his mouth lowered, she rose up on her toes to meet him. His mouth met hers softly at first, then his whole body seemed to sigh against hers. He sank into the kiss, into her, into the molten desire boiling between them.
His arms locked around her waist and pulled her against him. Her body fit against his with electric perfection. Everything about this male turned her on. Her eyes closed, and a moan slipped through her lips. She wouldn’t be putting the brakes on this time.