8. Davon

Chapter 8

Davon

S he clutched a scrap of my old tunic against the swell of her breasts.

There was no one lovelier than my mate with her dark hair spilling around her bare shoulders, her light tan skin coated with steam, and pinkness brightening her face.

Pain seared across the back of my hand, and I lifted it, gaping at the symbol appearing there.

She was my fated mate.

My cocks stiffened, pressing against my pants, and there was no hiding something like that. I was bigger than most Zuldruxians all over.

“I . . .” She shook her head, her gaze gliding down my body to lock on my groin. A swallow worked its way down the smooth column of her throat. “I’m sorry. The water feels good. I . . . I should know better than to make sounds.”

“I’m a fool.” With some difficulty, I lowered my gaze from her beauty, directing it to the floor. “ I should’ve known it was nothing.”

She wouldn’t point out my arousal, would she? I’d die of shame.

“You . . .”

I backed into the hall and spun, running before she could complete her thought. I didn’t finish fleeing until I’d reached the top of the steps. There was no one about. Wortek would be fast asleep, and the rest of the staff had left the building. I’d made sure the inside lock was secure before bringing her the metal pan for bathing.

I wished there was someone around I could glower at.

Finally, I leaned against the wall inside the stairwell and waited until she’d called out that she was finished. Then I made my way back down to her room. Without looking her way, I hefted the tub and emptied it into the sink.

“I’ll have to return this to the kitchen,” I said gruffly.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her shake her head. She’d washed her hair, and it gleamed like the black wings of the dreedelar bird that sometimes nested in the tallest trees near one of the oases. I’d sit on the shore and watch the fledglings learn from their parents how to skim above the water, how to dive into the deeper parts of the pools for small fish. When the sun hit their feathers, they shimmered in black, gold, and blue.

The sun on dreedelar birds was nothing compared to Maggie’s hair.

She’d dressed in one of the outfits I— I —had purchased for her, and it lovingly hugged her slender frame. She was as delicate as a newborn bribard and stronger than a mundrek, the large, tan-colored creatures we rode in the desert. They could go for days without food and water and could drive off any predator with a snap of their fangs.

“I’ll bring food next.” I turned with the metal pan propped on my shoulder.

“You don’t have to keep being kind to me,” she whispered.

“Yes. I do.”

Her head jerked in a nod, and her eyes sparkled with water of sadness. I wanted to make her happy, but all I seemed able to do was make her feel bad.

I raided the small kitchen behind the bar, taking bits of this and that, making sure I didn’t remove enough for anyone to notice. They didn’t cook much here, just simple snacks for the patrons, but there was enough to feed my mate. I brought it down to her and leaned against the doorframe, still not looking fully at her while she ate.

“Can I get you anything else before I leave?” I asked, taking her plate when she’d finished.

“No, thank you.” She rose, and her hand stretched out to me.

I pivoted and fled again before her fingers could touch.

Over the next few days, I made sure my mate ate well, and I brought her little things I hoped would make her smile. Otherwise, I didn’t visit her other than when directed to bring her upstairs to dance or return her to her room. I wanted Wortek to believe I didn’t care one way or the other about her.

The opposite was true. Her strength and determination to make it through this astounded me. Living in the desert taught us resilience, but this woman had come from a life much different than the one she found herself in now. Many would’ve broken. Instead, she’d found a way to hold her head high and dance with a touch of dignity on her face.

Finally, the night of Wortek’s special guest arrived. When I stepped inside the bar early that evening, I found Wortek snarling at the extra crew he’d hired to make the place look better. Other than a fairly clean floor and tables, it looked unchanged to me, but Wortek actually beamed when he saw me, gesturing for me to join him where he sat at the bar eating and savoring a drink.

I knew better than to sit beside him, but I strode over and stood within his view, complimenting him on how great the bar looked.

His grin grew sly. “Do you think it looks good enough for the king?”

So the Veerenad king was his guest? “I’m sure it is.”

Thousands of lizards lived in this city, though their population had not grown since the disease swept through. At the end of my shift, I walked through the streets, studying the wall encircling the city and the guards lining the top, seeking a way out where we wouldn’t be seen leaving. I’d noted how tight the streets were, how many of them lived in this small stretch of land.

I’d also looked around for any other human females. Maggie might not be the only one captured. But I hadn’t seen a single human, and I’d stopped often, listening in on various conversations. If there were others inside the city, I suspected I would’ve heard about it already. Many had spoken of Maggie and her dancing.

Firion had stayed with my clan for a night during a storm, and he told me he’d originally been on his way to negotiate a treaty with the Veerenad king. We planned to offer them land to expand into in exchange for them taking control of the rogue packs of Veerenads wandering well beyond their territory. A pack had captured Firion and Talia and made them work in the mines.

While Firion hadn’t concluded his trip, he still intended to speak with the king one day soon. It was long overdue. We needed to establish some sort of boundary to keep the lizard people from overrunning us all. If we couldn’t find a way to respect each other, we’d end up warring, something I was sure neither side would survive.

“When does the king arrive?” I asked.

“Before the middle of the night.” Wortek’s chest puffed. “He has important duties to attend to before he takes leisure.” He rubbed his palms together, his claws clicking when they touched. “He’s heard about the human female’s dancing and stated he wanted to see it for himself. After tonight, this place will be overrun with Veerenads. Everyone who hasn’t seen her will wish to, and those who already have are nearly as addicted to her dance as the effect of tetradon fever.”

“I’m sure she’ll impress him. That’s why I reminded her to wear the new outfit you gave her tonight.”

She’d mentioned the “gift” he’d given her for good behavior was a red sparkly gown that she said didn’t fit well. It was too tight. It hugged her body too closely. She hated it.

But she’d wear it.

If only I had found a way to get her out of the city before tonight. Each time I thought up a plan, I realized that while it might get us past the outer wall, it wouldn’t be enough to get us far enough away from Wortek. He saw Maggie’s value, and he’d do all he could to keep her here, dancing for him and the others each night.

“Go get her.” His gaze shot to the stairs. “Bring her up early. I want to make sure she understands how important this is.”

“Will do.” I loped over to the stairs and hurried down them, making my footsteps loud as I walked along the hall to let her know I was coming.

When I appeared in her open doorway, she was sitting on the bed dressed in one of the outfits I’d given her. The smile curving her mouth hit me like a blow to the chest. We were only friends. I’d never push her to give me more. I was honored enough that she’d give me a smile .

But oh how my heart ached to see it. To see her .

The gods may have sent her to me, but I’d never be worthy enough to claim her.

“Davon,” she said, rising. Her face didn’t seem as stark and pale as when I first met her, and I told myself it was because I was making sure she had enough food, that she got rest. Her high color had nothing to do with my presence.

“Wortek wants to speak to you before his special guest arrives. It’s the king. He also wants to inspect you in the dress.”

“Funny how naked I felt wearing this.” She flicked the thin tunic and pants she’d danced in each night lying neatly folded on the end of her bed. “But this?” She held up the gown. There wasn’t much to it, and it sparkled, tiny facets on the surface catching the light. “Good thing it’s tight or it would flip over my face when I’m dangling upside down, exposing my underwear.”

Heat roared through me at the thought of something like that happening, and I chided myself for the way my cocks stirred in my pants. She was not an object to be admired. She was a female to be respected and adored.

“My underwear has seen better days.” Her sigh bled out as she lowered the red dress onto her lap. “I wash it out in the sink each night and put it back on while it’s still damp. I . . . don’t dare not wear something, though I’m well aware it’s not much of a barrier if someone wants to reach me.”

Could I find more for her? I’d look in the market for something that might work, though I didn’t have much hope of finding anything she could wear.

“I’ll step out while you change,” I said, backing out of her doorway.

“You could just turn around. I trust you not to look.”

Her trust was misplaced because everything inside me shouted I must look. Touch. Lick if she’d let me.

My face heated. She was never going to want me to do something like that.

Damn cocks.

I stomped down the hall and out of view, leaning against the wall, trying not to tilt my head to catch the tease of fabric as she changed.

“Done,” she called out.

I walked back inside her room and couldn’t keep my gaze from falling on her, gliding along her curves hugged by the sparkling red fabric.

“You’re beautiful,” I said hoarsely. “I’ve never seen anyone as lovely.”

“Thank you, Davon.” She pressed her palms to her cheeks. “Flattery will get you everywhere.”

My gaze shot up to meet hers. “What does that mean?” It couldn’t mean what it sounded like, as if my saying nice things made her want to offer me . . .

Nothing. She wasn’t offering a damn thing.

She shrugged. “It’s a saying. Let me braid my hair and I’ll be ready.”

“Could I?” The words popped out of my mouth. Now why had I said anything like that? The only hair I’d braided was my mundrek’s tail and even then, it had looked sloppy. I’d unraveled it and left it alone.

“Would you?” She turned, presenting her back to me.

The red fabric dipped low in the back, leaving her exposed to the base of her spine, before rising up to hug her shoulders. Her hair spilled across that glorious, smooth skin in a rich dark wave. What would I give to bury my face in the strands, to nudge them aside with my nose and seek her flesh with my mouth and tongue?

Everything.

I ached to flee, to run from the room or rip back my offer. Instead, I made my feet take me close to her. Made my big, awkward fingers gently lift her hair on the sides. “I don’t know how to do fancy braids.”

“Something simple is fine. Just make sure its tight to keep my hair from escaping.”

“If only I could free all of you.”

She stilled. “We’re not giving up. I’m sure you’ll find a way.”

“I will. My supplies are ready.” I kept my voice low, kept my mind focused on the task of carefully smoothing her dark strands, of weaving them from the crest of her head to the tips. “We need a good distraction, something that will occupy Wortek long after we’ve fled.”

“Ideas?”

“I could burn the place down.”

“Someone could be hurt.”

Better than her being hurt, though I knew what she meant.

“Does he ever leave the city?” she asked .

“Not that I’m aware of. They have nothing beyond their walls. Only forest and high mountains to the north and the desert everywhere else. Rogue Veerenads live in the desert, though those who rebelled in the mine now have control. But they truly don’t have any place left to go.”

“What sort of distraction could we find here inside the city?”

“I’ve been thinking about it, and I have a few ideas. We can talk about them later and pick the best one.”

“Soon, I’ll be able to leave this horrible place,” she said gaily, laughter spilling into her voice. It dropped away too fast. “For a short time, that is. Once the king leaves, we’ll go. We’ll pretend we’re free. Then it’s back to dancing on command, to being chained to the pole or the wall of my room. I don’t think he’ll give me another break for a very long time.”

“I want us out of this city within the next few days, and I’m going to make it happen.”

“You don’t know how much it means to me that you’re here. You’re supportive. You feed me, bring me clean, warm clothing, plus a bath at the end of each shift. It means everything. Everything, Davon.”

I grumbled, my face hot from her praise. How did a male reply to such a thing?

I wasn’t worthy of more than the clothing on my back and a simple meal to keep me from starving.

Yet, in this female’s eyes, I felt as if I might, just might be worth more.

She held a strand of stretchy fabric over her shoulder for me to secure the end. “I appreciate it. I do a decent job but there’s something nice about having someone else do this for you, isn’t there? My mom used to braid it for me when I was little and after our parents died, Talia and I would do it for each other.” Her voice broke. “I miss her a lot. But knowing I’ll see her one day soon, that you’re going to take me to her, keeps me going.”

I secured the end of her braid and stroked the thick band running down her back. Not bad for a bumbling Zuldruxian warrior. “I won’t leave you here. I’ll die trying to get you out.”

She turned and her hand reached up to tentatively stroke my face. She had to stand on her toes to do it, but it meant a lot to me. “Don’t say things like that. Do you know how worried I am that you could be hurt?”

“You shouldn’t worry about me. I’m nothing compared to you.”

“Davon.” She held my face, tilting it down to make me look into her eyes. “I am worried. You’re a friend.”

Yes, that. Nothing more.

“But it’s more than that.” Her gaze searched mine. “You talked about fated mates and you . . .” Her face darkened, and she dragged her eyes away from mine as if she couldn’t bear to speak while she looked at me. “You mean a lot to me. I . . .”

“What?” I croaked, holding my breath because I was desperate to hear what she might say. The longing I felt . . . It would haunt me until my dying day. I’d whisper her name on my last exhale, and her image, the way she looked right now, would be the last thing I hoped to see .

“It’s probably foolish.” Her lips thinned, and she nibbled on the lower one. “But you’re more to me than just a friend.” Backing away from me, she fluttered her hands at her throat. “I shouldn’t tell you that. I know you don’t want me in that way, that you—”

“In what way?” I gasped out, unable to think or breathe.

Her arms dropped, and her hands twisted at her sides. “You know.”

“I don’t.” Tell me. Tell me, please.

“You’re special.”

“I’m not. I’ve done things I shouldn’t have.”

“Who hasn’t?” she asked, exasperation coming through in her voice. “I stole a candy bar at the store once. Did you know that? My mom marched me back to the store with it in my hot little hands, and she made me not only give it to the clerk, but she made me volunteer to sweep out the store. Then she stayed outside until I’d done it. She smacked my ass so hard! That was the only time she ever hit me . . .” She trailed off. “I’m chattering when I should be speaking honestly with you about how I feel.”

“Be honest. Chatter all you want. I live to hear it.”

“There you go again, saying things that make my heart flip over, that make me want more.”

I frowned. “More of what? Food? I’ll get it for you.” My throat was a furious thing, shoving out the words before I had time to think them through. “Another bath? The water will be here within a blink. I could get you more clothing, more— ”

She placed her fingertip over my lips, stilling my words.

My thoughts.

My very heart trapped within the cage of my chest.

“It makes me want you , Davon,” she whispered. “You.”