12. Runar

12

Runar

Jax may try to take my head.

After dealing with Kellan’s death, and Varrum having been the one to deal the final blow, I had no choice but to boot him off to live on another planet.

There’s the rule of never killing our brothers, no matter the circumstance. The punishment is typically death, but after Varrum saved us with his arrows, banishment was my best option.

Flora, being his Rhis , insisted on sticking at his side. Therefore, she took the banishment as well.

Jax will definitely try to take my head.

Feeling exhausted from having her gone from my side, I’m left waiting for her return. Galior isn’t around, so I’m sure he’s keeping a close eye on her.

Jax may not fully comprehend how important she is. The one to determine the future is her.

Running a hand down my face, I sigh. Resting in the captain’s chair, I rotate so I can look at all those who keep the peace. So many races work together communicating through the universe to make sure nothing goes wrong. Soon, I’m hoping to be able to see a human or two among everyone else.

As my fingers tap against the armchair to help get out this bundle of nerves of the undetermined future, I straighten up when I spot Galior in the distance. Right behind him, my mate.

Moving to stand without a second thought, I save them both time by meeting them halfway.

I gain a few stares when I suddenly pick up Jax and crush her against my chest. This will be a view they’ll get used to. After going hours without seeing her after having such a perfect night, I’m in desperate need of some contact.

She doesn’t shove me away. Rather, her arms snake around my neck and she returns my hug.

This is what true happiness feels like. I have no doubt.

“I missed you, my Rhis .” Breathing in her sweet scent, my cock stirs. Last night didn’t sate my hunger for her. Rather, it only appeased me for a short time. I’m already wanting to take her again if she has the patience for me.

“Wake me up next time instead of just disappearing on me,” she grumbles against my throat.

Using all my strength to release her, I carefully set her down and take in her beauty. She’s practically glowing.

When I see the bandage on her neck, I frown. Already reaching to remove it, she slaps my hand away.

“It’s staying on.” As her cheeks flood with color, she grazes the hidden mark with her fingers. “Until I’m used to it, anyway. I don’t think it’s going away any time soon.”

“It won’t,” I warn her. It’s a mark to prove our union. To show we’ve already found each other. I try to explain that to her.

“You know, we have this tradition called marriage. Usually, we share rings. A little less permanent and a lot less obvious.”

“I want everyone to see,” I confess as I reach forward once more. She lets me graze her skin, going as far as shivering when I brush the edge of the bandage. “I want them to know you are mine.”

When her skin changes to pink, I realize how much I enjoy the momentary color shift.

“Tell me, how did your communications go?” Deciding to take on her news before delivering my bad one, I watch her shoulders slump.

Now she looks exhausted. I hope that is not a bad sign.

“I recorded the message and explained everything. It’s gone off to all the nearby colonies. You may begin receiving communications from a lot of people you don’t know. I sent one to Earth as well.” Her brows furrow. “I don’t know if everyone is going to fit.” Her stress is clear as she rubs her cheek.

Well, if this isn’t the perfect lead to my confession, then I don’t know what is.

“When your sister was brought back to us in a dire state–”

Jax scoffs, just as she should, seeing as how she found Flora with Varrum.

“She was brought in from being poisoned. The planet they were on is just like the others surrounding us, deadly to humans. Shinara believes she can create an anti-toxin to make it more habitat. It’ll take time to adjust until a resistance is created but–”

“We’ll have a new planet to go to?” Jax interrupts me once more, this time looking hopeful. There’s a hint of a smile that does me in.

I want to kiss her. I want to do even more, but our quarters are too far away.

“The humans will, yes. They can decide if they wish to stay here with us, or to take what we offer to get them on the planet.” I don’t want to spell it out to her that I can’t leave this vessel and I obviously don’t want her to move onto this new planet. “Flora wants to help administer the anti-toxins since she is a well-known healer.”

Jax nods, understanding. Now she truly is smiling. Now I have to ruin it.

Reaching toward her, I pull her to the side. As much as I love her anger and how much it fuels her, I don’t want her starting those around us.

“About Flora…” I pluck my hands away from her body despite missing the contact the moment we’re separated. “She will be staying there, permanently. I do not believe she will be making visits to us. Because of everything that happened, to keep order, I had to send Varrum away.” I try my best to explain it to her. “Varrum is not allowed to return, therefore, I do not believe she will return either.”

I expect a flash of rage to fill her eyes. Instead, her brows lower as she soaks in my words.

“But, we can visit them, correct?”

I shift, nodding. “Of course. It’s a short journey. We’ll have to talk to Shinara about preparing us for the poisons.”

She nods slowly. “And we can visit whenever?” At my nod, her soft smile returns. “Flora and I have been separated ever since I joined the forces. As bad as it sounds, this isn’t new to us. We both have jobs to do. Though, I’m hoping I can relax a little bit now that you and I aren’t supposed to be trying to kill each other. Once we’re truly at peace, I’m going to want to visit as much as I can.”

“You’re more understanding than I assumed you’d be.” Confessing the truth, she scoffs. “You were ready to murder anyone when you thought she was in danger. Now I’ve tossed her on a poisonous planet. You have to understand.”

“Of course, I want to be with her. No offense, but Varrum is glued to her now. I wouldn’t be able to enjoy her company without him glaring at me the whole time.” She laughs at the thought instead of complaining. “Plus, now I have you.” Pausing, she blinks. “I have you.” Repeating the words slowly, her skin grows more flushed.

“You do.” Erasing one more foot between us, I bump her body against the wall. As she scoffs and flattens a hand against my chest. Rather than pushing me away, her hand simply moves with every breath that leaves my lips. We’re left staring at each other and once more, all I can focus on is this one human. My mate.

“Many of them are starting to stare.” Her whisper barely registers. She’s got a point. I can feel many eyes in our direction.

I suppose what I want to do to her shouldn’t be witnessed by others. Even if I want to show them all that Jax is all mine, I’ll respect her wishes for something a little less public.

“We will be very busy from this point forward.” Reaching toward her warm cheeks, I pinch a strand of her red hair. “We should take advantage of what little free time we have left. Many days will be just like this, both of us busy dealing with the need for peace amongst our kind.”

Her brows pinch together and she’s back to frowning. “Today was not enjoyable. I hate to admit it, but this might suck for a while. I suppose I can appreciate your company for one day before we get busy.”

No matter how busy we become, she’ll always be the one I’ll return to. Even if I have a pulsating headache, she’ll be the one to take care of me. Right now, I have a raging issue that needs to be taken care of.

“Runar!” Hissing my name as I scoop her up, I ignore her curses as I carry her away from the front of the ship. She’s always so bashful, hating the way we easily draw attention in our direction. Little does she know that this will become nothing but regular behavior for us. Having her against my chest like this feels nothing odd of right.

I never want to let her go.

“Where are you taking me?” Leaning closer to my neck, she breathes in slowly before sighing softly. The way her body instantly relaxes is nothing shy of a compliment.

“Somewhere with less eyes.”

I don’t care that I have to walk to the other end of the ship to reach the living quarters. Her poking and prodding at my chest is distracting me from the distance.

When we reach our destination and a closed door separates us from the rest of the beings on the ship, I can’t even be bothered to carry her to my bed. She’s wiggling around in my grip until I’m carrying her in a more dangerous position. Straddling my front while clinging to my neck, she’s in the perfect position to press up against the door.

Jax may make a show of acting bashful in front of others, but when it’s just us, she melts to my touch. Her body curves against my chest the moment my mouth reaches hers.

We’re both starving for contact. Teeth clashing, my chest rumbles as a growl vibrates through me. There is nothing more rewarding than knowing she missed this as much as I had.

There’s also this sense of relief. This feels like everything is settled in the right place, just as it should be.

As Jax rubs against my body and tries to get a little friction, she groans when I pull the bandage off of her neck.

The mark has healed just as it should. Seeing it fills me with pride and I can’t help myself. Running my tongue along the curves of where my teeth once were, Jax gasps.

Despite having healed over, the mark is as sensitive as it would be if it were fresh. It’ll always remain that way, a personal weakness made only for me.

My cock pulses against my thigh as I lick and taste at her skin. Getting so lost in myself, she’s the one who has to pull me out of my haze to tell me to take her to bed.

I don’t believe I’ve ever moved so fast.

“You always act so strange,” she murmurs as she pulls off her shirt. Her pale skin is flushed, just as it should be. “Like an animal in heat.” Her smile says she’s not upset, but she doesn’t have the slightest clue.

Whenever I’m near her, I struggle to think for myself. Now that I’ve claimed her once, I have a little more control over myself. However, the lust and hunger continue to remain. I’m not sure how long it will take until I can act normal again around her.

At the pinch of my brows, she wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me down for another kiss. This one is slow, lazy, and comforting.

“It’s not a bad thing. Actually, I sort of love it. Don’t let that go to your head though.” Scoffing against my mouth, she sighs as I start plucking at her belt.

“Don’t hold your breath. It will.” Grinning, I manage to separate the leather and unzip her pants. The scent of her arousal makes my nose flare and my head spin.

Just when I think nothing can stop me from ripping her pants off and burying my tongue in her sweet heat, she’s stopping me with her hand.

I’m not prepared for the hesitance in her stare.

“What is it?” Inhaling sharply, I push away the demands to take.

“I just want to make it clear, the sex last night was incredible. Like, really good.” She rolls her eyes when I grin. “Though, I need to make it clear. I’m not just here for the sex. This Rhis thing, I’m going to take it seriously. Thanks to you, I don’t think I’m going to be able to be alone again. You set the bar pretty freaking high.”

“I will not leave you, Jax.” Lifting, I take in that hesitance and graze her cheek with my thumb.

“I can be a hot head sometimes,” she admits, like I didn’t get to see her anger up close. “I’ve been called a handful many times in the past.”

“There have been cases of my kind rejecting their soulmates, Rhis. If there were any notion of not wanting you as much as I do, I have the choice to stop this.” My hand leaves her face and slowly trails down her front. “I have fallen for who you are. Despite seeing a course of emotions seep through you, my feelings have not changed. I marked you for a reason. Not only to show others that you are taken but to remind us of this bond.”

She reaches up and grazes the mark. Nodding her head, her eyes close as my touch reaches her hips. Lifting them, she helps me ease her pants off.

“On Earth, we usually just say we love each other instead of giving speeches.” Forcing a laugh, her eyes crack open to watch my hands stroke her thighs. Soon, they’ll be quivering.

“You will have to teach me your ways,” I muse as I take in the damp spot of her underwear. “Do you love me, Jax?”

With such a short time being together, I’m not expecting her to be completely convinced to throw all of her experience behind her with my kind. Being a little unforgiving is expected.

Silence fills the room, and I expect more hesitance. Instead, she huffs and covers her face in embarrassment.

“You really think I’d let you shove that monster in between your thighs inside of me if I didn’t?” Her huffs continue even after I peel her wrists away and take in those red cheeks. “You know, I’m still kind of sore thanks to your roughness. I don’t even know if I can handle a round now.”

Grinning, I nuzzle her neck and hug her close. She continues to complain.

“I’ll be gentle, I promise.” Murmuring the words against her mark, I grin when her body jerks against mine. “First, I’ll lick you thoroughly until my jaw aches. Then, if you’re not satisfied, I’ll be gentle.”

As her body relaxes, she sighs.

Jax is still mysterious to me. With the smell of her arousal, I doubt she wants anything to do with gentleness. She’s a fan of a little roughness.

“Fine,” she grumbles as if I can’t feel the thump of her heart. Once she’s ready to open up and start making demands, that’ll be when the real fun begins.

She doesn’t complain when I lift to peel away her underwear. Not even a peep when I get between her thighs and kiss a trail up toward her slick pink core. Only small sighs of relief.

I don’t mind. Here soon, I’ll have her screaming. The night is still young and with the business of the future, I don’t plan on leaving this bed again until we have to.