25. Chapter 25

True to his word, Dzur-Khan carried me all day. At some point, I even fell asleep while snuggling against his massive chest, drooling down his pecs and abs.

A strange peace had spread through me by the creek where I had cried for my dead sister. I hadn't spoken to her in years, yet I missed the option to call her. In some strange way, it was unexpectedly comforting to know that she had died for a cause, for a reason. Her death hadn't been strictly for nothing. She had tried to stand up for what she believed in, for what was right. For that, I respected her and wondered how much more we had been alike than we had been willing to admit. Maybe even that thought alone proved how alike we had been.

Deep down in my gut, though, I knew that even if we had been given a chance of reconciliation, we would have never done so. I would like to think I could have been the bigger person and kept my mouth shut, but that was only wishful thinking. After an hour together, we would have been at each other's throats—sad, but that was the truth.

Killing Willis and Pierre hadn't given me the satisfaction I had expected, but I didn't regret it either. Earth and Vandruk were better off without them.

I had already warned Dzur-Khan of the IC plans Willis had divulged to me before he died. We also needed to warn Tzur-Than and Matt. If the IC had their eyes set on Matt, they wouldn't stop until they had him.

Most of what Willis told me before he died hadn't been that surprising. Once IC had more information on Vandruk from Matt, they would send more soldiers to overrun the warriors by the gate, using bombs or gas They hadn't needed Willis to scout the land because their primary objective was to secure the entrance into the Vandruk world. They would send everything they had to build a FOB around the portal—an impenetrable fortress.

Something we needed to stop.

As soon as we reached the portal, Dzur-Khan would order messengers to call the other khadahrs. Every minute we stayed ahead of IC was vital. As soon as Weidenhof found out that his little plan of securing Matt had failed, he would retaliate. The question was just how and when.

IC had unlimited forces and technology at their advantage. The Vandruks' only advantage was that they knew the lay of the land.

Hopefully sending the women and scientists back would throw them enough of a curveball to buy us time to regroup. It didn't help that Dzur-Khan had filled me in on how their priests abhorred all humans and wouldn't allow Vandruk-human matings.

He said that Tzar-Than and any other khadahr considering such union would be ostracized. The priests might even try to take those khadahrs' holdings by force.

Dzur-Khan anticipated more khadahrs considering human mates—and the look he gave me at that still resonated in my chest. But that also meant more unrest.

The scent of a brewing civil war was strong and filled me with dread. The Vandruks needed to unite now, not divide!

I tried to figure out what my place in this would be. I had only known Dzur-Khan for a little while, but I didn't want to leave him. I wanted to get to know him better, I felt a bond with him I had never experienced before. One that needed more exploring, a lot more exploring.

A flutter in my pussy was indication enough of what kind of exploring my body and mind were considering, but it also told me that I was on the mend. When I had felt Dzur-Khan's cock pressed against me all night, it had been nice, but my body had been too tired to call up even an ounce of sexual desire; now, though, it seemed to have returned and then some. More and more, I became aware of his arms around me, his naked chest, and the steady thump, thump, thump of his heartbeat that never increased, no matter how long he was carrying me.

But when my tongue wickedly stroked his nipple, the thump, thump, thump picked up a notch, accompanied by a sharp intake of breath. Encouraged, I sucked his nipple into my mouth, lightly biting into it.

"Amira," his tone was hoarse and scolding.

"Hmmhmm," I mumbled around his nipple, sending my hand to explore his sculpted chest.

"Behave," he rasped.

I giggled, suppressing the childish urge to ask, or what ? because my mouth was still occupied with his nipple.

He stumbled, but caught his balance. "Please," he pressed out.

I kissed the top of his chest and relented. A deep sigh rumbled through his body, eliciting another giggle from me. I guess Vandruk has turned me into a giggler. Who would have guessed? Not me.

I pressed my hand against his chest, glad that it worked again. The cut he had been forced to make to drain the poison was healing nicely. There was no sign of infection, and the black lines were all on a full retreat. My fingers were still a little bit swollen, but I was able to wiggle them again.

Rotburn, I mused. I had half a mind for packing a few of them up and sending them through the portal that would teach Weidenhof. Only the thought of too many innocent people being hurt stopped me. I wasn't a biologist, but even I could imagine what would happen if we let loose an alien species on Earth.

Up ahead, Lexi walked with Dhor-Van, making me wonder if she might want to stay on Vandruk. She and he made a cute couple, but I wasn't sure how Dzur-Khan felt about that. I knew he cared about me, but was it enough for him to make me his khadahrshi like Tzar-Than had done with Gwyn? Did I want that?

Surprisingly, my heart and pussy were both in agreement that yes, yes, we want that very much , while my brain warned that I had only known him for a few days— but what a few days , my heart threw in—and that after Dawn's death, I was still in a vulnerable spot, well as vulnerable as I ever got.

But there were many things I was sure of. Like how much I enjoyed Dzur-Khan's company. How he made me feel. The way he took charge and the way he let me do what needed to be done.

I knew enough about him to know that it hadn't been easy for him to let me take care of Pierre and Willis. To stand by as an observer rather than to rush to my side. In many ways, he was chauvinistic and all alpha male, but on the other hand, he didn't show any of the possessiveness that, in my experience, came with them. He wasn't going to hold me back, but he would always be there to have my back. I realized that you couldn't know someone well after only a few days, but in all honesty, these had been the most intense few days of my life, and his, too, or at least close. What I had seen of him showed me that we were perfect for each other.

It was as if my core recognized him as my soulmate. But as long as I didn't know where he stood on this, it was moot to think about. There were so many things we hadn't been able to talk about yet due to our language barrier, but that was getting better by the day. He could have been in this just for the fun of it. I mean, what guy turned down sex? Especially with their lack of females .

Since I had been the one to initiate that, I couldn't fault him for taking me up on it. Besides, wasn't that what it had been for me at first? For fun? So why was I here contemplating a deep relationship?

Because you're almost at the red fog and you don't want to leave , my heart threw in. What she said , my pussy added. Fine, so we all wanted to stay!

It was time for a heart-to-heart with the man carrying me.