Chapter 14

Chapter

Fourteen

DROXAN

M y fated mate—my luxiva —was incredibly tight.

Tight and hot and slick and needy.

Vrax .

I worried that I hurt her but my hard thrusts only had her clawing down my back. I felt the subtle rocking of her own hips trying to match my merciless rhythm.

I was all out of sorts.

Even I could see that.

My awakened Instinct was a mess of wild emotions.

The rightness of claiming my mate for the first time.

The hot desire that made me feel like a rutting beast between her thighs. I thought that I would kill anything that came close to her, those feral instincts surprising.

The knowledge that my mate had nearly been impregnated with another male's seed. The rage and sinking dread and jealousy I felt at the prospect. Of another male laying claim to my mate and the child that she would give him.

That alone told me how deep I already was for her.

That alone told me that I'd been a vraxing fool to try to fight against an ancient Instinct that ran through my race's blood, blessed by the Fates themselves.

Did I think that I could go against fate ? My destiny?

Nix .

She was my destiny.

I only needed to prove that to her. Because I was done fighting this. She was mine. I was hers. And if she still wanted to leave Ullima, I would follow her. I would move to Wero and properly court her until she accepted me as hers, until she let me plant a child deep in her womb, until she let me be the mate and the provider and the protector that she and our family needed.

Relief soared through me.

Because we didn't only have this short span of time anymore. I would follow her wherever she wanted to go. I would leave Ullima behind if she asked it of me.

Because only Lyra mattered now.

Her happiness. And since my own happiness was now tied to hers…I would do everything I could to give her whatever she wanted.

Her orgasm broke through the haze in my mind and I quickened my thrusts, feeling her clenching and pulsing around my cock. Trying to draw out my seed? When I could not give into those instincts?

Not yet , I vowed.

That didn't mean I couldn't fantasize about it. About shooting my come deep into her, of imagining her heavy with my child. Our child.

The Instinct was a special kind of madness. But we could both descend into it together because the bond between fated mates was strong.

Lyra felt it too. I knew she did. How could she not when it was this intense?

"You feel so vraxing good squeezing my cock like that, luxiva ," I growled to her, my sweat mixing with the mist from the waterfall. I felt the wet slide and slip of our bodies as I steadily pushed her up the bank with the ferocity of my thrusts.

" Gods, Droxan ," she breathed, her eyes wide. " I need more !"

Even though she'd just orgasmed, she needed it again. And I knew the only thing that would sate her was my come.

Dropping low, I nipped at her neck, sucking on her flesh as my hips wildly snapped between her thighs. A desperate, constant stream of moans was tumbling from her throat, mixing with my purrs.

My mouth trailed up to nibble at her ear. I groaned, feeling her practically suck me into her cunt, and she shivered.

Raggedly, she breathed, "I love the sounds you make. I love how you sound when you're about to come."

"Mmm, and you know when I'm about to come, don't you, Lyra?" I rumbled. "You can vraxing feel it, can't you?"

"Yes!"

Pulling back, I met her gaze. Our faces pressed close and she licked at the seam of my lips, huffing with every deep thrust, the sound of our mating filling the clearing.

"You want me to breed you, luxiva ?" I growled at her. She gasped, her cunt clenching down on my cock hard at the wicked, forbidden words. " Tev , you like that. You want me to shoot my seed deep inside you? To get you heavy with my child?"

And I knew she was truly too far gone because I saw the wild snap of need and lust in her eyes as she cried out, " Yes ! Please, Droxan!"

It was my undoing. The fiery path of my seed was shooting up my shaft. My abdomen clenched. My hips bucked. I fucked her harder, faster, chasing that pleasure that I knew only she could give me.

Her orgasm came first, enticing me to join her. Clenching around my cock, squeezing. Demanding .

" Vrax ," I bellowed, the edges of my vision going black. " Lyra! "

And then at the very last moment, I roared as I pulled out from her cunt, thrusting over her clit as she thrashed and moaned, before my come shot out. Hot and thick and shimmering.

Lyra's eyes were wide as she watched me spill. As she watched me mark her cunt and her belly with my seed. It lashed over her skin, shooting all the way up to her breasts.

I groaned. My Instinct was frustrated that I hadn't spilled inside her and yet, it was supremely satisfied at seeing her marked like this.

Soon , I thought. Soon, I'd be able to mark her flesh and come deep inside my mate, satisfying both of those primal needs.

Lyra was watching me as we caught our breath. As the crazed moment began to fade, her cheeks went pink. Was she embarrassed? Embarrassed that she had asked me— begged me—to come inside her?

" Nix , none of that," I told her, leaning forward to brush my lips against her, murmuring the words into the kiss. Our eyes held. I could see every glimmering strand of her multi-colored eyes, every thread of brown, gold, and green. I blew out a harsh breath, finally coming down from the pleasured high. In a low, intimate tone, I confessed, "I shouldn't have asked that. You want me to come inside you? You want me to give you a child, luxiva ? You'll ask me when you're not in the throes of this desire we both share. When you have a clear mind. Tev ?"

A soft gasp came as she stared at me.

She was at a loss for words.

"Come," I murmured, softly. Sucking in a breath as I backed off, even though it was the last thing I wanted to do, "Let me get you cleaned up and then?—"

"Would you?" she whispered, staring up at me with an unreadable look on her beautiful features. Looking at her made me ache, she was so vraxing lovely.

I stilled, flickering my gaze between her eyes. "Would I what?"

"Give me a child? If I simply asked?" she wondered.

I inclined my head. A soft laugh broke from my throat but it came out more like a pained huff.

"I'd give you whatever you wanted."

Her brow furrowed.

" Why ?"

"Why?" I repeated.

"Most males would be running for the hills," she pointed out. "We just met, you and me. And now we are talking about a baby and you're not even scared . Not even a little. What if I'm the axe-murderer in this situation? What if I'm batshit crazy and you don't realize what a ridiculous mistake you've made until it's too late?"

"Lyra."

"What?" she asked, but she was frowning. As if she wasn't covered in my come. As if we hadn't just had vraxing amazing sex. As if my cock wasn't still hard, resting against her belly.

Because I was still on a high, because I knew that nothing would separate us, because I knew that I would do anything to make her happy, I gave her a soft smile.

She'd been honest with me.

I needed to be honest with her. Even if it scared her. Even if it scared me.

"Before," I started, "I asked you what you knew of Luxirians."

"Yes," she whispered. "What does that have to do with a baby ?"

"Everything," I told her truthfully. "You know about our Instinct?"

She stilled.

Her chest rose in a single, full breath, before releasing.

"Yes," she whispered.

"You know that it awakens when a Luxirian finds their fated mate for the first time? That it feels like the Fates themselves are filling them with life, with breath, with purpose, with need?" I murmured, watching her carefully. "It only happens once. And I never thought it would happen for me. Not until you."

I watched the exact moment that realization hit her.

Her pupils dilated and she blinked rapidly, her lips parting.

"Are you…are you saying that your Instinct…that I…" she started, trailing off.

She went quiet. Oddly, strangely quiet as she processed my words.

Then she asked a question I hadn't expected, peering at me carefully. Softly, she asked, "What…what does luxiva mean? I thought the word sounded familiar."

A bloom of warmth burst in my chest even though my heart was hammering. "It means fated one. A fated mate."

A puff of air escaped her.

Then I leaned forward, cupping her cheeks, needing to make her understand. "I know it's a lot, Lyra. It's a lot to process. But I just want you to understand that we have time . Time to explore this. If you want to. There is no rush."

"But…but the Quadrant Patrol and…"

Quietly, I suggested, "You could stay."

She struggled to push up from her back and a thread of dismay went through me. But it wasn't anger on her face. It was…confusion.

"I can't just stay, Droxan. I have…I have an apartment. A job!"

Determination rose through me. "An apartment we can pack up. A job you can leave."

"And my fertility treatments!" she added, making me growl when my mind flashed back to the donors . "I've already put so many credits into them. I can't just give up on it."

" Vrax your treatments," I rumbled, holding her eyes. "You want a child? Let's go back to our bed right now and I'll guarantee you'll be pregnant by the night's end."

She laughed though her cheeks were tinted pink in her disbelief. "Be serious, Droxan."

"I. Am," I growled. "I have more credits that I'll ever know what to do with. I can take care of you. I can take care of us. You don't ever have to worry about that."

Her breath hitched and she held my eyes. I could almost hear the thudding of her own heart and there was a sinking feeling in my gut. I was pushing her too hard. I shouldn't have brought up the future. I didn't want to overwhelm her but we'd gone from having sex to talking about a baby and her moving to Ullima, giving up everything she knew.

" Vrax ," I murmured, rocking back on my heels. "I'm sorry, Lyra. I should not have…I should not have unloaded this on you. It's a new feeling for me."

"And what's that?" she whispered.

I met her eyes. "To realize that your fate is connected to another. To realize that you would do anything for them to make them happy. To realize that they are suddenly the center of everything ."

Her swallow was audible.

"I…" she began softly. She took a deep breath. "I'm really your fated mate?"

I inclined my head, rubbing a hand over my horn. " Tev . I felt it awaken the moment you came roaring out at me from the life pod in that tiny red bikini."

She couldn't help but softly laugh in disbelief. "Gods," she whispered. "That must've been a shock for you on all fronts."

Quite the shock , I couldn't help but agree silently.

"We don't have to talk about this now," I told her. "You were honest with me about your treatments. So I wanted to be honest with you about this. No secrets between us now."

"I just need to think," she told me. "I'm not saying no. I just…this is a lot, Droxan. You're right. It's a lot to take in. And for you too. To make sure you want this too."

I know what I want , I thought immediately but didn't voice.

"Of course," I said, rubbing a hand down my jaw. I looked down at her naked body. "You want to clean up now?"

"Yes," she whispered, nibbling on her lip. "I think that's for the best."

But she couldn't quite meet my eyes and it only made my Instinct prowl with restlessness, thinking I'd fucked everything up.