Chapter 15

Chapter

Fifteen

LYRA

T ruthfully, I didn't need that much time to think about what Droxan had confessed to me at the waterfall.

I'd made my decision between the moment we'd left to climb back up the stairs and when we stepped foot on his wraparound terrace.

So…no time at all, looking back on it.

It should scare me right? I couldn't help but wonder, sighing out loud as I watched Droxan out on the terrace, fiddling with the water catch system again. I was spying, nestled in The Pleasure Pit which still smelled of him. Of us. I could see him through the far, curved windows. His brow was furrowed but every now and again, he'd pause in his work, stand, pace. Like he was debating coming to me.

But then he always sat back down along the ledge, resumed his work, his expression growing darker and darker every moment he spent outside.

He was giving me time.

Even though it clearly grated on him to be away from me. Especially after we'd had sex, especially after everything that had come spilling out before and afterwards.

He wasn't scared about the fertility treatments.

He wanted me to live on Ullima. With him.

He wanted to take care of me. Take care of us , should a baby come.

Between my thighs, I was still slick with need. The sex had made it worse, if anything. It made sense now. Everything I'd ever heard about Luxirians and their fated mates…I knew that the joining process was intense.

No wonder he'd been hard every time I looked at him, the poor guy , I thought. Luxirian males were constantly aroused for their mates, from the very first moment they saw them. At least until the connection had been sealed, solidified, and then they would find some relief.

And I can give him that relief , I knew now.

For the last time, I asked myself…

Could I give up everything for him?

A male I'd only just met and only because I'd crash landed on his planet?

Slowly, I stood from my place amongst the cushions and moved towards the front door. We'd returned from the waterfall hours ago. The sun was dipping in the horizon, a cloudless, beautiful day after the stormy night. I'd taken the time to think over every possibility. I'd taken the time to make sure this was what I wanted.

My initial answer hadn't changed.

Now I was certain.

And I didn't want Droxan to be in misery any longer.

It might feel like the craziest decision in the entire universe…but how often did fated mate pairings happen?

Rarely .

There had to be a reason for it.

When I approached him out on the terrace, I saw his muscles bunch. He turned around slowly when he heard the brush of my bare feet against the terrace pavers. Simultaneously, he unmounted the bannister, coming to stand in one fluid motion.

He was so tall, nearly blocking out the sun behind him, and I had to crane my neck back to meet his eyes.

"Hi," I greeted softly.

Why did it feel like we'd been apart for weeks instead of mere hours?

As if he couldn't not touch me, Droxan strode forward and tugged me into him. I huffed out a pleased sigh and melted in his embrace, savoring the feel of his strength, his warm skin. His arms came around me, cradling me to his chest. He was sweaty from his work but he smelled amazing . I didn't mind. Not one bit.

His nose came to bury itself in my hair as he bent low and a shiver went down my spine when I heard his whistled inhale.

I bit my lip to keep from smiling, as my heart hammered in my chest.

"Before you say anything, I've been thinking," he told me immediately. "And back at the waterfall, I should have added that if you want to stay on Wero, if you want to keep your apartment and your job, then keep them. I will leave Ullima. I will move to the colony and we can take this slow. I can court you properly. If that's what you need. If that's what you want."

My heart squeezed and I couldn't help but pull back to look at his face. My mind was reeling. He loved Ullima, didn't he? This place had sparked his inspiration. It had given him peace after Luxiria.

"You would do that?" I asked quietly, his words only strengthening my decision when it had already been pretty damn secure. "You would move to Wero for me? The colony that can boast of a single lava blow hole when you have a place like this that's all yours?"

His sigh was deep. "Don't forget the tavern that the Hyrinn racer visited. That's quite a selling point for me."

A laugh of awed disbelief escaped my throat. Reaching up, I clasped his face between my hands, my eyes going a little watery at the gesture. And it was a big gesture.

"I asked you to give up everything for me," he continued. "That was wrong. So we can start our courtship on Wero. I'll secure a dwelling of my own and we can?—"

Going up to my tiptoes, I pressed my lips to his, cutting off his words in their tracks.

A sharp breath whistled between us as Droxan stilled.

Then his arms were tightening around me, bringing me closer. When he kissed me back, he filled it with all the desperation I was pouring into it, meeting me head-on. He devoured me and my hands slid to the tops of his shoulders, digging my fingers into them, holding on for dear life.

Pulling away with a gasp, meeting his half-lidded eyes, I said in a ragged voice, "I'll stay."

He froze.

" Rebax ?"

I smiled though it felt shy. Shy and excited.

"I'll stay with you. Here on Ullima," I told him.

" Rebax ?"

I laughed, pushing at his shoulder. "You heard me."

"You…you will stay ? Here? With me?" he asked.

"Who else?" I asked, grinning at the bewildered expression on his face. "You were really ready to go to Wero, weren't you?"

The knowledge softened my already softened heart. He'd been about to give up this place for me. Without a second thought.

And while I loved Wero—it had been the place where I felt like I'd come into my own, a place that made me feel safe and secure and independent—I didn't love love it. I wasn't as attached to it as Droxan was to Ullima. I could never ask him to give this place up. Not for me.

"Though," I said quietly, looking up at him to gauge his reaction, "maybe we can split our time on another colony once a child comes?"

His eyes flared. Hot and bright. " Tev ?"

Gods, he liked when I spoke of a child. He wanted to get me pregnant and that thought alone sent a flurry of butterflies racing to my belly.

I swallowed. "For schooling. For socialization. I'm okay with being on this beautiful planet with just you but…what's that old saying? It takes a village to raise a child. Maybe during the stormy season, we can live somewhere else."

His voice was guttural. "You've given a lot of thought to this."

"Yes," I told him, my tone sheepish. "Since we got back to the house. I…I had already made up my mind on the walk back from the waterfall, to be honest. But I was working through the logistics in my head all afternoon. All the what ifs."

Because that was how my brain usually worked.

"And I know we don't have to decide this now, I'm just throwing it out there. That I?—"

He cut me off this time with a soul-sucking kiss. I made a muffled sound, want pooling between my thighs.

" Tev ," he rasped. " Tev . We can live off-planet during the stormy season. Longer if you'd like."

"You're making this so easy," I whispered.

How easy would it be to love him? I wondered.

Ridiculously so.

I might already be halfway there.

"I am a simple male," he informed me. "I want you. I want our child. Children , as many as you will honor me with. As such, I will do anything to make you happy because it makes me happy. Tev ?"

When he put it that way…

"This is insane," I said, grinning.

But I found I wasn't scared at all.

"Do you really feel that way?" he asked me quietly, cocking his head to the side.

Taking in a deep breath, I thought about his question. Thought about how he made me feel. How comfortable I felt with him, like how my body seemed to recognize him. It was like…he was a key to my lock. He opened me up. Unleashed me.

"No," I told him, frowning, shaking my head. "Actually, no. Not at all. It feels right. It feels like I've known you since before I even came into this universe."

"A soul bond," he told me, agreeing with the words. He leaned down to press his forehead to mine. "I had wondered if humans could feel it. If humans had an Instinct of their own when they are paired with a Luxirian. Now I know. We were fated from the beginning, Lyra. It's a humbling, awe-inspiring realization, isn't it?"

"We wouldn't want to go against fate, now would we?" I teased softly.

His purr was his response, rumbling and dark. Hearing it sparked my blood, heating my core.

Our eyes held.

"I've been thinking about the waterfall," I told him.

"Mmmm. Me too," he rasped.

I grinned but then I bit my lip. "About a child…we can wait if you'd like. I know it's a big decision and?—"

" Nix ," he growled. "I don't want to wait."

Oh .

"If you want a child, I will give you a child, luxiva ."

His words made me squeeze my thighs together. Thinking about his wicked, forbidden words when he'd been deep inside me at the waterfall. About breeding me. About shooting his seed deep into my womb. Getting me heavy with his child.

My fingers slid down his shoulder, tracing along the hard plane of his chest. Brushing over the tight peak of his nipple, making him groan.

"Then what are we waiting for?" I asked softly, quirking a brow at him.

He moved so fast, it was a blur. The next thing I knew, I was in his arms and the expression on his face was determined. Relieved. Desperate . For me.

"Where are we going?" I breathed, already craning my neck up to nibble on his ear, reaching up to grip his horns.

He moaned and the sound made a fresh pool of arousal flood between my thighs. Gods , his sounds…

"I'm taking my female to our bed," he informed me. My female. Our bed. I liked that entirely too much.

His eyes gleamed, dark and hot and needy.

"And that is where I intend to keep her."