Chapter 9

Paige

V arek leads me through the dimly lit caverns, pointing out places as we walk. He shows me a common area where other males sit around and eat. They all stare at me as we walk by but bow their heads in respect to the male with his hand on my lower back.

“Are you like, their leader or something?”

Varek lifts his chin in pride. “I am on the council of Highseers.”

“Does that mean yes?”

“The Highseers on the council make all decisions for our people.”

Ah. I nod.

He pushes me forward, weaving us through the extensive tunnels. From the many skylights and funnels that go straight up through the rock, I can see little pockets of the sky. For a cave, the place doesn’t feel nearly as cramped or claustrophobic as our ship did.

We walk until Varek points to a little crack in the wall and he pushes me through. He follows close behind, one hand touching my shoulder to guide me forward. I should shrug him off—I want to—but I can’t.

For as much as I hate him for making me give something up, for making me bow down to him and accept that he’s something other than a criminal, he did what I wanted. He is saving the others. Ryan, Lara, Cristina, Melina, and Nicole. They are safer this way.

They have a chance to be rescued and I would want that chance too if I was in their position.

They wouldn’t have that chance without him.

We walk a little further and the sound of burbling, bubbling water echoes in the tight space. The air warms and each step is lit up a little more. Green crystal-like nodules light the way, sticking out of the rock and burning bright.

“What are those?” I ask.

“Glows,” Varek answers behind me. “They are our source of energy.”

I take a few more steps and the path opens to a large room with a deep blue spring in the middle. The water softly trickles down from an opening high in the rock and once again, the water seems to shimmer.

“Why is everything glowing?”

“It’s the luminite. We mine it from the rocks for energy, but it flows through everything here. The water. The animals. Luminite is all around us.”

I lock eyes with him as the patterns on his chest light up with a soft green.

“Like there?” I ask, pointing at his body. “That’s luminite too?”

Varek nods. “Luminite isn’t just energy, it’s living. It keeps us alive. It’s the beginning and end of life here.”

Oh. That’s somewhat confusing but also kind of beautiful. I look around the cavern, the luminite dancing under the light of the sky.

It does look like it’s alive.

I can almost feel it.

I turn back to Varek just as he reaches down and pulls the tie to his leathers.

“Whoa,” I mumble, my cheeks burning. “No, no, no.”

He doesn’t seem to mind as he slides them down his thick thighs and kicks them onto a protruding rock.

I avert my gaze, looking at anything else but his now naked form.

“Come here, Mate.”

I shake my head. There’s no way I’m going up to him now. I mean I was already dreading this whole bathing idea but now I know exactly what’s about to happen.

He plans to get in with me.

“You wish to undress yourself, then?” Varek asks.

I stumble over my words. “Um, I would prefer to not do this in front of you.”

Varek clicks his tongue. “I must see to your cleanliness. I also wish to check for any other injuries.”

No, that’s totally okay. I’m fine, thank you very much!

Suddenly, he’s in front of me, his rough hands reaching out for the fabric of my travel suit. It’s lightweight and pretty comfortable and the idea of having it taken off me right now has my stomach in knots.

“No, no. That’s okay. I’ll just freshen up with my clothes on.”

“Paige,” Varek murmurs. He fingers a lock of my dark hair and leans slightly, enough to capture my gaze. “Let me do this, yes? It is my duty to care for my mate.”

The sincerity in his words and the question in his eyes have my body warming up. He’s asking, he’s not forcing. He doesn’t want me to see him as my captor, so he isn’t acting like one.

At least in his strange alien brain anyway.

I nod and reach for the zipper down the front of my suit. I drag it down slowly and slide the suit off my shoulders. Varek’s brows knit.

“What are those?”

I look down at my bra and panties. “My undergarments.”

“Undergarments?” He sounds out the word as if it’s completely foreign to him. “What is the purpose?”

I shrug. “Extra support. Protection.”

I clear my throat as he eyes my body from head to toe.

“Modesty,” I cough out the word. Oh, the irony.

He waits patiently and I know he wants me to completely undress, but I just can’t. I’m not ready for that. “I’ll go in like this,” I suggest.

Varek seems displeased, but he leads me to a shallow point in the spring anyway. He slides in first and then turns, grabbing my waist and pulling me in after him. I gasp as the warm water welcomes us in, shimmering and sparkling around our bodies. Varek wraps a strong arm around my waist to anchor me to him and I squirm in his hold.

This is entirely too close proximity for my liking.

“The water is too deep for you,” he says softly. He walks us across the spring to an area where form has built up beneath the trickle above. The salty, fresh scent tickles my nose as Varek gathers a bunch of the foam in his hand. “This cleanses our skin.”

“Like soap.”

His brows raise before he uses his free hand to rub the foam along my shoulders. Immediately, his touch soothes the muscles and I almost groan from the light pressure as he massages in the soap. He works up my neck and down my arm, easing the soreness from slamming into everything during the crash, then switches his hold on me to get my other side. I decide not to fight the big alien. He seems set on doing what he wants.

And also, the attention feels too damn good.

Those rough hands are gentle. He’s powerful, stronger than any human could be, and yet he chooses to touch me, rub me with such care. His eyes never leave my skin as he washes every inch.

Varek rubs the soap across my collarbones and down the middle of my chest. He moves to the right and his fingers brush across my nipple through the fabric of my bra.

I suck in a deep breath and bite my bottom lip.

“Paige? Did I hurt you?”

He tugs me closer as my body reacts to his, humming a melody I haven’t experienced in a long, long time.

I shake my head. “No.”

Varek grabs more foam and slides his hand to the other side of my chest. His touch is so delicate that I arch into it, my nipples hard and achy for the attention to continue.

“You are sensitive,” he says deeply, the words coming from deep in his chest. Varek grabs another handful of foam and focuses on my back, lifting me slightly out of the water. I’m still tender, but his touch is gentle enough that he’s not hurting me. I wrap my legs around his torso as my head goes fuzzy.

I can feel him. His manhood, hard and ready, drags across the thin fabric of my soaked panties.

I wrack my brain for anything to change the subject. Anything to get my mind off the flutter in my belly every time he touches me.

“So you’re a Highseer.” I clear my throat. “How did you get that position?”

Varek’s lips twitch slightly. “It is an honor from my people for my prowess in battle. My wisdom. My strength.”

“Battle?” I ask. “Who do you battle with?”

His eyes darken and he stills. “We have not in a long time.”

Varek’s attention on my body resumes. He scrubs down my back, lower and lower until he hits the top of my panties.

“I cannot reach you fully with these undergarments on,” he emphasizes the new word. “May I remove them?”

I blink at him. He’s right. I won’t get clean with them still on and I hadn’t realized how good it would feel to clean up. I untangle my legs from around his waist and reach down, sliding my panties off. I toss them toward the rest of my clothes.

Varek nods, pleased. He pulls me close and when I wrap my legs around him again, his erection rubs deliciously across my sensitive clit. I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from moaning as he resumes his work cleaning my backside.

How does this feel so good when it’s pure… insanity.

It’s happening so fast–him, me. This bond? I shouldn’t want him like this, shouldn’t melt into his touch so easily.

“So, this mate thing,” I mumble. My skin is on fire as he massages the soap into my soft flesh. I hate that it feels amazing to let him touch me like this, but it seems to be affecting him in the exact same way. “What exactly does it mean?”

Varek watches me intently as he moves down the length of my legs, cleaning my outer thighs. “It means we were born for each other. Our souls, our bodies. We are made to love one another.”

Wow. That’s intense. “We don’t have anything like that on Earth.”

“Earth?”

“My planet. Where I’m from.”

He nods. “So what do you have there?”

His hands move down to my calves, massaging and cleaning gently. “People date. They decide if they like each other and then get into a relationship. If it works out, it works out. If not—”

“That is not the case here,” he says. “Mates are for life.”

I knew he would say something like that. This whole mates situation isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s overwhelming to think that Varek believes I am essentially his soul mate—the one and only person he is supposed to be with for the rest of his life. We hardly know each other.

After cleaning my feet, he grabs more soap and works his way back up the inner portion of my legs. Up my calves, past my knees, and higher and higher until his fingers are rubbing dangerously close to my most sensitive place.

God, why is my body betraying me like this? Giving into the sensation of his touch when I should be terrified.

I push away from him, my hands firm on his chest. “I can clean that part.”

But Varek doesn’t let me escape. “Paige. It is my honor, my duty, to see to your needs. You have felt my body’s need for yours, why do you deny your feelings?”

The air tumbles from my lungs. It really isn’t as simple as just my feelings.

“Though you say you do not have mates on Earth, the glows chose you for me for a reason. You feel the pull too.”

The pull. The inexplicable pull to allow myself to unfurl and relax in his hold. The need and intense desire to spread my legs further and give in to his wandering touch.

I want it.

God, I want it.

But I shouldn’t, and that’s the problem.

I shove away from him harder this time. He lets me go. “I’ll finish myself.”

He sighs, his jaw clenching. His gaze turns pained, but doesn’t chase after me as I swim away.

I finish up the job, spending extra attention on my tangled hair, and then get out of the spring. I reach for my suit but it’s not there. I look around, heat clinging to my neck as I try to cover myself.

Where the hell is my suit?

“Those leathers are for you,” Varek says.

I look down to see a folded leather tunic next to his. When did this get here?

God. Was someone else in here while I was letting the big alien feel me up in the water?

“As my mate, you will wear our clothes. They do not carry the mark of my glows yet. Soon,” he says.

I grit my teeth.

I’d prefer my suit. But to be honest, it was filthy. I reach for the tunic and slide it over my head, straightening it down my curves. It fits perfectly. The fabric is softer than I expected and it hangs just above my knees.

Below the tunic was a pair of handmade shoes.

“Are these for me too?”

He turns and appraises me, his brows lifting. He reaches up and touches his chest as it glows bright.

“Hello?” I ask, shaking the shoes.

He nods. “Yes.”

Varek pulls himself out of the spring and walks toward me. I have to look away to avoid seeing him in all his… glory.

He dresses in his leathers just in time for the flush on my skin to fade away. We lock eyes and my stomach growls with an intense pang of hunger. Varek smirks.

“Oh. The troublemaker is hungry, is she?”

I roll my eyes. I hate that name.

He shrugs. “Then I guess I’ll go eat by myself.”

Varek turns and walks off, leaving me standing alone. Fuming. I huff and run after him, following close behind. When he looks back, he has a smug smile on his stupid face.

“Or you can come too.”

Jerk.