His lifeblood was hammering so hard in his skull that it was blurring his vision.
He was denying his body of a natural process. It was only logical that he could hardly keep sane.
But he needed to.
Not only for his sake, but for hers as well.
“Don’t worry about me,” he growled. “I am fine.”
“Bullshit.”
He paused at that.
“What?”
“You’re talking b-bullshit.” It sounded like she was shivering.
Cold.
Of course, she was.
If the rain was helping him to cool down then she, with her thin skin, would positively be freezing.
He needed to hurry if not for that reason alone.
“What’s happening to you? Tell me,” she pressed.
Ajos gulped again.
He didn’t want to tell her.
He didn’t even want to think about it. Thoughts only made the surges worse.
“I know you don’t kn-know me. I know we don’t know each other, but I also think that these aren’t r-regular circumstances that brought us together.” She took a breath and it sounded as if she shivered again. “For some reason, and h-hear me out, I trust you.” She paused. “Y-you can trust m-me too.”
Ajos’ throat worked as he collapsed against another tree, breathing hard.
He looked up into the gray sky of Choria G622 and searched the nothingness as if for an answer.
“It’s the heat,” he finally said, sinking down into a sitting position as his chest heaved. “I am consumed by it. Completely.” He paused. “I am afraid…you are not safe from me.”
He waited for her to say something, but nothing came across the line.
“When I get you out of that hole, Keh-reh-nah…you need to run…and try not to bleed again.” He gulped. “Take my spear with you and if I…”
A few moments passed and he struggled with himself.
“If you what?” her voice prompted.
Ajos took another breath and spoke the next words as fast as he could.
“If I attack you, you need to use the spear. Do what it takes to protect yourself.”
A few more moments passed and Ajos rose to his feet, staggering once more as he continued on his search.
“Ajos?” Keh-reh-nah’s voice sounded like sweet surca juice, like the taste of her skin. “Why would you attack me?”
Ajos had to stop at those words, the images in his mind too strong.
Images of her pale, naked skin…of his hands on her body…of her writhing beneath him…
“Because I want you, Keh-reh-nah…”
A soft sound left her lips. “Yes…you said.”
There was no other sound for a few moments, only her breathing.
“Because you’re horny and I’m the only female around.” She paused. “That’s all this is…isn’t it?”
He stumbled, the question catching him off guard.
And his answer?
No.
No, it wasn’t as simple as that.
He wanted her now and he wanted her tomorrow.
He wanted her the next day and the next after that…
Ajos’ eyes widened as the reality hit him.
His nefre pulsed with confirmation.
It wasn’t just the heat…
This burning desire to consume her wasn’t just a result of his biological processes.
Somewhere, somehow, he’d done something he never thought was ever a possibility in his future.
It was something that happened to only the luckiest of the Shum’ai. Something others prayed to the gods for and never received. Yet, somehow, they’d bestowed the gift on him.
A life bond.
Ajos stopped running completely, his chest heaving with the huge breaths he was taking.
Rain poured down over his skin, the thick raindrops running off the leaves above to drench him with the shower of the heavens.
Keh-reh-nah…
Keh-reh-nah was his life mate.
20
Kerena hugged herself.
It might have been a mistake to take off her dress, but she hadn’t had a choice.
It had been hours since she’d been stuck in the hole, so long now that night had come again and still, she hadn’t found a way out.
Well, at least it had stopped raining.
Water was still trickling down the roots, though. She was lucky it hadn’t created a pool in the hole itself.
That would have been another problem she was glad she didn’t have to face.
She shivered in the darkness and adjusted her feet on the roots on which she stood.
She didn’t dare sit down or even relax for a moment.
Who knew? The plants might just start moving again.
So far, they’d kept still since depositing her to this place.
Using the light on her communicator, she shone it around the dark hole.
There were flowers in a few spots that she’d tested her blood on.
Call her a mad scientist or something, testing her blood on what was obviously not a normal plant, but the curiosity within her had been pressing.
There were several blooms around her now, and despite that this was creepy as hell, she marveled at the size of the flowers.
They were about as big as a dinner plate, the purple petals spreading away from what looked like a pollinated center.
They reminded her of giant hibiscuses in the way the petals were arranged.
Now and then, the pollen-filled bulbs within the center of the plants would pop—the yellow specks of pollen floating into the air.
“I think I am close.” Ajos’ strained voice came over the communicator and Kerena tilted her head upward. “Your signal isn’t moving so much anymore.”
He sounded tormented, as if he was about to collapse when she saw him next, and Kerena worried her lip between her teeth as she searched the darkness above.
Activating the device so she could speak, she shone the light above her as she did.
“I’m shining my light out of the hole. I don’t know if you can see it, but maybe it will help.”
There was a grunt. “I think I see you.”
Relief shot through her, but at the same time, anxiety did as well.
She hadn’t forgotten what he’d said.
He’d told her to take his spear and run.
He’d said she should use his own weapon to defend herself against him.
There was a sound above her and Kerena tensed, shining her light so she could see.
There was a grunt and the sound of boots hitting the leaves.
Her heart rate sped up a little more.
“Ajos? Is that you?”
A figure leaned over the hole, directly in her light
