Those dark eyes were on her again.
“Keh-reh-nah.” He twisted his leg from the clasp of a satchel he’d tied around a nearby tree and swung his lower body into the hole.
The only thing holding him up now was that one hand buried into the ground at the top of the hole.
“I am going to give you my spear,” he said through gritted teeth. “Take it. Run. Do not fall or cut yourself. I’ll contact V’Alen. He will find you.”
He was warning her again, and as the spear landed at her feet, she stared at it.
He really expected her to go off on her own after what she’d discovered about the forest?
Could he be that bad? That indisposed?
“Run, Keh-reh-nah.” His voice was so deep now, he sounded like a demon rising from the depths of hell and with dark eyes like his, he fit the image in her head. But his growl only made her freeze even more.
A roar left his lips that finally kicked her head into gear.
“Run!”
As Ajos hoisted himself from the hole, Kerena felt fear shoot through her bones.
Her body reacted before her mind caught up and she was dashing through the night, with only the light from her communicator as her guide.
Somewhere behind her, she heard another roar, and it made fear go deep into her bones.
Ajos sounded like an animal, like something she’d read about in a fairytale—not at all like the gentle alien who’d held her when she’d passed out from lack of oxygen.
Not at all like the alien who’d brought her a mattress and a blanket…
Not like the alien who’d given her his bed to sleep in.
Those thoughts made her pause and Kerena stopped running.
Her heart hammered into her chest as she turned to look back in the direction of the hole.
She could hear the faint sound of vegetation crashing down and she blinked rapidly at the darkness.
She was pretty sure that had been the sound of a tree falling.
Kerena swallowed hard.
Ajos was in trouble.
She couldn’t leave him like that.
She knew what he was telling her to run from…she knew what he wanted to do…
Yet, her feet turned, and she began moving once more—toward the alien that had said that he wanted to bury his alien cock deep inside her…
For a moment, she paused again at that thought, her fists clenching and unclenching as she fought with herself.
She was crazy…but a part of her still pushed forward.
A part of her was a crazy botanist whose best friends were plants and whose curiosity ruled her mind.
Another part of her was just a lonely chick who couldn’t deny that she was interested in this tall, minty-teal alien.
And, well, another part of her couldn’t deny that deep down…she wanted this.
21
Ajos struggled against the tree trunk, perspiration dampening his skin.
His fists clenched and unclenched behind him.
He’d used the only thing he could find to tie his arms together behind his back—the bands of the satchel. But even though they held his arms fast, that didn’t stop the heat from making his body pressed with tension.
All he wanted to do was to go after her.
His body was straining, his muscles bunching as he pulled against the tree.
He knew she was running—away from him—but everything in his being wanted him to break free and give chase.
He could only hope that she got far enough away before the tree trunk, or the straps that held him, broke and he was released.
He could only hope…
Ajos turned his face upward, his eyes on the starry sky as another loud roar left his lips.
He was being tormented.
Every bone in his body, every fiber, called out for Keh-reh-nah.
He finally understood now what the gods had been doing.
They’d cursed him.
They’d cursed him with a bond he’d never be able to fulfill.
He wasn’t meant to be a mate. Not after failing his basic duty.
Not after Nama had died in his care.
Ajos groaned, a tortured sound coming from his lips.
His nefre pulsed and he closed his eyes as another surge went through him.
He could still smell Keh-reh-nah’s sweet, sweet scent. A smell he’d never scented before—and one he’d never forget.
And…he wanted more.
More than anything, he wanted to bury his face deeper into her sweet softness.
Without knowing what she’d been doing, she’d rubbed herself over his face and it had taken all he had to not tighten his arms across her waist and hold her there so he could delve deep into her slit with his tongue.
Another tortured groan ripped through him at the thought and his muscles bunched and flexed.
Qef.
Qef!
“Ajos?”
Time stood still.
No.
Ajos froze, not daring to open his eyes.
“Ajos.” He heard her move closer and the light was suddenly shone in his face. She gasped a little and that made him stiffen even more.
For her to see him like this…in this state…what would she think?
But worse than that…what the qef was she doing here?!
“Keh-reh-nah,” he growled.
He’d told her to run.
He’d told her to get away.
He couldn’t…control himself. Especially not with her this close.
He struggled against the tree. Against his will, his body trying to free itself.
He could scent her, even from the distance away from him, he could scent her again.
“Keh-reh-nah,” he begged, the last of his sanity pleading with her, “run. Go away from here.”
“No.”
Her voice sounded closer.
She wasn’t listening.
She was stubborn.
“You don’t know the danger—”
“Let me help you.”
Ajos froze again, his throat working as he opened his eyes to look at her.
She was cast in the shadows, but he could still see enough to tell that her skin was still mostly bare, the paleness displayed for him to see.
“Let me help you,” she repeated.
“You don’t know what you’re asking for. You don’t want this…” Was all he could say because his breath hitched in his throat.
She was moving forward now, closer, and he could see more of her.
She was doing something.
She was taking something from her waist, a flower and what looked like her clothing, and she rested them
