How I would like to dry him off with my tongue...
Instantly, his pale-green eyes locked onto mine, burning bright with desire.
“I can make that happen,” Odelm purred, his voice like a caress upon my mental shields, sending a shiver through me. “Let me take your worries away.”
Hands clapped onto my shoulders, instantly pulling me out of the strange trance. I shook my head to try and clear my thoughts.
Where did that come from?
“What Odelm means is that we didn’t see a need to pester you about a minor incident,” Xylo announced, his voice laced with annoyance.
Zirene stood and started pacing along the poolside, working his wristband as his tail jerked wildly. “You don’t understand. No one outside of my division should know about the gems and their power. Only a select few with direct contact to the teleconstruct bots are given enough information to work with them.” He stopped before us, his fierce amethyst eyes locked on mine. “This means their existence has somehow been leaked, along with other confidential information I’ve worked hard to keep hidden.”
His serious tone scared me.
I thought we had just left the problems in the CEG behind us, only to be caught in the middle of another malicious plan. When would we finally have a chance to live freely?
“Are you saying that it’s not safe here?” I asked, steeling myself for the worst. “Were all the sacrifices I made wasted on a foolish dream of peace?”
“Selena, you mustn’t worry,” Zirene purred. “This is the safest place for you. I will send the Fab Five to investigate, and Agent Kaede will supervise security on this moon, ensuring our clan’s protection.”
“Do we need to talk about this now?” Odelm scolded. “We were supposed to make her forget about her troubles and relax before tomorrow, not add one more thing for her to worry about.”
“I would rather discuss this danger out in the open than have it kept from me.” Crossing my arms, I raised an eyebrow at my musician, silencing his gruff attitude. “Zirene,” I said, redirecting my attention to my Aldawi prince. “My nestmates are not at fault for not telling you what happened. It was their best judgment on what they thought was a minor incident. All I ask is that you keep me updated. I can’t be blinded to a danger to my clan.”
“I don’t fault any of them.” His gaze quickly surveyed my four nestmates around the pool. “I’m just used to males reporting every incident to me. Even a minor risk to you is a major problem to me,” he sighed. “Thank you for understanding, Selena.”
“How about we drop the subject for now?” Xylo suggested, rubbing his thumbs in tight circles upon my shoulders.
A moan escaped my lips as my legs instantly grew weak. If this was a sample of what my males had planned, I couldn’t wait.
“Let’s show Selena what we prepared for her.”
There was no pleasure like being pampered by my five mates, waiting at my beck and call. Each Circuli male fed me bite-size fruits and snacks with their appendages as they each took a turn massaging a part of my body—each foot and leg, my back, and my shoulders and neck.
My robe lay discarded on a pool chair as I leaned against Zirene’s chest, nestled between his legs. His paws worked some sort of floral-scented oil into my shoulders, kneading my aches away. A moan erupted from me as I threw my head back, lolling against his chest at the long-awaited relief.
“Enjoying yourself?” Zirene chuckled, his voice rumbling through me like a deep purr. “I can make you feel better, but only if you explain one thing to me.”
A part of me wanted to roll my eyes at his cockiness, but like Kaede, he could come off like a confident asshole unintentionally. Perhaps I had grown accustomed to their arrogance—or I wasn’t afraid of matching their attitude—but I knew that Zirene was attempting to flirt, in his own way.
My toes curled from the sensations he ground into me, as sounds of pure bliss escaped my lips. If we were in public, I would’ve been embarrassed, but we were in my mate’s private backyard in my villa on my moon; we couldn’t get any more privacy.
“What’s that?” I asked, unable to open my eyes as I lay there, absorbing his attention.
“I found out the true reason for your cave outing.” His paws paused, letting the words sink in. “What is the meaning of this date? Why do you want to be alone with him?”
I snapped my eyes open in shock, finding a still Xylo, eyeing Zirene with the same confusion that I felt.
"I don't see what the problem is. You’ve always said I’m allowed to do anything I want as long as I stay on Destima.” Annoyed, I turned around in my seat to face him. “How did you learn about it, anyway?" Narrowing my eyes, I rolled my shoulders out of his embrace. “Kaede told you, didn’t he?”
Gripping his thighs, I rose as I surveyed the backyard, unable to find evidence of the male in question.
“He reported to me as soon as you confirmed your plans,” Zirene chuckled, gripping my hips as he tried to distract me by tickling my sides with his thumbs. “Selena, I’ve told you many times that I know everything that goes on around you.”
“But not what the old shopkeeper said at the space station,” I muttered under my breath as I sat back down. I smirked at my four nestmates who were staring in alarm at my brazen sass.
“Nova,” Zirene hissed, squeezing my hips tightly as something hard pressed against my back. “Your words wound me--”
“Not enough, it seems,” I quipped, throwing a sly smile over my shoulder. I attempted to scoot away from my broody Shadow, but he dragged me back into place. “Why does it
