Verakko exhaled a relieved breath when she passed, but said nothing. It wasn’t as if he knew the female.
He guided Lily to another service elevator on the opposite side of the building and called it. Luckily this one was closer, only taking a few moments to arrive. They stepped in, and when the doors slid closed before them, Lily spoke.
“Do you know her?”
“No,” Verakko breathed.
She placed a soft palm on his forearm, erasing all thought from his mind. “She didn’t see us doing anything wrong. Only walking together. I mean, Ziri and I were literally in a hot tub with Fejo today. That must’ve been worse than us standing a little too close together.”
Verakko’s head snapped back as though he’d been slapped. He replayed her words in his mind, making sure he’d heard her right. “Fejo?” he growled.
Lily arched a brow at him, letting him know he needed to tread carefully. “Yes. We saw him at the spa, and he knew what I was. Ziri explained that you two were old friends, and I decided I wanted to ask him more questions in private, so he joined us. Is that a problem?”
Verakko faced forward and cracked his neck before rolling his shoulder and taking a calming breath. “No,” he grated.
Lily pursed her lips.
He peered at her sidelong as they approached their floor. “What did he tell you?”
Her annoyed expression shifted and was replaced with a sly smile. “He told me where the name mivassi came from.”
Verakko grunted and checked the feed to make sure the floor was clear, then opened the doors. Fejo would have known about his aunts, but he still didn’t like the idea of the charming male speaking with his mate. Not when they were still in such a precarious position and he was still so uncertain whether she’d decide to stay with him or not.
Lily gasped as the doors opened, and Verakko’s chest puffed out a little. Fejo could’ve never brought her here.
Although this floor always made him uncomfortable, as it was the highest accessible floor of the building, he could admit it was beautiful. The water that was constantly recirculated from the lower floor’s gardens was pumped up here and then cascaded down through the center of the building. Lily gazed at the torrential falling water in awe.
But the impressive sight of the water wasn’t the reason he’d brought her here. He rolled his shoulders again, shaking off the flare of jealousy and anger at the idea of her spending time with Fejo, and placed a hand on the small of her back. “Do you remember the story I told you about Daera?”
Lily nodded, allowing herself to be guided to the far side of the room while her eyes remained riveted on the funnel of falling water.
His skin tingled in protest as they drew nearer to a large window. He gripped her hips, instinctively not wanting to take his hands off her at this height, and nodded out the window into the distance. “Those are the mountains I told you about.”
Lily smiled up to him with brows drawn, rather than looking out the window. She ran her eyes over his face as if trying to work something out. Then, slowly, she covered the backs of his hands with her own and gazed out the window.
A purr started in Verakko’s chest at the contact. Far off in the distance, the towering blue crystals that dotted the dark mountains glowed in the moonlight.
“They’re beautiful.” She ran a thumb over his hand. The paint covering his marks didn’t deaden sensation, yet something in him ached for the paint to be removed, to feel her soft fingers caress his marks without any barriers.
He guided her away from the window and pulled his controller out of a pocket. “Do you remember what we were doing when I told you about them?”
Lily grinned. “Yeah, I remember I was kicking your ass at checkers.”
Kicking ass? Verakko chuckled inwardly at the odd saying.
“Yes, well…” He typed in a few commands, and twenty-four flying objects rose from their hiding spot.
Lily stared wide-eyed and open-mouthed as the pieces settled into their programmed locations. “What is this?”
A larger object than the rest floated high above and projected an enormous checker board onto the floor. The gold and teal pieces, each as wide as dinner plates, remained hovering above their designated spaces.
“Did I get this dressed up to play checkers, Verakko?” she asked, tilting her head at him.
Doubt roared to life, exaggerating the hollow dread in his belly. With a clenched jaw, he uncertainly said, “Yes?”
Muscles primed to wince, he waited for her response.
The corner of her mouth lifted, and she pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. “I love it.”
Verakko’s breath whooshed out of him.
“I’m teal,” she said, walking to the other side of the board.
He held in a frown as she moved away. Well, obviously she couldn’t stand next to him and play, but her distance still made him anxious.
“Do I tell you which piece I want to move?” Lily stared down at the pieces hovering inches off the projected board.
He nodded.
***
Lily couldn’t remember ever receiving a gift even halfway as thoughtful as this one. She stared at her pieces, trying to think of what move to make first, but her mind couldn’t seem to focus. Had he built all of this today? While she’d been at the spa? He must’ve. Checkers didn’t exist on this planet, which meant he couldn’t have had the pieces already. What an incredibly impressive man.
She
