The Alien’s Seduction by Zoey Draven
Chapter Seventeen
Cruxan studied his female from across the fire.
Vrax, looking at her pleased him. Her golden hair was dry and softly curling down her shoulders. Her cheeks were pink from the heat, not pale from the cold. His tunic dwarfed her body, but seeing her in his clothing unleashed something primal in him, made his cock press hard against his leg coverings.
The Fates couldn’t have gifted him a more beautiful female.
Even when she was frowning, she was beautiful.
He’d issued her a challenge, one that obviously peaked her interest, one she obviously wanted to win.
He watched as Crystal opened her pink lips, only for no sound to come out.
“No questions for your mate?” Cruxan asked, his voice low and deep. Earlier, he’d been riddled with doubt, wondering if she dreamed of another. But when he realized that she’d dreamed of him, he’d been filled with hope, with new determination.
Of course, she hadn’t admitted it. But she hadn’t denied it either.
She leveled him a look of annoyance, but he hid his grin when she didn’t refute ‘mate.’ He considered it progress.
She seemed to settle an internal debate and pointed out, “I won’t even know if you’re lying, you know.”
Cruxan lifted a shoulder. “I will not.”
She shook her head, a low sigh escaping her lips. Then she asked, “Have you…have you ever killed anyone?”
“Of course,” he replied, frowning, surprised that was her first question.
“Who?”
She really didn’t know much about Luxirians, he thought.
“Many,” he said, wondering if that would disgust her. “Many species, but mostly Jetutians.”
“The ones that set the Plague onto Luxiria?” she asked softly.
“Tev,” he replied, inclining his head. “Luxirians are known across the Quadrants because…we are simply the most efficient killers.”
“Because of your training,” she finished.
“Does this concern you?” he couldn’t help but ask. “I do not even know how many I have killed. I cannot even give you a number.”
Her gaze met his and she said, “I don’t know.” Her own truth. “I realize that it’s different here. Very different from Earth.”
She went quiet, thinking something over.
Then her next question came, “Do you like it? Do you like killing?”
Cruxan stiffened.
“When we went to war with the Jetutians ten rotations ago, I would have told you tev,” he said, holding her gaze. “But that was because I was young. I naively thought every kill brought me closer to justice, not only for my family, but for all of Luxiria.”
“And now?”
He blew out a breath, running a hand over his sensitive horn. “Now, I think every Jetutian I killed made me lose something of myself.”
Her breath hitched in surprise.
“When you like killing, luxiva, that is when you are in danger of losing your soul,” he said. “Luxirians, we kill for a purpose, not because we like it, but because sometimes violence is necessary for peace, as fragile as that peace may be. In an ideal universe, violence would not be needed. But we never live in ideals. There is always an ugliness.”
His female bit her lip. Relief went through him when her expression wasn’t one of disgust, but…hesitant understanding.
A part of him wondered why that had been her first line of questioning…concerning violence.
“Your next question, luxiva,” he prompted when she fell silent.
“Did you even want a mate?” she asked after a long while.
“Every Luxirian wants a mate,” he answered.
“That’s not what I asked.”
Cruxan huffed out a small breath, admiration for his little female lighting up his chest. Despite her quiet, almost timid nature, she was no nonsense.
“Tev,” he answered. “However…”
He wasn’t sure how to explain himself.
“You said you would be honest,” she reminded him.
“I did not know how a mate would fit into my life,” he said.
“Fit into your life? What about the other way around?” she demanded, crossing her arms across her chest.
He gave her a smile. “Consider me chastised, luxiva.” She frowned but some of the tension left her shoulders. “But you must understand that as an Ambassador, my duties are extensive. It is rare to have more than a span to myself. And what time I do have…”
“Go on,” she challenged, her brow quirking.
“I spent it training in the fighting pits or in the company of a female.”
Her lips pressed together and she looked away. Her little fists curled and the sight made him equally frustrated and elated.
“I told you, there is no reason to be jealous, luxiva,” he said quietly.
She cut him an unreadable look. “I’m not.”
“We are being honest here,” he reminded her.
“Not me. You.”
“Ah, so you admit that was a lie?”
She sucked in air and the expression she gave him made him want to grin in triumph.
Wisely, he didn’t. Something told him that if he did, she would take his dagger to him in the middle of the night as he slept.
The thought made him pause. Where had this little hellion come from? She’d been so frightened of him, so mistrustful of his intentions when he’d first come upon her, so much so that she’d barely looked at him. While some of that female still remained, she was considerably more outspoken.
That knowledge gladdened him. Perhaps she was becoming more comfortable with him. Like she said earlier, perhaps she was trying not to be so guarded and cold to him.
“Now that we’re on the topic of females,” she began and Cruxan swore his heart stopped in his chest due to dread, “let’s take a moment here.”
Vrax.
His unease must’ve showed because she tilted her head to the side. She was so certain she’d catch him in a lie that Cruxan was all the more inclined to be brutally honest.
“How many females have you been with?”
“How many males have you been with?” he countered, just to see how she’d react.
Her lips pressed and she reminded him, just as he knew she would, “I’m asking the questions here.”
“At least until it is my turn,” he said.
She blinked. “That wasn’t part of the deal.”
“It is only fair, luxiva,” he said, a small smirk appearing on his features. “You wanted to know if I was being honest with you. I wish to know the same of my mate.”
“Don’t hold your breath,” she said, tapping her fingers idly on her bare knees. “Now answer the question.”
Cruxan decided he liked her a little bossy. In fact, it made his cock throb because he imagined her doing the same between the furs.
“I do not know how many females I have been with,” he answered truthfully.
She sucked in a breath, staring at him. “That many?”
Cruxan gaze dropped to the flames before flickering up to meet her gaze. He asked her the same question he had before, “Does that concern you?”
She opened her mouth immediately but then seemed to catch herself. “It doesn’t matter.” A lie, he knew. That tapping on her knees increased. “Do you…do you still see females often?”
“Before I knew you?” he asked. “Tev.”
“When was the last time?” she asked quietly, not quite meeting his gaze.
“The morning Jaxor’an took you from the Golden City,” he answered, just as quietly. He’d been with Menira just that morning.
There was silence from across the fire before, “And how often…how often would you…”
She couldn’t even ask it, but he answered it regardless, despite the warning he felt going off in his mind.
“Almost every span,” he admitted.
“Oh my God,” she breathed, looking down at the cave floor by her feet. He didn’t know what that expression meant, but he figured it couldn’t be good.
Had he been a fool to suggest this little game?
It was possible his honesty would further alienate her, not bring her closer.
“Luxiva…” he murmured, trailing off. “I did not know you then. Everything is different now.”
“Is it though?” she questioned and her tone ate at him. “Just because your Instinct supposedly awakened?”
“It did,” he insisted. “And tev, it is different. Because I want you.”
She made a small sound in the back of her throat, her irises connecting with his.
“Now…the thought of being with another female, it repels me,” he admitted.
“I don’t know if I can believe that.”
“I have been honest with you thus far,” he reminded her. “Do you believe that?”
Her lips pressed together but eventually, she gave him a slight nod. “I do.”
“Then believe this too, luxiva. I will want you and only you for the rest of my life span.”
“You know I’m leaving, Cruxan,” she said. “What happens to you when I do?”
His chest squeezed.
She didn’t understand. She might not ever, not until she accepted him, accepted them.
Because he didn’t know what else to say, he said, “It will only be you.”
Crystal looked uneasy with that knowledge.
Though his chest hurt as he said it, he assured her, “Do not fear, female. If you decide to leave after all, then you can. I am not a monster who will force you to stay. I only want you to be happy. If you decide your happiness lies back on Earth and not with me, not on Luxiria, then I will not stand in your way. This, I promise you.”
He felt those words deep in his gut, felt how the truth of them tore at him.
“I thought you said happiness was only an emotion,” she reminded him softly. “One that comes and goes.”
He smiled, but it felt grim on his features. “I did. I wish for the majority of your emotions to be happy ones then.” He cleared his throat when it felt tight. “Any other questions for the night, female?”
She looked at him, her expression thoughtful. But then she shook her head, though it was obvious to him she had more.
Cruxan was a little relieved truthfully.
“Very well,” he murmured. “When do I get to ask my questions?”
“I never said you could,” she said lightly, but her tone didn’t hold any venom.
“But you will let me?”
“I will…think about it,” she replied, biting her lip.
“Frightened?” he murmured.
She leveled him a look. “No,” she bristled.
“Then you have nothing to worry about, luxiva. Nothing at all.”
