The Alien’s Lover by Zoey Draven
THIRTEEN
After a quick, but thorough washing of his female at the fire falls—which she’d seem to enjoy—Lihvan led them back to their cave, making sure to keep his ears pricked and his eyes careful.As the sun descended, more dangerous creatures emerged from their shadowy dwellings and Lihvan did not want to chance an encounter, especially with his female so close.Even though she drove him to distraction, he needed to ensure her safety above all else.
She’d been quiet since their conversation, when he’d finally told her that she was his fated mate, his luxiva.He hadn’t meant to, but in the moment, it had felt right and only natural that she should know.Or else she would have convinced him with her addictive kisses and teasing touches.He would have mated her right there in the washing pool had he not told her, had he not put some kind of barrier between them.
She wishes to return to her home planet, he reminded himself, over and over again.It wasn’t fair to her if he acted on his lusts and desires.
The knowledge that she would soon leave him, however, was becoming more difficult to cope with.A part of him wished to remain on this hellish planet for all time because it, selfishly, meant keeping her with him.But the honorable warrior in Lihvan would not allow him to do this.His female deserved happiness, even if it meant sacrificing his own.
So why did a part of him believe that, when the time came, he wouldn’t be able to let her go?Would he throw away his honor, his honesty to keep his female with him for the rest of their lives?Or would he keep to his word and see that she returned to her home safely?
He pondered that question once they reached their shielded cave.It was cooling down inside as the sun began to descend and the fire was still steadily burning.Beks had left a water crystal to boil while they were gone and he watched as she knelt to check on it.
He imagined her inside his dwelling in Kroratax.He imagined late, peaceful nights lounging in the central hub next to the fire pit, of bathing her in the wash room in his large, sunken pool, of waking next to her as the twin Luxirian suns began their ascent and pinkened the sky.She would warm his sleeping platform and be tucked in his furs and he would wake her by lapping gently at her slick cunt.
The memory of her squirming in his arms, trying to impale herself on his cock in the washing pool, made him jerk and he straightened, tearing his mind away from such unattainable fantasies.
Calming him body and thoughts, he murmured, “I will attempt to hunt, female, before the sun journeys any further.”
She cast him a look and bit her lip.“I should go with you.”
“Nix.You stay here.It is safer.I will make sure nothing approaches the cave.I promise.”
“Okay,” she said, a little hesitantly, rising from her kneel to approach him.“Be careful, Lihvan.”
He inclined his head and she gave him a small kiss.His heart stuttered in his chest, a sensation he’d never felt before until her.Not even in the bloodiest of battles did he ever become nervous or flustered.And to think that she worried about him going on a small hunt warmed places of him he didn’t know existed.
He left her then and didn’t venture far from the cave.Lihvan made sure to cover their scents just in case any beast ventured too close and he always listened for signs of life, no matter how small.
He also scanned the skies as he waited.With every passing moment, he felt certain the Jetutians weren’t continuing in their search for them.Gribrak’s pride would be bruised after their escape, but he didn’t think the Jetutian would waste precious and dwindling fuel and resources searching for them.The planet was too vast and he’d destroyed the tracker on the escape pod.
It would, however, be easier for his people to find them.When Luxirians hunted there, a common practice during warrior training, they kept to this side of the planet, where life was more plentiful.Lihvan had tried to steer their escape pod to where he knew and he’d been successful enough.With the Fates’ guidance, Lihvan believed that his warrior brothers would know where to look for them when they eventually did reach the planet’s surface.
It could be any span now.Vikan would have alerted the council about Lihvan’s abduction and the message that Lihvan had sent to Luxiria from the escape pod would’ve been received by now.He knew that there was a Luxirian vessel journeying to rescue them.Perhaps right at this moment.
That knowledge brought relief and sorrow.They would return to Luxiria…and then he would send away his mate.An impossible thought, but a necessary action.
A shuffling sound in the vines alerted him to the presence of another bixaka, which was what Luxirians called the horned little beast that had provided him and Beks nourishment just that morning.They were plentiful in the area and easy enough to track.
Lihvan stilled, gripping his handmade dagger tight.Carefully positioning his body, readying it to strike, he made sure not to make any sudden sounds.While he believed the bixaka was partially deaf, the creature still felt vibrations through the ground, alerting the poor beast to predators like him.It was quick when it felt threatened and could cause serious injury with its sharp horn.
While he’d dispatched of the bixaka quite easily just that morning, Lihvan knew he made a mistake when he misstepped, startling the creature too soon and cornering it against a wall of rock.The cautious hunter in him would have stepped aside, letting the creature pass, but his mate would need to be fed to keep her strength.He needed to make this kill and soon, for night was falling quickly.He could feel the chill of it weave through the strands of his hair.
With a burst of speed, he came at the black, hairy creature from its left side, gripping its smooth horn in one hand so it couldn’t cut him.With the other, he brought his dagger down sharply.But at the last moment, right before he plunged the weapon into its side, it shook its horn loose and slashed a jagged cut down Lihvan’s arm.
Lihvan made no sound even as pain lashed him.He finished the kill cleanly, burying his knife.The creature went still and he murmured his appreciation to the beast, to the Fates, for providing him and his mate the necessary nourishment and fuel.As he said the words, he felt warm blood drip down his arm and he knew he’d need to close the wound somehow without inviting infection.
Hefting the beast over his shoulders, he returned to the cave, gritting his teeth against the hot pain.He’d had worse injuries, but any type of injury without advanced medical care was dangerous.His female might need to stitch up the wound and he wished he could’ve spared her the experience.
Beks was carefully scooping freshly boiled water into a black vine with another rock she’d carved when he returned.A relieved smile drifted across her face when she saw him and her eyes immediately went to the bixaka around his shoulders…before dropping to his injured arm.
“Lihvan,” she exclaimed, jumping up from in front of the fire.She went to him as he dropped the creature in one corner.“Are you alright?What happened?” she demanded.
“It took me by surprise,” he admitted.“It is not too deep, but I may need you to stitch it closed.”
She looked a little sick at the prospect but his strong female nodded and said, “Yes, of course.Whatever you need me to do.But we should flush it with clean water first.”
Lihvan jerked his head in a nod and motioned toward the pile of soft moss he’d collected earlier.“Boil that to sterilize it.I can twine it together to make thread.”
“What…what will I use for a needle?” she asked, already setting to work.She poured some of the water back into the stone pot and set it to boil, packing it with a handful of moss.
“I will use my claws,” he replied.
She inhaled a breath sharply but even she understood there were no other tools they could use.She nodded and when the moss was done boiling, Lihvan immersed the tips of his claws in the water as well, grim, readying himself for the pain.Without direction, his clever female rolled and combined the moss into a fine thread that would be sufficient enough to hold his wound closed.
“Ready?” she asked quietly, worrying her lip with her blunt little teeth.
He jerked his head and sat next to her, laying his arm across her lap.“Tev.”
Gently, she used another boiled piece of moss to clean most of the blood away and she hissed when she saw the cut.“I can see bone, Lihvan.”
“I have had worse, female.Luxirians heal quickly,” he reassured her.He didn’t add that Luxirians healed quickly when there was no chance of infection.He would need to keep this wound clean, but he didn’t want to worry her.
“Okay,” she whispered, placing the fine thread against his skin.Immediately, with the sharpest tip of his claw, he pierced the thread through his skin.His stomach clenched at the burning pain but he made no outward signs of distress.The pain was manageable.
Beks pulled the thread through and it was stained with his dark blue blood.She weaved the thread to the other side of his skin and Lihvan did the same thing, piercing it through with his claws.
“Is this why you have so many scars?” she asked quietly.Lihvan got the distinct feeling that she was talking as a way of distracting him.Or perhaps she needed the distraction.
“Not usually from hunting, no,” he replied.
“What from then?”
He grunted.“Luxirians are warriors.We are trained from an early age.”
“Warriors?” she asked, her gaze sliding up to his.“Is there a war going on among you?On Luxiria?”
Lihvan frowned and pierced the thread through again.“Nix.Not among Luxirians.We aid our allies and lend our skill to the Uranian Federation if requested.We are compensated well for our efforts.”
“You’re…mercenaries then?” she questioned.
“Mercenaries?” he repeated, trying to understand the English word.His language implant translated it into his language and he said, “Yes, I suppose.”
“Great,” she murmured, but her brow was furrowed.“Now I have to worry about you fighting other aliens all the time and adding more scars to your vast collection.”
Lihvan stroked a section of her hair with his free hand before saying, “I am highly trained, female.I am a war general as well, so I train Luxirian warriors.It is my purpose.”
“One wrong move, Lihvan,” she murmured.“You’re only mortal, like me, right?Just because you’re highly trained, it doesn’t mean you can’t make mistakes.What would happen if you got hurt, even worse than this?”
“I have been hurt,” he told her, trying to understand her meaning.Luxirians were warriors, plain and simple.Getting injured was a part of being a warrior.Getting injured made him a better warrior because he learned from his mistakes.“As I said, we heal fast.It is harder to kill a Luxirian than other races.And we have advanced medical care.It is unlikely that we would die from anything less than a very mortal wound.”
His words didn’t make her feel any better.Even Lihvan could sense that.He’d been learning her body language, what it meant, just as she’d been learning his.And her body language right then signaled her displeasure.
“It is my reality, female,” he said.“If I was not a warrior, I would have never encountered you.”
She didn’t respond and Lihvan went silent as well, sensing she needed time to process his words.
They went on like this, neither making a sound, until Beks had stitched up the wound cleanly.She cut the thread and tied it closed before gently blotting away the blood that seeped through.
Next, she boiled more moss and then used it to make a gauze, tying it around his forearm with more thread until the actual wound was no longer visible.
“Thank you, female,” he murmured, fastening his gaze on her, wanting to comfort her.
Beks looked at him, her hands bloodied.Despite everything, his body hummed at the sight of her.It was common for Luxirian females to tend to their males after a particularly brutal training session or after they returned from battle.Seeing her like this spoke to him on a primal level and he felt proud that the Fates had blessed him with such a strong, fine mate.
She went to her knees and approached him.Lihvan purred when she leaned forward to give him a slow, but desperate, kiss.When she pulled away, her eyes were glistening and Lihvan frowned.
“Why this?” he asked, watching liquid fall from her eyes.He’d never seen anything like it before and he caught a drop with his claw.
“Don’t do that again,” she whispered.“You scared me.”
“Are you hurt?” he asked, watching more fall, feeling panic build in his chest.
“No,” she whispered, wiping away the liquid from her cheek.In the process, she’d smeared some of his blood on her skin.“They are tears.Humans cry for all kinds of reasons.”
Tears?Crying?
“And what is your reason, luxiva?”
“I told you,” she said.“You scared me.I thought…the wound looked really bad.If something happened to you…” she trailed off and turned her head away.
“I am here, female,” he murmured softly, his chest clenching at her wobbly voice.“I will not leave you.”
Beks closed her eyes at his words and then leaned into him, burying her face into his chest.She stayed there, soaking in his warmth and inhaling the musk of his skin.
“Good,” she finally whispered.“I don’t want you to.”
