Dekkir (Galaxy Alien Warriors #1)(5)
We walked out onto the muddy shore together. I pulled my spear back out, wary of what might be lurking under the water’s surface. Lyra offered countless dangers: there was no such thing as a truly safe place here outside of the forts.
“I will try not to spook her,” she promised, and I had to stifle a laugh. Full-fledged Sky Eels could not spook Keer.
“I do not think that will be a problem.” I whistled loudly.
A dark shape burst from the treetops nearby, startling her into drawing closer to me. Powerful wings beat the air as the shape sailed toward us. “That is Keer.” I smiled faintly. “Please, do not be alarmed.”
“‘Do not be alarmed’?” she asked incredulously, and this time, I actually did laugh. She was funny as well as beautiful! Perhaps this would work out better than I had thought.
Keer landed nearby, close enough that the wind from her wings blew our hair around. She towered over us for a moment before settling down on her haunches. I couldn’t really blame Grace for staring. Keer’s long body rippled with muscle, her talons were the size of daggers, and her bright, golden eyes almost glowed against the velvet blackness of her fur. She stretched her narrow head toward Grace, sniffing curiously, and the human drew back a bit, her eyes widening.
“Keer is a Rilleen,” I explained quietly as the creature continued to snuffle at her. “I have raised her since her hatching. You need not fear her.” I stepped forward and patted Keer’s neck. “Keer, this is Grace. Friend. Not food.”
“Okay, war chief, that is not reassuring. Are you sure she won’t bite?” The skepticism in her voice almost sounded like sarcasm.
“She will not.” Not usually, anyway. Behave, beast.
“Okay.” Grace steeled herself visibly and stepped forward, holding out a hand, palm up.
I murmured to Keer soothingly as my mount sniffed at her hand. The Rilleen stayed calm, her wings folded placidly against her back and her tail relaxed. Then, to my absolute shock, Keer bent her head down and rubbed it very lightly against Grace’s arm.
“Oh, wow, I think she actually likes me.” Grace moved forward a little more, and Keer crouched down and butted her head against her hip.
“It appears so!” So do I. How could I feel so strongly attracted to a stranger that it distracted me from my mission? A possibility nagged at the back of my head, but I couldn’t stop and contemplate it until we were safely aloft. “Can you climb onto her back? I will help.”
She looked dubiously at the beast crouched in front of us. But then Keer let out a rumbling purr and squinted at her happily, and her worried look softened. “I’ll manage.”
“Do not be frightened. I will hold you.” Now there’s a lovely prospect. I climbed onto the narrow flight saddle perched between Keer’s wings, buckling myself in before offering my guest a hand up. Keer barely shifted as Grace climbed up in front of me. “Here, use me as a backrest, and I will help strap you in—” I went silent as she sat back against me.
As her small body settled against my torso, I felt that warmth again—but a hundred times stronger. It went straight through my armor and roared through me like magma, leaving me shaking a little bit with its intensity. The suspicion lurking in the back of my mind gained strength.
Other Lyrans had described this feeling to me, in joyous tones: its power, its sweetness, and the protectiveness that came with it. My head fell back, eyes closed to slits as the delicious rush of pleasure ran all through me. Her scent filled my nostrils, dispelling the stench of beastvine sap, algae, and mud, and I sighed with deep contentment. This one is mine, came the unbidden thought.
I shook myself out of my reverie and helped her buckle her straps. “Hold on,” I instructed and then clicked my teeth at Keer. The Rilleen bounded skyward, wings unfolding to catch the air, and Grace let out a little cry of shock. I wrapped my arms around her reflexively, steadying her while struggling to contain another surge of delight.
How can this be? She is human. I cannot even breed children with her. Yet this was exactly how the others had described catching the scent of their true mate for the first time. As we leveled off just out of beastvine range, and poor fish-out-of-water Grace slowly relaxed against me, I struggled with the idea.
Could this truly be her? My destined mate? An alien woman with an unknown agenda, who weathers a fall from the sky with stoic courage but cringes at the sight of my mount? And if so . . . how?
I held her as we flew, baffled and dizzy with unaccustomed bliss, drawing her scent in again and again as Keer carried us past the forest to the plains beyond.
CHAPTER 3 / GRACE
This guy keeps sniffing me. What the hell?
I had finally relaxed enough to notice what Dekkir was doing about halfway through the flight. He was trying to be subtle about it, at least, but it made my neck hairs prickle. There was nothing like having a guy three times your size getting touchy-feely while you’re isolated with him and can’t get away. Fortunately, all he did was hold me there against his chest and smell my hair. It might even have been pleasant, except he hadn’t bothered to see if I was all right with it—and I wasn’t, from a stranger. The doctor had reassured me that the kind of garbage Norcross pulled on women didn’t happen as much with Lyran men. But if they were so much more enlightened, then why was Dekkir creeping on me?
Dekkir didn’t seem like that bad of a guy. That just made his behavior all the more baffling. I was an alien on a diplomatic mission. He had to know cuddling me and sticking his nose in my hair without so much as a by your leave wasn’t appropriate. But here he was doing it. Oh, no way am I putting up with this for two years, no matter what’s at stake.