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She snapped her attention to the Dothvek staring at her. “No, but it wouldn’t matter if I was. I’m the chancellor of my people now.” Being chancellor meant maintaining control, dignity, distance. The wine must have loosened her tongue because she found herself admitting, "Sometimes I envy you, though. The freedom to choose based on desire rather than duty."

“You could not choose based on desire, Linnea?”

The way he said her name, rolling it across his tongue like honey, sent shivers down her spine. She forced herself to step back, to remember who she was. What she was.

“It is my desire to lead my people. To forge a better future than my brother Riz's cruelty would have brought." She lifted her chin. "That's enough for me.”

Zexx's expression hardened. “It sounds like you are trapped by your duty.”

"I'm not trapped. I'm exactly where I need to be." But even as she said it, she felt the weight of her responsibilities pressing down on her.

A group of warriors called out to Zexx—all deep throaty sounds that hummed through her bones. He responded in kind, though his eyes never left hers.

"Are your fellow Dothveks nervous you’re talking to me? Worried I'll corrupt their leader with my city ways?"

A low laugh rumbled from his chest. "No one in this village worries I will be corrupted by a Crestek.”

Somehow that didn’t feel like a compliment. “Because you despise us?”

He grunted, giving his head a quick shake. “Despise would be a strong word. Let us say I am cautious.”

The wine made Linnea unafraid to tease him. “You need to be cautious with me? You are twice my size.” She gave him a slow wink. “Or is it females that scare you, not Cresteks?”

He grunted again, maybe not sure if he was being teased or not. “You do not scare me, Chancellor.”

Linnea shouldn’t enjoy poking the beast as much as she did, but she couldn’t resist. He seemed to take himself and his defense of his people so seriously. As if she was a danger to any of them.

Linnea held up her hands as if in surrender. “I promise not to start a war between us if you promise to stop looking at me like I’m dangerous.”

Before he could respond, Karv approached with Maya. Her new sister-in-law's eyes sparkled with happiness as she hugged Linnea.

"Thank you for the beautiful dress," Maya said. “It was so nice to incorporate Crestek fashion into our wedding day.”

"Crestek fashion is known for beautiful fabrics,” Linnea said diplomatically, since most Dothvek females either wore the scant leather coverings of their male counterparts or they were priestesses draped in white garments. “I thought you might enjoy something special for your wedding dress.”

“I’m glad you brought me one of the more modest dresses,” Maya said with a nervous laugh as she skimmed her fingers down the sheer fabric of the skirt. “I don’t have the courage to dress like most Crestek women.”

Linnea didn’t take the human’s comment as a slight. The females in her city did wear revealing garments under their long cloaks. The draped gown she now wore, even though it dipped low to reveal her cleavage and showed plenty of bare leg, would be considered conservative by Crestek standards.

She avoided glancing at Zexx, although she could feel his heated look on her. “I think you have plenty of courage, especially for marrying my brother.”

Maya laughed as Karv grinned at his sister then his new bride. “Don’t believe a word she says.”

The drums changed rhythm, becoming slower, more primal. Karv dragged Maya into the dance, both of them laughing, clearly drunk on love and perhaps Dothvek wine. When Linnea looked to Zexx, he was gone.

ChapterTwo

Zexx kept to the shadows at the edge of the celebration, his back against a tall, willowy tree trunk as he watched the Crestek chancellor laugh at something one of the priestesses said, the sound high and clear.

He ground his teeth. He shouldn't notice such things about Linnea. She was Crestek, even if she had shed her concealing cloak to reveal gauzy layers that left little to the imagination. The fabric caught the firelight, making her appear to shimmer as she moved. His hands fisted at his sides as he noticed several warriors eyeing her with clear interest.

A low growl escaped him as one of the younger males started in her direction. The warrior caught his eye, sensed his empathic warning, and quickly changed course. Good. The last thing they needed was some hot-blooded Dothvek making advances on the Crestek leader. Talk about a diplomatic incident.

"You could join the celebration instead of prowling the perimeter like a sand scorpion," Kyrana said as she materialized beside him.

Zexx jerked his head up and clicked his tongue against his teeth. "Someone needs to stay alert with a Crestek in our midst."

The tribe leader's knowing smile made him bristle. "The Crestek is Karv's sister. And our ally now."