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CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Dani

She fumed just at the sight of him. “You...how dare you.” Her voice shook. “How dare you show up here and act like you haven’t been doing anything wrong!”

Storming past him, she went into her bedroom and peered under a cabinet space, seeing poor Chowder there hiding in one of his usual spots. He hissed at her when she reached for him. “And you’ve scared my cat.” She straightened and whirled around, ignoring the jolt in her heart seeing him standing right beside her. He tilted his head at her like he was confused.

“Dani,” he said, sounding concerned.

“You left,” she snapped. “I told you it was dangerous. I took you in, and you left the vault to stalk around the ship, messing with the lights and scaring people—”

“ Niset ,” Kryxis cut in.

“Yes, you did. Don’t deny it!” She slipped past him again and headed into her kitchen. “You haven’t been on the ship a few hours and you’re already messing around. You have no idea how much you endanger yourself or my team if you get caught.”

“Wassnt,” he said behind her.

She turned to face him again. “What?”

He shook his head. “Wassant seeeen.” He tapped on his chest and covered his face. “Hid.”

“But you were seen.”

“ Niset, asira , Dani.”

She frowned. How could he say he wasn’t seen? Lex wouldn’t lie. Or did Kryxis just not realize?

Frustrated, she sank down in the seat next to her kitchen table. “You left and scared me. You have no idea the risk, and you are stuck here because your home is—” She quieted and shot her gaze toward the window on the other side of her kitchen. She could see X110 outside. Kryxis followed her gaze, and in that moment, there was a blinding flash of light, then the aftershock rippling across the city. A few seconds later, a giant plume of smoke rose into the atmosphere like a giant angry cloud.

She went still, her body turning cold. “Kryxis…”

Kryxis approached the window and watched. She waited to see his reaction, to see the fury in his gaze or maybe the devastation. But there was nothing.

“I’m sorry.”

He stood rigid for a long moment, until his gaze finally turned to hers. “ Isstara rak, xi kar vinak, lillak .”

She shook her head, not understanding.

“Here…now,” he said.

Her mouth twisted. “Everything is gone. Your home, your things. I tried to stop them, but I couldn’t. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t.”

He grunted. “Home…here now.”

She blinked at him in surprise. “That’s right.” Her heart fluttered as she said it. “So…stay here, okay?”

His pupils enlarged and he bowed his head. “ Xa .”

Her stomach did a little flip, uncertain if he was agreeing to stay here with her or just within the ship. A part of her wanted to know, but before she could ask, he slipped from the window over to the door and picked up what appeared to be a satchel. He brought it over to her and set it by her on the table.

She could see it was a mechanic’s satchel. “Where did you get this?”

Instead of answering, he prodded her to open it. Giving him a suspicious glance, she carefully unzipped the top.

It was a bunch of…stuff. Mostly shiny things, and therefore, very expensive things. Watches, electronics, silver pins from jackets, even jewelry, including a ring. There were budding plant samples from the labs and a small picture of a beautiful garden from the civilian planet, Casador. So many little things stuffed into the satchel.

“Oh, Kryxis.” She covered her face, letting out an exhausted laugh. She dropped her hands to meet his gaze. “Is this all meant to be for me?”

“Pretty things for pretty Dani,” he said.

She fixed him with a sad smile. “That’s…very thoughtful of you. But I can’t accept stolen items.”

He grimaced, or at least what she thought was a grimace. “Ssstol…?”

“Yes, stole. Take.” She shook the satchel. “Not yours.”

He snorted. “ Esak mi sina res —”

“No, it’s wrong. These belong to others. It’s not like on X110 where everything was yours. And same with the ISpad. I assume that’s how you’ve been controlling the lights. We have to give them back, understand?”

He hissed, scratching the side of his neck.

“Please. For me?”

His look of disappointment didn’t go unnoticed. “Xa ,” he said, exasperated.

“Thank you.” She zipped the satchel back up and slid it away. “How did you find me, anyway?”

Kryxis leaned in and took a lock of her hair. “Scent. Followed.” Heat rose up her neck as he let the lock of hair slip through his fingers before he went to crouch beside her. “Saw you.”

Her eyes drew down to the rest of him. His wounds seemed to be doing okay, despite all the creeping around in vents he’d done. She reached out and gently pressed her fingers against his chest, beside one wound. “Didn’t tear anything at least,” she commented, brushing her fingers along some of his broken scales. “Probably should still clean them better though…” Her fingers drifted lower. When Kryxis didn’t move, she lifted her gaze to his face and found him staring at her, deep red eyes searching hers.

Without taking her eyes off his, she reached up and touched his face, brushing away a smudge of dirt with her thumb.

Kryxis’s pupils expanded, his nostrils flaring. He took hold of her wrist firmly in one red hand and pressed his face into her palm, rubbing his mouth against her. His eyes darkened as his black fangs slipped from his upper lip, grazing her just enough not to bite down. His tongues flicked out and brushed along her wrist, slow like he was tasting her.

Dani didn’t pull away, even as her hand trembled against him. She watched him, at first fascinated, as a low heat spread across her body.

“I don’t think I have the strength to say no to you,” she whispered.

Kryxis growled softly, almost like a purr. “Don’t fight, lillak .”

“You called me that before. Lillak. It’s an endearment or something?”

“Endear…?”

“Like pretty?”

Kryxis smiled. “ Xa ,” he hissed against her palm.

She pulled her hand gently away, and he let it go, studying her carefully.

Dani rose from her seat. “I want you to follow me.”

Kryxis slowly straightened. “Anywhere,” he answered.

Catching her breath, she turned for her bedroom, knowing full well he was right behind her. Slipping into the bathroom, she went over to the shower and slid the glass back, turning it on. The water came down from above like rain. She glanced back at Kryxis and eyed his dirty black pants. “Take those off.”

Kryxis obeyed, shrugging them away. Bare before her, she saw nothing between his legs save for two v-shaped slits. She felt no reason to be disappointed. Knowing how different alien anatomy could be, she could only suspect what he was hiding. Heart pounding, she stripped off her shirt and pants to stand naked with him, wearing only the necklace he had made her. His sharp gaze took her in, making her shiver. She’d been seen by many other men but not like how Kryxis saw her now.

She stepped into the shower, not taking her eyes off him. “Come, join.”

Kryxis once more obeyed. He stood beside her under the cascade of warm water without saying a word. Reaching behind her, Dani pressed a button on the wall that would mix the water with a special wash, to help clean him of the dirt and grime.

Before she could decide what to ask of him next, he was already closing the distance between them. She jumped when his tail trailed across her thigh and along her back, making her laugh nervously. She craned her neck up to him as his blue hands drifted to her hips, pulling her in, while one of his red hands brushed along her neck and collarbone. Tilting her face back, he traced his talons across her cheek and jaw. A sharp thumb grazed her bottom lip before slipping between her teeth.

She bit down playfully, and he hissed, baring his teeth as if the sight pained him. “ Lillak .”

Dani smiled as his thumb slid away. This time she reached for him, letting her hand drift across his muscular thigh and over to…

She gasped and glanced down, her eyes widening.

What he had been hiding between his legs was now exposed. Not one, but two hard cocks, one red and slick, the other a deep blue with shallow ridges.

Dani cursed out loud then covered her mouth. Kryxis didn’t seem disturbed by her reaction. Instead, he brushed the damp hair from her face like a lover, while his blue hands rubbed her thighs.

“It’s okay, Dani,” he purred.

He was trying to console her. She licked her lips, noticing her mouth was dry. Now that was something new. And for the first time in years, she suddenly felt very self-conscious.

“You’ve…never been with anyone like this, have you?” she asked.

He tilted his head at her.

“Like this? Using…those”—she gestured to his cocks—“with another?”

“ Niset ,” he said. “Only Dani.”

If she didn’t have water dripping over her, she was certain she would be sweating. “Okay,” she said partly to herself.

“Only with Dani,” he repeated, growling. “ Xia Vassala .”

She wasn’t sure what that meant, but he said it so passionately it had to be something important. “Only me,” she said. “And you.”

She thought she caught him shiver. His blue hands slid off her waist as his red hand circled the back of her neck and gripped it firmly.

“Take,” he ordered.

She wasn’t sure if he meant he would take her or her him. But it didn’t matter. Cautiously, she let her hand drift back to his center and brush against his cocks. She played with the red one first as it was above the blue one and watched his reaction. Carefully she stroked him, feeling how incredibly hard and powerful he was in her grip. Her own body pulsed, imagining what it would feel like inside her.

His eyes narrowed on her, and for a second, she worried it was somehow painful for him. But then he bucked, and his cock pulsed in her hand. Strips of his bluish-white come found their mark along her chest and stomach. His blue cock pulsed slightly as well, more of his load dripping down the shaft.

Kryxis let out a low bark and jerked out of her hand. He looked down at the mess he had made on her. Before it was all washed away, he leaned over and lapped up some of his own release, his tongues sliding across her breasts.

Dani was speechless, uncertain if she should be impressed or grossed out, but her body lit up at the sight either way. His tongues grazed across her nipple and her legs nearly buckled, a moan slipping past her lips.

“ Xaka ,” Kryxis growled. He pulled her in, pressing her against his body, and she could feel his cocks pulsing against her stomach.

“Holy shit,” she gasped. Her body was on fire now, her center throbbing. She pulled away from him and took one of his blue hands, directing it down between her thighs. “Right here,” she said. His blue hands, unlike his red, didn’t have talons on them. They didn’t seem to have nails at all, which made them easier to work with. She let his large fingers find her opening and press against it. She inhaled sharply, tilting her head back as he slid one finger into her. “S-see?” she said with a shaky voice.

“ Xa ,” he breathed, his mouth dangerously close to hers, fangs exposed. “Feel you.”

“Yes, that’s right.” She moaned again as his finger slid in and out of her. She could feel how wet she was now. Her core clenched against him. Ah, but not yet. She wanted to explore more.

With a trembling hand, she slipped his finger out of her.

“More,” he demanded.

“I’m right there with you.” She turned off the water and pulled him out of the shower with her. She smacked on the heater and let them dry for a moment before leading him to the bedroom and over to a mirror next to her bed.

“Sit here on the edge,” she asked. When he did, she lowered herself onto his lap, letting his cocks rest against her backside. “Now take hold of my thighs and keep them apart.”

With his red hands, he gripped her thighs just below the knee and lifted them, spreading her. Now they could both see her in the mirror.

She showed him the sensitive parts of her so that he understood. Where he could be rough and where she preferred him not to be. Then she let him explore. Keeping her firmly in place, Kryxis brought his blue hands back to her center, first trailing his fingers along her, stroking and touching, seeing how she responded. Then he circled and dipped inside her all at once, watching her reaction in the mirror.

“That’s good, like that,” she huffed. “Now you…can...play.”

Kryxis growled softly in her ear. “Play.” She felt his tongues brush against her neck and along her ear, making her shudder. She swiveled her hips, arching her back as her head rested on his chest. His finger deepened, sliding in and out, while his other moved with gentle strokes, winding her up. Her muscles tensed, legs trembling as the heat coiled in her center. She watched his hands in the mirror, her mouth clamped shut to try and stifle another moan. She writhed and bucked in his hold, but he held her firm as he continued his excruciating pace. She almost had to beg him to go faster, until she came undone against him, her cry slipping past her lips as her body shuddered.

When it became too much, she jerked on top of him. He released her, wrapping an arm around her waist and bringing her down on her back onto the bed.

Panting, she wiped the damp hair from her eyes. As the waves of heat began to lessen, she realized Kryxis had curled himself against her, petting her.

“Dani…okay?”

She blinked a few times, then started to laugh. “Yes.”

“Hurt?”

She choked down her laughter when she saw his look of concern. “No.”

He paused to study her as his hands stroked down her ribs and thighs.

“ Eva sisna mishara? ” He then tapped at his throat.

“I cried out because it felt so good,” she said, smirking.

“Good,” he purred. He lifted his blue hand to show his now wet fingers. “Felt you.”

“That’s right.”

He muttered something else in his tongue before his blue hand slipped between her legs again, and she felt how wet she was. She flinched as he stroked her again, her center throbbing. Before she told him she needed a minute to recover, he brought his hand away and examined his fingers.

“I want…to taste,” he said.

Heat rose in her face. Damn, he really made her feel like she was back in the academy as a young naive girl all over again. She licked her lips and nodded. “Okay.”

He brought his fingers to his mouth and tasted her. She caught his eyes darken as something like a groan or a growl caught in his throat. Words spilled from his mouth in a soft hiss, like a blessing.

His eyes met hers, the points of his fangs slipping from his mouth. “Eat?”

A nervous laugh broke from her. “No eat.”

The disappointment was clear in his gaze. “Dani,” he pleaded. He lowered his head and rubbed his face against her thigh. She felt his fangs graze her skin, making her shiver. “ Siza .”

She’d kept her knees together, but as his mouth moved closer to her center, she found herself parting them. Heart still thumping wildly, she gripped the sheets of her bed.

“Don’t bite,” she said quickly. “Be nice.”

“Nicceee,” he said. He used his head to part her thighs then brought his mouth down, tongues gliding across her center painfully slow.

Dani smacked a hand across her mouth, stifling her loud moan.

Oh, gods!

She shuddered as his tongues moved up and down, separate from each other, tasting her. Like with his fingers, he learned quickly how to use them, sliding one into her, filling her, while the other swirled around her core, almost reminding her of tentacles the way they twisted and curled.

Her center ached, the heat of his tongues almost too much to bear. Her legs shook, back arching just like before. She didn’t think she’d be ready again so soon, but her body lit up just like before, quicker than before.

Unable to stop herself, her hands unlatched from the sheets and went for his horns, gripping them, holding him in place but also giving her leverage. She spread herself more for him and, in response, he went deeper, his mouth firmly against her, eating her out like he was starving.

Goosebumps spread along her skin as a chill ran down her spine.

“K-kryxis,” she gasped.

He didn’t let up, taking more and more from her with each stroke. It was too much, but he was latched to her and not looking to let go.

Before she could try to pull him off, another wave hit her, painful this time, making her almost bite her lip at the sudden rush of release. She cried out again, bucking her hips, writhing against him. She pulled his horns back, and he finally broke from her, licking his lips with satisfaction.

Dani blew out a slow shaky breath, cursing softly. She had no words. Sweat dripped down her back and her body throbbed everywhere. She also noticed the strong scent of coffee all around her, coming from him. She shut her eyes, giving her a moment to catch her breath.

Kryxis shifted next to her, placing his body partially on hers. “Good? ” he said.

Dani smirked again. “You certainly learn fast,” she mumbled.

He grunted, agreeing. She felt his cocks pressing against her leg, still very hard. He rubbed against her needfully, and she could see the pain on his face. “ Siza , Dani. More.”

She didn’t think she had another orgasm in her this soon, but it didn’t need to be about her anymore. Without a word, she slid out from under him and rolled over to one side of the bed, to the cabinet. She took out a small needlegun from the drawer filled with a pink vial and uncapped it. If they were doing this, she better take precautions. She stuck the needle in her thigh and filled her veins with the pink liquid, preventing anything bad from transferring, just in case.

As she threw the empty gun to the ground, Kryxis tugged her back by the ankle and lifted himself on top of her. He bent her legs up with his blue hands, keeping her knees locked to her chest while one red hand took a hold of her wrists, pinning them above her head. He sank his hips down, putting his heavy weight on her before one of his cocks pressed against her opening, the smooth red one first by the feel of it. He pushed inside her, and she gritted her teeth as he slid deep.

“Fuck,” she groaned as he moved on her, starting slow, until he found his rhythm. His tail curled against the bed, ripping into her sheets as his thrusts quickened. She could feel his power, the feralness of his movements making her flush instantly. Then he slowed and slipped out of her, and pressed his blue cock to her next, slipping it in, the ridges rubbing along her, making her inhale sharply. His strokes deepened again, while his red cock hit against her core.

His thrusts shook the bed, and she worried someone might hear in the unit next door and they’d come knocking. But he had her pinned in place. Seeing the dark fire in his half-lidded eyes told her there was no stopping. He slowed again and switched back to the red and went harder.

He switched several times in and out, greedy to feel her, and her poor thighs were beginning to feel the brunt of his need, her body trembling underneath him.

When his blue sank deep for the last time, he let out a low growl, his body going rigid. She felt him throbbing, then felt a sticky warmth as his red pulsed against her stomach.

Teeth bared, a low snarl rose in his throat, one red hand moving to encircle her throat possessively, claws pricking the back of her neck as he shuddered above her.

As he grew still, the bed stopped shaking, and only their breaths could be heard in the silence. Kryxis pulled out, releasing his hold on her while lowering his head to rest it against hers.

“ Xia Vassala ,” he whispered.

She locked her gaze with his. “Yes,” she said, not sure what he was really saying but feeling like that was the right answer.

The slits of his pupils shrank, his nostrils flaring. He nuzzled her neck, his body rubbing against hers.

“Okay, big guy.” She chuckled, patting his ribs. “But I need to clean myself off again.”

He rubbed a little more until she pushed at him gently and he forced himself off her, though it seemed to pain him. “ Vassala ,” he repeated. “ Lillak .”

She nodded. “I know.” She smiled at him, and he gave her an oddly intense look back. Like he was seeing her for the first time.

Unthinking, she reached up and kissed one side of his mouth. He grew still as she pressed her mouth to his. When she drew back, he tilted his head to one side as if confused.

She laughed a little as she brushed her fingers across his jaw. “That’s called a kiss.”

“Kissss?”

She nodded. “Between lovers.” She pressed a hand on her heart then to his chest.

“ Vassalar. ”

That’s right. Lovers.”

He grunted, nuzzling the side of her head. This was her reality now. A vrisha as her lover. The odds of them finding each other and choosing to be together were so mathematically low they bordered impossible. And yet here they were. What a strange universe.

She lay with him for a moment before sliding off the bed. “Be right back,” she called over her shoulder as she returned to the bathroom. Cleaning herself up, she noticed blood trickling down her legs. At first, she worried it came from inside her, until she realized it was from little cuts against her thighs where Kryxis’ scales had cut her. That would take some getting used to.

As she dried off and slipped on her robe again, she stepped out to see Kryxis sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for her. She still couldn’t believe he was here in her room.

She was about to ask him if he wanted something to eat when a notification went off on her computer. Strolling into the kitchen, she opened the mail log and saw it was a message from Nadine. The heads had scheduled for her team to meet within the hour.

“I have to go out,” she told him as she went for her dresser and took out a clean pair of pants and shirt. “Only for a little bit.” She was about to order him to stay put but then remembered the items he had brought her. She turned to face him. “You can leave one more time.” She put up a finger. “To put back the items you stole. Then you come right back.” She pointed to the ground. “And don’t you dare let yourself be seen.”

Kryxis grinned at her. “ Xi azia .” As you wish , he said. She was getting better at understanding some of his words at least.

“I want you back in here before I return. Got it?”

“ Xa .”

“Good. And I mean it, Kryxis. No more messing around.”