Page 25 of The Delver (The Vrix #2)

She peeked over the edge at the water below. “Okay… But if I feel something brush against me, I will scream. Just warning you now.”

He held up his hand and pinched his forefinger and thumb together. “Small scream, yes?”

Callie faced him with a droll look. “Big scream.”

Urkot chittered and thumped a fist against his chest. “This male will protect you from little fish.”

“You better hope little fish are all that’s in that water.”

He certainly hoped so.

Extending a foreleg, he dropped it low to dip into the lake. A chill coursed over his hide and made his fine hairs stand. The water was cold—colder than the stream they’d followed deeper into these caves.

But there was no other way forward.

Turning, Urkot grasped a rock protruding from the tunnel wall and swung himself out over the edge.

The tips of his legs struck stone as he steadied himself.

He climbed down slowly, until his legs were submerged, then his hindquarters, and finally, his torso.

Cold penetrated straight to his bones, making him shudder.

“By the Eight,” he rasped.

He released his grip on the wall and kicked his legs, moving back from it before lifting a hand to beckon her. “Come.”

She raised an eyebrow. “If that made you shiver and swear, what’s it going to do to me?”

“Make you swim fast,” he replied, raising his mandibles.

Chuckling, Callie shook her head as she carefully sat on the edge, legs dangling. “I’m not a fast swimmer, but I guess I’ll learn.”

After drawing in a couple deep breaths, she shoved herself off. She plunged into the water, disappearing into its dark depths.

Urkot’s hearts went still. Panic roiled beneath his hide, its heat quickly overpowering the water’s chill.

As he was about to dive after her, Callie emerged with a gasp, swiftly swiping her hair from her face. “Holy fuck, it’s freezing!”

His hearts lurched back into motion, beating much too hard and much too fast. Fuck was right.

She treaded water, easing closer to him. Her dark eyes were large and luminous as they met his, reflecting the cavern’s blue glow, much like they’d looked when he’d come upon her bathing in the temple a few days ago.

“Lead the w-way, big guy,” she said, lower lip quivering.

He caught hold of her backpack and drew her closer, guiding her to his back. “Hold on, Callie.”

As much as he loved the feel of it when she wrapped her arms around his neck from behind and pressed her body against his, he did not care for the way she was trembling.

He’d seen it from the humans before, when the rains came to the Tangle and the temperature dropped.

Diego had said that being cold like that could be dangerous for a human to endure for long.

This way, Urkot could get her to their destination as quickly as possible while keeping his body between Callie and anything lurking below.

Urkot swam, doing his best not to think about the lack of anything solid beneath him, forcing himself to ignore the unknown and all the terrors it might’ve held. The statues, despite being partially submerged, loomed higher and higher as he neared them, coaxing another breathless Wow from Callie.

Were she not shivering in frigid water that was home to gods-knew what, Urkot would’ve liked to stop and examine the monuments up close.

He would’ve studied their construction, would’ve guessed at the techniques used to shape them, would’ve tried to puzzle out the shadowy forms he could vaguely see below the water’s surface, which hinted at a temple structure that had been swallowed by the lake.

He would’ve greatly enjoyed working with Callie to piece together an idea of what this cavern must’ve looked like in a time now forgotten.

But the water was overly cold even to him, and their lives were far more important than his curiosity.

When he reached the cliffside below the grotto, Callie tightened her hold on him and wrapped her legs around his middle without him saying a word.

Welcome warmth bloomed in him. He grasped the stone and climbed, pulling them out of the water.

Callie’s backside settled atop his hindquarters.

His body felt heavier than ever, a fresh reminder of the lingering exhaustion in his muscles, but he forced his limbs to keep moving. Rest was only segments away.

Urkot hauled himself up onto the ledge with a grunt and crawled into the grotto’s shelter before letting himself collapse on the stone floor. Every muscle in his body burned. Callie didn’t release him as she lay upon his back, shivering.

“Y-You okay?” she asked.

He grunted in response, not sure himself if it was a yes or a no.

Her grip on him relaxed, and she extended her leg down. Once her boot was flat on the ground, she climbed off him and stepped away, drawing off her bag and setting it down before removing her boots.

“Jesus,” Callie whispered, briskly rubbing her bare arms as water pooled around her. She crouched, opened the bag, and pulled out a rolled-up blanket. It was soaked through. “Fuck.”

Urkot narrowed his eyes on her trembling hands as she wrung the blanket out. She stood, giving the cloth a flap to unfurl it, and held it up, examining it with dismay.

He knew it would not warm her. Neither would her dripping clothes, scant as they were.

He pushed himself upright, willing away those aches, and unfastened his belt and the attached pouch.

Before setting them down, he took the pair of glowstones back out and placed them on the floor to either side of himself.

Then he forced his legs to rise beneath him, extended a foreleg, and hooked it around Callie, drawing her toward him.

Gently, he plucked the blanket from her grasp, turned, and used sticky silk to hang it across the grotto’s opening.

That would help it dry faster and afford them a bit more shelter.

That done, Urkot set his spinnerets to work. He drew out fluffed silk, arranging it on the floor. Each pull was a little more draining, but he did not stop until he’d formed a large nest for himself and his female.

Finally, he turned to Callie again. Her arms were crossed over her chest, hands tucked beneath them, and her shivering was more pronounced.

With a growl, he guided her closer as he ran his eyes over her body.

The sopping material of her coverings left little to the imagination, clinging to her curves like a second skin. What was the purpose of such garments?

Modesty. Such a ridiculous thing. And yet…he understood the desire to hide aspects of one’s body. Understood the shame some of the humans seemed to feel at the thought of being exposed to the gazes of others.

He grasped her arms with his upper hands and drew them apart before seeking the tie on her top with his lower hand.

Pulling the string between her breasts that held the material together, he undid the knot.

Then he lowered his hand, brushing his knuckles over her belly as he slid his finger beneath the bottom part of the string. He pulled it free.

The material fell away, baring her breasts to him. Her dark brown nipples were taut, the hard buds begging for the touch of his fingers, for the sweep of his tongue, and the supple flesh around them looked so soft, so yielding…

Pressure built behind his slit as his stem stirred, making him clutch in his claspers tight.

Callie released a shaky breath, which made her breasts quiver. “I…t-take it you l-like them?”

Urkot flattened his palm on her belly, battling the urge to move his hand to those enticing mounds, to cup them, to squeeze and knead them, to claim them. “Yes.”

She let out a soft laugh. “So b-blunt.”

Growling low and deep, he forced his eyes up to hers and released her arms. “Take it off.”

“I like it w-when you’re b-b-bossy,” she said as she slipped her arms out of the holes of her top.

He clenched his jaw and dropped his upper hands to the sides of her skirt, which lay just above the flare of her hips.

Gods, she fit so perfectly in his grasp, like every bit of her was shaped just for him.

Urkot made swift work of the tie at the side of her hip. He caught the garment before it fell, and he clenched the fabric as his eyes locked on her exposed slit. The hunger that only she could inspire raged inside him, setting his blood ablaze.

A red haze shimmered at the edges of his vision, and agony radiated through his core as his hardened stem pushed insistently against his slit. His claspers cinched tight over it in his desperate attempt for control. Urkot’s instincts roared for him to take her, take her, take her.

His female stood naked in front of him. It would’ve been so simple to bind her in silk, spread her thighs, and thrust his cock into her body.

She was his to claim.

“Urkot?”

Callie’s soft voice broke through the frenzied haze in his mind, and he tore his gaze away from her slit to look at her without desire clouding his perception. She stood shivering, teeth chattering, with her arms once more crossed over her breasts, hugging herself as water dripped from her hair.

By the Eight, what was he doing? Anger flared within him, and his need to protect Callie drove back the mating frenzy that had been taking root.

His mate needed warmth and comfort, and he was failing her.

Body stiff, Urkot, squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath, willing himself to calm. Once he was sure he was in control, he busied himself by taking her garments to the entrance and hanging them near the blanket.

It granted him a few moments of reprieve, the briefest of escapes from temptation.

When Urkot turned back to Callie, she had already climbed into the nest, where she sat with her knees drawn up and her arms wrapped around them. She looked so small. Yet a rush of prideful possessiveness swept through him at seeing her nestled there, surrounded by his silk.

He lowered himself onto the nest beside her, lying on his side, and held up his right arms. “Come, Callie. I will share my warmth.”

She hurriedly crawled into the shelter of his arms, stretching out beside him, and Urkot let out a hiss as her chilled skin touched his hide.

“S-Sorry,” Callie said.

Without allowing her to even consider withdrawing from him, Urkot wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him.

Callie moaned, tucking her nose against his shoulder. “God, you’re so warm.” She snuggled closer until her body was flush against his.

Fuck .

That simple human word was the only one that fit the moment, the only one that could encompass what he felt, what he wanted.

The press of her soft body roused his desire with new ferocity.

He could feel her pliant breasts against his chest, could feel her warm breath caressing his hide, could feel her thigh shifting against his slit, teasing at his most sensitive part.

Her morning dew scent pervaded his senses, beckoning him to breathe her in, to taste her, to discover if she was as sweet as she smelled.

As her trembling subsided, his hearts quickened, his breaths grew ragged, and his claspers curled around her outer thighs. His hold on her tightened as desire and duty warred inside him. But that desire was fast growing into something else, something stronger, something larger—need.

He needed this female. His female.

She sighed and wriggled in his hold, grazing his chest with her hardened nipples.

Urkot shuddered, and his stem extruded from his slit with a force that made him groan.

Callie gasped and went utterly still.

His stem was out. It was out, and it was pressed firmly along her thigh, throbbing against her smooth skin, aching with a primal need. He’d extruded completely, not just in her presence, but against her.

Urkot’s cock was as hard as the stone to which he was always compared. And Callie must’ve felt every damned thread’s width of it.

“Urkot…” she said softly, her fingers curling against his chest. “Is that?—”

“I am sorry,” he said hurriedly, lifting his arms to withdraw from her.

“Don’t.” Callie caught his side, keeping him from pulling away. “Stay.”

He stilled. Moments before, her skin had felt cool and damp. Now her hand was fiery against his hide. His hearts pounded so thunderously that there was no way she didn’t feel them against her palm.

“Callie…”

When he didn’t move, her grip eased, and she smoothed her palm along his side and down his abdomen, its heat deliciously scalding. Her hand halted right above his slit, fingers teasingly trailing back and forth. He tensed, everything inside him drawing taut, his breath ragged.

“Can I touch you?” she asked.

That crimson haze again stained the edges of his vision. His self-control already dangled by a single frayed thread, and testing it would only result in failure. For her sake, he needed to deny her request, needed to deny himself. He needed to be strong in this, his moment of greatest yearning.

“Let me explore you, Urkot.” Callie brushed her lips over the base of his throat.

A kiss.

That simple, gentle gesture was all it took to sever the thread.

This close to Callie, skin to hide…he’d never stood a chance of resisting. Not with her.

And if he were honest with himself, he didn’t want to resist.

Urkot lowered his arms, settling his lower hand on her hip and sliding his upper hand along her back and into her hair.

“Touch me,” he rasped.