Page 5 of The Delver (The Vrix #2)

Urkot had seen the male humans without their coverings. Several moon cycles ago, when he and his tribe had first arrived in Kaldarak, he’d even glimpsed Ivy naked in this very place. She had shed what the humans called modesty long before they’d come here.

But of Callie, he’d seen only hints of the body hidden beneath her clothing, teasing him with her curves and softness. He’d never seen her utterly bare.

Until now.

The blue-green firelight reflected on the waterdrops clinging to her supple brown skin and her long, curly, dark brown hair, making her look like she was clad in stars. She shifted, turning slightly toward him, and tipped her head back. More droplets sparkled on the lashes of her closed eyes.

Urkot remained as still as stone. He was afraid to move, afraid to breathe, afraid that so much as blinking would make her disappear. All he could do was stare at the beautiful sight before him.

With a soft sigh, Callie raised her arms and smoothed her palms over her hair, rinsing the fizzy cleanleaf from the strands. His gaze caught on the large, plump mound on her chest and the darker tip at its peak.

What would her breasts feel like? Would they be as soft as they appeared?

His fingers flexed with an urge to find out.

All his life, he’d worked with unyielding stone, yet now he longed for nothing more than to feel the give of Callie’s flesh beneath his fingers, to feel her soft skin against his hard, tough hide, to feel her warmth seep into him.

His gaze dipped to follow the flow of shimmering water down her body, stopping on the curve of her hindquarters. Her ass , as the humans called it.

It should’ve simply been another strange human body part to him, a curiosity at best. But he’d been fascinated by Callie’s ass ever since she’d performed her victory dance after defeating him in stonetoss a lifetime ago at the Pit. Long before he’d been able to understand any of her words.

Even if what she’d said had been meaningless to him then, the way she’d moved her body, her hips, had entranced him.

Now her ass was exposed to him, allowing him to see how lush and soft she was all over.

And there was something else revealed to Urkot now—a marking on the right side of her hindquarters, just above the lapping water.

His eyes narrowed.

There were human letters on her skin, between two symbols called hearts.

Callie moved again, swaying her hips as she continued rinsing her hair, but Urkot could not take his eyes off that marking.

Vrix females did not have natural markings, and seeing one on Callie’s skin rekindled that desirous stirring in his belly.

The sensation warmed, spreading down to his stem, which pulsed behind his slit.

Every part of her begged for his touch. He knew his hands would fit perfectly around her waist and over the curves of her hips, knew her breasts would fill his eager palms.

Urkot clenched his shaking hands against the surge of longing. His cock swelled, pushing on the inside of his slit.

Threatening to extrude.

Eyes flaring, he drew his claspers tight against his hide to keep his stem confined.

Callie turned, facing him, and his eyes fell upon the slit between her thighs, where darker folds of flesh were exposed from within.

His longing intensified eightfold, and he pressed his claspers around his slit hard enough to feel their tips digging into his hide. A tremor wracked his body.

This was desire, need, unlike anything he’d ever experienced. It was instinct, yes, but it was so much more. It was her . His Callie. He’d never wanted, had never craved , anyone like he did her.

And it wasn’t simply a need to touch her.

He needed to rut her. To take her body in his hands, bind her in his silk, and thrust his stem into her slit.

To claim her as his.

Callie’s sharp gasp broke through his lustful haze. Urkot’s gaze shot up to meet her wide, brown eyes, which were made all the darker by the cavern’s shadows.

“Shit!” She quickly banded her arms across her chest and ducked into the pool until her breasts were submerged.

An uncomfortable sensation skittered beneath Urkot’s hide. Shaking his head, he stepped forward only to halt. He lifted his arms, pressed his forearms together, and struggled to find the right words in English.

“Calm, female.” His deep voice rumbled from his chest, resonating within the room.

She narrowed her eyes and eased toward him, keeping her body beneath the water. “Urkot?”

He nodded. “Sorry. I did not mean to scare you.”

Callie chuckled. “You just startled me. I didn’t expect anyone to come here this late.”

Urkot chittered, lowering his arms. “That is why I come. For quiet.”

“Oh. I’m almost done. I can hurry so you can have the place to yourself.”

His insides sank at the thought of her rushing away. Solitude in this place had been a welcome idea only moments ago, but now it was more than he could bear. “Stay. Please.”

“It’s not a big deal. I’ve been in here for a while now, and I’m probably all proonee anyway.”

“But who will help if I sink like stone when I go in?”

Her laughter was like music, flowing straight into his hearts and making them feel full.

Callie’s lips stretched into a wide grin, revealing her blunt white teeth. The expression made tiny, adorable indentations appear on her cheeks—dimples. “The pools are only a few feet at their deepest. Even if you sat down, most of your body would still be above the water.”

She moved to the edge of the pool, her grin taking on a teasing slant as she gazed up at him. “I think you want me to stay because you like me.”

Without meaning to, he moved closer to her, drawn by something he could not see, smell, touch, or hear—a tether made of silk so fine it was invisible, running from his heartsthread to hers. And he felt its pull down in the deepest parts of his soul.

His mandibles lifted. “I most like you.”

“Ha! I knew I was your favorite.”

“You must not tell the rest. They will be… jelly ?”

She shook her head with a chuckle. “It’s so strange hearing that word come from you.

But no way am I keeping this secret. I’m going to rub it in Cole’s face.

” Her smile faded as she held his gaze. “For real though, are you sure you want me to stay? I know what it’s like to want to be alone. I won’t take offense.”

“Stay, Callie.” He placed a hand on the stone lip at the pool’s edge, as close as he could bring himself to touching her. “It is everything else I want to be alone from.”

Her features softened, and she nodded. Water dripped from her hand as she lifted it and gestured up and down at him. “Why are you all…white?”

“Rock fell in the cave and made big dust.”

Callie’s lips parted with a gasp. “Oh God, are you okay?”

Urkot nodded and tapped his chest with a fist. “Only dirty.”

“And the others? No one was hurt?”

“No one was hurt, thank the Delver.” He barely suppressed a shudder as thoughts of what could’ve happened swirled in the back of his mind.

“Good.” She studied him for a moment, her gaze seeming to pierce right to the turmoil hidden inside him, before she moved back from the pool’s edge. “Come on, big guy. Get in the water.”

He could not express how grateful he was that she hadn’t questioned him further. She clearly knew something was amiss, knew that he was burdened, but she was simply…making space for him.

And he couldn’t deny that the way she called him big guy sparked a little more of that heat low in his belly…though he liked it even better when she said his name.

After placing his belongings beside hers on the pool’s rim, he stepped into the water. He strode to the small waterfall, which he used to rinse the dust from his hair and hide. The water’s heat eased his muscles and soothed his aches.

Urkot stood there for some time, letting the water flow over him. With Callie’s quiet presence nearby, he felt a little more grounded, a little more himself, with each moment.

Everyone was fine. Everything was fine. There was no reason for alarm; the worst had not occurred.

Finally, he stepped back, lifting his upper hands to wipe the water from his face.

Droplets sprayed from around his nostrils as he exhaled.

While the water would never wash away the permanent stone dust staining his fingers and tips of his legs, it felt good to have the rest of his hide mostly free of the stuff.

When he inhaled, the warm, humid air was fragrant with the crisp smell of cleanleaf.

He turned back toward Callie. She stood facing away from him, running her hands over her arms and body to scrub her skin with fizzing cleanleaf. Her thick hair was already becoming curlier as it dried. He longed to run his hands through it, to feel those curls coil around his fingers.

His gaze dipped, following the graceful line of her spine down past her hips, until settling on her ass again. He couldn’t help but study that small marking. The humans had shown him some of their letters, but unlike Rekosh, Urkot had not studied them nearly enough to understand them.

“What does that mean?” he asked.

Callie set the used husks of cleanleaf on the edge of the pool before peering at him over her shoulder. “What does what mean?”

Urkot pointed at her backside. “The mark.”

She blinked, brow furrowing. “Mark?” Her confused gaze followed his gesture. Then her eyebrows shot up. “Oh! Ohhhhh…”

With a chuckle, she cocked a hip and pointed at the mark on her ass. “You mean this? I completely forgot I even had it.” Covering her breasts with her left arm, Callie twisted toward him and arched a brow. “Urkot, were you staring at my ass?”

He tilted his head to the side. “Yes.”

Her jaw dropped as she stared at him. Then she laughed. “Wow. Okay. You’re blunt.”

“No, I am Urkot.” He raised his mandibles in a smile.

There was a playful smile on her lips when she replied, “Yes, you made sure I knew that.”