Page 25 of Primal Vow

Taryn's eyes glinted in the firelight. "That is our greatest joy. When we are not doing that, we find ourselves at a loss."

Was that sarcasm? Rhys snorted, the sound bursting out of him before he could stop it. "Yeah, I'm sure. No, I bet you guys have really boring hobbies. 'Oh, Kethiq, what shall we do today?' 'I don't know, Jirax. Maybe we'll just stare at the mountains for eight hours again.'"

Taryn's mouth twitched, the closest thing to a smile that Rhys had seen from him. "You mock us, human."

"Hey, if I'm going to be stuck on this planet, I've got to find some way to pass the time."

The moment of shared humor caught them both off guard. For a heartbeat, the weight of the war, the gulf between their species, the dangerous unknown future that lay ahead of Rhys… it all fell away, leaving nothing but the warmth of the fire and the sound of two companions' laughter ringing out into the night.

Companions. The word echoed in Rhys's mind, a foreign concept that he found himself yearning for.

He'd been alone for so long, scraping by on the edges of a hundred different stations and ships — but never truly belonging to any of them.

And yet here, in the heart of an alien camp, surrounded by horned warriors who could snap him in half with a single blow, he found himself feeling something that he hadn't dared to hope for. Something that he desperately wanted, even as he knew that it was the most dangerous thing in the world.

Belonging.

It was stupid. He was a human, and the Borraq were his enemies. He'd been raised from birth to fear them, to revile them, to know that they were the greatest threat to his kind.

And yet here he was, laughing with one of them, feeling the warmth of a shared meal, the comfort of company, the heady rush of not being alone.

It was a betrayal of his own people.

Rhys found that he didn't care. His own people had betrayed him without thinking twice.

As they made small talk, Rhys watched the firelight dance across Taryn's face, casting his strong features in flickering shadows. The horns that curved up from the Borraq's brow seemed to almost glow in the darkness, smooth and sleek.

He couldn't help but wonder what they felt like.

Rhys reached out, his fingers trembling ever so slightly as they stretched toward that smooth, curved expanse. He brushed against the base of Taryn's horn, the surface warm and hard beneath his tentative touch.

A rumbling growl rolled out of Taryn's chest, the deep vibration of it setting Rhys's pulse to racing. He snatched his hand back, his heart pounding in his ears as he scrambled to put space between them. "I— Sorry, I shouldn't have—"

Taryn held up a hand, cutting off Rhys's panicked apology. "It's all right." His voice was low, rougher than before. "Our horns can be... sensitive. I was not prepared for the sensation."

Rhys forced himself to breathe, his shoulders loosening as Taryn's words sank in. "Sensitive," he echoed, feeling foolish for his overreaction.

Emboldened, he leaned forward once more, his hand drifting back toward Taryn's horns with cautious curiosity. "Like this?" he murmured, his fingertips skimming along the smooth curve of one horn with feather-light pressure. "You can really feel this?"

Taryn's eyes slipped half-closed. "Yes."

Rhys stroked a horn. The firelight gilded Taryn's features, casting his expression in stark relief. Rhys could see the pleasure the Borraq's was trying to hide, the fluttering of his eyelashes as sensation rolled through him.

Oh, wow. It was intoxicating, this newfound power Rhys held. To be able to touch this fearsome warrior, to brush against that which was most sacred, and bring him to the very edge of control...

"Rhys." Taryn's voice was a hoarse whisper, his eyes dark with banked heat. "You must stop that."

But there was no urgency in his tone, no demand to pull away. Rhys's breath caught in his throat as he traced the path of Taryn's horn, reveling in the shudder that rippled through the Borraq's powerful frame.

Rhys couldn't help himself. He'd never been a model student, one of those proper obedient academy boys.

He'd always been a troublemaker.

He tightened his grip on Taryn's horns, teasing the base with his thumbs.

Taryn's eyes fluttered closed, his breath coming slower. Rhys couldn't tear his gaze away from the Borraq's face, the way his lips parted, the way his muscles tensed and relaxed with each touch.

He'd never seen anything so beautiful in his life.

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