Page 19 of Revealed

Even though I could not give her commitment, I didn’t like the thought of having no strings attached to her. I’d never felt more attached to anyone in my entire existence.

“That is what you want too, right?” She lay her head on my chest and traced one finger down my chest. “All that stuff about claiming was just talk, wasn’t it?”

I opened my mouth to answer, to tell her that it had not been empty talk, but a rumbling growl cut off my reply. We both sat up and turned to the dog, whose scruffy fur was standing on end as he jumped up and placed himself between us and the archway leading to the other caverns.

Then I heard it—heavy, rhythmic footsteps.

Someone was coming.

Chapter

Fourteen

Allie

Panic surged through me as I stared at the dog with his hackles raised and a resonant growl emanating from his chest. "Maxxon," I hissed, scrambling to pull on my still-damp clothes. "We need to move. Now."

Maxxon did not hesitate, dressing quickly as the dog continued to watch the opening and the cat had slunk deeper into the hidden cave.

The faint but unmistakable sound of heavy footsteps was a drumbeat that drove sharp talons of fear into my heart. I fumbled with my clothes, yanking the leggings on and ignoring the fact that my bra was still damp from being sucked on and my thong was wet from Maxxon’s cum. I managed to fasten my shirt with the few remaining buttons that hadn’t been scattered around the rock floor, and I tied the bottom in a knot at my waist.

Fuck fuck fuck. What had seemed like a fine idea at the time now seemed foolish and impulsive. We hadn’t even used protection, which I was usually a stickler about, but I’d gotten so caught up in the end of the world thinking that I’d ignored all good sense. Then again, the footsteps coming toward us might be the end of everything, so maybe it wasn’t such a crap idea.

Maxxon finished dressing and raised his blaster, stepping up to stand beside the dog and aiming at the darkness beyond our little alcove.

I positioned myself behind him, trying to draw comfort from his solid presence. He's a tough Drexian warrior, I told myself. He can fight off a giant lizard man. Even as I thought it, I realized I really, really didn't want to see a huge lizard-like alien up close and personal.

Despite how warm I’d just been, the sweat on my skin cooled and tremors wracked my body as the footsteps grew louder. My teeth chattered so hard that I gritted my teeth to keep them from rattling, and I found myself taking shallow breaths in a futile attempt to stay calm. The dog's growl had deepened, a continuous low buzz that seemed to vibrate through the stone beneath our feet.

I glanced back at the other exit to the deeper parts of the caverns, but I knew that as far as we ran, the pursuers would eventually catch up to us. And I despised the idea of running anymore. If we were going to go down, I wanted it to be a fight.

The echoing thuds drew closer, and I cut a look to Dinah, glad she was hiding in the shadows. Maybe they wouldn’t see her. The Kronock couldn’t care about a cat, could they? My heart twisted painfully at the thought that they would probably take out the dog, and I blinked away hot tears.

“Stay behind me,” Maxxon rasped. Maybe he sensed that I was on the verge of throwing myself over the dog.

When the figure finally emerged from the darkness, Maxxon sucked in a breath and the dog stopped growling and started to wag his tail. It wasn't the nightmarish lizard creature I'd been expecting. He appeared to be…human? But as he stepped into the dim light of our alcove, I realized he wasn’t.

The hulking creature wore a dark uniform that was clearly military, but not any I’d ever seen. His brown hair was shaggy, falling over his forehead in a way that definitely wasn't regulation, and scruff dusted his cheeks. And was a pendant peeking out from his open collar?

Maxxon exhaled loudly and lowered his blaster, then he thumped his fist across his chest in some kind of salute.

I looked more closely, realizing that I was staring at another Drexian.

“Maxxon of House Kapor?” The warrior retuned the salute. “I am Torven.” Another Drexian strode in behind him. “And this is Dakar.”

Dakar appeared even less militaristic, with long hair pulled up into a topknot and a roguish grin.

Maxxon nodded, smiling at both Drexians. “I am glad to see you and not the Kronock.”

"The Kronock are on the run,” Torven said. “Earth forces joined the fight and turned the tide. We were sent to find you after your signal went dark."

Maxxon's brow furrowed. "How long was I off comms? I didn’t think I would be detectable so far underground."

“You would not be detectable to the Kronock but your tracking device it detectable to us no. matter how deep beneath rock you go.”

I was speechless as the Drexians talked. It was one thing to know that Maxxon was an alien but seeing him with others of his kind was a stark reminder that he was not from Earth.

"Over one human day,” Dakar said, his gaze sweeping the cavern and landing on me. He flashed me a charming smile that probably would have made me weak in the knees under normal circumstances. "And who's this?"

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