Page 36 of Rescued By the Luxirian

Her brow furrowed.

“Why?”

“Why?” I repeated.

“Most males would be running for the hills,” she pointed out. “We just met, you and me. And now we are talking abouta babyand you’re not evenscared. Not even a little. What ifI’mthe axe-murderer in this situation? What ifI’mbatshit crazy and you don’t realize what a ridiculous mistake you’ve made until it’s too late?”

“Lyra.”

“What?” she asked, but she was frowning. As if she wasn’t covered in my come. As if we hadn’t just hadvraxingamazing sex. As if my cock wasn’t still hard, resting against her belly.

Because I was still on a high, because I knew that nothing would separate us, because I knew that I would do anything to make her happy, I gave her a soft smile.

She’d been honest with me.

I needed to be honest with her. Even if it scared her. Even if it scared me.

“Before,” I started, “I asked you what you knew of Luxirians.”

“Yes,” she whispered. “What does that have to do with ababy?”

“Everything,” I told her truthfully. “You know about our Instinct?”

She stilled.

Her chest rose in a single, full breath, before releasing.

“Yes,” she whispered.

“You know that it awakens when a Luxirian finds their fated mate for the first time? That it feels like the Fates themselves are filling them with life, with breath, with purpose, with need?” I murmured, watching her carefully. “It only happens once. And I never thought it would happen for me. Not until you.”

I watched the exact moment that realization hit her.

Her pupils dilated and she blinked rapidly, her lips parting.

“Are you…are you saying that your Instinct…that I…” she started, trailing off.

She went quiet. Oddly, strangely quiet as she processed my words.

Then she asked a question I hadn’t expected, peering at me carefully. Softly, she asked, “What…what doesluxivamean? I thought the word sounded familiar.”

A bloom of warmth burst in my chest even though my heart was hammering. “It means fated one. A fated mate.”

A puff of air escaped her.

Then I leaned forward, cupping her cheeks, needing to make her understand. “I know it’s a lot, Lyra. It’s a lot to process. But I just want you to understand that we havetime. Time to explore this. If you want to. There is no rush.”

“But…but the Quadrant Patrol and…”

Quietly, I suggested, “You could stay.”

She struggled to push up from her back and a thread of dismay went through me. But it wasn’t anger on her face. It was…confusion.

“I can’t just stay, Droxan. I have…I have an apartment. A job!”

Determination rose through me. “An apartment we can pack up. A job you can leave.”

“And my fertility treatments!” she added, making me growl when my mind flashed back to thedonors. “I’ve already put so many credits into them. I can’t just give up on it.”

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