Page 38 of Rescued By the Luxirian

He wanted to take care of me. Take care ofus, should a baby come.

Between my thighs, I was still slick with need. The sex had made it worse, if anything. It made sense now. Everything I’d ever heard about Luxirians and their fated mates…I knew that the joining process was intense.

No wonder he’d been hard every time I looked at him, the poor guy, I thought. Luxirian males were constantly aroused for their mates, from the very first moment they saw them. At least until the connection had been sealed, solidified, and then they would find some relief.

And I can give him that relief, I knew now.

For the last time, I asked myself…

Could I give up everything for him?

A male I’d only just met and only because I’d crash landed on his planet?

Slowly, I stood from my place amongst the cushions and moved towards the front door. We’d returned from the waterfallhoursago. The sun was dipping in the horizon, a cloudless, beautiful day after the stormy night. I’d taken the time to think over every possibility. I’d taken the time to make sure this was what I wanted.

My initial answer hadn’t changed.

Now I was certain.

And I didn’t want Droxan to be in misery any longer.

It might feel like the craziest decision in the entire universe…but how often did fated mate pairings happen?

Rarely.

There had to be a reason for it.

When I approached him out on the terrace, I saw his muscles bunch. He turned around slowly when he heard the brush ofmy bare feet against the terrace pavers. Simultaneously, he unmounted the bannister, coming to stand in one fluid motion.

He was so tall, nearly blocking out the sun behind him, and I had to crane my neck back to meet his eyes.

“Hi,” I greeted softly.

Why did it feel like we’d been apart forweeksinstead of mere hours?

As if he couldn’tnottouch me, Droxan strode forward and tugged me into him. I huffed out a pleased sigh and melted in his embrace, savoring the feel of his strength, his warm skin. His arms came around me, cradling me to his chest. He was sweaty from his work but he smelledamazing. I didn’t mind. Not one bit.

His nose came to bury itself in my hair as he bent low and a shiver went down my spine when I heard his whistled inhale.

I bit my lip to keep from smiling, as my heart hammered in my chest.

“Before you say anything, I’ve been thinking,” he told me immediately. “And back at the waterfall, I should have added that if you want to stay on Wero, if you want to keep your apartment and your job, then keep them.Iwill leave Ullima. I will move to the colony and we can take this slow. I can court you properly. If that’s what you need. If that’s what you want.”

My heart squeezed and I couldn’t help but pull back to look at his face. My mind was reeling. HelovedUllima, didn’t he? This place had sparked his inspiration. It had given him peace after Luxiria.

“You would do that?” I asked quietly, his words only strengthening my decision when it had already been pretty damn secure. “You would move to Wero for me? The colony that can boast of a single lava blow hole when you have a place like this that’s all yours?”

His sigh was deep. “Don’t forget the tavern that the Hyrinn racer visited. That’s quite a selling point for me.”

A laugh of awed disbelief escaped my throat. Reaching up, I clasped his face between my hands, my eyes going a little watery at the gesture. And it was abiggesture.

“I asked you to give up everything for me,” he continued. “That was wrong. So we can start our courtship on Wero. I’ll secure a dwelling of my own and we can?—”

Going up to my tiptoes, I pressed my lips to his, cutting off his words in their tracks.

A sharp breath whistled between us as Droxan stilled.

Then his arms were tightening around me, bringing me closer. When he kissed me back, he filled it with all the desperation I was pouring into it, meeting me head-on. He devoured me and my hands slid to the tops of his shoulders, digging my fingers into them, holding on for dear life.

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