Page 3 of Rescued By the Luxirian

And everything I don’t want, I thought next, my mouth thinning into a grim line.

I’d come to this planet, Ullima, to getawayfrom people. To get away from females, from the pressures of Luxirian society, and the expectations I’d felt constantly roving in the back of my mind.

People always wanted something from me.

I’d just gotten tired of constantly giving and never receiving anything in return.

And maybe that was selfish. My brothers had certainly believed so when I’d left Luxiria for good.

But I’d purchased this wholevraxingplanet to finally have some peace after decades of expectations. I’d lived here for three years…and they were some of the best years of my life, even if my existence might seem primitive and lonely to the high society Luxirians back home.

Looking away from the limp female in my arms, I peered into the life pod she’d come from. It was cheaply made and poorly constructed. A model that was manufactured on G’yop in massive quantities…and then discontinued when the safety inspections turned out to be fraudulent. It looked like the coms were fried. Char marks licked up the sides of the pod and one section was dented in from the landing.

A gruff, displeased growl rose from my throat, my gaze returning to the female.

She was lucky to be alive. I’d heard stories of these life pods disintegrating when they entered the atmosphere.

Which begged the question…where had she come from?

From the Fates, came the unwelcome thought.

But how else could I explain my fated mate literally falling out of the sky on my desolate little planet? A planet that I’d paid a good price for to not be publicly recognized in the Uranian Federation’s database.

A moan emerged from her throat. I felt her muscles beginning to twitch and then I was looking into endless multi-colored eyes. Brown and gold and green, swirling together.

For a mindless moment, I felt suspended as our gazes locked and held. My heart gave a loud thump in my chest—had it actuallyskippeda damn beat?

So vraxing lovely, I couldn’t help but think.

Then those eyes went wide and a loud startled shriek rose from her throat. Immediately, her body started moving, thrashing in my arms.

I hadn’t expected it and so my balance was off. My feet slipped off the silver hull of the pod. My arms tightened around the female as I toppled off, landing with a grunting huff on my back amongst the ferns.

“Let go of me!” the female was crying out. It took me a second to realize she’d landed on top of me. The warm, feminine body of my fated mate pressing against mine.

Vrax.

And herscent.

My eyes nearly rolled in the back of my head and my cock thickened in a dizzying rush. She smelleddivine.

It took me another second to realize she’d spoken the universal tongue.

“Stop struggling, female,” I finally growled out. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

She wheezed out a stunned breath. She was huffing and puffing, blinking on top of me, but I softened when I saw her fright. When I saw her fear.

I didn’t want her to be frightened. Not with me. Not ever.

“Female,” I said again, trying to gentle my tone. But my voice sounded scratchy and rough. Underused. “It’s all right. I will not hurt you.”

She was straddling my waist and didn’t even seem to realize it. I felt the crawling vines of thekixiaplant begin to move underneath me. While harmless, something about them always unnerved me. I didn’t want their vines to start wrapping around my limbs.

Patting her leg, I murmured, “Can you stand up? Or will you faint again?”

Her cheeks flamed. “I didn’tfaint.”

My brow rose. “Tev. You did. Fainted at the sight of me.”

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