Page 8 of Flower of Seshana

Her breath stuttered out of her in a long exhale, and the tension in her muscles slowly eased as the intense arousal heating her skin dampened and gradually withdrew. Unfortunately, as it receded, it left a gnawing hunger within her that only seemed to intensify as the scent of the males surrounding her began to cling heavily to the bedding and onto her skin. The truth was that she wanted both of them even after her incredible arousal abated, and the implications of that alone were terrifying.

She couldn’t possibly get attached to them. It would never work. And if her superiors at Mewa ever found out, the consequences would be even worse than what she would suffer for her little field trip. It would be the end of her career and would likely land her straight within the mines as Darvel would still hold her contract. She shivered as fear rapidly replaced the vacating arousal.

It was too dangerous to indulge in whatever had sparked between them. She was only there for a short time and would be alone to deal with whatever fallout would possibly come from it. She needed to remember that.

Sighing, she nestled deeper into the covers, the heat from the Vahels slowly seeping into her as their scent and song continued to work their magic on her. She softened between them, a content mumble of sound rising to her lips as her eyelids fluttered and descended as a pleasant languid feeling moved over her with all the effects of a soothing, warm bath.

Her jaw cracked as she yawned. She was certain after a good night’s sleep that she would be able to handle everything that the morning threw at her.

Chapter

Seven

Quillen shifted forward with interest to peer down from the ledge where he rested at the small female wandering below him under his brother’s keen eye. Kethan was busily pointing out various plants and spoke of them in a low voice that Quillen didn’t even bother straining to hear. If it was about the local plants, it was nothing that he had not heard many times from their mother who served as healer for their nara. Besides, he was far more interested in watching the way her bottom upended as she bent down to study the plants up close. It reminded him of how sweet she felt nestled within his coils throughout the night.

Despite his admiration for her strange form, he could not deny that she was a clever little thing. Her mind was sharp and hungry for knowledge about the plants that grew on the Zir and deep within the desert caves. The latter most Vahel had little knowledge of, but he suspected that there were many common plants between those that grew within the caverns and the deep crevices and forests of the Zir and those that grew in the massive desert cave systems that led down to the shinaras, each changed in small ways by the necessity for adaptation.

The tip of his tail curled lazily, his gaze following them as they strayed toward the edge of the nara’s clearing. Quillen was not concerned. They would not go far. Kethan would not dare. Life was typically peaceful in their nara, but word had spread quickly that he had returned with an outsider and now all of the nara was in an uproar. Everywhere Quillen looked, Vahel craned their heads and fanned their wings excitedly as they tried to get a peek at Alexandra around the protective barrier of Kethan’s splayed wings as they waited for Therxian’s arrival.

The head of the hunters could be a problem. The male was naturally suspicious by nature and his opinion held considerable weight within the nara, not only among its people but with the council. If he refused Alexandra?—

A shift in the crowd tore his attention from his brother and the delectable female beside him as Vahel slid out of the way for Therxian’s large frame. Although all Vahel males were considered large compared to those of the shinara, Therxian had an extra quality to him beyond his size that made him stand out. There was confidence and arrogance in his bearing, and an implacable expression often carved into his stony face. Although the male had arrived among the Vahel many revolutions ago, only just barely out of his juvenile stage, Quillen could not recall a single instance when the male cracked a smile.

Therxian glided forward in that moment, his piercing red gaze briefly falling upon the Vahel who hurried out of his way, his large, dark blue wings flexing in a subtle stretch. Quillen stilled and found himself barely daring to breathe as the male’s gaze raked the crowd impatiently before finally falling on Kethan.

“Where is it?” the male hissed, making Kethan’s wings tense and curve protectively inward around Alexandra as he glanced back over the top of them at the lead hunter.

Kethan’s gavo snapped up, and even Quillen could feel his own rising slowly in reaction to the male’s open aggression. He understood the reasoning—an unknown could be a potential danger to the nara—but that did nothing to quiet his own response.

“Hername would be Alexandra,” Quillen called down before his brother could do something that would get him killed.

Both Kethan’s and Therxian’s eyes turned immediately in his direction, and Quillen had to admit he enjoyed the look of surprise in his brother’s eyes. Why was he so shocked?

“I was not speaking to you, Quillen,” Therxian rumbled. “Unless you are eager to share in your brother’s punishment?”

“Impossible,” Quillen scoffed, but he narrowed his eyes humorously down at the intimidating male. “But I have to speak for Alexandra regardless. And there is no reason to behave as if she is a zaron making a nest within our territory.”

“Is she not?” Therxian challenged with a superior smile sketched faintly upon his tightened lips. “We know nothing about the newcomers invading the deserts except to know that it is for our own safety to keep them far from the Zir. She may very well have latched onto you for exactly that purpose.”

“It is not like that,” Kethan protested, and his jaw hardened with his growing anger as his gavo first flattened and then slowly extended in hostility. “Iam the one who fell on her when I dove into the cavern to escape the sandstorm.Iam the one who invited her to return with me. She did not even know of our kind.”

“So she said—and you believed her,” the other male scoffed. “She could have arranged everything with her strange alien ways. We do not know what the offworlders are capable of other than violating Seshana. You likely fell into a well-orchestrated trap!”

Alexandra gaped at the accusation, and she furiously pushed forward to confront Therxian. Quillen’s gavo snapped up in alarm, and Kethan tried to grab her wrist in an attempt to stop her but she was quicker than expected. She slipped around him to glower up at the lead hunter despite the fact that she was trembling visibly in front of the big male.

“I did no such thing.”

“Why should I believe you?” Therxian countered, his gaze slitting with deadly intensity upon her. “You are an outsider and cannot be trusted!”

“So were you,” Quillen shot back as he rose from the ledge.

Surprise registered on many faces among the Vahel but the murmur of agreement was unmistakable. He knew Therxian heard it too, because the male’s gavo flattened unhappily and moved in snapped and trembled as he glanced around those gathered.

“Quillen is right,” another interrupted, and Quillen turned his head as Gamay, Kethan’s mother and his own foster mother, pushed through the crowd, a vision of elegance as she emerged from among them on her fog gray coils. She peered around her, meeting the gaze of the Vahel gathered there before turning on Therxian with disapproval. “You were not only an outsider, but a male bred and reared in the shinara,” she ruthlessly continued. “A male bred of royal stock no less. There were many who wished to drive you from the Zir for the same reasons that you have presented. And yet we took pity on you and welcomed you among us and cared for you as if you were one of our own sons. Why do you believe that you deserved more than you are willing to give a female less than half your size?”

His mouth worked silently as his gavo flicked uncertainly as he glanced around the Vahel in search of support. A few lone males from among his hunters came forward to his aid but most withdrew from him with looks of misgivings cast in his direction.

“Time will tell as to her true intent. I only hope that it will not be too late,” he hissed before winding back on his tail, then abruptly springing up into the sky with a snap of his wings.

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