Page 55 of X'nath

I pushed my legs harder, the distance between us closing quickly as I followed her through the tall grasses and the thick trees to the east of the lake. She was fast, but I was faster. I could hear her breath quickening, the sound of her footsteps crunching against the ground, but I was closing in on her, step by step, my mouth watering.

She darted between the trees, moving with the grace of someone who was used to running away from something. Was this how she ended up on the ship to begin with, I wondered? Was there a male in her past she was trying to escape? The thought made my blood boil. No one was worthy of such a prize.

No one, but me.

My heart pounded in my chest, not from exertion, but from the thrill of our little game.

I called out, but she didn’t slow. “Gracie!” My voice was louder now, louder than I’d meant it to be, but I didn’t care.

Her silhouette was barely visible through the trees, but I could hear her—her breathing, her hurried steps—and I was gaining.

When I reached her, she tried to sidestep, but I was too close. With one swift movement, I caught her arm and yanked her back against my chest, holding her firmly in place. Her breath hitched as she struggled against me, rubbing her decadent curves against my hard cock.

“Lak’osh,why do you keep running?” I demanded, my voice rough, but the question was as much for myself as it was for her. I needed her to voice it outloud, to rationalize this nonsense.

She was trembling in my arms, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she tried to catch her breath. I could feel her heart racing against mine, a sign that she was just as affected by this as I was.

“Let go of me,” she snapped, her voice edged with panic, but I didn’t loosen my grip. Not yet.

“No,” I said, my voice low, my hands tightening around her to make sure she felt me. “Not until you stop running from this.”

She twisted in my arms, her face flushed with frustration and something else I couldn’t quite place. She wasn’t afraid of me. But there was something in her that was terrified, something deeper, something she wouldn’t face.

Did she realize how achingly beautiful she was, even like this?

“I’m not going to hurt you,lak’osh,” I said, walking her back until she hit a tree. Placing one of my arms above her, I caged her in, the way I knew she secretly enjoyed. What was it about this little, fierce female? She was more complicated than the weather patterns, more mysterious than the gods.

“It’s not that, X’nath. I?—”

I grabbed her chin and slammed my lips on her. This human custom of “kissing” had grown on me. After much discussion with the other mated men, they explained to me the varying techniques one could duel with their partners. I planned to explore them all if Gracie would just stop running from me.

In an instant, it was as if that intimate night came crashing back. Her body submitted easily, her tongue sweeping inside my mouth. We both found ourselves lost in our hunger for one another. But as quickly as it came, it disappeared. She shoved my chest and slipped beneath my arm, retreated from me with wary eyes.

“Is this what you want from me?” I asked, gesturing to my angry, engorged cock. “Because if your plan is to torture me for some sort of sick, twisted pleasure of yours, it’s working.”

She didn’t speak, but I saw the confusion in her eyes, the war raging behind them. She wanted to push me away, but she also wanted something more. I could feel it. She stood there, paralyzed by it.

I approached her slowly, like a hunter closing in on wounded prey, knowing she was ready to bolt at any moment.

“Lak’osh,you ache for me. I can smellit,” I growled, desperate to relieve her, desperate to relieve us both. Why was she torturing us?

Her pupils dilated and her breath hitched. I watched the rise of fall of her chest, the way her skin flushed in an alluring shade of red the closer I came to her.

“Please,” she whispered, her eyes brimming with tears I couldn’t understand.

The moment my foot moved, she bolted again. But with a swift leap, I caught her, and we both tumbled to the ground. She fought, scratching and clawing, but her struggle felt half-hearted, more about convincing herself she was resisting than actually trying to escape.

“I can’t, X’nath. I can’t do this with you,” she sobbed and my protective instincts kicked in.

This wasn’t about her words, no. There was something underlying, something she wasn’t saying truthfully. She continued to claw and I grabbed her hands, locking them above her head and trailed the tip of my nose across her soft skin until she caught her breath.

“X’nath,” she said with a trembling voice. “I-I’m broken. Can’t you see that?”

I scoffed, refusing to listen to her lies. She was a warrior. A goddess. No, she wasn’t broken, far from it. I may be a simple warrior, but I wasn’t as stupid as she thought me to be.

I knew where this was coming from, and the voice was never hers. I leaned in, locking my gaze with hers, forcing her to focus on me.

The moment she did, I snarled, “Who did this to you?”

---