Page 83 of Venomous Lust
Zaxis stayed silent for a long time, then his eyes went to Celaith, who still lay across Hazel’s lap. She was still breathing, but her life hung by a mere thread. He nodded to Khal, once, then got to his feet and retrieved Celaith, then disappeared into the ship, no doubt in the direction of the medical center. With a thousand bounty hunters living aboard the Mother, it was certain that Roohl had kept a well-equipped medical room.
“Do you think she’ll live?” Hazel asked him.
“She will,” Khal answered. “Zaxis won’t let her die.”
Hazel nodded, her eyes brimming. “No more death.”
“No more.”
* * *
Hazel
So much death, so much pain.Never again.
Not a single male warrior remained on the entire planet. That was the cost Yalko had spoken about. Using the Medina had been terrifyingly efficient, the white roots obeying the orders of the Muharee warriors, turning the entire planet into a weapon, but it had cost them their lives. That was the reason why the Muharee hadn’t fought back sooner.
The sacrifice had been worth it. The Muharee had vanquished Knut and his Ilarian guards, but all that remained was a population comprised of widows, elderly, and orphans.
They were a broken people, but not without hope. They had agreed to hide the bomb in the core of their planet, where their Medina would surround it, erasing the memory of it as the years passed.
Knut’s unmarked spaceship had been sent into the depths of space, beyond the known realm. Prime Councilor Aav would never find it, would never know of their treachery.
Hazel sat behind Khal as the communication screen filled with snowy interference. She had been careful to stay silent and out of sight as Khal spoke to Prime Councilor Aav, but now that it was over, she needed to be close to him.
If it were up to her, she would never be separated from him ever again.
“What now? Do you think she believed you?” Hazel watched as Khal pivoted in his seat to face her. There was a strain in his features, an exhaustion that echoed in her very soul.
“Yes.” Khal nodded. “She had no other choice. Her hold on power will never be the same now that she will never possess a negative particle bomb to back it up, but she isn’t without resources.”
Sadness washed over Hazel, but she pushed it away. “There is no end to these power games, is there?”
“No, there is none.” Khal shook his head. “But for now, we are safe. Our world is safer than it has been in decades. We can live.”
His mouth lifted at the corners and his entire face took on a heartbreaking beauty. The wariness melted from his eyes and he looked younger and more carefree despite the wrinkles of fatigue around his mouth and eyes.
“What will you do, then?” She felt the smile rising from her lips, reaching that cold place between her ribs that had frozen over during the fight down on the Muhar soil. Thawing the icy landscape of her fears. “No more wars to fight, no more criminals to chase. What’s the all-powerful Commander Khal going to do with his precious time?” she teased, and was rewarded by Khal’s genuine smile. Those Prussian blue eyes twinkled and a wicked, sexy grin lifted his hard, full lips.
“If I remember correctly, I haven’t had much time for my bloodmate since the mating. I might just devote all my time to her from now on.”
Those too-blue eyes raked over her body with an owner’s appreciation and Hazel felt her cheeks burn at the openness of the lust brimming in his gaze. There was no doubt as to what he was implying. The smile warmed her chest and Hazel leaned back lazily in her chair.
It felt so good to play after so long lost in fear.
“And what will you do with your bloodmate if she accepts that?” Hazel bit her bottom lip as Khal’s eyes reduced to slits at the challenge. “What if she refuses?”
“I have ways to convince a reluctant bloodmate,” he drawled, the words dragging on his tongue as he looked at her body like she was naked and being offered.
Heat rose from inside her body, from low between her legs. Khal’s nostrils flared as he caught scent of her arousal and he rose, graceful and lethal.
Perfect.
He was right in front of her in a single long stride, his body radiating warmth and strength. His large hands flattened over her thighs as he pulled her hips forward. She parted her legs as he pulled her closer until she was flush against him, her body reveling in the contact, her hands running along the hardness of his arms.
His strong hands traveled up to her face, cupping her neck in a firm grip that sent erotic pleasure shooting straight to her clit. She wanted him. She wanted him so much, it hurt.
“Is that how you plan on convincing me?” she teased, loving the way Khal’s eyes brimmed with pleasure at the defiance in her voice. “It’s going to take more than that, blue boy.”
