Saving Verakko: The Clecanian Series Book 3 Victoria Aveline (best book club books .TXT) 📖

Outrage suddenly flared in her. He obviously had some kind of alien mind-control gift that was making her lose all reason. “Just stay away from me. And keep that weird smell-lure thing to yourself.”

A slow, predatory grin spread across his face. “I told you, I wasn’t doing anything. You must just like the way I smell.”

Her face flamed. So much for controlling her emotions. “Keep dreaming.”

***

Oh, he would keep dreaming. The sudden luscious scent of her arousal had surprised him and sent an answering rush of blood to his shaft. There was something more about this human, though. Something that had his hands burning to pull her close again. It didn’t matter that they’d done nothing but argue. Everything about her called to his baser instincts. Was that just how it was with humans?

He thought back to Alice. She was attractive, to be sure, but he’d never felt anything near the unquenchable thirst he felt for this female. If he didn’t know better, he’d assume she was his mate. But the fact that his eyes hadn’t changed and his hands were still mark-free invalidated that thought.

Wouldn’t he know if she were his? A small part of his heart pinched at the idea she could be, but he ignored it. He was already intended for marriage in less than three weeks. His betrothed, whom his mother had selected only a month ago, was a sensible choice. Still, if the human was his mate, he’d have a valid reason to deny the betrothal.

Lily turned and walked along the river, muttering under her breath. His translator was only able to decipher some of it, inserting its closest approximation to unfamiliar words. Something about a creature that drinks human blood to survive. Verakko grimaced and trailed behind her along the soft riverbank. He tried to force his gaze to remain on her head and not on her perfect ass, the outline visible underneath her thin pants.

“Tell me more about how you know Alice,” she said, shooting a suspicious glance over her shoulder.

He couldn’t blame her for not trusting him yet, but her distrust still rankled. “A few weeks ago, she and three other females were rescued from an Insurgent facility and brought to Tremanta, the city in which I currently live.” Not for much longer, though. Once he was married, he’d be expected to return to his home city. He’d have to leave his job as Head Technologist to the Queen of Tremanta and settle into a dull role in the much less forward-thinking city of Mithrandir. One of the reasons he’d sought to leave in the first place was their sluggish acceptance of emerging technological innovations.

With a pointed click of his tongue, he continued, “Two others escaped and should’ve been rescued, but they chose to slink into the woods and somehow avoid all rescue personnel assigned to find them.”

Lily raised a smug brow in his direction. “You think that was accidental? Please.”

So, this female also knew how to cover her tracks. Interesting.

“There are more humans here? How many facilities are there? What are Insurgents?”

Verakko took a deep breath then told her everything he could about the rescued humans and the Insurgents. He glossed over certain details he wasn’t at liberty to share, such as the human Jade’s pregnancy.

He’d also made the decision not to explain mating or mating marks. Her eyes had grown wide and anxious when he’d explained the current ratio of males to females was twenty to one, and he feared that explaining the intensity of a Clecanian looking for a mate might push her over the edge. The female before him seemed fiercely independent. If she knew how relentlessly males would pursue her in order to call forth mating marks, she may never want to leave the forest again.

Before he explained the significance of humans to their slowly dying species, he needed to ease her worry. Make her understand that not all Clecanians were evil. He wondered how the males of Earth might’ve handled a sparse female population. If her continual nervous glances in his direction were any indication, not well. Winning her trust would be a battle hard fought.

Although he still wanted to return to Tremanta and report to the Queen as soon as possible, the urgency didn’t seem quite as desperate in the light of day. After he’d been carried off, Kadion would’ve only had to bring down one other Strigi. Verakko was certain the general could’ve done it even without a Yulo glove. It was unlikely Verakko had been the only one to survive.

His current mission was to see this human to safety. It had absolutely nothing to do with her wide, sparkling-brown eyes or the way her quick comebacks lit a curious fire in his belly he refused to acknowledge as anything other than ire.

As the sun made its way across the sky and the day grew hot and damp, they continued farther along the river. For the most part she remained quiet, processing what he’d told her, then surprising him with insightful questions. All of the other humans had asked about things related to returning to Earth and had argued endlessly when they’d learned it was against the law for Clecanians to interact with their Class 4 planet. But not Lily. She’d seemed…thoughtful, as though she didn’t fully believe him, or maybe she didn’t accept it. She hadn’t argued; instead, she’d asked thoughtful questions about how the law had come to be in the first place. He hadn’t rightly known the answer.

“We’re the same species?” she asked, eyeing his fangs and pointed ears.

“Yes. And we’re a very old one too. I’m assuming humans are descended from the first Clecanians, before our ancestors started experimenting with genetic engineering.” He ran a hand through his hair, marveling at how unique Lily was.

“They wanted to upgrade themselves, did they? Normally I’d advise against