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

pool, and a crooked smile spread across her face. “Did I fall asleep?”

Verakko grinned despite himself. “You did.”

“Oh no.” She chuckled, releasing a sigh and propping her chin on his chest. “Well, I guess us both getting some sleep for once is a good thing.”

Verakko gave a noncommittal grunt. He hadn’t slept at all.

She tried to lift off his chest, but he hauled her back down.

She laughed again. “Don’t want to get moving?”

“Don’t want to go back to the world,” he said quietly.

Her fingers, which had been brushing up and down his stomach, paused, and she stared at him again with a sad smile. “We should talk, shouldn’t we?”

His stomach turned sour. More than you know, mivassi.

Lily released a sound of resignation and planted a soft kiss on his chest. “We’d better start moving soon, or I’m never going to be able to get myself to leave.” She ran her lips up the column of his throat, eliciting a low purr from him.

“Why?” he asked when she finally stopped.

She yawned again. “Anxiety-spiking pitch-black tunnels, or warm, well-lit room with a hot spring and a handsome, naked man? I need to force myself to leave now before I fully wake up and my sense returns.” Lily draped an arm over her breasts and peered around her.

Verakko nodded toward the far side of the room. “While you were sleeping, I washed and laid out our clothes, but they’re likely still damp from this air.”

As she rose to inspect the clothes, he studied the flare of her waist and the delicious curve of her ass. How long would it be until he’d see this again?

A lump formed in his throat as he watched her hop awkwardly from one foot to the next, trying to drag the damp fabric of her pants up her body. What if she doesn’t want me for a mate?

Lily brushed her hair off her shoulder and tipped her head in an attempt to see the marks from his bite. A piece of him seemed to crack, and he released a sharp exhale.

“What’s the biting about anyway?” Lily grinned at him as he dressed. “I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy it…” She padded over to him and curled her fingers around his neck, scraping her nails through his hair.

“I’ll explain on the way,” he said stiffly. Before he pulled away, he brought one of her soft palms to his mouth and kissed it.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Lily looked at him quizzically. “Your eyes are black again.”

He covered up the strangled sound that burst from his throat with a cough. Instead of answering, he gripped her nape and pulled her in for a deep kiss. Could he ever live without this?

It took Lily a moment to open her eyes after he pulled away. He finished dressing, helped clean the small room, and waited by the door. She made a face of disgust as she slipped on her shoes.

At his questioning look, she explained, “Still wet.”

A smile tugged at his lips, and he opened the door. Lily frowned, shivering as a blast of cold air flooded through the opening, then rushed out of the room with balled fists. “Alright, let’s get this over with.”

They walked in silence for a few minutes. The mellow scent of fear wafted from Lily and scraped against Verakko’s senses like sandpaper. As the mating bond strengthened, her unrest became his. How much worse would it be once his marks showed up? He now understood why his aunt Yerew was always in such a bad mood whenever she fought with her mate, and also why their fights never seemed to last very long. It made him physically uncomfortable to know she was anything less than happy.

He studied Lily and watched her eyes continue to dart around the black tunnel, unseeing. She curled her arms into her body and hunched her shoulders, leaning into his side as he guided her through the passage.

Realization dawned on him. “Is it the size of the tunnel?”

“Is what the size of the tunnel?”

“I can smell your fear.”

She let out a small sound of agreement. “Well, yes and no. I can’t really see how big the tunnel is, but I keep imagining it’s small, and that apparently is enough to make me claustrophobic.”

“How can I help? he asked, voice tight.

“You’re helping. Just keep talking to me.” She scanned the space in front of her again. “Tell me about the biting.”

Verakko couldn’t suppress the flood of happiness he felt at her mention of his bite. “It’s something we do to make sure the female has our antivenom.”

“Antivenom?” Lily blurted, appearing startled. When he only stared at her, unsure what to say, she continued, “You put…injected me with antivenom? Why? Are you planning on biting me with venom at some point?”

Verakko chuckled and guided her forward again. “It’s for procreation. Each Swadaeth’s venom is a little different. All are deadly, but they aren’t all exactly the same. We can be harmed by one another’s venom if bitten, although the reaction would be more akin to a severe cold than death, as it would be in a non-Swadaeth. Since a child will have half the male’s genes and half the female’s, we inject antivenom to make sure the female doesn’t become ill from the child’s developing venom as it grows in her.”

He knew they were getting close to the exit because it was becoming warm, the dry heat from the Dakuun desert permeating the tunnel. Lily gripped his forearm as she shuffled through the dark and wiped sweat from her brow. How much of her current state was because of the heat and how much was a reaction to the meaning of his bite?

“So, you could get me pregnant?” she asked with an odd look of confusion mixed with something unreadable.