She clenched her bag in one hand. She should’ve movedher leg, should’ve broken the contact with him…but she didn’t. She liked being touched. Likedhistouch.
“So, what’skiraiamean?” she asked. “You’ve called me that a few times now.”
“Kiraiaare creatures from a planet I once called home. They are small, and very beautiful, but they are also dangerous predators.” He looked at her from the corner of his eye, his grin falling into something closer to a smirk. “They’re especially dangerous when provoked. Many hunters carry scars from underestimating akiraia.”
Something in her chest warmed, and her heart skipped a beat. That was…quite flattering. And wholly unexpected.
Shay grinned. “Guess I’ve been taking it too easy on you, then.”
“I’ll take anything you want to give, Shay, and ask for more when you’re done.”
She shook her head and laughed. As her cheeks warmed, she scrunched her nose. “You naughty, naughty kitty.”
Drakkal laughed, too; the sound was deep and rich, and only warmed her further. “You can keep calling me kitty only if you let me pretend they are also powerful, deadly animals.”
Unable to help herself, she reached toward him and slowly ran her finger down his furred arm. “Some are,” she said in a husky voice.
His ears perked, and his tail quickened. His scent filled the cab—and so did hispresence. It would be so easy to forget about everything else and focus solely on the azhera beside her. So easy to accept what he was truly offering. To accept…him.
“I promise you,kiraia, I put them all to shame,” he purred.
This time, Shay did press her thighs together. He might as well have stroked her downstairs with how much his voice affected her.
Shay forced her gaze away from him and returnedher hand to her bag, doing her best to ignore the tail lingering against her leg.
They spent the remainder of the journey in silence, though she was painfully aware of his presence throughout. She attempted to occupy herself by staring out the windows—which had been dark-tinted from the outside but were perfectly clear from within. Surprisingly, the tactic almost worked. She’d never seen the city like this before.
From the air, the Undercity held a certain beauty she couldn’t deny. All the lights and holograms popped against the darkness and bathed the structures with splashes of vibrant color, lending everything a sense of welcoming life and liveliness at odds with the chaotic rush on those streets and walkways. Traveling by hovercar allowed her to take in the conflicting nature of the Undercity itself—it was both a sprawling city with wide streets and tall buildings and an immense series of artificial caverns. For every free-standing structure, there were several more built directly into the walls and ceilings, with walkways and access tunnels crisscrossing throughout. Everything was tiered, but there were no definitive borders between those tiers.
Though the whole city was clearly a marvel of construction and engineering, it gave off the impression of total randomness—as though it had been approached from a more spontaneous, artistic angle than a practical, mathematical one.
The variety of vehicles in the express tunnels through which Drakkal piloted the hovercar nearly rivaled the variety of buildings around and below them. There was certainly no shortage of things to catch her eye, and yet her mind continuously returned to Drakkal. She didn’t let her gaze follow it.
She had no idea where they were when Drakkal finally slowed the hovercar and drove it through a chain of winding side streets and tunnels. Shay had the impression that theywere near a bustling part of the city, but the shadowed pathways he followed were largely deserted save for brief glimpses of tiny creatures scurrying between patches of darkness.
Given the nature of the route he was taking, she was rather surprised when he pulled up to a large door that opened on an immaculate garage in which several hover vehicles of varying sizes were parked.
Shay drew her legs closer and grasped her bag with both hands, sweeping her gaze over the garage as Drakkal eased the hovercar inside. They were here. The ride hadn’t been nearly long enough to mentally prepare Shay for the gravity of this moment.
This was her new home.
And yet, after years of training, after years of dealing with criminals and the lowest of the low, after years of constant danger—and a couple months on display in a private zoo—she was onlynowapprehensive. In their own ways, all those things had been familiar. She’d known what to expect from the sorts of criminals she’d associated with, had known what to expect from men like Murgen. That wasn’t the case with Drakkal.
She was walking into a new life for her and her baby, but everything was unknown. She wasn’t sure of what to expect, didn’t know the people here or what they would think of her, had no idea if they would find her wanting, or if?—
A low rumbling sound came from Drakkal, just loud enough to interrupt Shay’s thoughts. She looked at him.
“I’ve got you,kiraia.” His lips curled into a smile much too soft to be on such a fierce, bestial face. “Not that you need my protection.”
That struck her as funny. She would’ve scoffed at the thought of needing his protection a short while ago, but now she found that she liked the idea. She wanted it. And having him here for her was enough to push away some of her unease.
Trust him.
He told her the people here were not like the ones she used to associate with. That they could be trusted; that they protected their own.
That they were a family.
God, what would it feel like to be part of a family again? Arealfamily.