Page 61 of Black Mamba

I squint at him. “Your smell. The Ilubriam chocolate… It’s what’s making me sick. It’s forcing me to want you… at least according to Shelby…”

He draws back and frowns. “You have spoken to Sssshelby?”

“No.” My brows furrow. “I hear her sometimes on my ship’s broadcasts. Do you… know Shelby?”

His tail loosens around my ankle but remains around me. “She is Vagan’s female. His bride.”

“Oh…” One of his friends. “She seems to know a lot about… you guys.” I cross my arms tighter when I find myself leaning toward him. “I wish I could be surprised you know her but… I’m not. I really should go.”

He hisses low, rising higher on his tail, and it’s then I see the dirt scuffs on his arms and face and remember I haven’t seen him in days… not since our moment at my ship.

“I want you to stay but…” He growls. “I will take you back down. I have gained your trust… I think… And I do not want to lose it.”

“I…” I don’t know what to say to that. So, I nod instead. As I do, his tail slips away from my feet. He shifts forward and grabs the lantern from me.

I lean into him.

He continues past me down the passage, making me jolt. I take a slow step forward, shudder, and then take another step. My head clears with the movement.

Lukys waits for me with the light up ahead.

Peering around as I go and trying to focus on anything other than sex, I realize the first two caverns aren’t designed as living spaces, not like the deeper two. There are crates, weapons, wood, storage containers, and tools but no hides hanging from the walls, no trophies to decorate the empty spaces above them. But he’s seemingly well stocked.

He hunts and forages his food. He must bathe in the lake. He’s got shelter and heat.

Lukys looks back at me before he leads me into the sunlight. I squint against the brightness, blinking away the tears that form. He sets the lantern beside the entrance wall.

Rubbing my arms awkwardly, I follow him as he turns and rounds the boulders, entering the forest past them.

“So, how do you know Shelby? Through this Vagan?” I ask, drawing the back of my hand over my forehead as sweat forms.

He glances back at me. Meeting his gray eyes, it takes every ounce of willpower for me not to beg him to take me back to his nest. His gaze is heated, and full of desire. My fingers twitch, remembering his tongue lashing my pussy.

“Soldiers invaded his territory and with his lands bordering mine, I saw it fit to help him and his brethren eradicate them. She saw it fit to thank me when the battle was over.”

Soldiers. Battles. Death? I purse my lips. “You killed them? The soldiers?”

“Yessss. Some of them.”

I shiver and it’s not entirely because I’m heady. “The soldiers would be Minton Volp’s. They were trying to keep everyone on the ship… They were the enemy in the end, those that listened to the Supreme Commander. They should have never tried taking away everyone’s freedom. I’m glad I was lucky to make it off when…” I change the subject before I broach my parents. “He was always a ruthless, terrible leader.”

“I am sorry.”

“You shouldn’t be sorry for anything. A terrible person was in power and a lot of people died trying to fight back…” Thoughts of my parents and the last time I spoke to them press into my haze.

He stops and faces me. “But I am. I took you when I should not have. I frightened you against my better judgement. I should have tried speaking to you first.”

My eyes drop. “I forgive you. I told you that already.” Now that I’m getting to know him, I realize he would never hurt me. Not intentionally, at least. He’s not entirely human… He’s also not been around many humans. He’s going to make mistakes.

He coils his tail under him and trails his eyes over me. “Then sssstay with me. Have you thought you might be sick for a reason? We have spent very little time directly in each other’s presence and you are sick anywayssss. Or so you say. Because, female, all I can smell is your arousal, and it is making it hard for me to think.”

I grab my head and shake it suddenly, heated by his words. “I don’t know. I don’t know! I’m just as confused as you.” I swing my hand in the direction of my ship. “Time. I need time. More time to think… more time to…”

“I do not want to give you more time.” He hisses but twists and continues down the mountain anyway. “But I will do what I must as long as you stay away from the other males when I am not present.”

I follow him to the open hatch of my ship. He scouts the inside for other nagas or wild animals, not wanting a repeat of last time. When he returns, I avoid eye contact, walking past him.

“Why did you come to my cave?” he asks.