Page 21 of King of Serpents

She had been horrified at the time, but now... gods, was she really so depraved?

Her fingers clenched around her pronged eating utensil, and she swallowed with some effort as she attempted to steady herself enough to speak without noticeable inflection.

“I see. That would explain it. Fascinating,” she mumbled as she speared something more familiar from the platters spread out in front of her, shoved it into her mouth, and quickly began to chew it.

Fuck, Alex! Don’t think about that! Don’t think about anything being shoved anywhere. Just chew and think about something else. Anything else.

Although she kept her attention trained on the platters in front of her, she could feel his eyes watching her. She fought back the blush that threatened to rise to her cheeks as she felt heat begin to rush into the area. She refused to blush. She was a mechanic and worked with some of the foulest-mouthed men in the entire colony. She wasn’t going to let something that wouldn’t even pass muster as innuendo get under her skin. Maybe having no sex life to speak of over the last several months was to blame. That seemed more likely than the idea that she had suddenly become an alien-chaser.

Mercifully, after several minutes, Therxian’s attention returned to their meal, and a heavy, stilted silence grew rapidly between them. Alex fidgeted as she ate, increasingly aware of the tension that the Seshanamitesh appeared oblivious to. On the one hand, that didn’t seem the least bit fair, but on the other, she was incredibly relieved that he didn’t seem to notice, as she was certain that it would only make it that much worse. If he noticed that she quickly retreated to her corner of the large dug-out bed afterward, he gave no indication. Instead, he stretched obliviously on the pillows, his long tail sweeping over them as usual.

“Don’t you have something to do?” she muttered after several long moments, to which he replied with a dry laugh as his body elegantly turned so that he could look directly at her.

“Unfortunately, not. Unless Queen Zathexa has an immediate use for me, I am to remain confined within the palace, and preferably my quarters—for my own safety,” he added with a faint sneer.

Alex frowned as she shifted her position, rolling fully onto her side to peer at him. “Your safety? I thought Seshanamitesh males are all hunters.”

“I was a hunter,” he said slowly... bitterly. “But a male whose purpose gets redefined as a breeder within the shinara is allowed no other purpose than to serve. They are confined by females so that they are within their complete control unless they have a specific errand for them. As they rely on the powerful hunters of the upper caverns to take care of them, nothing else is permitted. For now,” he added darkly, and a shiver raced over her as the expression on his face.

Whatever he had planned, Alex was certain that it wasn’t going to be good for her health. The sooner she got out of the shinara, the better.

Chapter 15

Therxian pensively stared at his human guest as she wandered around his nest. Ever since the night before, she had shown signs of increasing restlessness. Her presence was bound not to go unnoticed for long, especially now that his mother had revealed her intentions. He did not think he would again be successful in sending off one of his would-be mates. All it would take was a female discovering Alex’s presence to send all of his careful plans into the abyss of the Aglatha caverns.

“This arrangement is not going to work as we had hoped,” he said at last, the sound of his voice drawing her to a halt as she looked over at him curiously.

There was no need to explain what he meant by “we.” What he really meant, however, was “they.” As close guards of the queen, how could Jathella and her sisters not know that this would happen? Having Alex hidden there would put all of them in immediate danger for deceiving the queen and the council of matriarchs. After the incident with Slengral, humans were now expressly forbidden in any part of the Aglatha beyond the mines. Humans could go no deeper into the caverns, and they were only permitted that much because humans claimed dominion over the shafts already established for mining in exchange for not interfering with Seshanamitesh matters.

Any Seshanamitesh caught hiding a human would face immediate punishment—including the males of the upper caverns. For him to harbor a human directly within the shinara would be considered the height of betrayal.

“I was thinking the same thing,” she agreed with a heavy sigh as she turned toward him, her arms folding defensively over her chest. “So, what do we do about it?”

His gavo flicked in disconcertion as he glanced away. Of all the challenges he had expected upon his return to the shinara, being responsible for a small contraband female was not something he had been prepared to deal with.

“Unclear,” he muttered, to which she erupted in a short burst of helpless laughter.

“That’s just perfect,” she replied with a sigh as she leaned back against the wall, her head tipping back to rest comfortably on it as well. “And yet it somehow tracks. Being trapped helplessly in your love nest is exactly what I should have expected. Fuck, my luck sucks.”

His gavo snapped in reluctant agreement. It did appear to be the way his fortune ran since returning to the Aglatha. He did not know how to even begin reassuring her... so he would not bother with such useless platitudes.

“The council has selected a number of females,” he said instead.

Her blue gaze shifted to him in surprise. “I’m sorry... what?”

He grimaced, his stomach souring with distaste while simultaneously wanting to shrivel with embarrassment beneath her shocked gaze. This was why he had avoided telling her the previous night.

“It is true,” he muttered, his tail twitching unhappily to emphasize his mood. “I am not to only suffer the indignity of an ordinary male to passively endure being selected to mate for idealized breeding and companionship purposes. In order to take advantage of the greater probability of producing a female offspring for the throne, my mother—or more likely, the Council of Matriarchs—has decided to have me bred with several females to determine my future mate.”

Alex’s nose wrinkled in perfect approximation to the disgust he was currently feeling. “Ew. So, what are they expecting... whoever spawns a female with your baby-batter gets to be the next queen?”

“Not precisely. She would be a queen mother, enjoying all the comforts of her position within the royal court. My offspring would be queen.”

“Okay,” Alex drawled. “But what would happen if your daughter were still too young when it comes time for her to take the throne?”

Therxian’s jaw clenched. Although being queen mother was more than enough for any of the females, he knew that was something that all the noble families would hope for. “In the event of anything happening to my mother,” he hissed, “she would be regent until the nestling came of age.”

“Wow. That’s one hell of a perk just for participating in sex roulette,” Alex drily observed.