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Kaelum tipped his head to the side thoughtfully. “They are incredible.”
I swallowed. “They are.”
When I looked up again, Kaelum was grinning my way. “Then we should keep them happy. Thorzan needs humans every bit as much as it ever needed us.”
My breath puffed out. “So you will be a king of all people, then.”
“Indeed.” Kaelum rose, gripping my shoulder tightly. “Let us go see our people safe. We must make a plan.”
“To remove Crux?”
He nodded. “I will see the end of his duplicity. Our people cannot afford to lean on one so selfish and shortsighted. We will have to make new allies.”
I grinned up at him. Marex would be pleased, and strangely, I was glad too. Let the Zathki have all that they needed. They were not our enemies any longer.
CHAPTER35
WES
Kaelum agreed to stay in the city overnight as a show of good faith. He ate dinner with Marex, discussing the needs of the Zathki and precisely what Crux had promised in exchange for the technology that had been given.
“We started to make more,” Marex offered, guilelessly. “Crux agreed to future trades for more of the technology, as ten tubes is hardly enough to save an entire race from extinction. But we needed materials to finish them, and by the time we had them half completed, it had already become apparent that Crux had lied to us.”
Kaelum’s jaw clenched, and his unusual brown eyes glittered with rage. Lucas reached out and gripped his arm tight, making him untense a tiny bit, but clearly the prince wasn’t happy.
I was just glad all that anger wasn’t aimed at me.
But instead of raging or throwing something, Kaelum took a deep breath and continued. “Tell me about what your people need.”
So Marex did, all while looking like a guy who’d just won the lottery—not jumping for joy like a TV model, but like a real person who had won the lottery. Happy, sure, but also a little dazed, and like they didn’t quite believe they were living in reality anymore, and were ready to burst into hysterical laughter at any moment.
By the time someone showed up to take us back to the room they had cleared for us, I was about ready to drop, despite the lovely meal and long rest.
But then Jax carried me to the room, and he changed my mind.
All that hard muscle, pressed up against me, skin sliding against mine as he walked, and freaking adorably, as the door shut behind us, he rubbed his chin against the top of my head. Maybe it was some vestigial lizard-brain instinct to mark me with his scent or something, but it felt sweet as heck.
So really, it just reminded me that we were a little overdue for something.
I rolled my face away from where it was buried in his chest to look up at him. “Remember how you promised to fuck me, like, ages ago?”
We’d been busy, sure, but I was overdue for a little TLC.
He turned his head so fast, I swear I heard his neck crack. “Are you not still tired?”
I offered up my best lascivious grin. “Oh, don’t worry about me. I’m gonna make you do all the work.”
He laughed, and after an all too serious day, that trademark Jax grin was back. Just the sight of it made me suck in a breath. My eyes stung—tears of sheer relief threatening to spill. I blinked them back, mirroring his smile and leaning up to plant a kiss on his lips.
I... was in love with this man. Alien. Whatever, it didn’t matter.
“Going to take me to bed, gorgeous?”
We both turned to look at the Zathki bed, which was more of an oversized cot, and blanched. It wasn’t nearly as luxurious as the nest we’d made out of blankets out on the ship. I was more than a little tempted to suggest we go out there, but no. We’d promised the Zathki we would stay in their city, and now it was a matter of honor.
Even if I was going to miss our slanted-floor love nest.
I turned back and he met my eye, one brow quirked. “You are certain?”
