He gazed at her for a moment, his eyes filled with sadness. Then he brought out a hand from behind his back.
“This is for you.”
He held out her gift. Lexi’s eyes brimmed with tears again. The lump in her throat made it hard to speak. “Thank you,” she managed to whisper.
He’d brought her a flower. One of the exquisite apricot-colored orchids she’d exclaimed over in the secret grotto. So fragile, so delicate. In all her life, no one had ever given her a more precious gift.
She threw her arms around his neck. “I love you!”
She hadn’t meant to say it. Had never said it to anyone before. She wasn’t even sure what it meant — only that it summed up all the confusing, exciting, overwhelming feelings she had about him.
Ayron reached up and gently removed her hands. Then, without saying a word, he gathered their belongings.
Chapter Sixteen
They left immediately. Ayron first, toting what was left of their supplies, with Lexi following in his footsteps. She’d become accustomed to the stronger pull of gravity, and the journey wasn’t as taxing as the others she’d made through the Outlands.
He never addressed her outburst, once again acting as if nothing had happened between them in the cave. Though her heart had been torn in two, Lexi forced herself to pretend she’d never spoken those words. She stuffed away the torrent of emotions and tried to empty her mind of memories of their time together.
Desperate for something else to occupy her thoughts, Lexi examined the scenery. She’d never imagined she’d find beauty in stark contrasts, subtle variations of color and texture. Iridia’s moon gave off an amber light, shining through fine particles of dust that remained in the air from the sandstorm. Under its soft glow, the landscape displayed a fierce dignity. She had time to appreciate the weathered peaks of ancient mountains, enduring despite the ravages of time. The days-long storm had scoured the land, exposing skeletons of the trees that had once grown in vast forests.
Life is an unstoppable force.Life finds a way.The universal truth hit her when they reached the entrance of the city. Ayron’s ancestors had taken all of Iridia’s color and vitality underground with them. Created a new world beneath their broken one.
Their arrival went unnoticed at first. Lexi took in the city with a new perspective, as though her sexual awakening had opened her to every other kind of sensory experience. The richness of life in the Tryb unfolded before her eyes.
Children ran through the city center, shrieking with laughter as they chased a ball in a game where the rules seemed to change every minute. A couple walked hand in hand though the market, stopped at a stall displaying clusters of bright-yellow fruit. With a sideways glance at her partner, the woman slipped one of the orbs into her mouth. He gave her a sharp swat on the rear. She giggled and popped one into his mouth.
“You want a spanking, do you? We’d better get on home, then.” He tossed the stall’s owner a glowing stone as payment, picked up the remaining cluster of fruit, and urged her on. As they walked away his hand slid up her skirt. She squealed, and the shopkeeper chuckled.
In the past, she’d have been appalled at such behavior. Violating personal boundaries. Inviting, even encouraging physical contact of a highly intimate nature. But after her days in the grotto, she understood what drove the couple. Especially the woman. Lexi had been on the receiving end of several spankings from Ayron, a few of them stern. But there’d been others. Sensuous, seductive, wickedly arousing spankings. She smiled, reliving the memories.
A shout drew her back to the present. Someone had spied them. Before long, a crowd gathered. Exclaiming, chattering, shooting rapid-fire questions. With everyone talking at once, she could only make out snatches of the conversation.
One of the women grabbed Ayron’s cloak. “We’ve all been so worried! Nazery and Khan and Balek returned days ago. Khan said he tracked the female to the grotto cave, but you left your mark at the entrance, so he knew you’d gotten there first to claim her. But there’s been no sign of Eli. When the storm broke, we feared you’d all been caught in it. Thank the gods you are safe. Where’s Eli?” Her eyes darted around, as if she expected him to suddenly materialize.
“Eli is dead,” Ayron replied, his face expressionless.
A shocked silence fell over the crowd. Then voices rang out. “Dead? How? What happened?”
“I must speak to Mother Eva first. It would not be right for her to hear the story from the lips of another.”
“Of course.” The woman stepped back, urged the others to let them make their way to Eva. The crowd parted. But Lexi heard low murmurs and felt their eyes following her.
Mara and Nadina rushed up as they headed down the long passageway to Eva’s quarters.
“Are you all right? Everyone’s been so worried.” Mara embraced Ayron, then Lexi. “Mother said she was sure you’d be fine, that you’d ride out the storm in the grotto. I agreed, but Nadina was all for sending out a search party if you didn’t come back by tomorrow. You know what a worrier she is. I told her ‘Ayron is the mightiest of our hunters, favored by the gods. He’ll come home with the female in tow when he’s ready and not a moment before.’ Didn’t I, Nadina?”
“Hush, Mara. They’re tired enough from the journey. You don’t need to wear them down any further with your incessant chattering.” She turned to Ayron and lowered her voice. “Mara always has to be the star of her stories. You know I have confidence in you.”
Lexi stifled a laugh. Nadina gave her a sharp look. She wanted to say something just to see the look on Nadina’s face, but Ayron was right. Eva deserved to hear the whole story first, including the fact that she was fluent in their language.
Eva had heard the commotion and s stood in the doorway to her quarters. “My child,” she said, stretching out her arms.
Ayron went to her for a hug then dropped to one knee. “Mother Eva, may I present Alexis Sims,” he said formally, waving a hand at Lexi. “She has traveled to Iridia from the planet Earth.”
He’d briefed Lexi on the Tryb’s customs. She bowed her head. “Mother Eva, I am honored to be the first to bring greetings from Earth to your Tryb.”
Behind her, Lexi heard Nadina’s gasp.
