He pushed away the thoughts that made it difficult to stand so close to her without touching her, focusing instead on her words. That should distract him. As long as they didn’t talk about mating chambers, or beds, or clothing and the removal of it. “So, it moves with the aid of nixir machines?”
She nodded. “It does. Some of our vehicles have become really advanced, and practically drive themselves.”
“Carts are usually small, though some can be spacious. Your ‘vans’, are they often used as homes for nixirs?”
Sarah sighed, slowly shaking her head. “More often than they should be, I suspect. There are too many people who don’t have a home in my world, and I swear that number only seems to be growing as the years pass.”
“Why didn’t you have a home?”
Even the poorest of Draku Rin’s citizens were housed and fed as they received skill training to apply to apprenticeships. Caring for the people was the responsibility of the temple, but the nixirs had probably killed their gods so they could take their place. They probably had no more temples to provide for their poor.
Sarah frowned. She didn’t like that question. It made her upset or sad. He still wasn’t sure which as she turned away from him, pretending to study a wood carving on a nearby stand.
“I grew up in an upper-class home. My parents were both professionals who made good money. They were career driven. Raising me was an afterthought. Then something happened that made them angry at me. When I didn’t obey their orders, they told me to get out of their house, and I left. They never fought to get me back. They didn’t care enough to make the effort.”
Was this part of the nixir nature? To cast their nestlings into the street to live in a self-moving cart? Even the poorest of the yan-kanat would not throw their young out of their home, no matter how meager their provisions. They might turn to the temple for aid, but they wouldn’t abandon their responsibilities. Yet, according to Sarah, if he was understanding correctly, her parents had more than enough resources to provide for her until her mate claimed her.
“If you ever left me, I would fight an army to get you back.”
Her lips tilted upwards as she cast him a glance. “That should worry me, but I have no intention of leaving you, and I have to admit, it’s nice to hear you care enough that you would go after me.”
“You don’t ever need to worry that I would hurt you, Sarah. You are my drahi. When we are bound, I could not even raise an angry hand against you, even if that was in my nature.” He shook his head, “and it is not. There is no honor in striking a female, for any reason.”
She gestured like she was wiping her brow. “Whew! That’s a relief.”
Her nixir grin had returned, along with a lift of her shoulders. Her tone took on a lighter note, as if she wasn’t seriously concerned that he might hurt her. “You know,” she held out her arm, showing the faint glimmer of bioluminescence. “I feel really strong lately. It’s like these bugs in my head are giving me super powers. I might even be able to kick your ass if you make me angry.”
Her tone said she was teasing, but he had to make her understand, in case she seriously believed she was strong enough to fight any yan-kanat, much less him. “Even with the aid of the chanu zayul, who will make you stronger and healthier, you could not fight one of my kind effectively. The nixirs only succeeded in conquering our lands through superior numbers, underhanded tactics, and their clever weapons. Individually, your people don’t have a chance against mine.”
Sarah propped her hands on her hips, her full lower lip jutting out as she said, “Aw, and here I wanted to become a gladiator in your arena. Kicking ass and taking names.”
He cocked his head, unsure whether she was teasing him or serious. Her choice of idioms was confusing. “Why would you take names?”
Sarah laughed, then shrugged. “You know, I have no idea. It’s just a human saying.”
“You don’t really want to fight in the arena do you?”
If she did, he would have to find a way to discourage that foolish notion. Yan-kanat females did not fight. Not against each other, and certainly never against a male. They were graceful, elegant, and delicate. Fighting was only for the males, and no one in Draku Rin would look kindly upon Sarah trying her hand at such an activity. Least of all him.
She had a fighting spirit within her, and he admired her for that, but she would never win, she could get hurt, and she would end up reminding his people that the nixirs were filled with so much violence that even their females battled for fun.
Sarah waved her hand in front of her as if brushing aside his question. “I’m not a fan of pain, so I’ll pass on that career option.” Then her teasing expression shifted to a curious one. “Wait, you do have an arena, don’t you? The chanu zayul keep giving me a word for it, so it must be something that exists for you guys.”
“The arena is for males only, my drahi. You would not be permitted to go there, much less participate.”
She tapped her lip with one clawless finger. “You know, I’m not sure how I feel about that.”
Jotaha stepped closer to her to settle a hand on her shoulder, his fingers toying with her sleek head fibers since he couldn’t resist the urge to touch them when he was this close. “It doesn’t matter how you feel about such rules. They are the law of this land. Please, Sarah, don’t break them. You will only make things more difficult for yourself.”
She nodded, multiple times, as appeared to be the nixir way of agreement. “Fine, but I’m just curious. If I was a man, would I be allowed to participate?”
He stiffened at the question, wishing she wouldn’t ask such things. Knowing she probably wouldn’t like the answer. “No nixir male would be allowed to live long enough to see Draku Rin, much less fight in our arena.”
She nodded again, this time more slowly, but she still met his eyes when he thought she would lower hers. “I figured as much. You say I’m safe with you, Jotaha, and I believe that. But what about threats from other yan-kanat?”
He cupped her face between his hands, lowering his head to taste her lips, as if he could steal away the words, when it was already too late to stop her from speaking them. She responded to his distraction hungrily, as if she wanted him as badly as he craved her. Impatient with the uncomfortable position he had to take to kiss his tiny drahi, he caught her by the waist and lifted her off her feet, straightening without breaking their lip-lock as his tongue delved inside her hot mouth, past teeth he knew could be sharp and painful despite being mostly flat.
He trusted her not to bite him. He trusted her not to want to hurt him. He trusted her to be true to her word.
Before he’d brought her home, he’d also trusted his people to treat his drahi as one of their own, simply because Seta Zul decreed it. Now, he wasn’t so sure he could give her a reassuring answer to her question.
The pain of his seal burning as his salavik parted his slit forced him to pull away from Sarah’s hungry lips, though it was tempting to let it burn a little longer just to continue to taste her and forget all the problems they had yet to face. He held her against his body with one arm around her waist, the other stroking down her back to clutch at her round, tailless bottom, pressing the heat between her legs against his seal. She writhed against him, her hands moving over his scales, tugging on his tunic to expose more of them to her touch.