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"Where are we going, Sarentu?" So'lek grumbled.
He had been following behind the young woman for miles now. The area was unfamiliar; he did not recognize the terrain. They had crossed a wide plain, climbed several hills, and finally ducked into a cave. Bioluminescent plants glimmered in the darkness, lighting their path.
"Shhh, it's a surprise," she replied, not bothering to glance back at him.
"I do not like surprises. How much farther?"
She giggled, flashing him a smile over her shoulder.
"For someone who's spent most of his life pursuing one goal, you're very impatient. No more questions, or you'll ruin it. We're almost there."
He pressed his lips into a firm line but followed anyway. They climbed a sloping ramp until they came to a wall of hanging vines. She shot him another grin, this one even wider than the last. His heart jumped, but he simply raised a brow bone. She parted the glowing curtain and tossed her head as she ducked underneath.
Follow me, it silently commanded.
He sighed but obeyed. On the other side, he found himself in a clearing. Flowers and plants glimmered in a rainbow of colors around them. On the far side of the spot, there was a small, gleaming pool. It was beautiful. Eywa's grace in full, undisturbed display.
So'lek straightened and crossed his arms. Still, he wore the unimpressed mask he had grown accustomed to after all these years.
The Sarentu raised her hands and gestured to the space.
"Well, what do you think? Isn't it perfect?" she asked.
He pretended to examine it and nodded just once.
"Eywa has blessed this place, to be sure. But I do not understand why we are here."
She only shook her head, laughing. He studied her smile—the indented lines that bracketed each side of her mouth, straight white teeth, sharp canines that brushed along her bottom lip. She caught him off guard when she hooked her slender fingers into his. Distracted, he was too slow to stop her when she tugged him forward. He stumbled after her as she walked them both toward the clearing. She was glowing, freckles shimmering like iridescent pearls across her deep blue skin. Her skin was alight from the inside. Her markings flickered like the flame of a candle. Never before had he seen something so utterly bewitching.
Reality suddenly slammed into him, and he pulled back against her. To his surprise, she adjusted intuitively. Her grip tightened. She dug her heels in. The force brought him two involuntary steps closer. Those little curved lines beside her lips deepened, and her nose crinkled in concentration. He allowed himself a moment, just a quick one, to trace the delicate shape of her lips. Then, he fought back.
She was strong.
He was stronger.
In one fluid, clearly practiced motion he twisted away from her. Now free from her grasp, he shook his head disapprovingly.
“Sarentu,” he scolded, drawing out the last syllable.
She cocked her head. She looked like a baby ikran, curious about an object it had never seen before. She always did that. He’d never met anyone else who did that. Something about it felt strangely human. She must have learned it from them. It should have disgusted him. Should have…
“What?” she asked, slightly breathless from pulling him. The corner of her mouth twitched up into a smirk. “You don’t like me?”
The comment stunned him. It seemed she was full of surprises tonight. Was this another of her games? Surely she knew. She had to know how he felt about her...
So’lek shifted, placing his hands on his hips. There was a teasing glint in his gaze as he tossed it in her direction. But when he saw her expression, his prepared insult melted on the tip of his tongue. Though the smile still pricked at her mouth, her eyes had gone flat. He'd spent enough time with her to know that look. She was upset. And she was trying to hide it. He sighed, lips pressing into a tight line.
“Sarentu,” he scolded, “enough of this childish nonsense. You are being foolish.”
She dropped his stare.
“Oh…” she mused quietly.
After a moment, she began to slowly approach. Each agonizing step she took closer to So'lek made his heart beat faster. He prayed she could not hear it. She began to circle him, like a hungry nantang [viperwolf] inspecting its prey. His eyes slid to the side to follow her slender form as she passed him. Curiosity tempted him to turn his head, but he refused. Desperation was not a quality he possessed. At least, not visibly.
“So…” she continued, finger tapping her chin as if she were thinking hard. “You do like me. Just not like that.”
His spine snapped straight, head whipping to the side.
“Like what?”
Skxawng… She'd caught him off his game again. He was weak with her. Something about her… Her scent or the way she looked up at him, it crippled his senses. Instinct became overpowering.
He cleared his throat and, in an attempt to recover, said flatly, "Stop your games, Sarentu. Speak plainly."
Her eyes flicked up to meet his. A playful grin spread across her face. He huffed. He hated how much she blatantly enjoyed seeing him flustered. Her stare darted to his mouth for a brief moment. It was fleeting. But he could never have missed it. Then, she shrugged.
“Like that,” she said quietly.
She nodded to the side, and his gaze followed obediently. He found himself staring at a bed of soft, violet-colored moss. A ring of deep blue and magenta sun lilies encircled the spot as if it was built to be a stage enshrouded by the curtain of vines. It was dazzling, private, intimate. It felt as if Eywa herself had placed it there as a little secret.
It was then that the realization nearly stole his breath. Now, he understood why she had brought him here. He could hardly maintain a steady rhythm. His chest felt tight. Every nerve in his body felt like it was trembling. He tried to banish the thought. It was wrong. It could not be. After all those years, after so much pain and loss and grief… How could anyone find solace in him? Peace? Companionship? Affection? It was not possible. He must have been mistaken.
All he could do was turn toward her. He hoped peering into her eyes would help him find the right words to say. He felt weak. Fear, the kind that he had not known in an age, set his mind on fire. Something in his expression must have betrayed him. Her brow bones furrowed, smile dropping in an instant. Her eyes shifted between his for a moment before she laughed. It was forced. Over it, she pasted a joking smile. She looked pained.
“Oh, for the love of Eywa, please,” she started.
She stepped forward, close enough that he could see her pulse fluttering in her neck. Thoughts flew through his mind like a swarm of syulì'angs [flutterflowers/insects]. He wanted to bite her neck, swirl his tongue across her skin, bury his head into her shoulder while she panted his name. He felt hot, too warm. In that moment, he wished more than anything that she could hear his heart. She would know, without a doubt, if she could just hear how hard and fast it was beating. For her. It would say the words he was too afraid to utter out loud.
“Please tell me you like me, too,” she continued. She stepped forward once more, and her stare dropped to his chest. “Because…if you don’t, I need to find a cliff to jump off of so I can lose any memory of this conversation."
He chuckled—a reflex. Her big golden eyes met his again. They were glassy, pupils blown. His chest ached. She was so beautiful like this. Ethereal. Like something too precious for any world.
His hand found its way to her cheek. Her eyelashes fluttered closed the second his palm flattened on her skin. Her lips separated and quivered with each breath. His thumb brushed along her cheek. Her skin was smooth, surprisingly soft. He thought of his own cheek, worn and scarred, and nearly withdrew his touch. How could he deserve to hold her like this?
But the body is a powerful machine. Too powerful even for mighty So’lek.
He caved to the temptation, leaning forward to press his forehead flush against hers. She angled her chin up to meet him. She was as still as a statue aside from the shaky gasps which ghosted over So'lek's lips. With a slight shift of her face, her nose nuzzled against his.
Everything she did, even the subconscious quirks, made him feral.
“Tamtey…”
Her name slipped out before he even realized.
Her breath stuttered. It seemed odd that such a quiet, soft sound could ricochet so violently through him. Tamtey stepped impossibly closer. One hand encircled his wrist. The other grazed his torso as she clutched onto the string of RDA dog tags. His trophies—one for each kill. Heaviness washed over him but evaporated in a matter of seconds when he realized that she didn’t care. He was a killer. So was she. Regardless of what he had done, she still wanted him.
He tilted his face, lips brushing against hers. She added pressure, and they were kissing.
He let her claim him softly, sweetly. When her lips separated from his, he took over. His grip on her face tightened. He pulled her mouth to his again. He kissed her harder, deeper, longer. She responded just how he wanted, matching his fervor. Her slender fingers released and then clamped back down on his chest piece. They kissed again and again, lips melding together and then pulling apart just enough to slide back together again. He lost himself in the taste of her and almost didn’t register the gentle pressure of her hands pushing his chest back.
They separated, and his eyes flashed open in concern. Hers were still closed. A soft smile rested on her glistening lips. She breathed heavily. When her lashes fluttered open, another pang shocked through his chest. It was captivating—the way she looked at him. He wanted to stare at it forever. It was addicting.
“Eywa,” she breathed. “It took you long enough. I was starting to wonder if I should have brought Eetu here instead.”
So'lek sputtered. She'd gotten him again. He’d lost count of how many times she’d surprised him that night. Tamtey pulled away with ease, a mischievous smirk creeping back into her expression. He watched her retreating figure as she plucked a flower from a nearby vine.
“I…I-I did not know that you f-felt this way, Sarentu,” he replied defensively.
A deep blush was spreading across his face and ears. He could feel the heat of it. She clicked her tongue.
“And we’re back to Sarentu again. At this point, I really think we’ve moved past that, So’lek.”
He huffed.
“Tamtey. I will not allow you to go on teasing me like this. I did not realize that you wanted things to be like this between us. I thought-”
“You didn’t notice any of the signals I was throwing at you?” Tamtey interrupted, placing a hand on her hip. “Not once?”
So’lek’s browbones furrowed. Confusion swam through him. He felt dizzy for a moment.
“S-signals? What… I don’t understand. What signals? Over the radio?”
Tamtey's mouth dropped agape and eyes widened. If he was being honest, it startled him a bit. It was sometimes easy to forget under all that beauty and charm that she was known to the RDA as “Death on Wings”. But at that particular moment, it was painfully easy. He stepped back and raised his hands defensively.
“You seriously didn’t…UGH!” she groaned, pressing the tips of her fingers into her forehead. “Great Mother…do I have to explain everything to you? A warrior of fifteen years. You can take down any RDA facility, kill anything, survive anything. One would think you could pick up on social cues. Any of them. All this time I’ve been running around like a chicken with its head cut off-”
“Ach, there you go again with chicken.”
She glared at him, eyes narrowed.
“It’s an Earth animal. I told you before. That's beside the point, anyway. You’re trying to change the subject, because you’re embarrassed that-”
He stopped listening ten words ago.
Rolling his eyes, he stepped forward. One hand snaked around her lower back and the other cradled the back of her head. He didn’t wait this time. He pressed his mouth firmly on hers, relishing in the way her body melted in his arms. He loved the taste of her, the softness of her lips, the way they slipped snugly in between his own. Her touch drifted to his biceps, palms and fingers splayed across his muscles.
He leaned away just far enough to rest his forehead on hers. Her eyes opened, connecting to his like a magnet. He traced her bottom lip with his thumb.
"I like you, Tamtey," he said quietly, voice rumbling deep. "Yes, like that. And I want you. Just you, no one else. Tonight, I will have you before Eywa. Tonight and every other night that we see. If that is what you want."
Tamtey snorted but smiled.
“What do you think I brought you here for, skxawng? I’m tired of waiting. I want to start forever with my mate tonight.”
He chuckled, letting the warmth spread through his whole body. His grasp on her loosened as she swung backward. Her touch slipped down his arms and landed in his hands. She caught her lip between her teeth. This time, when she pulled him toward the idyllic clearing, he let her.
He wondered if he was in a dream as he laid her down. Her hair was splayed around her head like a crown. Uncharacteristically gently, he brushed a stray strand from her cheek. He studied her, laid bare beneath him. He wanted to remember her just like this.
Perfect. Absolutely.
He whispered her name, softer than he’d ever muttered anything. And he kissed her. Again and again and again. As much of her as he could.
She was his.
His love. His mate. His Tamtey.