Page 14 of Sevan

Chapter Eight

Lorelei ran down the corridor, followed closely by Sevan. Why she’d let the outsider follow her was still unclear. She should have ordered them off the planet, or never allowed them to dock in the first place. Her instincts had been right. This was no place for them. It wasn’t a place for anyone.

“How much farther?” Sevan yelled over the sound of the alarm.

She slowed her pace and let him catch up to her. Reaching out, she touched his arm lightly. The compulsion just to feel his skin had been with her since she’d first lain eyes on him. Part of her still couldn’t believe the man she’d dreamt of for the last six months was real. The other part of her wanted to test just how real he truly was.

Sevan moved in closer to her, dwarfing her frame. At five foot six, she wasn’t short but he seemed to tower over her. His mouth twitched and it took everything in her not to touch his full lips. She wasn’t used to men like him, men who ran around in full officer fatigues and who didn’t have hair as long as hers. Christian hardly ever wore a shirt, more often than not opting only for a vest for warmth. Her people tried to wear the least amount of clothes, leaving their protective markings free to do what they were created to do—heal, guard, and draw power from the land.

Sevan looked down at her hand on his arm and ran his finger, lightly over the first of her faint markings. “Did it hurt?” he asked, taking yet another step closer to her. “Getting these tattoos… Did it hurt?”

She knew what tattoos were. She’d studied enough about the human culture and Earth to understand, and her markings weren’t tattoos. “They aren’t what you think they are.”

“You’re beautiful…errr…I mean they’re beautiful.”

Smiling, Lorelei studied Sevan closely, not wanting to feel anything for him but failing miserably. She couldn’t just turn a blind eye. Too many nights he’d come in the form of dreams and had taken her to levels of ecstasy. “Thank you. We’re all born with them. Each person’s means something different. Some declare their owner to be a warrior. Others mean scholar, healer, leader and so on. The list is endless. Many of the markings are forms of protection or good wishes. They come from the Shamenian side of my ancestry.”

“What do yours mean?” Sevan asked.

“A number of things. These,” she pointed at her upper arm, “are for my status. These announce that I am supposedly wise, although the burn on my cheek would likely state otherwise. The ones on my torso are blessings for fertility and pleasure.”

Sevan’s breath caught. “So, the marks are some form of population control too?”

Lorelei couldn’t help but smile. “Trust an outsider to simplify it for us.”

“So, I’m right?”

Shrugging, Lorelei lifted her tiny vest a bit, revealing even more of her faint markings. “In a way. My markings in particular tell that the gods and spirits of the land will offer the blessing of children when the pairing is with my mate. In short, if they up and decide I’ve found Mr. Right, there is no means of population control that will prevent me from conceiving a child.”

He took a step back as though she were contagious. “Oh.”

“Relax. I’m not any different from a full-blooded human female. I can’t get pregnant by breathing the same air as you. Coupling is no different for my people than yours. Though, we know fairly quickly when we are with child. The marks either disappear or change significantly.”

Something moved over Sevan’s face. His eyes narrowed. “Would anything else make them disappear?”

“I honestly don’t know. It changes with each individual. I’ve seen some people’s fade when they meet their significant other and then completely disappear when they conceive a child. They do return in some fashion, from a tiny mark on a thigh to a full-blown return.”

Lorelei took a moment to laugh softly at Sevan’s facial expression. He appeared so caught up in their discussion that she worried his forehead would remain permanently crinkled. “Don’t quote me on any of this. Like I said, everyone is different. Take me, for instance. Six months ago my markings were several shades darker. One morning I woke up to find them faded to what you see before you now.”

“Six months ago?” Sevan asked, his voice cracking slightly.

“I understand that to you they may appear a bit off-putting, but to our people they’re not only important but a thing of beauty. In my eyes, it’s odd not to see the markings on you. Here, when a man bears no markings declaring him a Shamenian, he is considered the enemy until he proves otherwise.”

“Lorelei, they are anything but off-putting. They’re captivating.” His warm thumb ran over the circular sign for power near her wrist, and she felt her magic rise up.

Knowing that not all outsiders possessed the same gifts as her people, she tried to pull her arm away, but it was too late. The power within her surged.

Images from the recurring dreams she had poured forth, along with pictures of things that were altogether new. Lorelei’s body jerked with each vivid picture of Sevan thrusting himself into her, his hand cupping the back of her neck as she rode him. Her body shook with need as her mind shot to images of him nibbling on her breasts, taking each nipple in his mouth and spending equal time teasing them. Her knees went out from under her as yet another image hit her, this one of him buried deep within her, releasing his seed.

Strong arms wrapped around her, keeping her from hitting the floor. She blinked, the visions finally fading away, and found herself staring into intense green eyes.

Sevan looked down at her. “What…?”

Lorelei tried to regain her footing, but her inner thighs still twitched as though from the orgasm the vision brought on. “I’m sorry. I think I might be coming down with something.”

“Something that involves us fucking?” Sevan shook his head as though he were trying to absorb all that was going on. “The dreams were real, weren’t they? You had them too. Didn’t you?”

Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. The thought of him sharing one of her visions and her dreams was absurd. Not even Christian could do that, and he was the greatest healer they’d ever had. Not only did he lead their people, he was one of the most powerful of their kind as well.

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