Saving Verakko: The Clecanian Series Book 3 by Victoria Aveline (books to read for teens TXT) 📕

next few hours, he trailed well behind her. She appeared not to care. Didn’t even attempt to ask him any more questions. The little tishti had a way of heating every part of him to a boil.

After his temper had cooled to a simmering indignance, he focused on her comment about his smell, and his mind wandered to devious places. He hadn’t lied when he’d said he’d done nothing, but he’d failed to mention his scent’s ability to change, like his skin.

It was a predatory response, one he couldn’t control even if he wanted to. The scent his body produced was a luring aroma unique to whoever was near. While a person might smell a sweet confection from their hometown or another scent that made them feel relaxed, an animal might smell a particular flower or plant they liked to eat. Occasionally, when hunting or with heightened emotions, the scent became stronger. The adaptation was used in the old times to lure prey. The only way to control it was to control his emotions, which he seemed unable to do around her.

The image of her docile and heavy-lidded after he’d pulled her close re-formed in his mind. Maybe he could finally get some use out of the ability.

Their progress was slow. Although she moved at a reasonable pace, considering her short frame and scrawny build, he knew they could cover ground much faster if she’d just let him carry her.

When the sun began to make its descent, she turned back to him. The soft orange light lit her eyes, revealing flecks of gold in the brown depths. Averting his gaze so as not to be drawn in by her beauty, he glanced down her body and had to stifle a groan.

Verakko’s people didn’t lose much water through perspiration like many Clecanian races, but he could see that humans did. The dampened material of her white shirt clung to her curves just enough for Verakko to make out the swell of her breasts and an odd covering. The faintest hint of black fabric molded to her small breasts teased his eyes.

Blood flowed to his shaft, and his palms itched to tear away the damp material and inspect the covering more thoroughly.

“I think we should start moving through the forest. We can try to find some food along the way if possible, and we can also look for a place to camp.”

Thankfully, his focus returned at her words. “Already?” he said with a sharpness he hadn’t intended.

The amiable smile she’d plastered on her face, in what he assumed was an attempt to be cordial, fell. She placed her hands on her hips with an annoyed glare. “If we wait too long, then we’ll be searching for supplies and building a fire in the dark. If you want to make yourself useful, you can use those muscles of yours to gather firewood on our way.”

He straightened, a masculine spike of pleasure pulsing through him at her acknowledgment of his strength. The anger and frustration he’d been carrying all day seemed to melt in the light of her compliment, and Verakko found himself wondering, could she sway him too?

Chapter 5

The hungry look Verakko leveled on her was almost as destructive as his intoxicating smell. It was unsettling how quickly she flipped between annoyance and curiosity for this man.

Lily lifted a slim branch from the ground and held it up in the air. “This is the kind of wood we’re looking for.”

He nodded, scanning the ground, so she walked away from the river and into the forest, knowing he’d follow, though she still didn’t understand why. He’d made it clear that women were a commodity on this planet, but it seemed like humans in particular were even more valuable. Why else would he be subjecting himself to a wilderness trip for an unknown amount of time, with a woman who so clearly disliked him? There had to be more he wasn’t telling her. She could sense it.

There was some hole he was explaining around, but she didn’t know enough to decide how to question to it. His mere presence had also made it difficult to focus. She’d felt his stare on her like a brand all day, and she couldn’t for the life of her decipher what it meant.

It appeared to Lily as if he couldn’t decide whether to wring her neck or tear her clothes off. More disturbing still, she couldn’t decide which fate she’d prefer.

A loud crack sounded behind her, and she turned to find Verakko breaking a sturdy downed limb in two over his thick thigh. He eyed her as though knowing the display of unreasonable strength would force the primitive part of her lady brain into overdrive.

“Are you ready to tell me why we’re heading downriver?” he asked with a raised brow.

What to say? It wasn’t that she didn’t want to tell him. She just didn’t think she could talk about Alex without breaking down. Lily wasn’t ready to show a complete stranger that weakness, and with her nerves already frayed to their breaking point, there was a good chance she would. She walked around the area, keeping half her mind occupied in a search for food, and answered, “The girl I was with, Alex, we got separated. We fell into the river, and I was able to make it to shore before her.”

She chanced a glance in Verakko’s direction, bracing for the sneer, and was surprised to find that he didn’t look self-satisfied but rather thoughtful. “How long ago were you separated?” he asked while bringing down another large branch over his thigh.

A mix of irritation and awe briefly swept through her. It would’ve taken her days and heaps of precious energy to break up that much usable firewood. “A little over a week ago.”

He paused in the act of breaking another branch and stared at her