Page 22 of Braax's Bride
“I… might like to. But only if you want to as well.”
She bit her lip, throwing her arms around his shoulders.
“I very much want that.”
That fanged grin that melted her heart returned to his face, and he pushed himself up, still cradling her in his arms. His eyes glimmered with mischief, with care, with… something more?
Impossible to say.
“Now, let’s get you cleaned up, my beautiful wife.”
Sofia sighed into the bath Braax had drawn for her, the hot water soothing her aches and pains and calming her emotions.
Letting go had been freeing—and frightening—but now the little glowing cloud was firmly back in place, numbing her from the world. Still, that moment of release had been euphoric, and she wondered if the cloud was hurting her more than protecting her at this point. A thought she pushed away, unwilling to think more about it right now.
He crouched outside the tub, his fingers scrubbing her scalp and tingling the sensitive skin. She let her eyes shut, focusing on the physical sensations of her body instead of the emotions threatening to overwhelm her.
“You are certain you are alright?” he asked for what felt like the tenth time.
A smile pulled at Sofia’s lips, though a sense of unease permeated through her. She knew he wasn’t just talking about the physical pounding she’d taken in the woods; the tears staining her face would have been impossible to miss.
“I’m fine, Braax. I promise.”
He pressed his snout to her cheek in a chaste kiss, then nuzzled against her neck.
“I would never do something you did not want, would never hurt you.”
She opened her eyes, cupping his cheek, letting her thumb stroke his glimmering scales.
“I know that. I promise, I trust you.”
It was the truth. She trusted him more than anyone else, which said a lot about the people who had been a part of her life. She trusted him to protect her, control himself enough torespect her safety even as he ravaged her. A small part of her even wanted to trust him with her darkest emotions, though she tried to shove that inclination away.
Braax opened his mouth to say something, tension filling the bathroom like a thick fog, but quickly closed it. A grimace flashed across his face, though he curled his lips into a gentle smile after a moment.
“I am so glad that you do.” A long pause, as the glimmer of mischief returned to his glowing eyes. “I may have ruined the headboard.”
Sofia laughed, a bright sound that carried through the small space.
“I guess I learned my lesson about trying to tie you up.”
Now Braax mirrored her laugh, kissing her on the cheek.
“I think you more than learned, my sweet wife.”
She only hoped it was a lesson he would teach her again soon.
Chapter 8
FOUR HILETH STANDARD WEEKS came and went, each better than the last.
The sex was great, and despite everything, Sofia felt herself lulled into a sense of security. It was a scary sensation, as was the dissipating cloud in her chest, the one that numbed everything.
Though she didn’t want to, she couldn’t resist opening up to Braax, spending long hours conversing with him about everything from her life on Earth to his on Olara 8—when they weren’t fucking like rabbits.
Today, he had taken her on a short hike through the mountains. Enormous trees surrounded them as they walked hand in hand, evergreen and scenting the air with a pine-like aroma, fresh and spicy.
They strolled along rocky cliffs, bioluminescent ferns clinging to each crevice and glowing in the forest’s dimness. Haunting shouts of skygliders echoed through the woods, the small reptiles swooping between rocky crags, carried by thin membranous wings.