章 57: Dark temptation

Keira was stunned the moment he lifted her into his arms, he was too close...the feeling of his rock-hard abs against her skin, the roughness of his palms that carefully settled on her, and the tempting scent from him.

'Oh gosh, he even smells good'

Like dark chocolatey mix of powdery iris and caramelized vanilla, and the velvety cedar added into an intoxicating scent. It's warm, mysterious, endearing, and unique. His scent was literally mouth-watering, It took concentrate afford to not bury her face into his chest and sniffing him like a weirdo.

He was beyond alluring, like a puzzle that slowly pulled her into an endless loop of wonder, like a mystery that sank her down and kept feeding her with distorted obscurity, binding her until it was too late to back down, like a deadly poison coated in irresistibly sweet that tempted her to pick it up and taste it.

She let her gaze roam over the velvety hair down to the thick, ropey muscles of his strong arms to his incredible onyx scales. They were gleaming like shimmery makeup tempting to the touch. It's tormenting the loving hell out of her how hard she braced herself to not let her itching fingers slip away and caress his scales like a mad girl. Yet, for all his massiveness, his movements were gentle and precise.

Peering back to his profile, she followed the line of his pointy ears down to the hard cut of his jaw over to his sharp chin and flirtatious soft lips. His skin gleamed in the sunlight except for the matte black, symbol-shaped patterning that coiled on his arms.

As she stared, his muscled arms flexed slightly then slowly relaxed back. Glancing at his face, she found him watching her from the corner of his eye and felt like her heart skipped at having been caught ogling.

She winched, automatically turned her face away, bracing herself to stop plunging more deeply into his charm.

He released her from his hold after they had moved farther away from the spot. When she glanced back, she saw Xander looking this way with concern. She was sure that he was restraining himself with all his power not to roam this way and punch the mysterious male in the face who dared to take her away from him. However, Robin dragged him away hastily before his temper could flare. Keira caught a glimpse of the way Robin looked at her as if warning her not to be close to her male. Such ironic how this fox girl deceived herself into thinking she's the center of the world and everything has to go her way.

When the two figures walked away, Keira turned her face back to the mysterious male who was observing her with curiosity as he was reading Keira's thoughts in every action.

"apologize for my rudeness," he bowed slightly, expressing his apologies for bringing her out without permission. It was surprising that he was able to keep his posture so graceful; every motion was like a well-refined art that raised Keira's curiosity about who he really was.

"I haven't seen you before.." He continued after observing her expression. "it's certain that you're not local of this tribe." His sharp eyes gazed at her. It's discreet and hard to read. Keira wasn't sure if it was because of the mercury color or because of the fact that he kept his feelings well. But whatever it was, it reminded her that this person was someone she shouldn't mess with.

Narrowing his eyes, he made a gesture that instinctively urged the audience to respond, pushing Keira to open her mouth to answer, but she paused and decided to answer him with a question instead.

"Before tempting me to explain, Why don't you first tell me who you are?" She crossed her arms. Yes, he was hard to deal with when the temptation was as genuine as though it were part of his anatomy. Though she won't let it work that smoothly when this wasn't the first time she had encountered a cunning person, as long as he won't introduce himself to her, there won't be any reason for her to explain herself to a stranger.

The male curved his mouth slightly. He was satisfied that Keira didn't fall for him so easily, even his everlasting charm that could knock down an entire city had kept her conscious for this long. As he had expected from the flawless beauty and legendary amethyst eyes. Such eyes he has never seen in life—a long-lost eye color that he has only read about in legend.

How strange that she didn't know who he was. If it wasn't because she had come from a faraway tribe, then it must probably mean she had no interest in the outside world. Maybe it's good this way so they can get to know each other without prejudice involved.

"Apologize for my rudeness again." He bowed slightly, locked eyes on Keira as though he was studying her the whole time. "I'm Azariah."

How his deep voice uttering the words gave Keira goosebumps. Although it was a polite introduction, it made her feel a chill run down her spine.

There was a silence between them. Keira felt like she was being rude, so she said, "Thank you for sending me Azariah." It was because she didn't want to find Arel's clue when he was there, so she continued, "I'll walk from here on my own."

He tilted his head slightly, silently observing her. The expression that he was making as though he could read her mind was really frustrating. It made her feel like she was slowly being infiltrated by him.

He then smirked after he had discovered something within her "I feel like you're having trouble." His voice was extremely deep that she couldn't contain her flinching at times.

"Is it really that obvious?" She smirked back at him "You are really good at observing people, aren't you?" she slowly stepped towards him before drawing her face closer, whispering, "But I got the help."

He smirked wider, satisfied with the courage and arrogance of this female. He leaned down at her. Now their faces were inches apart, so close that she could feel his warm breath and the waft of his intoxicating scent combined with the mercury eyes that sharply gazed at her.

No one backed down; their eyes were locked on each other. Though Keira was sure her knee had slipped away but never mind she will last, she still has another knee..

"From the tribe chief?" He asked

"Yes"

Chuckled low, so this was the reason why Keira was with the chief. If help was what she needed, he could give her a lot more than the chieftain.

It's true that Xander was capable, but why would he let Xander help her and win the spotlight? when she was the female he needed, and it has to be her. The indescribable feeling of being held back and almost suffocating when being close to her, but it's even harder to back away. Like an endless intoxication, like a torment drew him to the depths of affection. How his heart nearly stopped from the first glimpse he laid eyes on her, he knew from that moment that she's his mate.

Not just the beauty that she possessed even her arrogant personality was tempting him, slowly pulling him deep down to this endless emotion that was overwhelming into an obsession, the first time he had ever felt so infatuated.

Her glowing eyes that were locked on him hinted with passion, making him realize that he was not alone in his thoughts. Even though she harbored deep feeling, it was not deep enough to hide him "You can use me.. jeweline.. I might be a better help than him"

Keira narrowed her eyes "what makes you believe so"

He let out a low chuckle at how Keira didn't know anything about him, and he liked it that way "Are you looking for someone?" He asked as he could feel that there was a male scent on her and it was fading as they had been apart.

Keira's eyes widened "You know?" She thought he might have a clue if he knew she was looking for someone. She bit her lip nervously, weighing whether she should get his help or not. She couldn't trust a person just from his looks and demeanor. Although he looked sober, she didn't know what was hiding under that mask.

As if he could read her mind, knowing what she was thinking, he smirked mischievously before explaining, "Indeed, I can provide you information if you are willing to tell me what troubles you, but.. if you don't trust me, you can describe me just the lessen details of that person and wait to see what I discover."

It was an invitation that caught her attention and a test of her trust in him. The fact that it has been a week and nobody has seen Arel, has driven her crazy. She didn't know how long she could wait before she would go mad and run into the forest like a fanatic to find him herself. Although experience had taught her that she would certainly get lost and die before meeting her mate, but that didn't make her any less determined to find Arel. Perhaps it would be better to ask for more help than sit around and do nothing.

"My mate is missing," she then explained to him what had happened that she had been severely injured by the monster's attack and her mate had yet to be found.

" I see," he breathed and remained silent as he was considering, "I will let you know if there's any news, my jewel."