Mandy’s smile left her. “Beauty isn’t important,” she said quietly. “That’s only what’s on the outside.”
“You are right. For beauty, and youth, are fleeting. But yours is a beauty inside and out.”
“Oh,” she said, her voice soft, the desire in her eyes hesitant.
Keep going,Lore sent him.Use that mouth for something besides annoying females.
As I recall, you had no complaints about my mouth yesterday.
Silence from Lore. Zehn watched Mandy intently, aware she seemed out of sorts. “Do I scare you?”
“A little.”
“I would never hurt you. A warrior may not hurt a female and live.”
“There are different ways to hurt someone. Not everything is physical.”
“I know. But you do not, for you are a poor uncivilized Earther,” he teased. “Barbarian practices favor the female. I should like to show you.”’
He’d swear she murmured “I’ll bet you would” under her breath. But she shot him a wide smile. “How sweet.”
He wondered how far to take things, but finally having her to himself, he decided to go for it. “Did you enjoy it?”
“Enjoy what?”
He leaned closer. “My pairing with Lore.” Her eyes widened, and the luscious scent of her arousal came to him on a gentle breeze.
“How did you know I was there?” Her eyes narrowed. “Have you been following me?”
No shy maiden regarded him now. Pleased to see her true self, he answered her first question honestly. “Not at first. But we heard your steps. Lore needed, so I had to ease him.”
“Needed?” She looked embarrassed, but her anger had lessened.
“Our kind has ties to all things, and our energy builds. Without battle or training to ease our nature, we can become…” He didn’t have a human word for it. “Muddled. Not ourselves.”
“But you didn’t fight each other. You were, um, uh, together, and…”
“Sex is a release as well. It feels good.” He gazed into her eyes, not sure who was seducing whom. “I would show you, Mandy, how very good it can be.”
“Not here,” she said, her voice in higher pitch than normal. “I mean, no, you can’t. Barbarians and offworlders don’t mix. I could lose my job.”
“Only if you were caught.” He winked.
She blushed but didn’t look away, and he hoped she was as captivated by the idea as he was.
“Tonight, Lore and I shall bathe at your pool. If you are interested, come find us. If not, we understand your lack of interest and respect it.” Not really, but he’d give her more time to come to her senses. “You must know this—we would never force you into something you did not want.Ever.As a daughter of Ussed, your wellbeing is sacred to us.”
“Sacred? I don’t know about that.” She gave a nervous laugh.
He didn’t smile, though he wanted to. “If I ask too much of you, you could simply return to your secret place and watch. It was most…arousing.”
The answering hunger in her eyes was almost his undoing. He wanted so badly to kiss her. Touch her. Taste her. Instead, he remained seated when she stood.
“I, um, have to get back to work.”
“I as well.” He didn’t rise, needing to regain control over his rampant desire. By the Maker, it felt as if all the blood had rushed from his head to pool between his legs. Barbarians didn’t care about showing their need. Often in the village, men and women took pleasure against a tree, in the commons, where they wanted it. But here, he’d noticed the visitors took private interludes.
She nodded. “See you later.”
He watched her go. When he found himself able to stand without embarrassing the poor people of Welcome, he had taken two steps before sensing Lore’s tension.
The humans are asking about Mandy. And the leader is heading her way.
