He stopped the dance with his eyes wide. “I think you have nailed it.”
She nodded and leaned in. “The important thing is, can you hear me now?”
Terus smiled and nodded. “I definitely can.”
“Great.”
Xeti took over and spun her away again. He murmured, “So, you know I need to show you my beast.”
She snorted. “Whatever you want to call it.”
He laughed.
“I am not afraid of spiders or scorpions, no matter how big.” She looked at him. “Just don’t make any moves with multiple legs or those stinging hairs.”
He stroked her neck as they moved gracefully in the open space. “I agree. While I might want to pick you up and haul you into my burrow, sex under those circumstances would be out of the question. No shenanigans in our other forms. Defense only.”
“Make sure Terus agrees, and we are good. You can whip out your beast as soon as I am not staying with Eden. That might be a step too far for her.”
“Will you let us take you into the jungle and show you?”
Terus was at her back. “Yes, can we show you?”
She looked from one dark face to the other. “Sure. Let’s just get it over with so you don’t need to be twitchy anymore.”
They each kissed a side of her neck and then walked with her out of the palace and into the shadows beyond.
They found their way down to the beach, and it gave them privacy without confinement. She sat on a rock and said, “Either of you can go first. I would suggest full beast and then walking it back a little.”
Xeti nodded. “Fair enough. Here we go.”
The moonlight and starlight showed her the twelve-foot-high tarantula, followed by the fourteen-foot-long scorpion, which moved toward her, using their mouthparts to confirm her identity. “Okay, back off. Now for the messed-up centaurs.”
The arachnids backed up, and Xeti was perched on a thorax with six legs, his arms completing the set of eight. Terus reared up, wearing quite a bit of insect armour down his arms, chest, and back.
“Wow, Terus. How far can your tail reach?”
The tail reached over him and slammed six feet in front of him.
She looked at the dripping stinger as it lifted out of the sand. “Noted.”
She looked at Xeti. “And you have venomous fangs in your mouth.”
“To be frank, I have them when I am in my alpha shape as well.”
Terus shrugged. “Me, too.”
She snorted. “Yes, I am aware of that.”
Xeti silently moved toward her and picked her up. “Care to go for a ride?”
“Are you offering a choice?”
“I just wanted to hold you. So, where are you staying?”
“At a place Eden rented. Near the town.”
He nodded and looked at Terus. “Invisibility on. Let’s go for a walk.”
