“Niri. Is that the female?”
He nods at me. “That’s her name. What’s yours?”
Oh, he wants to know my name. I squirm in my seat, filled with joy and a touch of arousal. He’s looking at me, so pleased, and it makes me feel all flushed inside…though that could be the temperature in their cave. It is uncomfortably hot in here. “I am called Farli.”
“Farli,” he repeats, and he says it strangely, clipping the sounds with his tongue. I do not even care; it sounds beautiful to my ears. “I like it. Pretty.”
I brim with happiness. “I like your name, too, Cap see-tee.”
He chuckles, and I feel as if he’s touching my teats just withthat delicious laugh. “Cap City isn’t my name. That’s where I come from. I’m sorry if it was confusing to you.” He puts his hand on my knee, and I feel scorched from that small touch. “My full name is Bron Mardok Vendasi, but you can call me Mardok.”
Such a strange name. So long and fluid. I am fascinated by this. Fascinated byhim. “How did you learn my language so fast? Did your cave tell you?” I look around. “I do not see a red beam to shoot into your eye.”
“Huh?”
“That is how we learned the human language. The Elders’ Cave spoke, and we told it to teach us to communicate with them, and it gave us words.” I tap my eye. “A red beam of light went right here and gave me language.”
He rubs his ear. “Translation must be off, because none of that made any sense to me.”
I am crushed. “I apologize.”
“Nothing to apologize for, Farli.” His thumb brushes over my knee, and I feel the liquid warmth sliding between my thighs. I am resonating so very hard right now, and it’s distracting me. “You can call me Cap City if you want.”
“I will call you by your name. Mardok.” I do not say it exactly as he does, but he smiles anyhow, and I feel better.
“What are you doing here, Farli? Near the ship?”
Ship? “Is that what your cave is? A ship?” I look around in wonder. So it is not a cave, after all. Ship. I mentally store the word to share with my chief and the others when I return to the tribe. “And I am hunting with Chahm-pee.” I bite my lip and look back at him, my tail flicking in agitation. “Will he be all right? I do not understand what happened.”
He looks upset. “I jumped the gun. Made a mistake. Niri is working on him right now.”
“She is your healer?” I do not understand everything hesaid, but it can be told another time.
“Of a sort yes.”
“Will he live?” I feel the tears approach again. “He is fearless because I have raised him since he was a kit. He does not know to be afraid of sa-khui. He does not think he is food. He is a pet.”
Mardok looks even more pained at my words. “It’s my fault. I’m going to make this right for you, I promise.”
I do not understand how it is his fault. Did he make the flash attack Chahm-pee? “The healer will cure him,” I reassure him, though I do not know if this is true. “All will be well.”
He studies me. “I have a million things I want to ask you, Farli.”
“And I, you. We are one.” I wait for him to bring up our resonance, but when my khui sings louder to him and he remains silent, I realize…I am the only one resonating. It is like when Vektal met Shorshie and he told us that she did not resonate until she had a khui. Oh. I am disappointed to realize he does not feel what I do. Well, I must simply go back to the tribe and organize a hunting party to go after a sa-kohtsk so my mate can remain here with me. I have so many things I need to tell him, but when I look back at him and he is half-naked and his skin is covered with the strange, whirling designs, I am distracted by his nearness.
Some hunter I am. A handsome stranger walks in front of me and my mind turns to scrambled eggs, like the kind Stay-see makes for breakfast.
“How did you get here? To this place? And aren’t you cold?” He crouches near my feet, looking up at me expectantly.
“Cold? In here? I am sweating.” I fan my face with my hand. It seems easier to blame my flustered, heated cheeks on the warm air than my own need. “It feels nice outside.Good weather.”
He looks surprised. “This is good weather?”
“In the brutal season, it is much, much worse. More snow. The air is so cold it hurts to breathe in.” I shrug. “But then it warms all over again and the suns come out.”
He shakes his head. “Kef me. That’s incredible. And it doesn’t bother you? The cold?”
“The khui keeps me warm.” I tap my breast. “The humans were cold before they had theirs put in. You will be fine once you acquire one.”
