She didn’t know what to say to that. The massage had been for her benefit. That was really considerate on his part—if she were leery and intimidated by his size, which he probably thought she was. He couldn’t know that his very bigness was one of the things she found so to her liking.
She felt rather petty at the moment for taking her frustration with his customs out on him. He didn’t personally make the rules that governed how challenge losers were to be treated, after all. And what was a little humiliation, anyway, if she could eventually get an army of these warriors back to Kystran?
“I’m sorry,” she said, willing to make it up to him. “You want the difference, you got it. If you’ll just turn over—”
“No.”
“No?”
“You will use my chest to show me.”
“Oh.”
Her cheeks began to heat as she glanced at his massive chest. Before she even touched it, she could feel that same heat coiling down into her belly. When she did touch it, her arousal came so swiftly, she nearly groaned. His skin was so warm, yet gave little under her gentle kneading; was so silky to her fingertips, yet so muscle-hard. Stars, she wanted to lean forward and kiss his chest, to rub her face over it, to bite it, but he gave no indication that he wanted anything other than the massage. She was so hot for him she should have gone up in smoke, but his eyes were calmness itself as he watched her, his body relaxed, without tension—without arousal.
She leaned back slowly to meet his eyes with bewilderment in hers. “Was I wrong in thinking service in your bedchamber meant we would be sharing sex?”
“Sharing sex?”
He didn’t know what she was talking about. “What did those warriors call it?” she asked herself. “Oh, yes, use.” But he still didn’t comprehend, and it dawned on her that the Sha-Ka’ari, being slaveholders and accustomed to taking their pleasure without giving any back, would have a different name for sex-sharing than these warriors would. “What do you call it when a man and woman come together intimately?”
“Fun.” He grinned, finally understanding.
“I’ll buy that.” She grinned back. “But is that your only word for it?”
“There is joining, mating, giving pleasure. You would call it making love.”
“I would, but you wouldn’t? Why is that?”
“Enough questions for this rising,kerima.Now do we sleep.”
Stars, even talking about it didn’t get him interested. Obviously she was not going to get breached today no matter what she did.
She sighed. “All right, friend, just point me to my bed and I’ll-”
“Your bed is here with me. Did you think it would be otherwise?”
“With as little interest as you’ve shown in wanting to have ‘fun’ with me, yes, actually, I did think it would be otherwise.”
She could have bitten her tongue off for letting that out, especially when it sounded so much like a complaint—and in fact was. But the barbarian chose to ignore it and simply moved over some to make room for her on the fur. There was nothing for it but to lie down beside him, though she wasn’t likely to get much sleep with him so close. She wished he would have the same problem, but thatwasher problem, that it wouldn’t bother him at all.
“Put your arms around me,kerima.”
She looked at him askance. “Have you changed your mind about sleeping?”
“No.”
“Then I’d rather not touch you anymore if it’s all the same to you.”
“But you will.”
Stars, how she was starting to hate those three words. “Am I being punished, Challen?”
“You are being shown the manner in which you will sleep each night. Because it is not yet the time for joining does not mean I do not want you close to me. Do you now do as you were instructed.”
Not yettimefor joining? Were there customs that must be adhered to in this, too, so many days maybe, that he couldn’t take advantage of his challenge win? It made her feel better to think so, which was why she didn’t come right out and ask. At least it meant he wasn’t oblivious to her charms, that he was only practicing his miraculous warrior’s control.
She scooted over and tucked one arm to his side, draping the other over his chest. One of his own arms came around her to hold her there.
