“The water flows too slowly. Too shallow. Not safe without boiling.” He huffs out a breath.
He must be as thirsty as me. At what point do I quit? Will he follow me until we are both dead?
I shake my head. I’m not going to die. “So we follow it upstream? It must get bigger?”
He laughs. “No, some are always a trickle. If I had my gear, I could boil it, but I don’t.”
I don’t need to ask why. He raced after me and followed me to keep me safe when he should’ve turned back. I’m glad he didn’t. Without water, I’d be halfway dead already.
He follows the stream and I follow him.
It’s harder going, stepping over plants and tree roots and tripping over rocks. He reaches out to catch me and stands me upright.
“We continue until you are done with your quest to return to a tribe where you are one of many mates instead of being treasured.” Then he releases me and keeps walking.
“If you want to take me back, do it already,” I snarl.
“No.” He glances at me without turning his head. “A woman must choose her mate. I cannot choose you. There are other warriors at our ship whom you might prefer.”
I want to yell at him that I’d prefer anyone other than him, but he’s here when he doesn’t need to be. “You’d take me back to choose one of them?”
“If that’s what you want.”
“It’s not what you want.”
“It is not.” He quickens his pace, walking toward a tree that leans over the stream—which has gotten no bigger or quicker.
“Are you expecting me to have sex with you for helping me?”
“No…” He gives me a curious look. “Among my people, a man only has sex with his mate.” Then he climbs the tree, standing on the lowest branches. “Catch the fruit.”
I hold out my shirt away from my stomach as a makeshift basket. Not three seconds later, something cucumber shaped and sized, expect fuzzy and yellow drops into my shirt. I yelp, even though I knew he was going to drop something.
“Are you all right?”
“Fine.” I stare at the fruit, not sure if it needs peeling or if I’m supposed to eat the rather furry outside.
He drops another four of the things before jumping down. “Not water, but juicy.” He sniffs one. “Overripe as it’s the end of the season, but still good.”
I watch as he breaks one in half and peels back the furry skin. The inside is a dirty green color. He takes a couple of bites and chews thoughtfully before swallowing with a sound that could only be something between relief and satisfaction.
“Would you like to try?” He offers it to me, holding it so I can take a bite.
At this point, I don’t even care that it might be poisonous to humans. So far, nothing his kind has eaten has been harmful. I take a cautious nibble in case it tastes terrible.
It’s not sweet the way I was expecting, though not sour either. It’s kind of sharp tasting. Not unpleasant, but I wouldn’t eat it by choice either.
He laughs at the face I must be pulling. “When ripe, it is sweet. Like nectar. The animals like it too. Now, it attracts cloud-seekers to spread its seeds. I had to choose ones that weren’t half eaten.” Aldit quickly eats the other half and tosses the peel on the ground. He holds the other half for me. “Eat.”
I juggle my grip on the furry cucumbers to take the half he is offering to me. He takes another one and eats it as though starving, then strips off his shirt to take the remaining ones from me.
I watch the way his muscles move as he makes the bag out of his shirt and places them in it, as though worried about bruising them. Dark markings run from the back of his hands, up his arms, over his shoulders, and up his neck. He catches me watching and smiles.
His eyes are as yellow as the furry cucumbers.
My heartbeat quickens as though I find him attractive with his oversized eyes, muscles, and size. My gaze drops to the front of his pants. Now there is no shirt to hide what is there. Is that also oversized?
I swallow and the trickle of juice down my throat is welcome, so I concentrate on eating. When I finish my cucumber I immediately want another, but waiting to see if this one causes any ill effects is the smart move. Though why I’m worried about making smart choices now, I don’t know.
