“Yes,” she whispered, meeting his eyes.
Relief went through him.
“Do you?” she asked.
He grinned, reaching forward to brush back that stubborn strand of hair that kept tickling her cheek. “Oh,tev.”
Her cheeks reddened and she glanced back down to the tablet, breaking their gaze.
“You should,” he murmured. “Begin writing your book. There is nothing stopping you,tev?”
She set her tablet aside with a shuddering exhale, her eyes straying to the tray of food.
“You should eat,” she said, changing the subject. “You must be hungry.”
“Have you eaten?”
She nodded, meeting his eyes again. “When you were asleep. That’s all for you.”
Cruxan dragged the tray towards him. It was a lot of food, but Cruxan felt like he could eat three times as much. Reaching for the goblet of Brew, he made a face after he took a long drink.
Her small chuckle made him look over at her. “What is that?” she asked.
“Luxirian Brew,” he told her. “I would offer you some, but it is best taken warm. There is nothing like warm Luxirian Brew, especially here inKroratax.”
She suppressed her grin. “I’ll take your word for it.”
Crystal watched as he started in on the tray of meat, seemingly fascinated by watching him eat, some of her earlier shyness gone.
It gladdened him. He liked her shy, but he also liked when she was curious and unapologetic about it.
“Do you have to do anything today with Lihvan?” she asked, shortly after he’d polished off the tray. “I can get out of your hair if you’ll be busy.”
He frowned at her strange human expression, but he shook his head, “Nix. My only plan is to stay here with you.” He crawled back up to her and her breath went a little uneven when he warned her softly, “I do plan on kissing you more. Much, much more. So,tev, I suppose I will be very busy.”
“Oh really?” she whispered, her eyes flickering down to his lips.
“Tev,” he growled. Then an idea occurred to him, something she might like. “Actually, there is somewhere I would like to take you. Once it’s dark.”
“Where?” she questioned.
“A surprise,” he said. “A place inKrorataxI like to visit often. Will you let me take you?”
“Are you asking me out on a date, Cruxan?” she asked, her tone teasing.
“A date?” he repeated, his language implant giving him an idea what she meant. “Like how humans court one another?”
“That makes it sound so old,” she noted, smiling. Then she said, “But yes, I suppose.”
“Thentev,” he said, “I am asking you out on this date. Will you come?”
Her small laugh made everything in him light up.
“Yes,” she said, “I will.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“When did you do this?” Crystal asked, surprised, picking up his hand and inspecting his claws.
