“Mamanalways told me to,” she said quietly, keeping my eyes bravely.
“Mam—an?” I repeated, brow furrowing.
“My mother,” she told me.
“Is that a different language than the universal tongue?”
“I think so,” she said. When her eyes strayed, she seemed to remember my command quickly and they darted back to me. “There were many languages on Old Earth. My mother called her mothermaman, who called her mothermaman.As a way to remember. But I am also certain so much has already been lost.”
My lips pulled down. Her voice was gentle, soothing even, but I sensed her sadness. For the first time, I wondered about thevekkiriand what they’d lost. The Old War had destroyed their colonies in space and forced them to scatter across the universe, searching for a new home. I knew little of their home planet or of their cultures. Not many did.
“And why did your mother tell you to hide the color of your hair?” I asked, absorbing this information quickly.
“Because it is unnatural for someone so young. I was born with white hair. My mother always told me it was because I’d been born afraid, that all my mother’s fear after the Old War had transferred itself into me and because of that…I was different. I would draw attention, unneeded attention. Especially among the Dakkari.”
I grunted.
“One of theVorakkarhad golden hair,” she murmured softly. “But other than him, I have never seen another like me. None human, at least, unless they were an elder.”
Rath Tuviri’s golden hair was perhaps the reason hewasaVorakkar. Or, at least, the reason why he’d been allowed into the Trials. Because his mother had wanted it and as theDothikkar’sfavored concubine…she’d succeeded in bending his will.
Femalesweredangerous and Rath Tuviri’s mother had manipulated theDothikkarby his cock.
“And when I was young, my mother had a dream that I would be taken away,” she confessed softly. “She always believed it was because I was different and she was so afraid, for so long.”
“Then you did not take all her fear,” I commented.
“No,” she said. “A horde came to my village when I was a young girl. One of the Dakkari saw me and I—I still remember the look on his face. He wasfrightened,almost. My mother thought they would take me right then, so she quickly led me away, slipped out from the village, and hid me in the woods nearby until the horde passed on. The next day, she made a hood that I wore. And if it was too hot for it, she would conceal my hair with a mixture of earth and soot, to darken it.”
Yet, her eyes would still have given her away, I thought to myself. A grey so light they almost matched the beautiful hair she’d tried to hide.
Unable to help myself, I reached forward and caught a strand beneath my fingertips. Her pink lips parted and my gaze was drawn down to them. Mykakkivahardened further when I thought of those soft lips on my flesh.
Her breathing changed, becoming quicker.
With her tone soft, she said, “Are you satisfied with my story?”
I grunted.
Not nearly.
But there was panic in her gaze that bloomed the longer I gazed at her.
“I make you nervous,” I purred. “Why?”
“W-why?” she asked, her eyes widening. “You know why.”
“Because you fear theVorakkars? Because everything frightens you, as you claim?” I lowered my voice, leaning closer. “Or because you know that once we reach my horde, I will take you to my furs to make good on our agreement?”
Her breath hitched when I reached between us to adjust my thickening cock in my trews. I thought her eyes would grow so wide they’d pop from her skull when she saw my length outlined along the hide.
She turned away, an enticing bright red coloring her cheeks.
Vienne’s voice came out a little strangled as she said, “It’s your turn.”
The corner of my mouth rose in a lazy smirk. “For what?”
“I told you about my hair. As you wanted.”
