“I said ‘much.’ She knows some,” I answered, gazing down at Vienne also, who had reached forward to take alobbasroot, not thewrissan. She’d most likely learned some of our language from the Ghertun, which was…troubling.
“She is quite beautiful,” Arinu commented, reaching down with a gentle touch to stroke Vienne’s hair. “I have never seen a creature like her.”
Neither have I, I thought to myself but didn’t voice it.
“Eat, little one,” Arinu ordered, touching her fingers to her own lips to demonstrate her words. I watched as Vienne nodded. Arinu turned back towards me, keeping her gaze on my throat. “Send for more if it is not enough. I know how much you need to eat. We are glad to have you home,Vorakkar.”
The older Dakkari female departed thevolikithen, just as the males were finishing with the washing tub. I dismissed them and once we were alone again, I began to undress.
Vienne’s breath hitched. I could hear the way the air whistled through her slim nostrils and my tail twitched in amusement. I unstrapped my sword, my daggers, shrugging off the furs I wore around my shoulders. Next, I unlaced my trews, tugging them down my legs.
As I stepped past her, my tail dragged over her leg and I heard her soft gasp of surprise.
“Shy now,leikavi?” I rasped, watching her gaze dip down to my cock before it flitted away just as quickly. “When before you had ached to watch me?”
Color flamed her cheeks and she reached forward, grabbing anotherlobbasfrom the dish and popping it between her lips. So she wouldn’t have to answer?
My lips curled and I shook my head, stepping into the washing tub. With a deep groan, I slid into the hot water, feeling the heat seep into my knotted muscles, loosening and soothing them. The gash across my pectoral from the Killup’s blade had already healed after their leader had given me the blue balm. If anything, that balm had helped speed my recovery and I couldn’t help but wonder what other plants the Killup grew in their land.
I felt her gaze on me. She had anotherlobbaspoised near her lips but she seemed to have grown…distracted.
I sensed she was a needful, sensual creature. That night in the forest—which made my cock hard whenever I thought of it—had proved that. She might fear me but she’d been so aroused that night I had been able to smell it. Her skin had been hot and flushed, her gaze rapt and eager.
I wondered if she was untried, if she’d ever experienced that animalistic frenzy of sex…but then a darker thought came to me. The Ghertun were known to rape and pillage when they attacked settlements. It didn’t matter if they were human, or Killup, or Nrunteng settlements. The Ghertun were conquerors, which was what led to the destruction of theirownplanet, long ago. It was in their blood.
“Tell me,kalles,” I murmured, “what your experience with mating has been.”
Her full, pink lips parted, those grey eyes flickering.
“W-what?”
“Willing, or otherwise,” I finished quietly.
She understood what I was asking her.
“I…I have not been raped,” she admitted, though the set of her jaw told me something went unspoken. “Not by the Ghertun. Or Dakkari. Or anyone.”
Relief pierced through me. How relieved I felt should have worried me but I told myself it was only because I intended for her to warm my furs…and if she didn’t think me a monster while she did, it would be infinitely more pleasurable for both of us. The things I could show her…
Her tone was slightly defensive and beguiling as she added, “I—I have had sex. I think.”
I made a bewildered sound in my throat. “You think?” I repeated, narrowing my eyes.
I could tell she hadn’t meant to say anything. Her cheeks were the reddest I’d ever seen them. That flush even extended down the column of her neck and thatfascinatedme.
Unconsciously, I leaned forward in the washing tub, my gaze riveted on her.
“Tell me,leikavi,” I murmured, trying to soften my tone.
“No,” she said quickly. “I—I didn’t mean to…”
She trailed off. On the tray, she saw the goblets of brew Arinu had brought and took a swift sip from one, only to cough as the potent wine burned down her throat. This wine was not watered down, not like the wine I’d given her inDothik.
“Let us trade then. A story for a story,lysi?” I murmured, knowing she liked stories.
Once she was done coughing, I knew my words intrigued her. She wiped the back of her hand over her lips, her grey eyes calculating.
“What story will you tell me?”
