Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75388 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75388 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
“Stay where you are,” my delightfully surly mate tells me. “You will need your energy for later.”
Despite weeks of resonating, I’m still dorky enough to blush and get all turned on, too. I press my thighs together and try not to think about sex too much, because if that happens, my cootie starts to purr, and then his cootie starts to purr, and then we throw down in the snow like a pair of wild animals.
It’s a lot of fun, but it’s also put us behind schedule. With every day that passes, it gets a little colder and a little snowier, and I suspect the brutal season is almost here. That means less time to fool around and more hustle to get home.
Which is why I’m riding on a sled instead of pulling one behind me.
We’ve got two sleds with us, a larger one that Hassen pulls behind him, and a smaller one sized for my frame. Both are full of furs, food supplies, and dried dung for fire fuel. We’ve killed game and skinned and smoked meat as we’ve traveled, adding that to the pile of supplies so we don’t demolish every hunter cave we run across. They’re not completely picked clean, in case someone needs to drop in during an emergency, but they’re definitely down to the bare bones. For now, though, getting supplies to the tribe is the most important thing, and since dragging a sled has left me far too exhausted every day for my mate’s attentions, he’s decided that we should tie both sleds together and I should ride on top while he pulls them. Which sounds ridiculous except…it works. And I’m not passing-out exhausted by the time we stop every night, which leaves us plenty of snuggle time.
My Hassen craves snuggle time.
Okay, I do, too.
“Around the next ridge,” he calls to me as we head into one of the many undulating valleys. “And we shall be at the Elders’ Cave. Are you excited to see your sister?”
“I don’t know if excited is the right word,” I tell him. “I want to see her again, but I’m also a little worried she’s going to lose her lid about you and me.”
I hear him grunt as he digs his feet into the snow, pulling a little harder now that we’re close to our destination. “She will have to learn a safe place to keep her lid, then. I do not intend on losing you.”
I stifle my giggle at his response. I love his sweet words, especially when they’re mixed in with a complete lack of knowledge of human euphemisms. It’s fun. Actually, everything about being with Hassen is fun. I love him. I love our crazy, passionate sex. I love the way he holds me tight like I’m the best thing that’s ever happened to him. I even love our journeying together, though it’s hard. I love everything.
I’m just a little worried that Lila’s reaction to our resonance is going to crap on my happiness.
Because I’m really, really happy. I know I’m supposed to be full of despair or worried about the future since there’s been a cave-in and people are injured and Warrek’s dad is dead. I know there’s a lot to stress over and this place isn’t safe and my sister might never recover her hearing and I’m pregnant at the worst possible time with a baby who’s going to be half-alien and…I’m deliriously happy. Like, crapping-rainbows-and-bluebirds-singing happy. And it’s not just because I’ve been getting dick on the regular—though that certainly helps—but I love Hassen. I love our funny conversations and the way he cares about everything so damn much. I can’t imagine life without him at my side.
My sister is going to have to cope, because I’m not giving him up.
I’m lost in thought, trying to figure out the best way to soft-pedal the news to my sister that I resonated to the enemy when I realize that Hassen’s steps are slowing. “Do you need me to get out and walk for a while, big guy? Because I can. I don’t mind.”
He doesn’t respond, and I see he’s gazing at something up ahead. I turn to look—
And gasp. My stomach tenses and my entire body feels like it’s been dipped in ice.
We’re still a short distance away, but from here, I can see something sticking out over the cliffs. Something with smooth black metal curves that are completely out of place in this jagged, snow-covered landscape.
It’s the Elders’ Ship. And it looks like it’s completely on its side. Oh, shit. “Is that the…it has to be. What does that mean?”
“Hold on,” Hassen tells me. I barely have a chance to do just that before he surges forward, his steps quick as he races over the rest of the distance, heading for the ship. I cling to the leather straps to anchor myself, worrying. If the ship is on its side, then no one can live in there. Heck, I don’t even know if anyone can even use the computers anymore. All of this worries me.