Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 72065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
“Mmm, delicious!” she exclaimed, after chewing and swallowing. “May I feed you a piece as well, my Lord Husband?”
“Of course.” Bear opened his mouth and leaned down—she was so much shorter than him and he didn’t want her to have to reach too far.
Aleena popped a piece of the pastry into his mouth and he started to chew—only to bite down on something hard and metallic.
“Ow!” he mumbled and did his best to swallow the lump of pastry without also swallowing the foreign object he’d bitten into.
When he pulled it out of his mouth, he saw that it was a tiny silver baby, about as big as the last joint of his thumb.
“Oh!” Aleena’s hands flew to her mouth. “The luck baby! You found the luck baby!”
“The what?” Bear frowned down at the shiny baby cupped in the palm of his hand.
“They always bake it into the Joining Loaf,” Aleena explained. “And whoever finds it is supposed to have luck for a whole year!”
“And what your new bride is probably too shy to tell you, is that when the groom finds the luck baby, it means his new bride will certainly conceive the moment he changes the color of her eyes,” the pastry woman added, grinning broadly. “Truly your Joining has been blessed by the Goddess of Mercy!”
“I suppose you must be right.” Bear held out the little silver baby to Aleena. “Would you like it?”
Her eyes shone as she looked up at him.
“Truly? You would give your luck to me?”
“Why not?” Bear said. He smiled at her, trying not to feel guilty when he thought of how soon their Joining was going to end. “You’re the bride—you should have everything you want on your Joining day.”
The idea of the Joining day being special for the bride was a belief the Kindred shared with the humans, whose planet they were currently guarding. And after having met her family, Bear thought that his new mate could certainly use some luck.
“Thank you, my Lord Husband.” Aleena took the luck baby carefully from his palm and hid it somewhere in the folds of her long, split skirt. She smiled up at him shyly.
Looking down into her sparkling pale purple eyes, Bear couldn’t help thinking again how beautiful she was. It was strange—he had never noticed any female since his Zelia had died. It didn’t matter how beautiful a woman was—none of them made any impression on him. But now it seemed he couldn’t stop noticing Aleena’s beauty.
You’d better stop noticing quickly, the little voice in his head muttered. Remember, this Joining isn’t going to last. It doesn’t matter how pretty she is, you can’t keep her!
Which was absolutely true. After his business was concluded, he would have to disavow Aleena and leave her behind while he went back to the Mother Ship alone.
Bear wondered why the idea bothered him so much when he didn’t even really know his new bride. But it didn’t matter—facts were facts and this Joining wasn’t meant to last.
5
ALEENA
The Joining Ceremony reception—such as it was—had gone remarkably well, Aleena couldn’t help thinking. She was still surprised at the way her new husband had spoken to Grindelia and Faleesha. The looks on her stepmother’s and half-sister’s faces were enough to make her want to laugh! But she’d been almost too shocked to see the humor in the situation.
Was it true? Did the Kindred really like ‘curvy women,’ as Ambassador Bearick had phrased it? She dared to look up at her new husband and study him for a moment, since he was currently looking away. She couldn’t help remembering the way he’d looked at her and the way he’d touched her so gently during the ceremony. He seemed like a kind man—maybe he really wasn’t going to beat her when he got angry.
It seemed too good to be true and Aleena decided to reserve judgment.
Just wait and see what happens the first time you displease him, whispered a little voice in her head. See how he reacts if you bring his dinner to the table late or fold his clothes the wrong way. Then you’ll know what he’s really like.
Of course, she would find out even sooner than that, since tonight was their Joining night and he would surely change the color of her eyes. Aleena couldn’t help feeling frightened when she thought of that. Her new Kindred husband was so huge. And a glance down between his legs at the crotch of his tight black trousers let her know that he was huge everywhere.
Dear Goddess, I hope I’ll be able to handle all that, she thought nervously as she looked down at the large ridge in his trousers that seemed to extend almost all the way down to his right knee. Karpsian females didn’t have any maiden barriers to contend with, but like any virgin who has never been with a man before, she was tight and unused. In fact, she’d never had anything bigger than a finger inside her before—and that was her own finger—not one the size of her new husband’s long digits. (Though of course, it was forbidden for a female to explore her private parts, she had dared once or twice, before guilt made her stop.)