Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 76583 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76583 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
“You know what I mean,” he all but growls at me.
“I do.” I reach up and tap a finger on his nose, because when I’m comfortable, I like to be playful with my partner, and I want to see how he responds. He recoils in shock, rubbing the tip of his nose. “Very well then, I shall believe you. I will tell you no if I don’t feel like kissing you or touching you. And you should tell me no if I do something that makes you uncomfortable, like me touching your nose.”
He continues to rub the end of his nose, his face drawn in lines of disapproval. “I am not uncomfortable.”
I want to laugh because his words say one thing and his expression another. I am going to have to go by his words, then, and assume that Ranan’s scowls are just normal for him and not to be taken that he is in a poor mood. I reach for him again. “So I can tap your nose as much as I want?”
He snags my hand before I can do so. “I did not say that.”
There’s a teasing note in his voice that I like. It makes me a little bolder. “I know right now, I’m not at my best, but I would like to kiss you at some point. Just so we can see what it is like between us. It will be a strange marriage if we have no spark, after all.”
“And do you think that will happen? That there will be no spark?”
I give him a sly smile. “No. I’m good at making sparks.”
His ears go back against his head again, and I wonder if that’s the Ranan version of a blush. “I would like to kiss.”
Now we’re getting somewhere. I lean in close, full of curiosity and anticipation.
His gaze drops to my mouth again…and then he jumps to his feet. “Perhaps tomorrow we will try it,” he says, tone brusque. “After you have had a chance to rest and feel better. Explore the grotto. I will get some fish and make sure Akara is situated.”
Before I can say anything else, he dives into the pool and disappears, and I’m left surrounded by riches. I cross my arms over my chest and frown at the ripple he left. By all the gods, are all sea-ogres skittish or is it just this one? I wait for him to come back, to tell me that he changed his mind and he wants to kiss me now after all.
I wait for a long time.
Chapter
Thirteen
RANAN
My heartbeat pounds in my ears as I swim into deeper waters. Vali is safe in my grotto, and so I can hunt for the bigger fish, the larger fin-backs with the tough hide and chewy meat. They reside in the darker waters of the sea, where the reefs drop off to colder temperatures, and they’re dangerous, but they also have the best skin. It dries and makes a flexible, waterproof leather if treated properly. Vali will need clothes and gear of her own. Belts, shoes—she needs everything.
I should be thinking about hunting a fin-back right now, but it will be impossible to do any sort of hunting with both of my cocks standing at attention.
All because she touched my arm.
I ignore it at first. There’s nothing to do but ignore my body’s reaction to her. I’m not going to return to her side and demand that she touch me. Just thinking about her, though, makes my cocks stay erect, and when the ache continues despite the chill of the water, I grit my teeth and take myself in hand. I tread water with two slashing arms while my other two hands frantically work my cocks. It’s not a satisfying release, and I swim away from the ropes of seed I’ve left behind, ashamed of my actions.
She’s my wife. She has agreed to be my female, and I have decided to keep her. Why am I being like this? If I went to her right now, she would welcome me with open arms.
And that is exactly the problem. Vali is far too eager, and we barely know each other. For her to fling herself at me feels…false. She is eager because she is anxious, not because she wants me. I know I am not a great speaker, and that I can be abrupt. I am more silent than talkative around her. We are strangers. Bedding her seems wrong.
Yet the more I push her away, the more I hurt her feelings and make her fret. There has to be a solution that will satisfy both of us.
I ponder this endlessly as I swim, looking for a school of fin-backs. I find nothing, though, and return to the cave empty-handed and chilled.
Vali has been busy while I was gone—a large area near the fire pit has been cleared out, the bags I toss carelessly into the grotto neatly organized and tidied. Statues have been lined up along the cave wall and golden dishes stacked in a semblance of organization. The fire is nothing but coals, but the scent of food lingers in the air.