Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 32810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 164(@200wpm)___ 131(@250wpm)___ 109(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 164(@200wpm)___ 131(@250wpm)___ 109(@300wpm)
"Mmm," is all she says.
A moment later, when the male has his garbage cleared, I move toward the seat with Ashley and she sits down across from me. There's a low rumble of conversation through the room, and one of the older females at the bar gives a braying laugh. I turn to Ashley. "Do you like fried leaves?"
She leans in, her eyes going a little wider. "What?"
"Fried leaves? And brew?" I pitch my voice louder, and someone nearby glares at me as if I'm the one making a scene. I glare back.
Ashley crosses her arms over her chest, and I could swear she hunches in her seat. "Whatever is fine. I'm not all that hungry."
She'd been smiling a short time ago and now she looks as she did when I first met her—hunted and cagey. This isn't good. This isn't what I want for our date. Frustrated with myself for picking this, I head to the bar and get a basket of fried leaves (a personal favorite of mine) and a skewer of the meaty bits that humans seem to enjoy. I get two brews, too, and head back to our table after tossing a few credits down for the bartender.
Ashley offers me a slight smile as I hold the skewer out to her. "Thank you."
"Are you a meat eater?"
"Mmm." She glances around the room, nodding. "It is."
All right, that made no sense. I decide to test things as she takes the skewer between delicate fingers. "You know, my cock's much bigger than that skewer. Twice, in fact. Big around as your arm, too."
"Mmm?" is all Ashley says, nibbling on a piece of meat.
"First time I ever slept with a female, she screamed in horror at the sight," I continue, embellishing the story. "Said it was the most horrific thing she'd ever seen. Said the warts were the worst. Do you…want to see it?"
She gives me a bright smile, nodding.
Yeah. She's not able to hear a word of this. I reach over and snag her skewer and pick up my basket of leaves. "We're not staying here for our date."
Ashley looks up at me in surprise as I steal her food. "Hey!"
I tilt my head toward the door, indicating she should follow me. She grabs a sip of her drink and then follows after me, glancing back at the cantina one last time as we head out.
"Sorry about that," I tell her the moment we get outside. I hand her back the skewer. "I just needed some air."
"Didn't want anyone seeing that you're out with a lowly human?" Ashley jokes, tilting her head up at me. "If you want to finish your beer I can wait out here and pretend I don't know you. This date was your idea anyhow."
She eats another cube of the meat on her stick and gives me a casual look, but I suspect she's a little hurt under her bravado. There's something about the set of her shoulders, the slightly defensive expression on her face that reminds me…of me. That she's teasing to hide her feelings.
And I don't want that for her. Not at all. So I sling an arm around her shoulders, ignoring how she stiffens against me, and lean in to whisper into her tiny human ear. "I actually want to talk to you, not have you pretend you can understand me when you can't hear a thing."
Ashley jerks back and looks up at me in surprise. "What did I miss?"
"The part where I asked you if you wanted to see my wart-covered cock that was the size of my thigh. You just smiled and nodded."
Her shoulders shake, and for a moment, I worry I've gone too far. Her hand lifts to her face and then I can see her eyes crinkling, and she's laughing.
I breathe a sigh of relief. "I'm glad you're not going to punch me for such a suggestion. It's really not all that warty."
She giggles harder, this time her laughter audible. "So…there are some warts?" She wheezes, her hand going to her mouth to cover it, as if her laughter is a forbidden thing. "And it's still the size of your thigh?"
"Of course. I would never admit to otherwise. I am a male, after all," I tease. I keffing love that reluctant, shy laughter of hers. I'm fascinated by her sweet response and that she doesn't pull away as we walk. I've a real urge to slide my tail around her waist, staking another claim on her, but that'd be a little too much too soon, I suspect. "And I brought you out so we could talk. I hope you don't mind a late night walk as we eat instead."
Ashley looks up at me, smiling. "As long as it's safe? We were told to stay home at night and to lock our doors."