Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 106646 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 533(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 355(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106646 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 533(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 355(@300wpm)
I wait for her to acknowledge this. To smile and fall into my arms with a happy sigh. This has solved all of our problems, she will realize soon, and she will give me her heart as well as her body. She…
She takes one look at my ecstatic face and bursts into tears.
I pat her back, confused. She burrows against my chest, hiding her face and sobbing against my throat. At first, I cannot think of anything but her nearness. The way she fits so perfectly against me. My khui sings and sings, telling me to drag her to my hut and claim her as my own. That this is the moment I have waited for, and I should not have to wait any longer. But when her weeping grows even louder, I stroke her back and try to comfort her, because I do not like the sound of her sadness. "B'shit, do not cry," I whisper to her. "I do not like that your first response to resonating with me is tears."
"Yeah, well," B'shit sniffs and pulls away from me. "You think you smile and everything should fall into your lap."
I laugh, squeezing her tight. "You are in my lap."
Her face crumples and she just cries harder.
I wipe at her tears, frustrated with them. "Tell me why this upsets you so. I have told you how I feel about you. I have told you that you have my heart. Now resonance has confirmed that we are to be together. Why does this make you weep?"
"Because it's not that easy," B'shit says between hiccupping gulps of air. "There's a reason why we didn't work out the first time."
"I still do not know what that reason is," I say to her. "You have never said and I cannot guess."
She takes a deep breath and stares at the ground.
That is still not an answer. I touch my fingers under her chin. "Is it so hard to say?"
"It's what I wanted to talk to you about," B'shit says, finally looking up. "I'll talk about everything in therapy."
I do not recognize this word. "There-hap-ee?"
She grabs my hand and takes it between hers, squeezing. "It's a human thing. It means we talk with a neutral party and discuss the things that bother us so we can air them out in the open and move past them. We need to start over, you and me. And I think therapy is the best way to do it."
"It is a…talking space?" I try to understand. "But we are talking now."
"It's a talking space," she agrees, her eyes bright. "We talk and someone else is there with us. They help us discuss things without being mean to each other, so it won't turn into an argument. It's like…in the game." She lifts a hand briefly from mine and waves it at the beach. "Where Lauren was running things. She didn't play, because she needed to focus on keeping things running smoothly. That's kinda like this. You and I are in the game." She lifts our clasped hands. "We need someone to keep us on track. Steph is going to do it for us. She has experience in this sort of thing."
What she says makes sense. We do argue far more than I would like, but I also do not think I am the one to blame for a lot of those arguments. B'shit gets upset and closes down, and then no amount of talking gets her to speak. "Why do we not just speak now? We are here alone. If you have something to say to me, I will listen."
Her expression grows sad again. "I need this, A'tam. I'm not good at talking about things." She drops her gaze again. "I think it's a good idea and it would mean a lot to me if we could do it."
B'shit looks so very sad again that I feel guilty for even questioning. I reach up and tweak a lock of her mane, tugging on it to get her attention. "If it means this much to you, I will do the talk space."
It is the right thing to say. B'shit's face lights up and her eyes shine. Her hands tremble on mine. "You mean it?"
I nod. "Do we start this night, then?"
She shakes her head. "In the morning. I…I'm not ready tonight."
I am more than ready. Resonance hums through me, sending waves of both pleasure and hunger through my body. Her scent envelops me, and it would not take much for me to reach out and pull her back into my lap, to settle her hips upon my cock. It is private enough here on the beach. No one would notice we were mating…and if they did, they would not care. I reach out with my free hand and brush my knuckles along her delicate jaw, unable to resist touching my mate. "What about tonight? Should we go tell the others we have resonated?"