Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust to the darkness, but I can tell immediately that I’rec has made himself at home. The pile of furs that make up my bed has doubled, and there’s a bunch of hunting junk near the entrance. I’rec bends over my fire pit, poking at a few roots roasting near the coals. He straightens the moment I enter, his hard expression roaming over me as my khui gets loud and excited at the sight of him.
He grunts. “I have been waiting. Your food is almost burned.” He points at my cushion near the fire. “Come sit and eat.”
“I’m really not all that hungry—”
“You are going to eat to keep your strength,” he tells me in that bossy I’rec voice of his, using a carved bone skewer to pull one of the roasting roots out of the fire. “And tomorrow I am going to repair your fire pit. You need larger stones around it. Who put this together for you? R’jaal?” His lip curls as if the thought disgusts him.
“I did,” I snap, annoyed at his bossiness. “And it’s fine.”
I’rec gestures at the door with his skewer. “You need a larger cover for that, too. It is going to let all the wind in. I will make you a better one tomorrow.”
Pisting yawa, this alien is going to piss me off, isn’t he? By the time Tia gets here, I’m going to throw him at her. Glaring, I thump down on my seat next to my fire. Is he deliberately trying to make me angry? Because if so, it’s working. Insulting the hut I put the finishing touches on myself because I had no mate? It’s not the way to get me in the mood to have sex.
He stabs the root with a smaller skewer for eating, sprinkles herbs on it, and then hands it to me. “I know this is the way you like your food.” He gets to his feet and sniffs the pouch over the fire. “Your tea will be ready soon.”
Some of my annoyance eases. He’s taking care of me, and that’s not something I’m used to. When was the last time someone fussed over me specifically? Not since I was back home and Nanay made me a special birthday dinner and tsked at my (then) short hair and lamented why I was single even as she stuffed me full of food.
Now my hair is long, and she’d be happy that she’d be getting a grandchild. Thinking about her makes me a little sad, and I nibble on my root.
“You were gone a while.” He sounds surly.
“I was,” I agree. “I needed to think.”
“How did R’jaal take things?” He tips a cup into the pouch of tea and then holds it out to me. “Was he furious?”
I shrug. “He took it pretty well, actually.”
I’rec grunts. “Surprising.”
Is it? I eye him over my cup and take a sip, then another bite of food. I’rec skewers a bit of meat and holds it over the fire, and I know that’s for me, too. The man is trying to stuff me like a turkey. He frowns as he turns the meat, and I wonder if he’s thinking of how he’s going to break the news to Tia. I’ve been thinking about that, too. She’s bound to be hurt. “You’ll need to be careful with how you approach things with Tia. You had more of a promise between the two of you than I did with R’jaal. She’s going to be hurt. You should probably start with telling her that it’s all resonance based, the connection between you and me. That you didn’t want to sleep with me, and that you still don’t. That you held out for her all this time but resonance took us both by surprise and that’s why we fucked. Not because we wanted to.”
He stiffens and shoots me a grumpy look. “I will handle T’ia.”
“I’m just saying, be gentle with her.”
He turns and gives me an incredulous stare. “Why does everyone keep saying I am not gentle?”
Wow, that was a big reaction. Surprised, I shrug. “Because you’re I’rec. You’re more ferocious and determined than gentle and easygoing.”
I thought that was obvious, but he only seems more irritated. His expression turns dangerous, his eyes narrowing as he regards me. “I can be gentle.”
Oooookay. “I’m sure you can.”
As I take another bite of the root, he sets the roasting meat aside, wedging it between two rocks so it can continue to hang near the flames. Then, he turns his gaze toward me once more, and slides closer. “You sound as if you do not believe me.”
My khui grows louder, fascinated at this new aspect to I’rec. I lean away slightly, both unnerved and aroused as he moves to my side, his arm brushing against me. “I believe you.”