Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 85272 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85272 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
After a few long moments, the H’raken man pulled back and examined his wife’s palm. To Brav’s surprise, the long, ugly cut was completely gone. In fact, there wasn’t even a scar in its place—just healthy skin without any markings on it at all.
“My sweet one—you have healed me again,” Teezle murmured, looking lovingly into her husband’s eyes.
“As I will always heal you, my heart,” Gosef replied. Still on his knees before her, he leaned forward and Teezle leaned down and in another moment, they were making out like a pair of horny adolescents, Brav thought.
So apparently the urge to exhibit their love in front of others was a H’raken trait—not just a characteristic peculiar to Kozen and his own wife, Navii. Brav heaved a mental sigh. Wonderful—just wonderful.
“You see?” Kozen said, smiling at him as the weaver couple continued to kiss and fondle each other. “No cause for alarm! As long as one’s other half is nearby, there is almost no injury which cannot be healed with the power of the Mother Stone.”
“That’s pretty impressive,” Brav admitted, averting his eyes from Gosef and Teezle, who were now rolling on the floor together. He wondered uneasily how far they were willing to go with people watching them. Didn’t the H’rakens have any sense of privacy at all?
“Why? Are your people not able to heal their mates?” Kozen asked, looking surprised.
“Well, some of us can,” Brav said carefully. Technically, he ought to be able to heal a mate or a female his body wanted to mate with using the essence from his fangs. But being a hybrid, his fangs had never grown very long or sharp or produced any of the pale blue liquid that Blood Kindred used to heal and bond their mates to them.
Not until recently, anyway, whispered a little voice in his head and he couldn’t help thinking of how the very first time he’d met Danielle, his fangs had gotten so sharp he’d nearly cut his tongue on them. What was it about the curvy little female that drove his body so crazy?
Not just your body—your mind, too. Even now you’re thinking about her when you ought to be concentrating on the mission, the little voice pointed out accusingly.
Well, that was true enough. Brav cleared his throat.
“Er…do you think they’ll be done any time soon?” he asked, nodding discretely at Teezle and Gosef who were still making out on the floor in front of the loom. “I thought we were going to be late to the feast?”
“Well, we must give Teezle time to thank Gosef properly for healing her,” Kozen objected. “I’m certain they will finish in a moment.”
A long moment later, the weaver and her husband finally got up off the floor. Both of them were sweaty and panting, but they were beaming at each other and holding hands like kids that have just fallen in love, Brav thought.
“Forgive us,” Gosef said. “Now, Kozen—how can we help you?”
“I came to ask if Teezle could find a pair of feasting trousers for our new friend, Bravik,” Kosen reminded him.
“Oh yes—of course. Well, my love?” Gosef turned expectantly to his wife.
“Of course we can get you what you need,” she said, smiling broadly. “I have some fabric ready right now to make feasting trousers. Of course, I was planning to make two or three pairs out of it,” she added, laughing as she looked at Brav. “But I think it’s just enough to make one pair for a male your size.”
“Thank you very much.” He nodded gratefully, hoping that he wasn’t expected to make any kind of display of sexual affection to thank her properly. But apparently, that rule was only between spouses because Teezle nodded and everyone seemed satisfied by his thanks.
The H’raken woman really was an amazing seamstress. In no time, she had a pair of the same, loose white trousers all the men of the village wore, ready for Brav to try on.
“You can wear your boots with them,” Kozen told him. “For I don’t think we have time to get any sandals made in your size.”
That worked fine for Brav, who hadn’t wanted to give up his boots anyway. But what he couldn’t wear with the white linen trousers were his uniform shirt and his underbriefs.
“But I’m…exposed,” he said to Kozen, when the other male told him his underbriefs would have to go. “Why aren’t underclothes allowed in H’raken society?”
“Why, because!” Kozen looked shocked. “How can your lovely spouse massage you or stroke you in thanks when you do something for her with all those layers of clothing in the way? It’s far better to be bare beneath your trousers—that way she can reach in and grip your shaft whenever she wishes.”
Under no circumstances could Brav imagine the prickly Dr. Danielle Adams reaching into his trousers to jerk him off just for the hell of it. But there didn’t seem to be anything he could do—he was stuck wearing the white linen trousers which didn’t do much at all to hide the outline of his heavy shaft.