Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 94582 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94582 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
“Hey—didn’t I tell you I’d follow your lead? I just want access to the scene and the evidence,” he rumbled, still frozen in place.
“And that’s all you’ll get—if I say so,” Sky snapped.
Though she was trying not to notice, something was bothering her. Maybe it was the heat of his big body radiating against hers now that she was pressed against him. Or maybe it was the fact that he smelled really good—warm and spicy instead of the dry, slightly acrid scent of the Serpentines which she was used to. But whatever it was, she was beginning to feel hot and achy between her legs. Also, her nipples—which were rubbing against his back—felt more sensitive for some reason.
“Fine—you’re in charge. Am I trying to fight you?” He held his hands up carefully in a gesture of peace.
Actually, it irritated Sky even more that he wasn’t trying to fight.
“I’m still not sure you’ve learned your lesson,” she hissed in his ear.
“What else do you want me to do?” he demanded hoarsely. “If you want me to back off completely, I can’t do that. There are twelve dead females—thirteen counting the Ambassador here—and a fucking serial killer running loose. I’m not going to stop until I catch him. Until we catch him,” he added quickly, when Sky pressed the point of her dagger a little deeper into the side of his thick neck. “Damn it—what more do you want?”
“I want you to stop looking at me that way,” Sky snapped. “With your eyes half-lidded and that…that almost hungry expression on your face. Like I’m something to eat.”
To the big Kindred’s credit, he didn’t pretend not to understand.
“All right—I know I’ve been letting my eyes wander,” he growled. “But damn it, can you blame me? You’re fucking gorgeous and I can see everything you’ve got through that fucking mesh bodysuit you’re wearing! I’m a male for the Goddess’s sake—I can’t help it!”
“What does you being a male have to do with it? Are you trying to say your sex somehow excuses your rude behavior?” Sky demanded.
He blew out a breath.
“Look—how long has it been since you’ve been around a male of your own kind—or any Mammalian male for that matter?”
“Consistently?” Sky had to think about it. “Well, my father died in a shuttle crash when I was five and my mother moved us here when I was six or seven, I guess. But I still don’t see what that has to do with the way you look at me,” she added, poking him again with the point of the dagger.
“Could you stop that, Darlin’? I’d rather you didn’t skewer my brainstem like a strip of fucking freena meat on a stick,” he growled. “What I’m trying to tell you is that males—Mammalian males—have sex drives. Needs—desires. Serpentine males might be content to stay home and hatch the eggs their females lay, but it’s not like that with my kind—with our kind,” he added pointedly. “Whether you know it or not, Mammalians—Kindred—have the drive to mate. To fuck—to Bond. And I can’t just turn that off, especially when you’re wearing an outfit that shows fucking everything.”
“This ‘outfit’ is my uniform!” Sky snapped.
“Well, your uniform looks like something I’d see a Pleasure Girl wearing if I walked into a dance club on Giga-baga Beta,” he growled.
“I can’t help that—I wear what I’m given to wear,” she told him. “Which doesn’t give you the right to stare at me like you want to eat me up!”
“Gods—don’t even make my mind go there,” he growled—but the words were half groan.
Sky found she liked the sound for some reason—why was that? Maybe she liked having such a big, strong male at her mercy, she speculated—liked teaching him a lesson. Or maybe it was just because he was so warm and smelled so good. She pressed harder against him and propped one booted foot on the side of his chair, bringing her lower torso and pelvis in contact with his broad back.
Torin made the groaning-growl again.
“Come on, Darlin’—you’re fucking killing me here! Can’t you let me go now?”
“I’ll release you when I’m ready,” Sky said coolly.
She didn’t like it, but she had to admit, he’d given her food for thought. Apparently her own kind were more sexually active than the people she’d been living with for so many years.
The Serpentines were very careful and methodical about their sexual activities, which were mainly for the purpose of procreation. A female released an egg into her ovipositor when she was ready and had it fertilized by the male she had selected beforehand. And that was it—that was the sum of their sexual activity. There was nothing spontaneous about it—a male was selected on the basis of his bloodlines and breeding—not because of any kind of attraction the female carrying an egg might feel towards him.