Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 91775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
A giggle escapes me. “That’s wind. And yes, here, it’s pretty fierce and cold.”
“Weeeend,” he repeats in English. “I do not like it much. It hurts my face.”
Well now, I can do something about that. Once the fire is going, I rinse my hands clean and wipe them on a towel, then get to my feet. “You’ve got the right woman, because I love me some lotions.” I put my hands on him and sit him down on my furs, then dig through a carved bone box that Aehako made for me. It’s crafted from pieces of bone fitted and carved together, much like a puzzle, and I keep my toiletries in there. A small bone pot with a thick leather ‘cork’ over the top holds my favorite homemade lotion, and I show it to him with a smile. “Here we go.”
Rem’eb takes it from me and sniffs it, and then eyes me cautiously. “Am I…to eat this?”
I laugh. “Okay, that’s my fault. It does look a bit like a cup, doesn’t it?” I take it from him and dab my fingers into the viscous, herbal-scented lotion. “It’s to make your skin stay soft because the wind will absolutely dry you out.”
I tap a little onto the tip of his nose, and when he recoils, I dollop a bit onto mine, too.
His eyes narrow. “It is for wearing?”
I shake my head again and dab a bit more on my cheekbones, then move to add a layer to his face. Rubbing it in with my fingertips, I spread it all over his skin. For a big hairy alien, he’s got rather soft, delightfully touchable skin. Once I finish lotioning his face, I take his hands and rub lotion all over them, too. “Soft. It’s to keep your skin soft.”
“Soft,” he murmurs, though his pronunciation of it is choppy at best. Then he reaches out and touches my arm, dragging a finger along my skin. “Soft Tia.”
My nipples prick at that. Wait, I’m supposed to be the one seducing him. Our eyes meet, and his are filled with liquid heat and there’s a hint of a smile on his face. “Are you turning the tables on me?” I ask. “Because I’m the best at the flirting game.”
He just continues to stroke my lotion-slick hands with his, and another reaches up to caress my jaw. “Soft.”
For a man with a limited vocabulary of English words, he’s dangerous with them.
I want to be the one in control of things, though. I know resonance means we’re destined for each other, but I need more than a bang and nothing else. I want him to swear that he’ll stay with me. So I can’t let him seduce me.
I need to win this battle of wills.
With a throaty little hum of pleasure, I cover his mouth with mine. Each of his kisses seems better than the last. He seems to know instinctively just how to meld his mouth with mine, just how to use his tongue, just how to move his lips. It’s like he’s made for me, and the realization that our khuis think the same thing makes a hurt pierce my heart.
No time to ache, I remind myself. Seduce now, cry later.
So I put on my flirtiest smile and tug at the collar of the crude, makeshift tunic I stitched together for him in one of the hunter caves when we first escaped back into the cold. It comes apart easily, the furs falling from his big body and revealing his strong, incredibly broad torso to my gaze. His beaded necklace hangs there under his clothing against his skin, and I flick the long tooth with a fingertip, and then drag my fingertip directly over to his nipple, toying with it.
“It has been far too long since I looked at your lovely body, Tia,” Rem’eb murmurs, pulling at my clothing. “Do I get to undress you, too?”
Right, because he’s used to seeing me in a breast-band and short skirt, the clothing I normally wear only for excursions to the humid, overly warm fruit cave atmosphere. He probably thinks I look like a teddy bear with all the leathers covering me. Well, he can unwrap me like a present…after I get my way.
I need to remember that I’m seducing him to get him to stay with me. This isn’t about my pleasure. This is about making myself so irresistible to him that he can’t bear the thought of abandoning me…and our future child.
Chapter
Twenty-Two
TIA
Itug on Rem’eb’s clothing instead of letting him access mine. When he puts a hand on the laces of my tunic, I distract him with a hot, wet kiss and plenty of tongue. I pull his clothing open and tease him with fingertips and skimming touches. “I’m in charge.”
“Tia,” Rem’eb breathes my name as if it’s a prayer. “My Tia. My beautiful, beautiful stranger.”