Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 58365 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 292(@200wpm)___ 233(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58365 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 292(@200wpm)___ 233(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
She enjoyed slave work. He would try to please her.
Burnt fingers aside, he was determined to impress the woman standing out of reach, wearing the same white dress.
Though today, the dress boasted a bit more detail than the day before. A collar had been sewn on, the sleeves embellished into gathered folds. Even the skirt’s silhouette had gone from a shapeless drape that covered her well-formed legs to something that nipped in at a curved waist.
Morgaine looked less like a woman in a shapeless sack and more like a seamstress displaying her work.
Simin took notice, running his eyes from her hidden toes to her glorious hair, he took his time studying what she presented, keeping his expression light and his smile pleased. He then forced his tongue around her strange words, performing the only phrase he’d learned. “Good afternoon.”
It sounded appalling, tripping from his tongue, but blue eyes came alive. Shy smile on her lips, Morgaine repeated the pleasantry.
Hearing her form the words, Simin realized he’d said it wrong, but that was not what mattered. The Omega was impressed with his effort.
“Those are the only words I’ve learned so far, but I will come each day with something new to surprise you.” Far more comfortable conversing in his native tongue, he set the tray of food on the golden line for her to take when she was ready. “I made you something to eat, though I am not nearly as skilled with the preparation of recipes as you seem to be with needle and thread.”
She looked down at the tray strewn with flowers and sparkling blood-red stones. Bemused, she refused to step forward. “Etaine explained to me that Omari males serve meals to their wives. On Esin’s ship, they tried to feed me often. When it was Esin’s turn he brought… I can’t even remember what he called it.”
Retreating a step back before she might smell the musk of Alpha anger in the air, Simin took a controlled breath. He even managed to speak without grinding his teeth. “Did you enjoy his food?”
Lost in her thoughts, Morgaine failed to notice his shift in mood or his blatant attempts to hide it from her. Instead she stared down at the tray with its yellowing flower petals and simple fare. “I never tried it. I couldn’t eat after the caning. Or if I did, I don’t remember. Nothing there tasted good because everything they served me had been stolen from my settlement. The women here call me Nierra, but my people were nothing like those men.”
He could work with this line of information, lead her to pleasant things. Crouching down so he might sit upon the floor and cross his legs, Simin grew casual, smiling as he asked, “I can’t make any promises that your lunch will taste good. Fairly certain I burned your cake, but after you eat some, take pity on a poor man and tell me what I did wrong. Tastes like burnt nuts to me. Believe it or not, that was the better of three. The rest were ejected straight into space.”
She’d gone from wide-eyed shock to see the male sprawl on the floor, to trying to bite back a laugh at his foolishness. “I’m sure the inside is just fine.”
“So you’re saying it’s not supposed to be charred on the outside…” Rubbing his jaw, he gave her a playfully pained look. “Don’t spare my feelings, I can take the truth.”
At that she did let a little snort of laughter free and cracked a grin. “I have not met a man yet who could.”
Hand to his heart, insulted grimace on his face, he declared, “You wound me.”
He got an honest laugh out of her before Morgaine’s hands fisted in her skirts and she began to nervously chew her lip.
When the Omega stood, struck with indecision, Simin urged, “Take the tray. I’m not going to move from this spot. I’ll even scoot back if it will make you feel better, though we might have to shout to hear one another if I go much farther.”
Slowly inching forward, Morgaine made a grab for the tray, pulling it far enough on her side of the room that even with his great reach, Simin would never have been able to touch her. Mirroring his posture, she set a hip to the floor, legs tucked neatly under her skirt.
Watching as she wielded the provided spoon by the bowl, the Omega sawed off the top of the cake with the handle. Quick work was made of the sides as well, until the unburnt insides of his sorry attempt at baking were carved into a neat rectangle… that actually looked good. Almost edible.
“So that’s the trick…”
“Baker’s insider secrets. I’m pretty good at burning cooking myself.” As she tidied up the plate and cast the burnt edges right atop a particularly large ruby, Morgaine explained. “My mother was the great cook.”