Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 24908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 125(@200wpm)___ 100(@250wpm)___ 83(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 125(@200wpm)___ 100(@250wpm)___ 83(@300wpm)
“Watch out!” he screams as he takes a running jump, dive bombing into the pool and sending a wave of water crashing over me.
I splutter dramatically as I break back through the surface, mock-glaring his way, and he laughs as he starts to swim away. And as I watch him go, my eyes land on Tigor.
And my nipples harden beneath the thin bra I’m using as a makeshift bikini top, since I don’t have a real suit. His eyes are on me, and even beneath the water, through a pair of jeans he tore into shorts, there’s no mistaking what my presence is doing to him. Sweat is pouring down his face, but whether that’s from the sight of me in nothing but my bra and panties or the fact that he’s obviously uncomfortable with how warm the water is, I have no idea.
I swim his way, and he shifts across to give me space by the ladder.
“Thanks for this,” I say. “And for warming the water. You didn’t have to do that for us.”
He shakes his head. “Humans get cold easily. I won’t allow you to be cold. Ever.”
“Well, thanks,” I say with a grin, watching as Dominic and Darrell disappear beneath the water. As soon as Dominic had finished with the board and the wiring, he came over to join us. “Truth is, I haven’t been in a pool since I was five years old. That was before… Well, before my mom had to go away.”
“Go away?” Tigor frowns. “You haven’t seen her since?”
I shake my head, shrugging. “She…loved me. But she had a lot of problems, she wanted to be loved and Gary seemed like he loved her I guess. I didn’t know it at the time, I was just a kid, but they were doing robberies together. It was never going to last. When the social worker came to collect me I’d been at home alone for a total of thirty-five minutes. The moment she was arrested, her first thought was to make sure I was safe.” I smile wistfully. The thing is, I was so small at the time that it seems like it happened to a different person. “Like I said, she loved me. Wanted the best for me. She just wasn’t that good at it.”
“Gary was her mate?”
I laugh. “I don’t know, I guess she thought so. But the feeling wasn’t mutual. The moment Gary got the opportunity he threw her under the bus. Some good Samaritan tried to stop them, Gary fired the shot that killed him, and then he managed to get himself a plea deal in exchange for testifying against his two accomplices. Manslaughter in the commission of a felony. I saw the news article. My mom and some guy I’d never met.”
“I am sorry,” he says, licking his tusks. He looks across at Dominic and Darrell as they splash each other with water. “That’s when you found your family?”
“A while later, yes. I bounced around a bit first. Dominic was in the last foster home, if you can even call it that. More of a—”
“Well, this looks…neighbourly.” I turn my head to find Mol standing at the side of the pool, grinning, with Athaan standing beside him stifling a laugh.
Gathra and Raven come around the side of the house, and Raven’s eyes light up when she sees me. “Sleeping better?” she asks with a glint in her eyes, and I feel the blush rise to my cheeks.
Tigor growls beside me, but before I can stop him he’s rising out of the pool, pulling himself up onto the side. But without even the benefit of his kilt, there’s no disguising the massive hard-on stretching the shorts between his legs as he stands. I hear Dominic’s muttered Jesus Christ, as he tells Darrell not to look, but Tigor presses down on his cock as he glares at Mol.
“What are you doing here? This is…private,” he says, trying and failing to cover his bulge with his hands.
I’m embarrassed. But it’s also hilarious. I try to stop myself from laughing but I can’t, and as soon as I start Raven joins in, then Athaan, Gathra and eventually even Mol is chuckling as his brother awkwardly turns away from everyone, looking over his shoulder.
“You all go!” Tigor grunts, but Mol shakes his head. “Now!”
“We need to discuss things,” Mol says in protest. “This Yarek Ma’Slatha is making open threats against us. Saying he will take our land.”
Tigor shakes his head. “Nobody is taking what’s mine. He comes here again, I’ll give him more of the same.” He presses down on his bulge. “Maybe this time I cut his head off for good measure.”
“Not on your own you won’t. Our scouts report he has some hundred or so men under his command. We make sure he knows we won’t be an easy target, but we don’t have the numbers to attack and provide defence for our territory. The new members are still wary. I do not know if they will shed blood for the clan yet.”