Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 110600 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110600 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Nassakth leaps to my side, quickly tapping the machine off before I can make a selection. “You don’t want to watch that.”
I frown up at him. “Why not?”
“It is…recordings of some of my matches.” His jaw flexes. “It is not for polite human eyes. You will not like what you see.”
“Um…okay.” Like I’m not going to look at this the next chance I get? He must be proud of some of his wins in the past if he displays them in his war room…but he doesn’t want me to see them because I’m a human?
Or because he thinks they’ll terrify me? I know he’s a gladiator. I’ve seen the occasional gladiator match in the past. They’re usually fights to a death or a maiming of some kind. It’s not pretty stuff, but so little on this end of the universe is pleasant that to me, they’re unsurprising. I knew he wasn’t playing cards for a living, that’s for sure.
But he watches me with glittering eyes, and I get the impression that he doesn’t want me to ask. That he’s silently pleading with me for understanding.
“So.” I cross my arms and glance around the war room—or a man cave, I suppose. “Where are the bedrooms in this house?”
“There is one bedroom and it is very fine.” Nassakth nods with relief. “Come, I will show you.”
“Er…one bedroom? In this big house?” He has a room for weapons but not one for guests?
“Praxiian families sleep in the same bed together,” he admits, tail swishing. “I have learned that this is not the case with many other races, but since I was having my house built to my specifications, I did not assume another room would be necessary.”
The fuck? “You slept in the same bed with your parents?”
“And my siblings,” he agrees. “Until I was old enough to seek out my own home.”
I have SO many questions. So, so many. Like…why? And what happened if the parents wanted to have sex? What happened if one of the kids wet the damn bed? What if you have guests over? Do they sleep with the family? But I don’t want to be insensitive, so I chew on my lip and try to think of something polite to say. “So…how is this going to work?”
His tail swishes faster. “If you wish for cubs, we can always have additional rooms added to the house.”
My face flames hot. “Wow, jumping the gun much? That wasn’t what I meant.” I pause. “Wait…you and I can have kids? Er, cubs?”
Nassakth shrugs his big, furry shoulders. “I have seen mesakkah hybrids and szzt hybrids. I have even seen a drakoni hybrid. I would imagine a praxiian-human hybrid would be entirely possible, though it would likely cost a fair amount of credits to purchase the correct biological assistance.”
A baby. I hate that my biological clock starts ticking loudly at the thought. I’ve always wanted a baby. Someone to love and cuddle and take care of. Someone that would fill the lonely holes in my heart. Yeah, a baby sounds…amazing. And the fact that it can be made with “biological assistance” means we won’t even have to touch. “I think I’d like a baby. Not yet, but in the future.”
He nods slowly. “Then I will arrange for the house to have additional rooms built.”
“What I asked about,” I say, trying to choose my words in as delicate a fashion as possible. “When I said how is this going to work, I meant in regards to you and me, since there’s only one bed.”
Nassakth looks taken aback. “You do not want to sleep in the same quarters as me?”
“Tempting, but no.”
He narrows his eyes at me, as if just now figuring out that my sarcastic “tempting” means I am not tempted in the slightest. But he nods. “I will sleep outside the door then…on one condition. Tell me what Bethiah said to you.”
%%%%%
17
KIM
My face feels scorching hot as I recall the bounty hunter’s lewd words. “Girl, if you’re smart, you’ll learn to make that kitty purr and he’ll make you purr, too. That one’s got a cock to make a girl weep with joy.” She’d patted my cheek. “And here you thought I wasn’t romantic. But if you need me to take him out, just give me a call and we can work on some pricing.”
I think she’s full of crap. I think she picked him because he bribed her, and the fact that she’s willing to kill him after “romantically” setting us up just proves how amoral she is.
Still, should I say this to Nassakth? She offered me an out, after all. I hesitate, thinking.
You have to trust someone at some point.
And he’s offered to sleep in another room. And he’s given me half his possessions in the marriage contract. And he’s going to show me how to use a weapon…