Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 144433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
I shake my head. "I wasn't looking at you funny."
I was thinking of how much I'm going to miss these moments.
She pokes my chest with her finger. "You know you hog the bed, right?"
I snort, amused. That's one of the things I will miss most about this human—she doesn't treat me like I am special, and I didn't realize that I needed this in my life. It's oddly refreshing to have someone that doesn't tell you “yes” to everything or constantly flatter you. It's authentic. It makes the times when you please them that much more meaningful. "You know I made you come six times."
"I mean...I guess you can hog the bed then. Seems like an even trade." Her face grows pink and she buries it against my shoulder.
I chuckle, stroking her mane. "You see? I am worth having around."
I don't know why I say it. Her eyes narrow and she peers at me. "I never said you weren't."
"I was not very easy to live with when I arrived."
"You weren't," she agrees. "But you were always interesting. I like interesting, even when I want to throttle it." Her gaze roams over me. "You all right?"
"Just thinking about everything," I confess. "I can't understand my brother's plan and it worries me. At least his movements against me were understandable. This seems to go against everything he wants to accomplish."
Maeve purses her lips, thinking. "There's got to be something in it for him that we're just not seeing. Maybe it'll be obvious when we see the feeds. You still think we need to go into town and borrow someone else's comm unit?"
"Absolutely. I don't want you in danger." Or in more danger. Because if I can't understand Rem's actions, I can't understand what he'll do next. If I can't predict him, I can't predict Maeve's safety. The Rem I know would be absolutely capable of fratricide—he's always been cold towards the rest of the family—but with the rumor of a human marriage, it adds a layer of uncertainty to things.
The Rem I know wouldn't marry a human. He would ignore them as insignificant. As long as Maeve was insignificant despite her relationship to me, she was safe. Now, if Rem's marrying a human, there's something else going on...and I don't like it one bit.
Maeve just pats my chest. "We'll go, then. We'll find out what's going on and hopefully things will click for you. Want me to slice up some meat for your breakfast? I could pile it on some toast."
"Yes to the meat, no to the toast. When will you learn that I don't like your bread, female?" I roll our bodies over, pinning her underneath me. My cock is half-hard due to the early morning and growing harder by the moment, just because Maeve looks soft and tousled against me. "Must I teach you a lesson?"
"A lesson?" she echoes, her eyes hazy with sleepy lust. "What sort of lesson?"
"A lesson on what a praxiian wants for breakfast." I slide lower and nuzzle at her neck, then move down to her breasts.
"And what does a praxiian want for breakfast?" she asks, arching to push her nipple into my hungry mouth.
"First, his mate," I tell her, kissing lower and lower down her belly. "Then meat. Can you remember that?"
"I definitely need a demonstration," Maeve says, voice sultry even as her legs slide apart. "Go on and jog my memory."
Oh, I jog it all right. I make sure to jog it twice before I come.
CHAPTER
ONE HUNDRED FIVE
MAEVE
I'm exhausted by the time we walk into town, but it's a good kind of exhausted. It's the “I've had so many orgasms my knees are still twitching” exhausted. I hold on to Zhur's arm as we walk, and he breathes deep at one moment, tilting his head back.
"This planet no longer smells as bad as I recall," he says to me. "Perhaps my nostrils have become numb from overstimulation."
Overstimulation? Oh please. I can't help but laugh, leaning against him. "Or maybe you're used to what an agricultural planet smells like now?"
He nods thoughtfully, his arm going around my waist. "Praxii Minor smells like metal and ozone. The atmospheric dome keeps the scents trapped but even so, it still doesn't smell as strong as this place."
"Strong isn't bad, just different," I defend, though it does smell a bit like cow patties when we walk near a pasture.
"Just different," he agrees, and I'm surprised. Normally he loves to talk about how terrible Risda is, but today he just seems thoughtful. It's probably stress about his situation, and I give his arm an affectionate squeeze, reminding him that I'm here and I'm at his side. Whatever it is, we'll face it together. He won't be alone.
As we walk into town, we head straight for the under-construction cantina. Someone's taken a bit of paint and drawn a colorful sunrise on one window, and on the other side, "OPENING SOON" is written in bright, scrolling lettering. It looks happy and warm and inviting, and I'm excited to see it coming along. Zhur leads me inside, and one of the clone men groans at the sight of my husband.