Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 71832 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71832 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
I head down the beach, veering away from the main part of the settlement. I'm looking for a nice, rocky spot with a lot of hiding places where I can tuck myself away from the bustle of the morning and just...rub one out. Or rub three out. Or a dozen. With every step I take, the number goes up.
No sooner do I reach the sandy high tidemark near the water than Valmir jogs up to my side. I bite back a groan and glare at him, even as my khui hums loudly with joy at his nearness. "Must you?"
"Must I what?"
"Must you follow me around?"
He shrugs, unbothered by my tone. "You're leaving scent trails all over the beach. Anyone could sniff you out."
"Gross. We're not doing this right now, for the record." I point between him and me. "I want some time alone and you aren't invited."
"So you can touch yourself? I can smell your cunt."
I turn and snarl at him, hands clenched at my sides. "Here's a thought, telling a woman you can smell her cooch is not the way to win her heart!"
His feline mouth twists into a smirk. "I don't want your heart."
I turn away, storming down the beach to put distance between us.
He doesn't get the hint. Valmir follows me, jogging. "Your heart doesn't have to be involved. Just your reproductive organs."
"Again, not making me want to fling myself into your arms with all this talk of reproductive organs."
"What is the appropriate way to refer to it, then?"
I ignore him, because he's just being a dick. "Don't you have somewhere to be right now?"
"You mean hunting you a perfect animal skin so I will be allowed your favors? Yes, I will be starting the hunt today...unless you want me to wait and help you with that juicy cunt I smell."
"Still not the way to get a lady's attention."
To my surprise, he goes still. "What is the proper way?"
I turn to look at him. "Are you serious?"
He sneers at me. "What, I can't value guidelines and rules?"
A love of guidelines just doesn't match up with what I know of him. He's arrogant and caustic, and unpleasant to everyone that he talks to. I also can't think of a single instance in which he's bent the rules established here on the beach. Maybe he's not as high makamaka as I thought? He just seems like the type to have his chin in the air with a high opinion of himself, but maybe I'm wrong. "I'm sorry if that came out wrong. You just don't strike me as the type to appreciate rules. You seem more like you'd get annoyed at being told what to do."
"I'm not an anarchist. If there are rules to human society, I'd rather know how to proceed." His reply carries a hint of starchiness, as if I'm offending him simply for thinking otherwise.
"Wow, okay, big words."
This time he glares at me. "I'm not an idiot, either. I don't know why that surprises you, female, unless you think the only sort of male you can attract is one with the mental competence of a sea slug."
Woof. Talk about knocking someone flat with a statement. He's not entirely wrong, either. Why am I thinking the worst of him if my khui selected him? What does that say about me and my genetics? "You know what? This conversation is taking an unpleasant turn and that wasn't my goal. I'm just on edge."
"I know the cure for that," Valmir says in a sly voice.
"I do, too, and it isn't happening." I flick a finger at him in a shooing motion. "Don't you have something you could be doing right now? Like, say, getting me my perfect animal skin?"
Valmir doesn't get the hint. He stops, moving right in front of me and forcing me to stop in my tracks, too. His eyes gleam with triumph. "Eager to get me into your bed, are you?"
I put my hands up automatically to stop myself from running to him. For some reason, I'm having a hard time lowering them. Is it because his khui is thrumming under my palms, singing along to mine so painfully loudly that it feels as if my entire body is abuzz? Is it the hard muscle under his tunic that I could grope if I was just a smidge bolder? My pussy clenches. I can feel a flush creeping up my face as we stare at each other.
I have to take a step backward to break the spell. "You keep telling yourself that. You're going to need more than just one animal fur to get me into bed."
He goes still, his ears pricking in an intent sort of way that tells me he's listening so hard he's practically vibrating. "Is that so? How much more?"
This feels like a trap. If I tell him four, he's gonna be in my bed with bells on before the sun sets. If I tell him a hundred, Valmir will know for sure that I'm stalling and I don't have an answer for this situation. Part of me wants to move forward and put my hands on his chest again. Bad April. Bad.