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 know that word from her using it. It means she feels a moral responsibility to the land and to live in the way of her people. "I think it was perfect." I shoot a few looks at the others, as if daring them to say anything about it. No one does, and I turn to my mate. "What's next?"
She shrugs, eyeing the entrance flap that has been pinned back. "We go inside?"
I pull Makana out of the pouch on my chest and let the creature waddle into the hut first. Jason told me that there is a human custom where males carry their mates over the threshold and I want to do that for April. I scoop her up in my arms. She flings her limbs around me with a panicked squeak. "I'm carrying you over the threshold, woman," I tell her. "Calm down."
She clings to my neck, her arms chokingly tight. "Warn me next time!"
"Is there a next time for such things?" I ask, setting her down as she squirms.
"I guess not." She takes a step back from me and clasps her hands under her chin, gazing at the interior of the hut with shiny eyes.
From outside the hut, Jason calls out. "We're going to take off and grab something to eat. Catch up when you can, Valmir."
"Heard." I don't take my eyes off my mate, though. I'm not leaving her side. This moment is hers, and I want to drink in her reaction. She's beautiful, her eyes shiny with happy tears. She gazes up at the ceiling of the hut, where the two of us worked on stitching waterproofed skins together for days before the walls even went up. April sewed our initials into some of the stitching, to further brand this as "ours," and when I look up, I can see those symbols near the smoke hole.
April lowers her gaze and turns slowly, admiring all of the hut. "This is incredible, Valmir."
"It's just a hut," I say with false modesty. I'm loving her reaction.
"But it's our hut. This is where we're going to live, with our Makana and our baby." She moves toward me and puts her arms around my waist. "And it makes me so happy, too. Thank you."
As if I wouldn't make her a home? I've been dying to ever since we resonated. I cup her face in my hands and kiss her soft, hungry mouth.
She lifts her lips from mine and gives me a sly smile. "Did you mark the doorway?"
"Not yet. I'll do that after dark, when no one's watching."
April wiggles her brows. "I wanna watch."
"Better yet, I'll let you help."
"You're right, that is better." She kisses me again, and the scent of crushed vines from the leis around our necks mingles with the scent of my mate. "Thank you again. For not thinking I'm weird for wanting to bless the hut before we move in."
"Why would I judge you for that? It's part of who you are. It makes me proud to see you follow your heart."
She beams at me and smacks my ass with a sharp slap in the way she knows I love. "Wanna bless the bedding?"
"It makes sense to bless everything in the hut," I tell her, trying not to grin. "Make sure we cover all angles. Wouldn't want to offend the ancestors."
"I'll get the door," April says. "You unroll the bedding."
I like to think the ancestors would be thrilled at our enthusiasm as we bless the floor, the bedding, the firepit, the door frame, and then the bedding once more. I'm sure they approve. How can they not? I am a male in love with my beautiful, clever mate in the home that we've made for ourselves.
How could they be anything but overjoyed?