Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 68478 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 342(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68478 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 342(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
I clasp my hands in front of my chest. “If I say I am, will you stay and talk to me?”
Mardok glances down the hall one way, then the other. Satisfied, he steps inside and lets the panel slide shut behind him. “I shouldn’t be here.”
“Yes, you should.” My khui begins to sing immediately. This is the perfect place for him to be—with me.
“The captain’s going to have my ass if he finds out.” But he moves past me and heads to one of the squares on the wall, and pulls out extra furs and a pillow. Oh. The squares are storage baskets. How odd. He takes the strange, flat furs and spreads them on the ground next to the bed. “I’ll sleep here, okay? So you won’t be scared.”
I should tell him that I am not scared now, but he will leave. So I just smile brightly at him and move to my bed. “You can sleep up here with me.”
“No,” he says, amusement in his voice. “No, I really can’t. Trust me.”
“I will not take up much room. I promise.”
“No.”
“I am a light sleeper. I will not snore or lash you with my tail—”
“Farli, no. Okay? Just no.” He lies down and fluffs a pillow behind his head. “Go to sleep. Lie down.”
He is determined to send me to bed like a kit, is he not? Frustrating. I lie back in the bed and stare up at the ceiling.
“Lights off,” Mardok says in a low voice.
The entire room dims and grows dark.
I gasp, sitting up. “How—” I am filled with wonder. “Lights on,” I call out, hoping it’ll respond.
“This room is programmed to my voice. Sorry. Get under the covers and go to sleep.” Mardok says. “I can show you how everything works in the morning.”
I lie back again, but it is stifling hot and I am wearing far too many layers for sleeping. Get under the furs? I will sweat a lake if I do. I stare up, wishing Mardok was here with me and wishing he was not so determined to ignore me. Still, if I am to be ignored, at least I can be cooler. I undo the ties at my waist and begin to peel off Niri’s borrowed tunic with the legs built in. If he notices my squirming atop the blankets and their strange platform, he does not say anything. I think he is trying to ignore me to sleep. I finish stripping off the leathers and feel a little cooler. I am still wearing a fine sheen of sweat, but at least my skin can breathe. I blink in the darkness, thinking about my dvisti. “Do you think Chahm-pee is all right?”
“He’s fine. Niri’s got him all patched up. The only thing med bay can’t reproduce quickly is artificial blood, but that should be taken care of by morning.” I hear his blankets rustle as he turns over. “Do you…need to be somewhere? Will your parents be looking for you?”
I chuckle. “Not likely. I have been hunting on my own since I had my first flow.”
He’s quiet. Then, “Uh, if you don’t mind me asking, how old are you exactly?”
I am amused by the question…but only for a brief moment. Then I realize what it means. He thinks I am a kit. Is this why he pushes me away constantly? He worries I should be at the teat and not trying to claim him as my mate? I swallow my hurt. “I have seen the seasons turn over twenty-two times.”
“And the years are longer here, right?” He exhales deeply. “Thank gods. I was worried for a moment there.”
“How old are you?” I taunt him back.
“Thirty-eight years by my world’s reckoning. I guess I’d be a little over thirty-five of yours.”
I snort. “Barely old enough to be a hunter yourself.” In truth, he is young but in his prime—the perfect age for me. Maybe I’m a little wounded that he thinks I am a silly kit, after all. Is this how Sessah feels around me? I must remember to be nicer to him.
“A hunter, huh?” He chuckles into the dark, and the sound is warm and delicious. “I like that. Beats being a soldier.”
His laughter feels like a caress, and I hate that I am up here on this platform and he is down there. Why can we not be in the furs together? I will gladly sweat in this heat if it means I can touch him. He is just below me, and if I were on the ground, we would be close enough to touch.
On impulse, I move to the edge of the bed and then roll off the side. I land on his chest, and my forehead knocks into his. My khui’s song increases.
“Ooof,” he groans, and then touches my arm. “Are you okay, Farli? Did you fall off?”