Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 130947 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 655(@200wpm)___ 524(@250wpm)___ 436(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130947 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 655(@200wpm)___ 524(@250wpm)___ 436(@300wpm)
Liv frowned. Now that she was out of the pool she felt more like herself. His insinuation that she was too weak to stand whatever he could dish out stung. “I can take it,” she told him, narrowing her eyes. “Don’t worry about me, Baird—I won’t break.”
He nodded approvingly. “You’re strong—the strongest female I’ve ever met even though you look so fragile.”
“I am not fragile,” Liv complained as he stood her carefully on the tiled floor. She had no fear of slipping, having found long ago that the Kindred flooring actually sucked up water like a sponge. They could stand here dripping and naked, arguing all day, and not create so much as a puddle of water between them.
“Compared to most of the females on the other Kindred trade worlds you are.”
“Well, I can’t help it I’m not an Amazon. I’m actually a pretty normal height and size for a woman my age.”
“Is that right?” Baird murmured as he got the red bathing robe and wrapped it considerately around her. Liv started to protest—the thing was lined with fur of some kind and she didn’t want to ruin it. Then she realized that the fur must have the same water-absorbing capabilities as the floor tiles because within seconds she was dry.
“Wow, this thing works fast,” she exclaimed, looking down at herself as Baird toweled himself off. Even the back of her hair, which had been trapped between the robe and her neck, was dry.
He shrugged. “We try to make things that have function as well as beauty. Most of our household objects are genetic adaptations of plants and animals we’ve found on our journeys.”
Liv looked at him suspiciously. “It’s not alive like that weird blue blanket that lives on the couch, is it?”
Baird laughed as he wrapped the long red towel he’d been using around his waist and knotted it firmly in place. “No, Lilenta. It’s not alive. Now, come, the rest of the ceremony will be in the bedroom.”
“On…on the bed?” Being naked in the bathing pool with him was one thing. Being naked in bed—well, that was something Liv had been avoiding from the moment she came up to the Kindred ship.
His gaze raked over her hungrily. “Yes, on the bed. I need to anoint you with fragrant oils. And I need to make you come.”
The way he said it made Liv’s heart start racing again. It was like he’d said, “I need to breathe” or “I need to eat.” Clearly this was something he didn’t just want to do. He’s hungry for me, Liv realized in a flash. Touching me, giving me pleasure, feeds something inside him, some need so deep it’s ingrained in him. Is this how all Kindred males are or is it just Baird?
“Why?” she whispered as he picked her up again and headed for the bedroom. “Why do you want…need to do that to me?”
“Aside from the pleasure of touching your beautiful body you mean?” Baird gave her another hungry look. “It’s because every time I make you come it prepares your body for mine a little more. When you’re with me—especially when I’m touching you—every breath you take brings you closer to being mine. And when I make you come it starts a chemical reaction that makes you want more.”
“But…you said you wouldn’t…that we wouldn’t…”
“Don’t worry, we won’t,” Baird assured her. “Although you may wish I hadn’t made you that promise before we’re done tonight.”
I doubt that. But Liv didn’t say it out loud. Baird laid her gently on her side of the bed.
“Slip off your robe and lie on your stomach, Lilenta,” he murmured. “I’ll get the oils.”
Well if he was offering her another back massage, Liv was all for it. Not to mention the fact that she wasn’t exactly eager to lie naked face up on the bed for his inspection. Of course, they’d just spent the last half hour naked in the bath together but there at least half of her had been covered by the water. Now that she was out of the bathing pool and dry she felt extremely exposed.
As Baird went to rummage in the chest-like container at the foot of the bed, she took off the crimson robe and flipped hastily onto her stomach. She debated on keeping her arms straight down by her sides but it seemed silly. Baird had already seen her breasts—seen them, cupped them, rolled the nipples between his callused fingertips in a way that shot sparks of pleasure through her entire body…Liv stopped herself before her thoughts could get even more lascivious. The point was, she might as well make herself comfortable and put her arms above her head, even if the position did make her feel a little more vulnerable.
Soon enough he was back with an array of long, thin bottles in his large hands. They looked like blown glass and each bottle was a different unique mixture of colors. Their delicate shapes and intricate designs reminded Liv of the antique perfume bottles her grandmother had let her play with when she was a little girl.