Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 130081 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130081 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
She had mixed feelings about the situation. On one hand, she knew that making the nectar would drain her strength. But on the other hand, if it would heal Nate’s wounds, she was more than willing to give of herself.
Also, the idea of him sucking it from her breasts was undeniably erotic. She could imagine his lips molded around one nipple as he stroked and teased the other with his long fingers. Her breasts had always been an incredibly sensitive area for Lan’ara—she was one of the rare females who could come just from having her nipples stimulated the right way. And she had a feeling that Nate would know the right way…
Just the thought of it made her squeeze her thighs together. Her pussy was getting hot and wet just thinking about giving him her nectar. It would be hard though—it might drain her to the point of utter exhaustion.
Stop worrying about it, she told herself. If you make the Healing Nectar, it will be for his benefit. But there’s always a chance you can heal him without it—just by taking his pain as you did tonight.
Which was true—the nectar making process might reverse itself if she could mitigate her fated mate’s pain enough just by sharing his burden in the usual Empath way. And that would bring them almost as close as letting him suck the Healing Nectar from her breasts. After all, they had the rest of the Claiming Period to go through—that would bring any couple closer together.
Lan’ara stroked his thick brown hair lovingly. She knew that Nate couldn’t remember any of the dreams they had shared, but she felt certain that he felt the connection between them.
I’ll heal him, she swore to herself. With the Goddess’s help, I’ll heal him and make him whole, one way or another. Whatever it takes, I am willing to give.
She dropped a kiss on her human’s forehead and closed her eyes. Tomorrow she would take Nate to the Singing Woods and they could officially begin their Claiming Period. They were already in the Holding Week—though Lan’ara intended to cut down the time for each part of the Period in order to get back to the Mother Ship sooner. But it would be good to give each other formal vows and let Nate understand what each part of the Claiming Period entailed.
As she drifted to sleep in her fated mate’s arms, Lan’ara was already longing for the Tasting Week…
NINETEEN
DAVRIK
Davrik couldn’t miss the look of abject fear on Sonya’s face. She was staring at him as though he was a monster who wanted to eat her up. That look of terror in her big, beautiful eyes tore at his heart—especially since he knew he had put it there.
“Sonya, please—get up,” he said, since she was still crouching, frozen on the white marble floor. When she didn’t move, he leaned down to help her to her feet.
But the moment he put a hand under her arm, Sonya suddenly came to life. With a gasp, she jumped to her feet and skittered away from him.
Then she seemed to realize what she was doing and made herself stop. He could see her breasts heaving over the top of her sparkling red gown as she turned and stared up at him.
In the five years since Davrik had lost his own Sonya, he had somehow forgotten how extreme their height difference was. She was so much smaller than him the top of her head just barely reached above his elbow. No wonder she was frightened.
“For…forgive me, my Lord and Master,” she said in a low, trembling voice. “I…I didn’t mean to run away from you like that. Please don’t tell Oozle on me!”
“Oozle?” Davrik frowned. “Do you mean the Sluggorn? Your manager?”
“My owner,” she corrected him. “Though I guess, technically you’re my owner now. For the next week, at least.”
There was a faint bitterness in her lovely contralto voice but she kept the expression on her face respectful—doubtless out of fear.
Davrik shifted uncomfortably—he hated it that she feared him. If only that idiotic Sluggorn hadn’t gone on and on about how he could beat her or burn her or bite her if he felt like it! It had certainly gotten them started off on the wrong foot, as the humans said.
“Look, I’m not here to hurt you,” he said, holding out his hands, palm-up, in a gesture of peace. “I’m sorry if the horrible things your manager said made you frightened of me.”
“I’d be frightened no matter what Oozle said—you’re a Scourge!” she exclaimed, lifting her chin with a hint of defiance. “Your people came and ruined my world. You’re the reason I’m here in the first place!”
Suddenly her fear of him made sense—Davrik remembered how Oliver and Simon had thought he was a Scourge too. In his own universe the ancient enemy of the Kindred had all but been wiped off the face of the galaxy, so he never had this problem. But here, the Scourge were a force to be reckoned with and the fact that he had the same skin and hair tones as the enemy was extremely inconvenient.