Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 85553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
“Last night, when I woke up with my mouth upon your teats? I did not mind that.”
Her expression hardens. “Last night when you were so cold and unresponsive I thought you were dead.”
Her tone is as wintry as the landscape, and my cocks retreat fully. “I am not weak—”
“It’s not about weakness! It’s about knowing your vulnerabilities so they can be accounted for!”
“Bah. I have no vulnerabilities.”
Her nostrils flare and she looks enraged. “You’re being a stubborn ass and I want to kick you right now.”
“You want to spar?” I am not sure I will be at my best, but if Vivi wishes to try me out, I will go easy on her.
“No, I just want to inflict damage because you’re making me angry.” She presses her fingers to my face, testing my skin, and then gets up again, unfolding her long legs. Her teats tighten to pricks of pink in the chill of the hut, and she adds a few more cakes to the fire and finishes the tripod.
I remain quiet, because I do not know how to appease an angry female. Nothing in my arena training has prepared me for this. I know how to put an opponent in a headlock, not how to make them smile at me. I need more of the resonance mind control, like I’rec suggested. Presents work, and pleasuring her.
Ah, I should pleasure Vivi. I eye her naked, shivering body as she chops food for the stew. I try to help with the knife, but she glares at me so hard that I pull my hand back. I offer her a fur to wrap over her shoulders instead, and this she takes—but glares at me anyhow.
Pleasure, definitely, I think. She liked it when I licked her teats, but it did not make her cry out like Flor did when I’rec was touching her. Then again, Flor screamed that she was sitting upon his face. So he could tongue her cunt? He mentioned that before, as well. I lick my lips, eyeing Vivi’s lean form as she stands. There’s a teasing little tuft of hair over the cleft of her cunt, hiding everything from my sight.
I bet I could lick her there and she wouldn’t scowl at me.
But if she doesn’t come to join me under the furs again, how will I get her to lie down? Should I tackle her and twist her into a leg lock? I contemplate the grappling moves I know, looking for one that hurts the least and will still have the desired result of prying her legs apart.
Females are so complicated.
“Here,” she says, interrupting my thoughts. She thrusts the waterskin toward me, the contents sloshing. “This is the tea Gail made. It might still be warm. Drink it while the stew is heating.”
“You should come and drink some, too,” I encourage, pulling out the plug of waterproofed leather that fits in the mouth of the skin. I tilt it back and grimace at the taste of the tea. It’s warm, all right, but it also tastes like leaves. Not my favorite. I hold it out to Vivi and she gestures that I should drink again.
“I’m mad at you,” Vivi says when I lower the skin. “I’m mad at you and I’m trying to remind myself that you don’t think the way I do, so I’m going to talk about it instead of turning and leaving like I want to do.”
My eyes widen and I automatically reach for her. “I don’t want you to leave.”
She tries to pull out of my grasp, retreating away a bit. “I don’t want to leave either, but Skarr…remember when I broke my finger and you looked out for me? You being affected by the cold is no different than that broken finger. If we really are a team and we’re going to look out for each other, that means you have to let me look out for you, too.”
“But this is different.”
“How is it different?”
I stop the words before I say them. It’s different because it is happening to me will just make her angry. I know her well enough now to realize this. “Because I am supposed to protect you as your mate.”
“What about me? Can’t I protect you? We’re supposed to be equals. That’s what a partner is.”
Frowning I imagine a scenario where Vivi might be able to “protect” me. I imagine us in the arena, with opponents rushing toward us, and a hot stab of fear makes it impossible to think straight. I do not want her anywhere near that. I certainly do not want her standing at my side, toe to toe. She should never be in danger, not when I’m around. “I…I don’t know.”
She tilts her head at me, her expression exasperated. “I can take care of myself, Skarr. You have to trust that—and trust me—if we’re partners. Do you trust me?”