Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22109 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 111(@200wpm)___ 88(@250wpm)___ 74(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22109 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 111(@200wpm)___ 88(@250wpm)___ 74(@300wpm)
She moves to my side, holding out the net as if I should somehow know what to do with it. I take the thing from her and study it, but I’m a dock contractor, not a fisherman. I know how to read a schematic and how to operate welding bots. A fishing net is out of my domain. “Do I just…drop it in the water?”
“Only if you want to lose it,” she says with a laugh. That delightful laugh makes her teats jiggle, which is also rather delightful, and I want to stare desperately, but I know I don’t have permission. “Here, I’ll show you how it works.”
She takes the net back from me and then toggles a switch. Immediately, the edges stiffen and form an oval as wide as I am tall, and she holds it out. “We drag this through the mud on the bottom and it’ll act like a sieve. If your card is down here, that should help us find it. You’re sure it’s in this shallow part?”
“Do I look sure?”
She chuckles again, and I love the sound of it. I’m thinking about things other than my keffing ident badge now. I’m thinking about those magnificent, jiggling teats and if she makes those breathy chuckles when she’s got a cock inside her. Kef me, I need to calm down. The last thing I need to do is scare one of the locals with a raging hard-on.
“The water’s only waist high here, so if it’s in this area, it shouldn’t be too hard to find,” she says, and leans over to drag the net. When she bends over, the neck of her tunic dips and shows me a delightful expanse of creamy cleavage, and I’m utterly distracted.
Kef me. I hope this female doesn’t have a mate, because I want to claim her as mine. “I’m Hrrrusek, by the way.”
“I’m Chelsea,” she replies, and tilts her head, her long mane spilling into the water. “And I think I just stepped on your badge.” She reaches under the surface and a moment later, pulls it out. “Aha!”
I’m both relieved and utterly disappointed. Now I can leave the planet when my job is done, but there’s no point in me staying out here in the stream.
And things just got so very interesting, too.
Chelsea straightens, her tunic dripping water and clinging to her magnificent chest. “Bit chilly for a swim but I’ve had worse.” She beams at me, proud that she’s found my ident card. “Told you we could find it.”
“You are very clever.” I take it from her wet hands, and wish I could touch her strange, small fingers for longer without seeming like I’m attacking her. A female alone out here would take it the wrong way, and I wouldn’t blame her. “You have my thanks, Chelsea.”
“Think nothing of it. I was coming out here to fish anyhow.”
“And now you have your net.”
Her smile grows broader. “Oh, using the net is no fun. I’m going to use a pole and try to catch one of the big daddies at the deep end of the stream.” She gestures behind us, where the stream widens and grows darker. “I could eat for several days on one of them.”
“Big…daddies?” I’m uneasy at the thought of something alive slinking around my ankles, and my tail practically draws between my thighs. “Exactly how big?”
She gestures with her hands, indicating arm length.
I scoff at that. “You jest. There is no fish here that big.”
“There is! I saw one at dawn once. Can’t catch him, though. He’s too tricky for me.” She pulls up her net and folds it into a tiny pouch once more. “I’d say I’d show you, but I can’t catch him. He’s too smart.”
“A smart male would let himself be caught by you.”
Her eyes widen and then she grins at me. “Flirt.”
I am flirting, and I shouldn’t be. Didn’t we watch vid after vid of how to approach the humans here? How to give them careful space? If I ruin this job for my work cohort, I’m going to get booted off the team, and so will my brother Jrrru and he’ll be furious. So even though I want to respond to the bright-eyed gaze she’s giving me, I know I cannot. Reluctant, I nod at her again. “I—”
Something brushes against my tail in the water.
With a hiss, I bolt for the shore.
“It’s just a fish,” Chelsea calls, her laughter ringing around us.
Fish or not, I don’t want anything nipping at my sac.
I’m still thinking about Chelsea and her magnificent teats and her easy laughter hours later. I’m distracted through the work day, and then at the cantina when we stop for a quick drink. As contractors, we’re allowed to go inside for no longer than five minutes, acquire food and beverage, and then we have to return to the barracks set aside for us. Jrrru has been bribing one of the bartenders to give him extra drinks, but tonight, perhaps, he senses my mood and skips the ooli brew.