Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
One of the cat males rubs his chin. “So we fight this khui? And it rewards us with strong, healthy females to rut?”
I bite back a sigh. This is going to be a long night. “No. Let me explain…”
“It’s weird,” F’lor whispers to me the next morning as we feed the fire the last of our fuel. “I really thought the guys were going to act up more. They look a bit rough around the edges.”
I grimace, because I do not think she will be happy with my response. All night, I talked to the males. I explained resonance and the khui and how we do not fight one another, but we fight animals to make them our food. They seemed to grasp this well enough, and most of the questions were about, unsurprisingly, females. They are stunned we will let them live amongst the females. That we have no plans to separate them and keep them apart. That if any female should wish to show her affections upon a male, she is free to take her pleasure with him.
They asked a great many questions about pleasuring. Far too many. I tried to be patient with them, remembering what it was like when we first arrived on the beach and saw so many unmated females. I remember the giddiness of those moments, amplified by T’ia’s flirty actions. I remember how excited I was to play the kissing games with her. How irritated it would make me when she wanted to kiss on other males.
It feels like a very, very long time ago. Now when I think of those days, I do not feel anything but a vague amusement. Thoughts of T’ia kissing other males does not bother me. Perhaps her mate is amongst these males here. If so, I am glad for her, because I am quite content with mine.
“You do not need to worry about them,” I tell F’lor. “I explained resonance to them. They await their khuis to see if they will acquire a mate.”
Her eyes widen. “Oh boy.” She glances over at the females, still huddled under blankets near the fire. “I guess I should break the news to them, too. They’re probably not going to take it as well as the men.” She thinks for a moment and then glances up at me. “So we need one of those big things, right? A sa-kohtsk?”
I do not answer right away. Instead, I watch my mate. Does she seem hungry? I am out of my kah, having shared it with the males last night as we sat around the fire. F’lor will need something to eat to keep up her strength. I pick up one of the parcels from the pods, turning it over in my hands. “Is this food?”
“Hmm? Oh, yes, it might be.” She sets it down on the ground and turns it over. “I suppose we need to figure out how to open this. The girls are probably hungry.”
Bah. Always thinking of others. My mate is far too kind. I squat next to her and hand her my knife. “We do not need a sa-kohtsk.”
“No?” She runs my knife along the edge of the square, frowning at it. “How the heck does this thing open?”
“Do you want me to break it open over a rock?” When she shakes her head, I go back to my initial statement, watching her with amusement as she tries to pry up a corner. “As for a sa-kohtsk, I do not think they are necessary. On the island, when someone had a weak khui or theirs died, we would capture a kaari and then cut it open and steal the khui from it.
“So what you’re saying is any khui will work,” F’lor tells me, stabbing at the strange square package. “Unlike this motherfucking package that won’t motherfucking open!”
The large gray male—the one with the impossibly thick neck—moves toward us. He watches my mate stab at the package with furious movements and then gestures at it. “May I?”
With a huff, F’lor tosses it at him. “All yours.”
He gives us a chastising look, then sets the box down upon the mossy ground. With a brush of his hand over one seam, the lid pops open, revealing the contents. “Here.”
“How did you do that?” F’lor asks, fascinated.
The big male gestures at the box, and I notice he has two fingers and a thumb, all of them thick. Very odd. “It has a locking mechanism.”
“Well of course it does,” F’lor says, annoyed with herself. “Thank you for opening this. What’s your name again? I’m sure you’ve told me but I’m also sure I’ve forgotten given that everyone else has told me their names, too.”
He gestures at his chest. “I am called Kyth.” He watches F’lor for a moment and then glances over at me. “And I am leaving now.” He backs away, putting his hands up in the air and watching me.