Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 86074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
In addition to her irritation at wasting time climbing, Lili soon ran into another problem—she wasn’t a great climber. When she went to the gym, the stair-stepper was the machine she almost always avoided. Or if she did hop on, she hopped back off again in five minutes. It didn’t take long for her thighs to start burning and her calves to start aching.
Still, she soldiered grimly on. This was her one and only chance to see the greatest collection of art in the galaxy—she wasn’t going to let the fact that she wasn’t an Olympic stair climber ruin it!
But despite her determination, after the first few turns of the spiral staircase, she began to fall behind. The muscles in her legs were burning and she was getting seriously out of breath! Meanwhile, f’loon just kept going—oozing up the steps in a boneless way that made climbing the endless staircase look utterly effortless.
By their side, f’loon’s spouse climbed in a completely different way—his ridiculously long legs were able to span four steps at a time. But he climbed slowly, so as to keep pace with f’loon, Lili guessed.
But even though the male Chulaz climbed slowly in relation to f’loon, both of them were quickly outpacing Lili. Behind her, Dark and Light were climbing steadily, obviously slowing their pace to accommodate her, which made her feel embarrassed.
I’m the weakest link, she thought as she forced herself upward. They’re slowing down for me and I’m still falling behind!
At last, she was beginning to think she just couldn’t go another step. They weren’t even a third of the way up the tower but she was completely out of breath and her legs felt like rubber. She was about to call up to f’loon and beg for a break when Light came up beside her and murmured in her ear,
“Lilibet, why don’t I carry you?”
Lili gave him a horrified look.
“Carry me? Up…up all these stairs?” she protested, panting. “No way—you’ll break your back!”
“Why?” Light looked honestly confused.
“Why? Because I’m not skinny,” Lili said tartly. “I know… I’m small…but I’m also…heavy. I don’t want you… hurting yourself.” She was panting now—it was hard to carry on a conversation and climb ever upwards at the same time.
“First of all, you’re not fucking heavy,” Dark growled from her other side. “And second, I think you’re forgetting about Light’s enhancements.”
“His…his enhancements?” Lili panted. Then she remembered the smart-metal sheaths that covered both the Light Twin’s legs. “Oh, right…”
“I could climb these stairs forever,” Light told her in a matter-of-fact way. “My legs are tireless. But it seems to me that yours are not,” he added, giving her a worried look.
Lili felt like she ought to protest more and she tried…but when she opened her mouth to make another excuse not to let him carry her, she found she was so out of breath she couldn’t get out a word.
Not waiting any longer, Light scooped her up in his arms. Then he looked at Dark.
“Come on, Brother—we’d better catch up.”
“Right behind you,” Dark rumbled. “Lead the way.”
Lili had suspected that the two of them were going slowly just for her. Now she knew it was true. Light bounded up the spiral staircase with Dark right behind him. His mechanical legs worked so smoothly that she didn’t bounce a bit in his arms, even when he skipped steps to make up for lost time. It was a very comfortable ride and she had to admit she was grateful to finally be able to catch her breath.
“Feeling better, sweetheart?” he asked her when they caught up to f’loon and es’plendio.
“Yes, much,” Lili admitted. She smiled at him. “Thank you for carrying me. But are you sure you won’t get tired?”
“I’m more likely to get tired than Light,” Dark growled from her side. “Since I don’t have leg enhancements like he does.”
“You’re on your own with that, Brother,” Light said, grinning a little. “Because you are too heavy to carry.”
“Don’t worry about me—just take care of little Lili,” was Dark’s response. “And if you get tired of carrying her, I’ll take a turn.”
“You got to taste her and I didn’t,” Light responded. “So I get to carry her all the way to the top.”
Lili wasn’t sure what to make of this exchange.
“Are you two jealous of each other?” she asked, raising her eyebrows. “I thought that Twin Kindred always shared a woman and there was no jealousy between them. At least, that’s what my friend Rachel told me.”
“There’s no jealousy—well, not much,” Light told her. “But because we’re an Imperfect Pair, our Twin Bond is also imperfect. So yes, I have to admit I was a little jealous that Dark got to taste your sweet pussy and I didn’t.”
“Don’t worry, Light—next time you can go first,” Dark promised him. “It’s fucking worth waiting for—Lili’s pussy is delicious. And the way she moans and pulls your hair—”