Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 97459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Noj’me sits next to Rem’eb and T’ia and communicates for them, but it is not going well. There is tension there, too, though T’ia no longer resonates loudly to him. Her chest, like mine, is the song of contentment.
R’hosh sends another look my way, but I pretend not to see it. I slide my arm around R’slind’s shoulders and press my lips to her temple. Tonight I am hers. Tonight is for celebration. Tomorrow we will talk about the taters, or the ancestors, or the fact that tracks were recently found of the missing male and female, proof that they are yet alive and avoiding us.
All of that can wait one more night. R’slind is enjoying herself, and I am not leaving my mate’s side.
“It’s a flower,” she tells Noj’me as the female reaches out to touch the pink cunt-thing in my mate’s hair. “A decoration.”
“A decoration,” I tell Noj’me when she looks to me.
“But how pink?” Noj’me asks, fascinated. “All cloth at home same color. All cloth come from same plant. Plant have color. No pink.”
“It’s a dye,” R’slind explains. “I can show you, or someone else can.” When Noj’me casts a puzzled look in my direction, my mate turns to me with exasperation. “This isn’t fair to them. Everyone can talk to everyone else but them. They need the language chips, too. You said the guy that makes them is out?”
“M’dok, yes. He put the rock in my head that gave me all words. But he says the ship can do so, too.”
“Ship!” Noj’me all but pounces on the word. “Yes! Please. Ship! We go now!” She reaches forward and grabs my hand. “We go now?”
I pry my hand out of her grasp, shaking my head. “I must talk with the others first, but it will be soon, I promise.” I glance over at Rem’eb, and then Set’nef. Both of them have stopped and stare at me, listening.
R’slind is right. They need our words. It must be very soon indeed.
Before Noj’me can speak again, one of the new females gets up from the group and storms away. S’karr immediately tries to follow her, only for Tal’nef to get to his feet and stand in front of the scaly male. S’karr hisses at Tal’nef, but the ancestor remains unmoved.
I know if I look over, Leezh and R’hosh will be glaring in my direction. So I kiss my mate on her brow again, enjoying this moment before everything becomes a bigger mess and I must step in. The sight of S’karr pacing away, his body language full of frustration, reminds me of our conversation earlier. I brush my lips against R’slind’s ear and then say, “Did you wish for a feast?”
“What?” She turns to look at me.
“This.” I gesture at the many, many containers of food. The females across the fire that are painting colorful symbols on their skin. R’ven and U’dron will get their music soon, and the sah-sah will come out and all will drink and enjoy. F’lor and I’rec sit nearest to the fire, and F’lor has several beaded necklaces draped over her front as if to declare that this is her special feast. “A mating feast in your honor. Should I have insisted that we have one for you? Like I’rec did for his mate?”
Her eyes widen and she quickly shakes her head. “Oh, lord, no. I’m enjoying myself right now, but I’m enjoying myself precisely because I’m on the sidelines. I don’t want to be the center of attention. I don’t want a feast. It’d just make me uncomfortable. I’m perfect right where I am.”
“Where you are, eh? In my arms?” I lean in and kiss her, unable to help myself. She truly is the most beautiful female on the planet.
“In your arms, at your side, and later, in your furs.” Her eyes gleam with pleasure. “That’s the only place I need to be.”
I wrap both of my arms around her this time, holding her close. Her scent fills my senses, as does her soft skin and her sweet laughter.
All the waiting I have done? For this moment right now? For the mate in my arms?
It was worth it.