Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 106646 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 533(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 355(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106646 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 533(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 355(@300wpm)
A look of alarm crosses her face. "No, not yet."
My temper flares. "Why not yet? What is there to hide?" I flick at the opening to her tunic. "Are you going to tell them you are not resonating when it is obvious for all to see?"
"Maybe I just don't want to talk about it?"
"Yet another thing you do not wish to talk about," I snap back. "I am very familiar with this."
B'shit releases my hand and gets to her feet. "You know what? I'm not doing this tonight. Remember what I said about how you think you can get whatever you want just because you smile and look pretty? Well, it's not going to work with me. You can stew in your own juices tonight. I'll talk to you tomorrow. In therapy."
She glares at me so furiously it is almost comical. I scowl as she hops back down off the rock and storms back to the beach. I am irritated, but my khui hums in my chest, reminding me that no matter how angry B'shit gets, she will be mine. I rub the front of my tunic, thinking.
B'shit said I think I can get what I want if I smile. That I do not like things that are difficult. In this, she is not wrong. I do like to get things easily. I do not like it when things do not go my way.
I will prove her wrong, though. I will let her do as she wants tonight, just to show that I can wait. I keep rubbing my chest, watching as she skirts wide around the fire, ducking her head as she heads for the women's cave. She clutches the front of her tunic tight, as if she can somehow hide her khui's song.
In the morning, we will do the talk space. Then, maybe, I will get some answers from my close-lipped mate.
24
BRIDGET
I'm utterly rattled as I leave A'tam's side. Every time I turn around, things seem to be going from bad to worse. I should be thrilled that I resonated to the man of my choice, the man that I've been obsessed with since I got here. Except…now that we've resonated, I have to have sex with him. Before, it was a “possibly on the table once we work through our issues” situation.
Now it's something that absolutely has to take place.
Fuck.
Something tells me he wouldn't be satisfied with a “just the tip” suggestion.
I need to be reasonable. I'm sure the sex will be all right once we talk it out. I'm sure A'tam will agree to whatever I need. But my khui is throbbing so fiercely in my chest and sending my hormones skyrocketing. I'm having a hard time concentrating. Part of me wants to find A'tam and drag him somewhere private despite everything. The other part of me wants to run screaming into the hills.
Why does everything have to be so damn difficult? I just want to go hide in my bunk for a while and work through my thoughts. I want to hide from all the good-intentioned people having a wonderful time around me. I can hear the threads of laughter coming from the group by the fire, and it doesn't sound like anyone's too keen on retiring early, even though it's getting cold. Good. I can have a little time to myself. Figure out what I'm going to do. Calm my khui down.
When I get inside the sleeping cave I share with the other women, though, it's not empty. Flor is in there, chatting animatedly with Angie. Angie doesn't have her baby in her arms, which means her mate is taking care of little Glory. They both smile at me as I enter, but my body language makes it clear that I don't want company. I hunch over, clutching my tunic tight in the hopes that it'll somehow muffle my khui, and give them a wide berth, heading for my bunk.
As each woman resonates, there's more room in the cave. Since it's down to just me, Sam, Flor and Steph, we've been joking about how much room we have to spread out now, especially since Tia is living at Croatoan and Daisy is staying with A'tam. My bunk is nearest to the door so I can sneak out to my pottery cave on the regular, but that also means that there's no quiet to be had while Flor and Angie are chatting. I drop down next to my pallet of furs, studying my small basket of clothes. I wonder if I should put on another layer of clothes. Maybe a second tunic would help muffle things. I put my hand to my chest, thinking, and stroke the exposed patch of skin at the throat of my tunic. I think about A'tam, and how he touched me there. How he just placed his big hand on my collarbone and it was so fucking sexy that it sent a whole cascade of dirty thoughts through my mind.