Total pages in book: 165
Estimated words: 159487 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 797(@200wpm)___ 638(@250wpm)___ 532(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 159487 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 797(@200wpm)___ 638(@250wpm)___ 532(@300wpm)
But she had missed cooking—it had always been one of her favorite activities. Even back when she’d been married to Mitch and he had demanded supper every night, it was one marital duty she hadn’t minded.
Of course what she did mind was how often her ex wanted sex. Even back when her sex drive had been active, she hadn’t wanted to have sex as often as he did. Sex with her first husband was just a few pumps, a squirt and a tickle before Mitch rolled off her and was snoring in sixty seconds flat.
With Sskarth, things were different. He didn’t want sex as much as Mitch had—not after the novelty of her scaleless body had worn off, anyway—but sex with him had been a slow, cold affair that involved him poking his long, skinny penis—which actually had a stiff, brittle bone in it—carefully into her “wet slot” as he called it. The scales on his member had been rough to touch and it wasn’t very pleasant having him inside her, so Cassie hadn’t really enjoyed sex with him either.
In fact, she hadn’t enjoyed sex with any man she’d ever been with—but there had only been three. Mitch, the guy she’d dated briefly after divorcing him, and then Sskarth. Now that she thought of it, she had to admit that sex had been the single biggest disappointment of her adult life.
But why are you thinking about sex at the dinner table? whispered a little voice in her head.
Cassie frowned. Why was she thinking about sex? Maybe because she’d spent almost twenty minutes pressed up against the huge, naked Beast Kindred seated to her left? Or maybe because of the way the Blood Kindred seated to her right couldn’t seem to stop looking at her breasts—though it was clear he was doing his best not to. It was like her nipples had him mesmerized or something—which made her want to laugh and blush at the same time.
She felt desired by both of them and that felt new and different…in a good way, Cassie thought. The idea that both of the big, muscular warriors was attracted to her when Sskarth had done his best to make her feel ugly and old and unattractive was a much needed shot of confidence.
All this went through her head in the first five minutes of sitting down to eat. Because of the long, narrow nature of the bunker, the kitchen table was also long and narrow and the three of them had to sit side-by-side instead of across from each other. Cassie had taken the middle seat without even thinking about it, but now she couldn’t help feeling surrounded since the two of them were so big.
“So tell me,” she said to Severin, trying to make conversation. “I’ve never seen a Kindred warrior wearing glasses before. Are you near sighted or far sighted?”
“Neither,” Severin said shortly. “My vision simply isn’t as good as most other males. I use my oculars mainly for work,” he added.
“Oh? That’s too bad,” Cassie said sympathetically. “I’ve been wishing I could get some reading glasses myself, but the Visskous version of glasses won’t fit me since they have their eyes on the sides of their heads. What’s your prescription, anyway?” she asked, curious to know what the Kindred considered to be “bad vision.”
Severin looked down at his stew.
“I have only 20/20 vision, as I believe you humans call it,” he murmured, sounding half-ashamed of himself.
“What? But that’s perfect vision!” Cassie exclaimed. “I wish I still had 20/20 vision!”
The Blood Kindred shook his head.
“Most Kindred males have much better vision—they can see further and also with more detail than I can. Which is why I need oculars. My vision and my size are the reason Ravik and I became friends in the first place,” he added.
Sensing a story, Cassie put down her spoon.
“Your size? What’s wrong with your size? And how did it make you two friends?” she asked, genuinely interested.
“I’m shorter than most Kindred males—only six-foot-six or one hundred and ninety-eight centimeters, in your human measurements,” he said, sounding like he was admitting a personal fault.
“Only six-foot-six?” Cassie said, frowning. “That still makes you extremely tall. I mean, I doubt you’d be kicked off a basketball team. Or a football team for that matter,” she added, looking at his broad, muscular shoulders.
“I’m short compared to other males—I was always small, growing up.” Severin spoke stiffly and kept looking down at his stew as he talked. “Ravik, on the other hand, was always larger than the other males in our class.”
“So the two of you went to school together?” Cassie asked, fascinated. She was trying to picture the two of them when they were younger and smaller but it was hard to do since they were both the size of linebackers now.
The Blood Kindred nodded.