Total pages in book: 9
Estimated words: 7952 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 40(@200wpm)___ 32(@250wpm)___ 27(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 7952 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 40(@200wpm)___ 32(@250wpm)___ 27(@300wpm)
I might have a bit of a crush on him, but it's useless to focus on. We're co-workers, and two very different people. We can be friends, but nothing more.
"Is that why you're here early today?" he asks me, peering around the kitchen at all the supplies covering the countertops. "To make this special thankful meal?"
I slide my greased fingers along the nooks and crannies of the pan. "Exactly. I want to make this day special for everyone, so it involves a little more work. The bird alone is going to take hours to cook, and then there's cakes and pies to be made, the side dishes, some bread, all that good stuff."
"The...bird? An avian?" He watches my greased hands move in a fascinated way that makes me blush, just a little.
"Yes. That's one of the biggest parts of the tradition. It's an enormous bird, with enough meat to feed everyone and...hmm." I pause, eyeing him and the greenish cast to his normally vibrantly blue skin. "I'm suddenly remembering that quite a few of your people are vegetarian."
"Indeed. But I am certain if you cook it, it will be delicious," he says, expression staunch.
That's very sweet of him, but I can't imagine forcing meat on someone that is morally opposed to it. "I'm sure I can craft something else for those that don't eat meat. Perhaps a nice tuber casserole." My mind is already racing with what I can make for him and the other guards. A barley stew. Vegetable pie. I can make them a feast just like I can for Lady va'Rin and her family.
And I'm picturing Toghar's appreciation, the warm way his eyes would light up. I don't care how much time it takes, I'm going to make Thanksgiving for everyone.
Especially Toghar.
His face brightens with relief at my mention of a tuber casserole. "Perhaps so."
"If you're not too busy, I wouldn't mind your assistance today," I say, trying to be as sly about it as possible. I've already got most of the meals planned out in my head, but I enjoy his company. Toghar's post is near the kitchens, and he often stops in to chat with me. I've started to crave those moments together, and the opportunity to talk and laugh with him all day is one I won't waste. "Another set of hands would be lovely, and you can advise me on certain dishes."
"I would be honored."
The way he gazes at me as he says it makes me feel...things. Things no forty-year-old woman should feel when they're coming from a younger alien man. What is going on with me today? Am I sad and lonely because of the holiday that I've decided to put on? Perhaps that's why I'm reading so much into the looks he's shooting in my direction.
CHAPTER
THREE
TOGHAR
Speak up, I chide myself as I peel a mountain of roots over the sink. Tell her your feelings. The two of you are alone. There is no better time.
Yet the words stick in my throat, and I work and listen to her talk instead. We speak of family celebrations when we were younger, me with my parents on the station I grew up on, her with her family in some place called Can-sass.
And I watch her out of the corner of my eye. She is glowing with happiness today, her cheeks pink with emotion, her eyes bright and sparkling. Strands of hair have loosened from the braid she keeps her hair in and cling to her neck and the sides of her face, and I want to brush them away and see if they're as soft as they look. If all of her is as soft as she looks.
Great, now my cock is hard just thinking about touching Pamela all over. I discreetly turn more towards the counter and continue peeling. "What are all these tahaari for?" I ask, hoping to distract. "Don't you normally eat them with the skin on?"
"They taste a lot like a thing called a 'yam' back where I come from, so we're going to cook them into a paste and then make a pie out of them. It'll be delicious, wait and see."
A pie full of paste...humans are strange. "I am sure it will be...tasty."
She giggles, and the sound fills me with warmth. "You're a terrible liar, Toghar. Just trust me when I say the humans will enjoy it. I'll make something else for the guards. What do you think they'd like?"
I consider this. "Noodles and veg?"
"Don't you guys eat that every day?"
"Of course we do. It's tasty."
"Well, who am I to judge? I'm cooking up a dead bird, after all." She washes her hands, rubbing her fingers thoroughly.
My cock hardens even more. Keffing hells, how is it that her smallest movements make me want to paint the inside of my trou with my seed? I concentrate hard on the root in my hand, scraping away at it with the knife. Distraction. I need distraction. "Tell me more about...this bird."