Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 68478 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 342(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68478 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 342(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
I think he is very compassionate, but it is clear he is troubled, so I do not press the matter. There will be time enough to discuss it later. “As long as your heart is good, it does not matter.”
“My heart is not good,” he says. He turns and cups my face in his hands, his strange, pale eyes wild. “Most of the time I’m just…tired. Existing. But around you, I want to be better. I want to be more than what I am. Is it crazy to be this addicted to someone I just met?”
“It is resonance,” I tell him happily.
“Even without a khui?”
I shrug. “Does it matter? You are my mate and I am yours. That is all we need.” He will have a khui soon enough. I talked with my father and the other hunters while Mardok sat at the fire, and they agreed to do a sa-kohtsk hunt the moment I give the word.
He kisses me. I am surprised when his lips brush against mine—because I have always initiated our contact—but his tongue presses against the seam of my mouth, and I am lost. As my khui sings to him, we kiss, lips and tongues entwined. It is like nothing I have ever felt before, and I am always hungry for more of it, even when we break apart.
“Stay with me tonight,” he murmurs. “Either here on the ship or in the village.”
I nod. It is no hardship to be with him. As long as I can lie in his arms, I do not care where we are. “Of course.”
He presses another hard, fervent kiss to my mouth. “Stay with me. Forever.”
I kiss him back, dragging my fingertips along the stubble of his scalp. At first I thought his lack of hair strange, but I find the feel of it against my skin arousing. “Always. We are mated. You will get a khui, and then you will resonate to me and all will be as it should. You can move into my house with me. It is small but pleasant.”
Mardok pulls back, his delicious, fascinating mouth flattening. “I want you to come with me.”
“With you? Where?” Surely we cannot leave now, not with Har-loh in med bay—
He shakes his head. “I mean when we leave here. Come with me. Leave this planet behind.” His fingers twine in my mane, and he presses more light, dizzying kisses to my face. “Be at my side, always.”
“I cannot leave,” I tell him softly. He does not yet understand how a khui works, it seems. “I was given my khui many, many years ago. Once a khui is placed inside someone, it cannot be removed. If I take it out, I will die. If I leave, it will die. I must remain on my world.”
He presses his mouth along my jawline and then moves to nip my ear. I gasp, because when his teeth brush over my lobe, it sends sensations skittering through my body and distracts me from his next words. “We can remove it.”
It takes a moment for me to realize what he is saying. I pull back, gazing up at him, surprised. “What do you mean, you can remove it?”
“The med bay. It can remove it, easily. You can have it taken out, and then you can come with me.” He grins as if this is a wonderful thing. “Don’t you want to see the stars? Other worlds? There are some that are so warm and pleasant that it’s like being wrapped in a blanket. There are worlds where there is no such thing as snow. And beaches as far as the eye can see. I bet you’d love beaches.”
I shake my head, pulling away from him. I take a few steps, because I need time to think. “You would take my khui out of me?”
“It can be done. I promise you wouldn’t feel a thing.”
“But…” I touch my chest, where it is singing even now. “It is what connects us. It is what makes us mates. If I remove it, we are just…two people who do not resonate.”
“You just said it doesn’t matter, Farli. That as long as we choose each other, that is all we need.” Mardok approaches me, puts his hand over mine, where I have it pressed over my heart. “I don’t care if you have this or not. I don’t care if you never sing another note. What you and I have feels special. It feels right. And I want to be with you. Not just for a day or two while I’m here on this planet. For good. Forever.”
My heart feels as if it has been clawed to shreds. What you and I have feels special. But…what if my khui is removed and it feels like nothing? Terror lances through me at the thought. Remove it? Lose my bond to him? But if I don’t…he will only be here for days. “You could stay,” I say softly. “Stay with me.”