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“No, he didn’t. I told you he was a bad husband, although he claimed it was because I was frigid.”
“Frigid? My flower, you are the most delightfully passionate, responsive female that I have ever encountered.” He brushed a thumb lightly across her nipple, his lips quirking when she gasped, the little bud immediately stiffening. “Definitely not frigid.”
He tweaked the stiff peak lightly then reached for the control knob again, but she put her hand over his.
“Can we please just talk for a minute? I’m so confused.”
“Perhaps I am as well.” He hesitated, looking down at their hands. “This is supposed to be a job, a temporary job. But when we are… practicing, it is easy to forget that.”
“I know,” she said softly.
He picked up her hand, cradling it gently in his much larger one.
“Look how small you are, small and delicate, physically at least.”
“Are you afraid that you’re going to break me?”
“I am more concerned about the opposite.”
Her eyes widened, but before she could respond, a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky accompanied almost immediately by the boom of thunder. Raja squeaked and jumped back into her lap, trying to bury his head in her shirt. Overhead the fast-moving clouds had turned dark and threatening. Celenk froze for a moment, then swore, quickly starting the engine again as he scanned the path ahead of them.
“I don’t like the look of the sky,” he said as the wagon picked up speed. “These summer storms can be dangerous. The wagon should be sturdy enough but I’d feel better if we could find some shelter.”
Unfortunately the trail was both narrow and rocky and there was nowhere to pull off. The first drops of rain began to fall, huge cold drops that immediately started to soak into her clothes despite the rain canopy overhead. The angle of the wind meant it provided little protection. She’d unbuttoned her shirt so Raja could snuggle against her stomach, and she could feel his small body trembling as the lightning strikes came closer together.
“You should get in the back,” Celenk ordered.
“What about you?”
“There’s too much wind on this trail.” Even as he spoke a fierce gust shook the wagon. “I don’t want to stop while we’re so exposed, but there’s no point in both of us getting wet.”
“I’m staying with you,” she said firmly and he shook his head, even though his lips quirked again.
“Stubborn female.”
“Yep.”
She grasped the side of her seat as another gust swept past them and prayed they’d find some shelter soon. The rain was pouring down now, soaking both of them to the skin, and making it difficult to see, especially with the sky darkened by the storm. A sudden flash of lightning illuminated a small side trail leading into a narrow ravine.
“There,” she cried and he nodded grimly, already turning into the opening.
The sides of the ravine rose over the top of the wagon and immediately helped block the wind, even though they also made it darker. He drove slowly between the rocky walls until the ravine widened slightly, then wedged the wagon beneath an overhanging rock and turned off the engine.
“Into the back now. Quickly.”
Keeping a protective hand over Raja, she jumped down from the seat. Even with the protection of the surrounding rock, the wind threatened to knock her off her feet, but Celenk tucked her against his side and urged her around to the back of the wagon. The wind threatened to tear the door out of his hand, but then they were inside. Safe.
Inside with a very large, very wet alien, his eyes shining with an eerie intensity as he moved towards her. Her heart started to pound and she suddenly wondered if she was safe after all - or if she wanted to be.
CHAPTER 8
“Strip,” Celenk ordered and Lottie’s eyes widened.
“What? Why?”
Calm down, he ordered himself, but adrenaline was surging through his body. He hated storms - the flare of the lightning and the crash of thunder were far too similar to the chaos of war. The dangerous trip along the trail fighting to keep the wagon on course hadn’t helped. And beneath it all was the frustrated arousal that had been threatening to swamp him since yesterday afternoon at the river.
He had foolishly allowed himself to be carried away, letting the warm afternoon and the peaceful setting lull him into complacency. He’d only intended to play when he joined her in the river, but as soon as he touched her and felt her immediate response, he’d given in to the illusion that their relationship could be real. When she’d quivered so delightfully in his arms as she gasped out her climax, he’d been on the verge of releasing his codix. He night even have done so if she hadn’t been half asleep by the time he carried her to the shore.
