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He went completely still, then she saw a small muscle clench in his jaw as he looked over at her. She was willing to swear that he hadn’t even known his tail was there until she touched him. His eyes focused on where her hand rested on his tail, his face inscrutable.
“Be careful where you pat.”
She quickly snatched her hand away, blushing.
“I’m sorry. Was I hurting you?”
His eyes closed as if he were in pain, but he shook his head.
“No, but touching that area can be very… stimulating.”
Stimulating? Oh. Oh!
Unable to help herself, she darted a quick glance between his legs, but there was no sign of an erection. Maybe she didn’t arouse him after all.
“What happened after your grandfather died?” he asked, and she gladly took the opportunity to change the subject, even though it wasn’t a pleasant topic.
“I didn’t know what to do with myself at first, but somehow I ended up working at a nice restaurant in one of the big hotels on the coast. My grandfather had left me the house and a small inheritance so I could have managed without the job, but I wanted to get out of the house, to meet people again.”
Unfortunately, one of those people had been her ex-husband.
“My ex was one of my customers and we had what I suppose you would call a whirlwind romance. We were married three months after we first met. I was lonely and he was charming. At first, anyway.”
His hand tightened on the control rod.
“What happened?”
I was a fool.
“He convinced me to sell the house and move into a larger place. I didn’t realize until much later that he hadn’t used the credits to buy the place outright and we’d acquired a huge mortgage.”
“What happened to the rest of the credits?”
“He spent them on - how does the expression go? - wine, women, and song. I’m not sure there was much singing, but the first two were true enough. I was just naive enough not to recognize what was going on until one of his women showed up at our house demanding money.”
Ken had managed to get rid of her, but it had been enough to finally make her take a good look at their marriage. As soon as she started asking questions, his web of deception had crumbled. If only she’d asked earlier, before everything was gone.
She shrugged, staring unseeing at the countryside.
“When it was all over, I had no husband, no house, and no inheritance. The bank sold the house at a loss and I’ve spent the last year paying off the debt. I thought I might finally be able to save something, to make a new plan, but then those guards showed up.”
His tail was still around her waist and it tightened slightly, as if he were hugging her.
“But now you will have enough income to make any plan you wish.”
“I suppose so.”
Although she was glad of the opportunity, she would still be starting all over again on her own. Shaking off the melancholy, she changed the subject to their route and the territory they would be passing through.
The rest of the afternoon passed pleasantly enough. By tacit agreement they avoided any more personal subjects and, in spite of that occasionally forbidding manner, he proved to be a good conversationalist. By mid-afternoon they’d left the main road and turned on to a much smaller and rougher track. Fortunately, the wagon had oversized tires and an excellent suspension and although it was a little bouncy, it was not as uncomfortable as she’d feared.
When they reached a grove of trees next to a small stream, he shot a look at the sun and brought the wagon to a halt.
“It’s a little early, but this looks like a good campsite.”
It was a pretty spot, nestled in a small valley between two of the low hills and she nodded approvingly as he swung down from the wagon. Raja had fallen asleep in the satchel and she placed it carefully over her shoulder before she started to climb down. As her feet reached the ground, her legs suddenly threatened to give out on her. Celenk caught hold of her - or rather his tail caught hold of her - before she could fall, steadying her until she found her feet.
“I guess I’m not used to sitting for most of the day,” she said ruefully, smiling up at him.
