Page 104 of Dancing for the Minotaur

“I am.”

She nodded.

“All right. I promise.”

Taurex nodded.

“Then we can go into the bathing pool.”

Excitement fluttered through Terra. She had been looking forward to sliding into that steaming water from the moment she'd seen it through the bedroom window, and now that dinner was finished, she suddenly felt like a kid about to sneak out to the hotel pool after dark.

Except this wasn't a hotel, she reminded herself. It was an alien house grown from living trees on a vast spaceship orbiting Mars. And she was about to get into a hot bathing pool surrounded by mysterious pleasure flowers with a nearly eight-foot-tall Minotaur she was becoming increasingly attracted to.

Terra smiled to herself. Her life had gotten very strange lately.

But she had to admit—she was enjoying the hell out of it.

25

TERRA

Terra hadn’t brought a bathing suit because she’d had no idea there would be a chance to go hot-tubbing or swimming. But she thought her nicest bra and panty set would do. It was pale pink lace that looked nice against her skin. What she liked about it was how innocent it made her feel. It was nothing like the stripper outfits she’d worn while she danced.

The pale pink lace made her feel almost virginal–which wasn’t far from the truth, actually. Though she’d stripped professionally for over a year, she hadn’t slept with any of her clients. In fact, counting Jackson, she’d only been with three men her whole life. Probably because she’d found out what a letdown sex was–she’d never been with a man who cared anything about her pleasure at all. Her main gratification came from reading spicy romance coupled with her favorite vibrator–which was on the larger side. Her ex, Jackson, had been pretty small and she’d always longed to feel really filled.

Feeling nervous, she left the house and approached the steaming pool. Taurex was already there with a couple of blanket-sized towels. He was shirtless and wearing what looked like a pair of boxer briefs–if boxer briefs were made out of leaves, that was.

“Welcome,” he said formally. “Er, I am not sure how you wish to do this. With clothing or without?”

Terra had the idea that if the big Monstrum could blush, he would be blushing.

She’d been planning to wear her pretty pink bra and panty set into the pool, but suddenly, she wanted to feel free–to feel the heated water against her bare skin. And it wasn’t like he hadn’t seen her naked before.

“Without is fine with me,” she said. “I mean, we can just turn our backs to get undressed and then get in the water–right?”

“That is fine with me.” He turned away considerately, and Terra did the same–but not before she caught a glimpse of his muscular buttocks as he slid down the leaf-briefs.

She slipped out of her own clothes, shivering a little as the cool breeze kissed her naked nipples. But a moment later she was warming up as she slid into the heated, steaming water and sighed in complete bliss as it came up to her neck.

The water was perfection—silky hot, buoyant, and carrying a faint, mineral scent that was clean and earthy. Terra let herself sink until it lapped at her chin, the heat seeping into muscles she hadn't realized were perpetually knotted. She kept her eyes on the opposite mossy bank, giving Taurex his privacy, listening to the soft splash as he entered the pool a moment later.

When the ripples subsided, she dared to look.

He was seated across from her, the water chest-high on him. The steam curled around his broad shoulders and the base of his thick, curved horns. His golden eyes were on her, but the intensity was tempered by that same careful formality. Still, the professional distance they’d maintained for months felt as thin as the steam between them, ready to evaporate at the slightest shift.

To fill the silence, Terra let her gaze wander around the pool's edge, to the lush, trailing vines and their strange, heavy blossoms.

“This is… incredible. It’s so beautiful here. But now you have to tell me about the pleasure blooms.”

Taurex followed her look. A low rumble, not quite a purr, vibrated in his chest.

“The pleasure blooms are a symbiotic species. They are quasi-sentient and respond to… biochemical cues.”

“Biochemical cues?” Terra asked, her curiosity piqued. She reached out a hand, letting her fingertips brush the broad, creamy petal of one of the white flowers nearest her. The moment she touched it, the blossom seemed to sigh, its petals flexing outward. The soft pink center deepened in color, and the very center of it puckered slightly, like a tiny, waiting mouth.

She gasped and pulled her hand back.

“It moved!”