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Fenna tugged a hank of red hair that made the feline yowl. “What’s the other thing, Lenard?”
“Huh?”
“You said there were two things?”
“Oh. Right. If you want to get to the watering hole, we’re going the wrong way.”
Kansas was more thankful for the shoes than ever once Fenna started her fast, angry march back the way they’d come. With Lenard as her compass, they heard the sounds of a waterfall within an hour, the lush vegetation finally in sight shortly after that.
“Go down the path and clean yourself off, Kansas.” Fenna’s voice was harsh with suppressed frustration.
He hesitated. “Are you sure?”
“She’s always sure.” Lenard surprised him by dropping to his knees in front of Fenna with his hands behind his back in a very revealing posture. “And she’s right, you should be fine. But if you notice anything strange about the water, don’t be afraid. It’s friendly.”
“Water is friendly?” He had to admit, that sentence wasn’t remotely relieving.
“Go,” Lenard growled. “Fenna needs me now.”
“Sweet boy.” Fenna’s smile turned coy, her long nails sifting through Lenard’s hair and tugging him closer toward the apex of her thighs. “You should go now, Kansas. Unless humans like to watch.”
Part of him was tempted, but the rest was aching and covered in sweat and more than a little confused about his unusual reactions, so he continued down the path without another word.
Lenard was clearly trying to give Fenna back some of the control she felt she’d lost today. Was he her submissive? Were the binding knots he made for himself?
Did he really want to know?
“Oh, thank God.” A rippling pool of luminescent emerald water at the base of a glorious waterfall came into view, and Kansas felt like he’d reached the Promised Land. “Watering hole my ass. This is paradise.”
Friendly water. He slipped off his unusual footwear and untied the cloth at his waist, considering what that could mean in a place like this.
He inhaled the sweet scent of the large red blooms that seemed to surround the area. It was too beautiful here to be dangerous. And he was so hot. Desperate to cool down.
The water could be as friendly as it wanted, as long as he could cool down.
The first few steps were blissful. The perfect temperature. Exactly what he needed.
He was finding it more and more difficult to convince himself this was a dream instead of a full-blown psychotic episode. Those were still his only two choices.
A world like this couldn’t exist. And if it did, you couldn’t travel there via storm.
That was too much like… Yeah, see? It was his subconscious. It couldn’t be real.
He thought again about the stricken look Fenna had tried to hide each time Lenard nudged her in the proper direction. No matter how gentle his corrections, she’d been devastated. Kansas knew what it was like to be out of step. To be unable to live up to your own expectations, let alone everyone else’s.
He’d wanted to comfort her, would have if she hadn’t ordered him away to get her freak on with the e
ver-ready Lenard.
That Felix must be taking this world’s equivalent of Viagra. It had to have been hell to walk around like that all day long without relief.
He’s getting it now.
Kansas pushed the visuals of bird/cat domination from his mind and waded in until he was chest-deep in the heavenly pool, finding a smooth stone slab beneath the falls to sit on. He leaned back, allowing the pounding water to massage his body.
It was bliss.
As wonderful as it felt, he couldn’t quiet his thoughts as he looked up at the alien starscape above him. That wasn’t his sky. He couldn’t stop his mind from weighing everything that had happened since the storm clouds had rolled in without warning.
