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Sessah is immediately at my side of the pool, his wet hands brushing my legs. "Sam. Are you all right?"
He says my name so sweetly, the big pain in my ass, I think with a sigh. Like he's sighing the “a.” Saaaaahm. "I'm fine. Think I just got a bit of fruit in the throat."
A relieved smile creases his face and he holds a hand out. "May I taste?"
I should tell him to get his own. To be cranky and unpleasant and a nasty, nasty bitch to him. Instead, I hold the container out, and I'm rewarded with another of his beautiful, easy smiles.
Why did he have to be so damned handsome? Why does he have to have such wide-spaced, gentle eyes and an expression that makes me want to smile even when I'm feeling sour? I want to hate him, but I can't. There's nothing hateable about Sessah. I watch him as he drinks, his Adam's apple bobbing in his throat. His braided hair is sleek with water, making his horns seem even larger against his skull. He shrugs as he hands the drink back to me. "It is not as good as my father's recipe."
"Your father has a recipe?" I ask, surprised. I take another sip, even though my head is already buzzing pleasantly. This brew is very, very strong and I probably shouldn't drink too much. Fuck it, though. I take another big swig. I'm not a big drinker, but I'd like to forget my troubles for a few hours.
Sessah grins even wider, and it sends a hot skitter through my belly. "Did you not know? My father is Oshen." When I shrug, he puts a hand on my foot and sinks farther down into the pool. "That is right, you do not visit the other tribe, do you? You have not met him. He is a brewer. He has a very fine recipe for sah-sah that will remove the ridges from your tongue, but it has a good aftertaste."
I giggle at that. "It sounds awful. And I don't have ridges on my tongue."
"No?" He raises up out of the water and touches my lower lip, pretending to pry my mouth open. Obediently, I stick my tongue out and wag it at him, and he grunts, feigning surprise. "That is a terrible-looking tongue."
I squeal with more laughter. "It is not! Your tongue is the weird one! Mine is a perfectly fine human tongue!"
He just laughs and takes the container from my hands again. This time, he drinks a larger swallow and eyes me suspiciously. "Why are you not in the water?"
"Because I'm chilling here poolside," I point out. "And because you're naked and we're resonating."
Sessah looks momentarily confused. "But we would resonate even if I were clothed. And if I were clothed, my furs would be wet."
"Maybe I didn't want to swim with a naked guy," I defend, taking the drink back from him.
"Because you are afraid I will touch you?"
I consider that. "No, actually. I know you're my friend. I just didn't want to tempt you beyond all reason."
He snorts at that. "Sam," he says, making my name sound like a caress once more. "I would want you just as much if you were covered in Day-see's ugly leathers or if you were wearing nothing at all. The khui has decided. It does not care how you cover your body."
I giggle, because Daisy's leathers aren't ugly. She's a big fan of dyed fringe, and most of us don't bother with it because our leathers get messed up from hunting or skinning. Since she looks after the kids more than anything, hers stay clean and pretty. "Daisy's clothes are nice."
"They would stand out in the snow like a bloodstain," he grumbles. "Nice does not matter when you are hunting."
I laugh harder at that, because he sounds so darn disgruntled.
"Now," he says. "Are you going to swim with me or must I drag you in?"
I take another power-chug from the sah-sah and get to my feet. I'm a little dizzy as I do, staggering, and then I rip my tunic off. He's right. Resonance doesn't give a fuck if I'm dressed or not. I could wear the ugliest shit in the world—be the ugliest, smelliest, grossest woman in the world—and thanks to my khui, Sessah would still want to bone me. It's nothing about regular attraction. It's a mating instinct, nothing more.
I shove my leggings down my legs and kick them aside and then pick up the drink again.
"Should you drink so much?" Sessah asks. "Your head will be spinning soon."
"Like I said before…I plan on getting very, very drunk tonight," I tell him, and take another gulp of the fermented juice. "This is my vacation, resonance or not." I hold the container out to him. "Are you going to drink with me or am I going to have to drink alone?"
