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His expression grows wary. “And what is it you contemplate?”
I stroke my chin. “How to lure my mate into my grasp. I am thinking, perhaps, some sort of trap. It is clear she is too skittish to approach directly.”
I’rec starts to shake his head before I even finish speaking. “Bad idea. Very bad idea. Humans do not take kindly to being trapped.”
“Then what is your suggestion?” I ask, irritated.
He thinks for a moment. “Presents.”
“Presence?” I consider this. “My presence is already awe-inspiring. Or do you mean I should fight again?”
I’rec raises a hand. “No.Presents.Gifts.”
Gifts? Shower her with trophies as if she has won something? She has wonmeand is acting sour about it. “Bah. Reward her for withholding herself from me? I think not.”
“You are going about this all wrong,” I’rec tells me as we walk. “I realize you still think like a tater, but you are a tater no longer. Now you must think like a tribe hunter. She is not a thing to conquer. She is your partner.”
A partner? Vivian? I laugh in his face at the very thought. “I would lose any match for certain if she was my partner. She is strong and agile and clever, but she is still a female.”
I’rec throws his hands in the air, shaking his head at me. “You are a lost cause. I have tried. Do not come crawling to me if she tries to kill you in your sleep.”
I actually find that thought arousing. Of my female in bed next to me, grabbing a weapon and looking at me with bloodlust in her gaze…hmm. I like that idea a lot. She will not succeed, of course, but the trying will be quite enticing. “You are not much help anyhow.”
I’rec scoffs and then pauses. “A’tar.”
“Eh?”
“The dragon. A’tar. You should talk to him when we return. He was a tater as well. Perhaps he will have advice for you on how to woo your female.”
I sneer at him, walking on and considering plans for capturing Vivian. I need no help from anyone. I need no gifts to bait my snare. I will entrap my female all on my own.
ChapterTen
VIVI
“Oh lord, they just keep going,” someone whispers.
Another person giggles, and then we hear Flor moaning. It’s nighttime, and we just crawled into the tent to sleep. It’s like the moment they were alone, Flor and I’rec were all over each other, and we get to hear everything. Every gasp, every wet slap of skin,everything.
I should be horrified that we can hear them having sex, we can hear Flor demanding that I’rec lick her harder, that we’re all hideously aware of everything they’re doing. Instead, it makes me throb between my thighs because of resonance. Even thinking about how much I loathe Skarr doesn’t make the needy pulsing go away, and that’s incredibly disturbing. Flor says that resonance will push me toward him at some point unless I get it turned off, but the turn-off is worse than the resonance.
Right now I don’t know that I believe that. Because Flor and I’rec clearly adore each other. They have no problems sharing a bed or their lives. They were friends, she said, before resonance hit.
And I’rec is nothing at all like Skarr. Skarr is like…the shittiest personality traits rolled up into one lizardguy with long, pettably soft curls.
And then I get mad at myself for thinking his curls are pettable. Ugh. I pull the blankets over my head.
“Good idea,” says Colleen, who’s at my side.
Flor starts moaning even louder, and another woman in the tent groans. “How are we supposed to sleep?”
“Maybe they’re exhibitionists,” says Sabrina, her voice cheerful even in a whisper. “We shouldn’t judge.”
“If I can hear you eating someone out, I’m going to judge,” Gabriella retorts.
“Go to sleep,” another person whispers, and things quiet down.
Maybe it’s just me, but I actually sleep pretty well that next night. We’ve got furs to block the cold from the ground, and the tentkeeps out the wind. I sleep pressed between Dawn and Colleen and we share a blanket, and it reminds me of…something. I chase that something feeling all night but it never materializes into a memory.
