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“Perhaps I require more practice.” He raised his head and looked down into her flushed face as he brushed his thumb over her lower lip. “What do you think?”
“Practice is important,” she said solemnly.
His lips covered hers again. He was determined to go slower this time, to savor the experience, but she met his kiss so sweetly, so eagerly, that his control snapped. His codix pushed free, throbbing against her stomach despite the layers of fabric separating them, and she squeaked and tried to pull back. He kept his tail around her waist, but reluctantly raised his head.
“You… grew,” she gasped.
In spite of his frustration, he couldn’t help smiling.
“That is what happens when a male is aroused.”
“But… it’s so much.”
“Thank you for the compliment, my flower.” He pulled her closer for a brief second, just long enough for her to feel the whole thick, throbbing length, then forced his tail to release her and stepped back.
“Time for bed. Our separate beds,” he added when her eyes widened again. He lifted her up into the caravan and made himself release her. “Good night, my… wife.”
“Good night, my husband.”
She gave him another shy smile, then disappeared into the wagon, leaving him to pick up his bedroll and head back to the fire. Alone. It was hardly an unfamiliar state, but as he lay there looking up at the stars sprinkled across the dark velvet of the night sky, he’d never felt more isolated.
CHAPTER 7
Lottie closed the door to the wagon behind her with a trembling hand. She still couldn’t quite believe she’d had the nerve to suggest the goodnight kiss, but she’d been thinking about it ever since he’d mentioned practicing looking like a married couple.
She’d told herself that was the reason, but it was more than that - she wanted to know what it would be like, needed to know if it would be different from Ken’s brutal kisses.
“It was certainly different,” she whispered to herself, pressing her fingers to her mouth.
The difference was more than the actual physical differences - his lips were thinner than a human man’s, his tongue longer and more agile - it had been the intensity, the sheer hunger of his kiss. Demanding, but not brutal. Taking, but also giving. His big hand cradling the back of her head, protecting her while making her feel cherished at the same time.
And then that enormous bulge had suddenly appeared, hard and hot against her belly. Hard and hot and huge. Far larger than a human male, or at least much, much larger than Ken who was her only point of comparison. Was a physical relationship between them even possible?
“It doesn’t matter because it’s not going to happen,” she told herself firmly as she climbed into bed. “In name only, remember?”
But her dreams were haunted by just that possibility, even if they were a little vague on the details. She woke feeling achy and aroused and it didn’t help when she opened the wagon door and saw a shirtless Celenk stretching in front of the fire, his powerful upper body gleaming in the morning sunlight.
Putting Raja down to scamper around, she went to join him, smiling apologetically.
“I’m sorry. I knew it wouldn’t be comfortable sleeping on the ground. Are you very stiff?”
He quirked a brow ridge at the question and she blushed as she realized what she’d said. She couldn’t help a quick glance down at his pants, but they were as flat and smooth as they’d been the day before. Her color deepened even more when she looked back up and realized he’d followed the direction of her gaze.
“I’m not stiff - in either sense. I was simply stretching. And since you appear to be wondering, my codix remains within my body until I am aroused.”
“I wasn’t… I mean… I’m not…”
A small smile twitched at the corner of his mouth at the tumble of words, but thankfully he didn’t comment.
“Time for breakfast. I’ve already made tea, and now that you’re up, I’ll get food from the wagon.”
“You didn’t have to wait. You could have woken me if you were hungry,” she protested.
Those blue eyes glinted at her.
“Perhaps I feared that finding you in your bed would have aroused another kind of hunger.”
Her mouth fell open, and he closed it gently before turning towards the wagon, giving her another view of those impressive muscles flexing. When he returned a few minutes later, she’d recovered her composure and was sipping on a mug of tea. She watched as he broke eggs into a pan on the cooking tripod and started scrambling them, then took a deep breath.
