Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75650 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75650 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
I think…and I do not remember if I have told her that at all lately. I grunt acknowledgment; maybe Farli is right. I put the two frozen eggs in the nest and tuck it under my arm. “But what—”
Farli points at me. “You are thinking too much. Just go!”
I do. I turn and jog down the canyon after Stay-see. She is now out of sight, which means she is likely walking fast—storming—back to the vee-lage.
It takes a few moments, but eventually I can see her stiff little back as she marches through the valley alone. She looks very small and lost, my mate. I feel a sense of unhappiness that she is so alone. I should be there at her side, comforting her. Stay-see is obviously scared and unhappy about something, and it is my fault.
I want to make her smile again.
She is also going in the wrong direction to get back to the vee-lage. The thought makes me smile, because my mate is so sheltered and protected that she cannot even find her way around in a canyon. In that moment, I vow that she will always be cared for enough that she will never have to worry about hunting, or hiking, or getting lost. I will protect her from the world.
But first, I must get her to stop crying.
I think for a minute, then begin to creep up behind her, my steps slow and silent. There is not much snow here in the gorge—strange, since most of the valleys in our land fill up quickly with snow. But this one is protected by the high lip that keeps the worst of the wind and snow out, and today I am thankful for it. The lack of snow on the rocky ground means that I can move silently without my footsteps crunching. I sneak up on her and watch her swaying backside as she moves.
And then I grab it.
Stay-see emits a shriek so loud that it echoes in the canyon. She jumps around and gives me an incredulous look. “What the fuck, Pashov!?”
Oh, the fuck word again. She is very angry. Perhaps that was a mistake. I shrug, trying to play my actions off. “I cannot help myself. I am fascinated by your lack of a tail.”
Her expression changes, softening. She swipes angrily at her cheeks. “I’m very mad at you right now. Don’t even try to be cute.”
Am I being cute? She starts to walk away again, and I follow her. “Tell me why you are angry, Stay-see.”
She ignores me, still trying to push past.
“Will you not speak to me?” I entreat again. “Tell me what I did wrong so I may fix it?”
“I don’t want to talk right now,” Stay-see says, a husky note in her throat, as if she is about to start crying again.
It tears at me, her unhappiness. It also frustrates me, because how can I know how to fix what I am doing wrong if she never tells me? Is she trying to push me away? To make me seek out another mate? So she can be with someone else…
Someone like Harrec?
Jealousy gnaws at me, hard and brutal in its intensity. “It will not work,” I declare, suddenly furious. “I will wait for you.”
She spins around again. “Wait for me? What are you talking about?”
“You will not invite me to your bed. You will not let me be your mate. You push me away. It does not matter.” I make a slashing motion in the air with my hands. “You wait for my memories to come back, but they do not change who I am. They do not change that I am the mate that loves you. They do not change how I feel when I look at you.”
Stay-see stares at me. “And how do you feel when you look at me?”
I move toward her. The urge to touch her is overwhelming. I want to caress her face, stroke her hair. My fingers twitch in response, and I clench my hand tight, pressing it over my heart. “Like I am not whole unless you smile. Like the suns rise when you move closer. Like there is nothing sweeter than touching you and hearing your moans of pleasure.” At her hesitant smile, I continue. “I do not need memories to feel joy when I see you holding my son. I do not need memories to know that there is no greater feeling than sinking my cock deep inside you. I do not need anything in this world but your smile and your heart, Stay-see. And that is why I will wait until you invite me back. If it takes twenty seasons, I will wait.”
She gives a small, confused shake of her head. “I don’t understand you. If you love me as much as you say you do, why did you leave me and Pacy the moment we got to the village?”