Page 47 of 20% Stud 80% Muffin
Ah, he’s embarrassed about the pool.
“Hey, none of that now.” My tail wrapped around his calf, and the fuzzy tip brushed up and down. “I don’t hate water,” I lied. “This is exactly the push I need to finally force myself to swim. My brother has pressured me to learn for a lifetime.” I rolled my shoulders back and nodded.
“I can swim…” Geo’s pale green eyes lifted to mine.
“Well…great for you.” We both knew he could swim. He really was the strangest alpha.
He stood up then paced along the pool’s edge. “I’ll teach you to swim.”
Why was he pacing? The hair on my arms rose, and I shivered as I recalled Raz circling me deeper and deeper until I was on my tippy toes and at his mercy.
He scratched the back of his neck and looked through the lamar ceiling that domed the courtyard. “Maybe you can tell me more about Lornians…” Then, with a sharp inhale, his uncertain demeanor changed, and his chest puffed out. “This time tomorrow…I mean, new week, and every night after until you can swim from there—” He pointed to the shallow portion of the pool, then his arm swept out to cover the entire pool length. “—to there, three times with no breaks.”
My heart raced. There to there…three times. I inhaled deeply. New challenges. I’m open to new challenges. I’d already completed my orders for linobee mittens, and I only liked to be covered in hovercraft grease for so many hours in the rotation, so that left a lot of free time.
Plus, there was the incentive of ogling Geo in a swimsuit. “In return for your kind gesture, why don’t you come one moon earlier, and I’ll make you dinner?” I beamed. “I hope you like mantu?”
Get recipes from D’irk on how to prepare mantu, because asking Raz is out of the question.
Geo met my eyes as he nodded in agreement, but his words were stilted and his face a blank mask. “I like mantu.”
Maybe this will provoke a reaction. I leaned back on the lounge chair and lifted the hem of my tunic, exposing my stomach. “I can repay you by feeding you.”
Geo’s gaze fixed on my hand, where I not-so-idly scratched my tummy.
“So, tonight?” I asked.
His knuckles turned white as he clasped his container. Even in the dark of night, his eyes dilated. But he said nothing. I couldn’t get a read on him.
“Not tonight.” Geo shook his head, swallowed the rest of his wine in one gulp, and shuddered.
“I’ve had a few drinks. We’ll start in the new week.” He pushed back his shoulders again and sucked in his belly. “I’ll see you tomorrow, an hour before dark. Thank you for showing me the final product. Sully will be by tomorrow to finish the overhead bay door installation. If you encounter any problems, com me and I will send one of my crew over to make repairs.” He tipped his chin in goodbye, a vein throbbing on his neck. Seconds later, he exited by the side gate.
“Geo…” I walked toward the latched gate.
The door swung open, and I swallowed a lump in my throat as his hungry gaze scanned my body. Not so ‘all business,’ after all. “You forgot your shoes.”
He looked down at his bare feet. “Right.” Heat radiated from him as he wove around me and stalked toward the main entry. “I’ll just get those then.”
“Bye, Geo,” I whispered into the wake of summer field-scented air. I’d never met an alpha quite like Geo. At times his insecurities overpowered his instincts. Edgy and hot, I stalked to my freezer and stuck my head in.
I made a plan to avoid my terror about learning to swim and control my raging hormones over a confusing alpha. First sun tomorrow, I was heading to D’ovey’s bakery and trading some of my mantu for graneth puffs. Worrying over credits and ration bars was in the past. Maybe Lorne wasn’t the only place I had a family after all.
17
“Seriously, you haven’t readit yet?” Ginger’s gasp was loud and clear through my wristport.
“Well, I’ve been a little preoccupied, Ging.” A few grinning Rock Dwellers turned to face me from their card game in the corner of our shared room. They didn’t even bother to cover their grins with their thick fingers as they eavesdropped.
I really need my own place.
My mind wandered to the list of extra features people wanted for their homes. After walking through Makir’s, the damn mayor had decided he could skip the queue anddemanded a pool.
“Geo, are you even listening to me?” She whistled to get my attention.
I winced and moved my wristport farther from my body. “Jesus! Ginger, you’re going to make my ears bleed.”
“SEND. ME. THE. REPORT. NOW.” My wristport vibrated with each dramatic pause.
