Page 54 of 20% Stud 80% Muffin
Geo offered me his second skewer, his jaw tight. “I would’ve paid.”
I petted his round belly. “I’ve got to keep you fed.” He sucked in his stomach, and the knob in his throat bobbed before he craned his neck, looking around the market as if searching for anything besides me to focus on.
“D’Argon, D’Rasma,” Geo called out as we joined the nearby enforcers’ discussion. “Do you have a second? I have a favor to ask of you…well, your sister.”
“Geo, you never fail to entertain.” D’Argon’s pointed teeth flashed.
“What obscure part of Tern will you steer us to next?” D’Rasma’s laughter carried above the din of the crowd.
“You won’t be rescuing me again,” I replied cheekily. Geo’s gaze caught mine and dashed away, but not before I read the adoration in it.
“That’s a relief.” D’Argon’s lips flattened into a straight line. “We’ve got enough to think about with everything going on in the Starry Mountains.” The two brothers’ foreheads wrinkled with concern.
“The Starry Mountains?” I raised my eyebrow in question.
The brothers made eye contact, speaking to each other in a silent language only siblings understood, then focused on Geo and me.
D’Rasma lowered his voice. “There’s been a lot of disturbance, vibrations in the ground causing mini rock falls.”
I gasped and reached for Geo’s hand. “There’s more than one of those monsters?”
“Shhh… It hasn’t been confirmed. Sisip has asked us to keep it quiet for now. The mayor doesn’t want anyone to panic.”
All four of us frowned at the mention of the mayor.
“Anyway, what do you need our sister for?” D’Rasma asked.
Geo leaned toward me. “Makir mentioned she researched the impacts of the Fires That Cleanse?” The warmth from his hand in mine shot straight through to my protective pouch.
D’Argon and D’Rasma nodded.
“Would she give the all clear on some plants and a few domestic animals I would like to import from Earth? My friend’s visiting in a few weeks, and I hoped she could bring seeds and seedlings and maybe some birds humans commonly eat.”
D’Rasma chewed his mantu while he spoke. “She loves researching how life-forms interact. Com the list, and I will forward it on.” Then, he and D’Argon headed back over to the group of enforcers.
I’d briefly mentioned her research while the worm monster had us trapped. “You remembered that?” When I turned to face Geo his warm breath ghosted over my shoulder. It had been a passing thought. And he remembered. Past alphas who’d serviced me during a heat had not even recalled my naming celebration.
“I remember everything you tell me, Makir.” Geo’s voice was low, and his neck flushed. I wanted to press my nose into the heat there and nuzzle.
He straightened, looked around and stepped away from me. The noise of the busy market grew loud again. “I need to get some”—he scuffed his toe in the dirt and cleared his throat—“scheduling done for tomorrow.” He squeezed my wrist in a gentle pulse before he headed back toward his office.
A pang of sadness burned me between the eyes. Is he embarrassed by me?
My tether tightened with every step he took away, pulling me toward him. I forced myself in the opposite direction toward the cantina, and traded the rest of my frozen mantu for a few containers of the orzfoam Geo enjoyed. I spent the whole time trying to decipher Geo’s mixed messages. How could I broach the topic at our swimming lesson tomorrow?
Never in a million annums did I think I’d look forward to getting into water.
19
Icircled the areain front of the sono and deepened my breathing. Stance wide, I bent my knees and spread my arms, allowing the push and pull motion to lull me away from distractions—mainly Makir pressed against me in the storage shed last night. Weeds had started to make their presence known in Yurstille, and every pivot tangled me in a new one.
Grasps bird’s tail…stork spreads wings…carry tiger up the mountain…
I’d been a mess all day, Makir a constant presence in my mind. Since my fall off the cliff’s edge, it was as if the cord tying us together strengthened each moment I spent with him. I couldn’t stay the hell away. His draw was much too strong.
…carry tiger up the mountain…carry tiger upthe mountain…
Damn it. I shook out my arms, my fingers squeezing into fists. When would this restlessness stop?Nothing worked. No amount of tai chi settled me and my behavior had grown frustratingly erratic.
