Page 15 of Gemini
My thighs clenched.
Oh dear god.
“Omati raeh maas,” he said, voice so low and raspy it sent shivers down my spine, “oso kha’all tianum dunale aymu atta faheyra em hamoni, em hamunti’all junim fade bossi.”
All the air was stuck in my lungs. I had no idea what he just said. He could have sworn he’d chop off my limbs and cook me during the night, it would have still sent more wetness pooling at my core.
Damn, this dark god was hot.
“I-I…” His eyes dropped to my mouth as my tongue peeked out, humecting my too-dry lips. “I don’t—”
“Gymara hamun-ti?” he taunted slowly, his face inching closer.Okay, I know this one.And no, I didn’t understand.
Baelor hit his shoulder and Nitochi let go of my face with a wicked smile before taking a couple of steps back.
I was going to combust.
“Wha-what did he say?” I asked Baelor as he placed little plates on a low table.
His face didn’t turn red, but I was certain he blushed anyway. “Nothing important,” he mumbled, still avoiding looking at me directly. “It will be daylight in an hour, and I will fly to the nearest human base so your translator is updated as soon as possible.”
He glared at Nitochi who chuckled, putting both of his hands on my shoulders to lead me to a little cushion on the floor next to the round table.
It was strange sitting close to these men I didn’t know but still felt safe with. Even though Nitochi may or may not have threatened to eat me.
They both had horns that were so long I wondered how they could sleep safely. It was late at night and none of them were asleep, so maybe theydidn’t. One other horn was between their long pointy ears and the longer ones. Other than that and the strange color and texture of their skin, they looked…human. Well, if we forgot about the giant wings protruding from their back.
I took so long just watching them both that Baelor lifted his head and stared at me, worried.
“Are you okay?” he asked, rolling in a ball something that looked like sticky rice but was a light green. Nitochi’s head perked up too. “Are you not hungry?”
I looked down at my plate. A long slice of something that looked like grilled red meat, some colorful root vegetable and that green, grainy paste.It smells really good.
“I’m famished,” I said. “I just…Don’t you use forks and knives? Or just…eat with your fingers? I don’t want to—”
Nitochi showed me the piece of meat stabbed by his clawed pointer finger. I showed my hands in return and he tilted his head to the side.
“I don’t have claws,” I pointed out. In fact, what used to be perfectly manicured nails were in poor shape after being in such a rough situation the last few days and I hadn’t had them this short in ages. “Maybe I—”
My sentence was cut out by Nitochi, pulling my plate closer to himself. In one swift motion, he slicedthe meat in smaller pieces. Looking at his hands, I noticed only three fingers were actually clawed. His thumb, pointer, and pinky.
“Why don’t you have claws on all your fingers?” I asked.
It was Baelor who replied, “Why are all our teeth not sharp?”
I blinked.He had a point. Only their canines and side incisors were pointier, the others pretty much looked normal.
“We mostly fly, but we also climb a lot,” Baelor explained. “The claws can be useful, but not when the grips are too small. We keep our middle fingers shorter to not be bothered when we climb or…well, most day to day activities do not require sharp claws.”
I pointed at Nitochi’s nail, piercing through the piece ofmyfood and dangling in front of my face, like waiting for me to eat directly from his hand. “Seems pretty handy to me.”
I lifted my hand to take it from him but he pulled it away, arching a brow at me.
“Uh…Are you—”
He brought it back right in front of my lips.What?Was he…feeding me? Probably so that I’d be tastier for whenhewould eat me later…
I opened my mouth anyway and closed it carefully so as to not bite his finger off. His eyes didn’t stray from the motion, and a small smile stretched his lips.
