First Forest - Viola Grace Page 0,13
yet you let me touch you anyway?”
She sighed and set her cup down. “My father loved everything about the village. The history, the clothing, the pace of life, everything. But he loved the advancement that you encouraged in that same slow process. He instilled that admiration in me. I know how this place works, know that it needs to be preserved, and know that it could help the world around us so much more.”
He blinked, and his skin darkened. “I did not know how deep your knowledge ran.”
“I have also done research into the Others, and I know you are of that species or development. I am not quite sure of the classification.” She frowned.
He stared. “Have you spoken to any?”
“No, but I know that there are small colonies of Others around. Why are you on your own?”
He blinked and said baldly, “I don’t like to be crowded.”
She covered her mouth with her sleeve and giggled. “Well, it is odd to seek out a mate if you don’t want anyone near you.”
He sipped his tea and narrowed his eyes. “I am working on my inclinations.”
She blinked, fairly sure that she had just thrown down an unintended challenge. “Um, I didn’t mean it that way.”
He smiled with cheerful menace. “How did you mean it?”
Abiha took a page from his book and ignored him. “So, why did you choose the name Kiloh?”
He refilled her cup and then his own. “It means of the soil. It was the only description I could think of when the humans arrived. We don’t name ourselves until we need to.” He smiled slyly as she sipped at her tea again. “Do you know what Abiha means?”
She blinked. “Path walker.”
“In your ancestral tongue. In my language, it means for the forest.”
She had been drinking, and she nearly dropped her cup. “You are joking.”
“I am not. Your father and I were friends, and I taught him a lot about my people and how we came to be. He was a good man with a keen mind. I enjoyed speaking with him, and he helped me with the genetic sampling of the population in the village. Imagine our surprise when it turned out that he and your mother would create a child that was within the tolerance range to become a partner to me.”
“Oh.” It was the only thing that came out of her thoughts.
“So, his courtship of your mother was authorized, and they produced you and then a year later, your sister.”
She pinched the bridge of her nose. “That is... new information. My father didn’t mention that to me. He simply said that his union to my mother was arranged.”
“He wasn’t wrong. You are by far more compatible than your sister.”
“That is just sounding weird.”
He chuckled. “Your mind is keener, your wit is sharper, and you are able to stand up for yourself. I need someone who can stand on their own feet and make their own decisions. I won’t always have time to monitor what is going on.”
He sipped at his tea. “I also need someone who won’t abuse power to make their own mark on the world. Being my mate comes with certain benefits, and they manifest over time.”
Abiha stared at him. “Isn’t this the kind of conversation that we should have had before we mated?”
He grinned. “No. You might not have gone through with it.”
She grunted and looked down at her robe. “Why am I wearing this? I don’t own a robe in this colour.”
He chucked and sipped at his tea. “It matches my eyes.”
She looked at the bronzy colour, to his eyes, and back to the black sash the mimicked the designs around his eyes. “That is just disturbing.”
He wagged his eyebrows. “Don’t be that disturbed. I have already seen you naked.” He began ticking things off on his fingers. “Touched you, tasted you, felt you as I slid inside you—”
She lunged around the table and put her hand over his mouth. The delight in his gaze was unmistakable. He parted his lips and traced a design on her hand with his tongue.
She didn’t pull back; she glared at him with her hand in place while he slowly stroked his tongue along her palm. She finally withdrew her hand from his mouth.
He whispered, “Held you as you screamed until the house shook.”
She kissed him to shut him up. It certainly distracted him. He leaned toward her, and the teacup clicked on the table. He tugged at the neckline of her robe and eased it to