First Forest - Viola Grace Page 0,22
blinked and blushed. She had sobbed against Uleika’s shoulder with her blouse torn and her brain panicked. Her friend had consoled her, gotten her to shower, and tucked her into bed before going out. In the morning, the professor had broken six bones—big ones. The tree had kicked the shit out of him.
“Why did you decide to be a woman?”
Kiloh shrugged. “Choosing my gender was left to the first colonists. They were comfortable with me as a male; I became male. You were comfortable with me as a forest animal, I became a forest animal, and you needed a female friend, I became a female. It is just a shape, but it has an effect on how you feel when you look at me. I like the way you are looking at me now.”
She swallowed. “How am I looking at you now?”
“As a lover, not a companion or a friend. I like the soft look in your eyes when you see me. There is occasional amusement, but there is a soft expression that flares into passion easily. I like watching that transformation in your expression. It is like all the emotions of humanity are in your eyes.”
Abiha blushed. “I am pretty sure they aren’t.”
He stroked her cheek. “I am certain that they are. You have had love and loss, pain and sorrow, joy and excitement. There are a thousand variations of emotion available, but I like seeing the world through your eyes.”
She looked into his liquid gold gaze, and she smiled. “That sounds nice.”
He chuckled. “It has taken me hundreds of years, but I have managed to grasp emotional connection with a single person. You have made me want to create that connection.”
She blushed. “It was my father’s genetics that made that connection.”
“No, it was you. Without your developing joy in the world around you, your thirsty mind, and your love and loyalty to those who were nearest to you, I would never have called you home.”
She sighed and looked away. His gaze was intense. She snuggled against him and rested her head against him. “So, when do I get to go on my first trip, and how will the village elders deal with it?”
“First, we need to come up with a good population number for the village and then start bringing in families and singles to expand it. I think five hundred is a good population level for researchers and staff.”
She chuckled. “For a start. We need more support staff. Farmers, gardeners, even some light security if we are going to have outsiders here who don’t understand how things are done.”
He smiled. “I think you will be good at recruitment. You have certainly gotten me to follow you wherever you go.”
Abiha’s cheeks got hot.
He bent and tilted her head up to meet his as he kissed her softly. He raised his head. “I can offer you an anniversary celebration in lieu of the wedding that should have been. Even though you never expected one, you should have had one. Rituals are important in human life.”
She whispered, “If I had a celebration, no one would come.”
“I would.” His hand slipped to her waist.
She met his kiss, and in between breaths, she whispered, “I would certainly hope so, or the event would have no purpose.”
He grinned and got to his feet, the water sluicing off them in a rush. A column of warm air wrapped around them on the way to the bedroom.
After an hour of the lightest touches and the most vigorous thrusts, Abiha knew that what she had said was the truth. It was much better while naked.
She woke to a feather tickling her nose. She batted it away and heard a chuckle. She opened her eyes to the sight and smell of breakfast. Kiloh was wearing the kind of dark trousers she wore for combat and a loose open shirt, also in black.
“Um, that is an interesting outfit.”
He grinned. “Today, you begin training to work with the village blade. That means you will need to be able to move. So, eat, and then, we will go and get it from the temple.”
“Oh, they are not going to like that.”
He snorted. “I do not care. They are here because I allow them to be, and if they need to be reminded of that, I will do it.”
She sat up, and the sheet fell to her waist. She was going to pull it up, but then, she shrugged, smiled, and washed her hands in the bowl sitting nearby before pouring