Hannah's Hero - Ruby Dixon Page 0,26

as if he enjoys her company; he looks as if he barely tolerates her and cannot wait to get away. He looks at me as I approach with N’dek, relief on his brow. “Here is your mate,” he says loudly. “You should talk to him.”

“He’s not my mate,” H’nah bites out, crossing her arms over her chest. “God, you men are impossible.”

Her khui hums boldly as I move closer, and O’jek picks up his net and casts me a wary look. “I said no,” he tells me, then heads into the waters.

H’nah purses her lips.

I watch her for a moment, trying not to notice that when her arms are crossed, they push her tunic against her body and emphasize her large teats. If she were back home with me, on the island, her soft, pale skin would be exposed to the air, gleaming with sweat. She would be pale pink everywhere, barely covered with the leaves that L’ren wore, and my cock gets hard at the thought of so much naked H’nah. Perhaps it is wise these females keep themselves so covered in furs. I try to focus my thoughts, and glance at O’jek’s retreating back. “He said no to what?”

“Nothing,” H’nah says defensively. “What do you want?”

N’dek gives a long-suffering sigh, but I ignore him. He can sit and do nothing by the fire soon enough. For now, I must speak with H’nah.

“Why were you talking to O’jek?” I ask. “What is it you need?”

“Nothing.” She lifts her chin, looking defiant and fierce and so lovely that my khui surges with song, growing louder by the moment. “Since when is talking to someone against the rules?”

I want to say that it is not against the rules. That she can talk to whoever she pleases, but that is not what comes out. Instead, I growl and say, “Because you are my mate.”

“Wrong again,” H’nah says in a fake-cheery voice. “I’m not your anything.”

“Let us go to the fire and get something to eat,” N’dek says from behind me, exasperated. “This is a foolish conversation.”

I ignore him and take a step closer to H’nah. “He said that he told you ‘no.’ What did you ask of him?”

She hesitates, the wind ruffling strands of her mane. It has been plaited in an intricate series of circles around her head, emphasizing her lack of horns and her very alienness. After a moment, she tucks a long strand behind one rounded ear—an ear I can still taste—and then answers me. “I…needed a favor.”

Her words sting me. A favor? “Why not come to me?”

H’nah throws her hands in the air. “Because you get all weird!”

“I do not!”

“You will if I ask you this.”

“Bah,” I say, waiting. I gesture with one hand. “Spit it out. I wish to know what you ask all the males in the tribe but not me.”

She looks at me uneasily and then glances over my shoulder to N’dek. “Is he going to get weird?”

“I do not care,” N’dek says, voice toneless. “Do not draw me into your games.”

She frowns at him, and for a moment I want to go and dump N’dek into the sea. “Do not be rude to H’nah,” I snap at him. “She has done nothing to deserve your words.” I turn back to my mate and force myself to remain calm, to gesture politely. “Ask me.”

H’nah looks uncertain. She says nothing.

I am suddenly tired of all of this. I am tired of N’dek and his apathy. I am tired of H’nah’s secrets. I am tired of the cold and the ache in my chest…and my cock. “Have I ever been cruel to you?” I ask H’nah. “Touched you with anger? Been unkind?”

“You have touched her?” N’dek asks, suddenly interested once more.

H’nah’s face flares bright red, reminding me of camouflage, and she looks uncomfortable. She is not running away, though, so I consider this and speak boldly. “I have touched her,” I tell him. “And she did not hate my caresses.”

“Well, well,” N’dek says, a rumble of amusement in his chest. “The truth reveals itself.”

H’nah averts her eyes, shifting on her feet. “I didn’t hate the caresses, no, but you said some wildly inappropriate things.”

“Like what?” N’dek gives my braid a tug, trying to get my attention.

I think of what I said. My thoughts are all of her softness, her slight weight in my lap, the taste of her skin…

Taste. I remember now. I told her I wanted to taste her everywhere. “I did not know these words