eyes narrowed on her, and the corners of his lips twitched with the hint of a smile. “All of the at’sahl smell. Not just you.”
“I suppose we would smell different than you,” she conceded. “And I probably could use a bath.”
“I did not say that I find anything amiss with your scent. It is just different,” he said, a begrudging smile widening just enough that she could see the tips of his fangs. His smile fell suddenly, and he shook his head. “As for bathing, I am afraid it is impossible. The water in this place is not safe. The lor’vash are drawn to unguarded pools of water. You were fortunate to survive an encounter with one. They have been known to drag adult Tak’sinii from the shores. Even if they are not ready to eat, they will drown them and lodge them beneath the water to eat later. Never go near unguarded water.”
Charlie stared at him. If the creature didn’t already horrify her, that little piece of information would have sealed the deal. “That… is good to know.”
He inclined his head in acknowledgment. They lapsed into silence, watching each other. She shifted uncomfortably. Her ass was starting to hurt. Unfortunately, there was nothing that looked particularly pleasant to sit on. At least the heat from the fire warmed her chilled bones, but her throat felt like sandpaper.
“Is there water?”
Instead of answering, he nodded to the root he had given her. This? Charlie felt the bile burning the back of her throat at the thought. She didn’t particularly want to eat it. Could she risk not hydrating, though? Hoping that plants here worked the same as they did back home, she dug her nail into the root and rubbed the juice on her inner wrist. After waiting a time to see if she had an obvious reaction, Charlie shrugged. Might as well try it. Grimacing, she put the root up to her mouth and took a nibble.
Disgusting!
The chuckle that resonated from Rhyst startled her. Her eyes snapped up as she looked into his eyes, her heart thudding against her chest. She had never heard him laugh before, and she wanted to hear more of it. The sound rumbled out of him, deep and alluring. She averted her gaze with embarrassment at the flare of attraction. It had yet to unfurl into desire, but she ruthlessly pushed it down.
Though he was treating her with respect at the moment, she doubted that he would be receptive to that sort of interest. She was even a little disturbed that her mind was going there, especially with that one freaky mechanical eye. She wanted to ask him about it, but it would be rude. Aside from the spinning mechanical eye, he didn’t even have human parts above the sculpted abdominal muscles. In spite of that, a warm feeling spread through her chest, and heat flooded in her cheeks. Something had changed between them while she was unconscious.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
When she got no answer, she looked up to find that Rhyst seemed just as startled as she felt. His mouth hung open before he gritted his teeth and grunted.
Still a man of few words. That much hadn’t changed.
A sigh fell from her lips as she braced herself before biting into the root again. She couldn’t afford to care if it tasted bad. Even though she would have preferred the shit coffee rationed to the non-gratas at that moment, she had been without water for days.
The texture of the root was almost rubbery, and the liquid that seeped out as she chewed had a bitter taste like eating a raw potato, except worse. Yet, as the liquid trickled down her throat, it was soothing and surprisingly refreshing. She took another bite, chewing faster to power through the horrible taste to get more of the water stored in the fiber of the root. Before she realized it, she had devoured the foul thing.
“Okay,” she mumbled around the last bite of her root, “that was worth the crappy taste. Hope the other fare you’re offering is better.” She glanced at the rabbity beasts.
Another reluctant chuckle rumbled from his chest. “The mi’gol is good eating. You will like it. The wild variety such as this is not as fatty and tender as that which we raise domestically, but still good.”
She blinked up at him in surprise. She had never suspected that such strong, predatory-looking aliens would have livestock. Looking at him, she assumed that his kind were the