his chin. Rhyst’s expression on his masculine face made her heart beat just a little bit faster.
Nobody—not even the twins—had ever looked at her like that before.
As Rhyst indicated they were about to ascend again, Charlie set the animal on her lap so that she could cling to him with both arms. Its tiny claws immediately hooked into her EPS, latching tightly to her.
Looking down at it, Charlie noticed that the f’anril kit wasn’t a complete ball of fluff. Two long ears unfolded from the side of its body, twitching this way and that, just before an orange tongue the color of fire licked her hand again. It let out a tiny sigh before it curled up and closed its eyes.
As they made their way over the mountains, she wondered what her destination would be like. Even though they had been steadily drawing closer, he still refused to tell her any further details about where they were going. It was like he thought that if she had that information, a rain of humans would descend upon them.
She let out her own sigh, echoing the tiny creature clinging to her lap. Her ass and thighs were sore, and they still had hours left to travel before Rhyst would want to make camp. Settling against him, she attempted to get comfortable as he climbed the rocks that skirted the cliff.
Although Charlie wasn’t looking forward to whatever his people had planned for her, she would be relieved when they finally arrived. The upside of being potentially imprisoned by them was that at least she didn’t have another trip across the mountains to look forward to any time soon.
Chapter 22
Rhyst glanced back at the female clinging to him. She was speaking to the small animal again. For two days, they traveled this way. She sat on his back, holding the tiny animal close to her body, sharing her warmth with it. Though they often lapsed into comfortable silence, they spent much of the day speaking with each other to pass the time.
Cha’lii told him more and more of her world, the place she left behind before coming to Inara Tahli. Although he had heard much of it during his captivity, he was learning even more about her now that they were able to freely communicate. He, in turn, told her everything he knew of the world she now called her home, and much of his life when he was young. He skirted around more painful memories and anything too embarrassing, but he spoke of his family and the beauty of his city.
After the first few hours of stilted conversation, as they measured each other’s responses like a pair of circling an’dangal, they both relaxed into an easy flow of conversation. Part of it was because of the natural curiosity they had toward each other, and yet a significant part of it was due to what he felt was mutual loneliness. He enjoyed having someone who spoke to him and looked at him as if he were not any different from her. They seemed to fit together, filling a need for one another that neither of them realized was missing. He had an inkling of it while he cared for her, but it still took him by surprise.
And he did not seem to be the only one who felt it.
She appeared to be happy to speak to him and take comfort in leaning against him as they spoke, her scent filled with ease and contentment. He delighted in the way her face relaxed into lines of amusement. More than anything, however, he found himself hanging on every word she said, drinking up every soft sound and the press of her body against him.
She trusted him, and not just because she was reared to trust and respect him because he was an a’sankh. She trusted him for him—the male who was caring for her. That meant everything, as did the small strokes of her hands against his back or mane when she spoke. Even when she talked to the small f’anril, she curled forward against his back, as she was now.
She adored the little creature. For that reason alone, he kept watch for food for it, and every so often he would find a small amount of vegetation that would sustain the small animal and handed it back to her. He grumbled and protested about feeding an animal that had attempted to take a chunk out of his skin, mostly to make her laugh, although he