“Oh, all right,” I muttered then turned to the girls and called while waving, “Goodnight ladies. Take care of Ghost.” I pointed at the cub and got a bunch of smiles with waves and nods.
Then the tent flap slapped back and I followed Lahn through it. Or, more accurately, was hauled through it.
“I’m coming, I’m coming, slow down,” I called as I raced to keep up with his long strides.
“Mayoo,” he replied.
“I can’t mayoo, Lahn, jeez, you’re, like, six foot seven. You’ve got a whole foot on me. Every stride you take is two of mine at least,” I said to his back, he stopped abruptly and I nearly slammed into him.
He turned and glared down at me then said a bunch of stuff I didn’t understand but I’d been around guys long enough to know that when the end of what he said went up in a question, he was likely asking me something about females that even if I could understand him, and he me, I could never explain.
So I put my hand to his chest, leaned slightly into him, tilted my head way back and said softly, “That’s just the way it is, big guy, so,” I took my hand off him and pressed it palm flat toward the ground, “slow down.”
His eyes were riveted to my hand and he looked beyond unhappy. He looked, weirdly, pissed off.
Uh-oh.
Okay, maybe I was reading there were times to be The Tigress but when The Tiger was eager to watch a bunch of warriors beating the shit out each other, I should just hurry and keep up.
When he kept looking at my hand in that angry way, I took a precautionary step back, his eyes cut to mine then he moved fast. His arm shooting out, his fingers wrapped around my wrist, they tugged me hard and I fell into him just as he pressed my hand flat on his chest exactly where I’d placed it moments before.
I stared at him as his eyes stared at my hand just under the scratches at his chest and I felt my heart start to hammer.
Then he looked at me.
“Kay ahnay see,” he murmured and pressed my hand deeper into his chest.
I knew what that meant.
He was saying he liked it.
Oh my.
“Uh…” I mumbled, “good.”
“Good,” he muttered and I tipped my head to the side and smiled tentatively at him.
“Yeah… good.”
His eyes dropped to my mouth and his other hand came up, his calloused skin rough at my jaw, his thumb pressed hard against my lips.
“Kay ahnay see,” he repeated quietly and my breath stuck in my throat.
Oh. Wow.
He liked my smile.
Wow. He liked my smile!
I stared up at my warrior husband.
His neck was bent deep so he could look at me, his skin was firm and warm under my hand, his body the same against mine and his face, God… he was gorgeous.
Without thinking, I leaned deeper into him, my hand gliding up his chest, taking his with it, it went up, up, up to curl around his neck, his hand dropped and started to curve around my waist, the other one already there as I tipped my head far back, my eyes closing slowly as he lips got closer and then we heard, “Poyah, Dax Lahn! Poyah, rahna Dahksahna!”
Damn it all to hell!
My eyes opened to see his head, still close, was turned but he had not straightened away from me. I looked in the direction he was glaring and saw a warrior approaching. It was the grinning one from the wedding rite who was so pleased with his bride. He was grinning now too, looking no less pleased, in fact, infinitely more so.