key to my chastity and stares at me with a new sort of hunger.
Unabashed glee breaks over my face. “Ohh, this is going to drive you crazy.”
He pins me with a look, his eyes fierce. All the while, he’s stroking my anti-promiscuity key. It’s a big amber-gold skeleton number, and he’s got it gripped between his thumb and the side of his finger. His thumb is darn near polishing it, with that slow rub he’s got going on with it.
“Should I leave you two alone?” I say, motioning to the key.
Bash looks down at my waist. At my wonderbelt-level. “I want to be alone with you.”
I throw my arm around his neck. “But,” I squish his head’s quills when I carefully lay my cheek over them, my nose bumping the inside of his horn’s base, “we’ve got to get to work.”
A speedy session of primal scent marking follows, and it almost has me changing my mind about starting work on time—but I have goals.
I cannot wait to tell my friends about everything they missed.
Bash relinquishes me with a final fondle to my iron-cupped ass just in time for the workday to start. Women are filing into the quarry, and I begin waving at all of my friends wildly.
Gracie gives me a grin, and Angie waves, Callie waves, Mandi waves, all of it good and fine, but Jonohkada is—as usual—trailing behind Gracie, and he waves at me too.
A shield drops down in front of my eyes.
It’s Bash’s hand.
“Hey,” I lightly swat at him. “You’ve got my ass covered—is it really necessary to put blinkers on me too? I have some lines that can’t be crossed.”
“Blinkers?” Bash asks, allowing me to peel his fingers up and drag his hand down. He lets me keep control of his hand only until I reach my chest level. Once his hand is at boob height, his wrist twists and his palm is suddenly cupping me. I’m going to put a kibosh on this, real soon—I just need a minute. I am soooo digging the possessive fever that’s taken over my alien.
I’ve never had any guy care so much.
Meanwhile, everyone assembling for work is watching us like stunned meerkats. Nosy ones. Angie calls, “So does this mean Bash is in a good mood… or in a killing mood?”
“He’s a Rakhii,” Gracie says, like this is an answer.
I tilt my head up to look at Bash. “I’ll talk to you later.” My plan was to have him with me when I share the good news but I don’t want him to stomp Jonohkada, so I need to shoo Bash to wherever he’s planning to break rock today. “Where will you be working?”
“Right beside you.”
“Awwww! Aren’t you sweet!” All the feels. “Wellll… how about you run along and I join you real soon? I need like fifteen minutes to have girl talk. I’ll be fast.”
“You want to delay the workday by fifteen of your Earthen time increments?” Bash asks, aghast. And while technically his voice is devoid of shouting, screaming, or roaring—I can tell he’s suddenly feeling deadly.
I’d spin to face him, but he’s still got my tit in his hands, basically. If he starts to try to knead it in front of everybody, I’ll draw the line then. I might drag him behind his throne to bang him quick before work, but by God, I will draw the line somewhere about public displays. I twist my neck further, really imploring him with my eyes. “We have super amazing news to share and I’m excited to tell them! Don’t you want to tell your friends?”
Bash’s hand flexes on my boob. (It’s not kneading. Don’t judge me. Shut up!) “I’d rather show them. Males are visual creatures.”
I pat him on his scaly arm. I fondle along the muscle that’s bunched up so nicely because of the way he’s holding himself tense. “I don’t think I should want to know how you plan to demonstrate. Look, the important part of this conversation is that, as your beloved cherished mate, I’m asking you to—just this one rare time for the first time ever, I might add—I’m asking you a favor so that I can proudly proclaim to all I care to know that you and me are a forever thing.”
My word choices cause Bash’s tail to wind up my leg and tease under my skirt. His tailblades clunk against the front of my belt.
I’m pretty sure it’s that sound that has him agreeing. “Very well,” he finally says. The tone of