mate. That meant he was hers. He had said Gerelins couldn’t break the bond and it was for life. A vow which compelled him to make sure no one could ever get away with hurting her again.
Giddiness burst through her like a series of bubbles and she wanted to kiss him again. Kiss him until all the bad things were pushed to the back of her mind and she could focus on something she wanted. Something good.
He clenched the clean pants in his hands. “Ah, sesi. Keep looking at me like that and we are going to end up back on that bed, petti coincin.”
Holding her gaze, he slid them over his hips. Saedra swallowed and licked her lips. His cock was a hard pulsing length against his leg, the tip a deep rosy color. Garik reached down and pushed his erection inside, tucking it away from her sight as he did up the flap of his pants.
Her brain was muddled. She barely paid attention as he pulled the black shirt over his head and tugged it down. Saedra tried to get her mind back on track now that he was no longer touching her or flashing his naked parts in her direction. “What are you calling me? I don’t understand the names you’re using, unless their insults?”
Garik stiffened. He tipped his head to the side and his brows arched with confusion. “What do you mean?”
“Sesi?” she hesitated at she said the word to make sure it was correct. At his nod, she added, “Petti coinçin.”
She was sure she butchered the last but Garik seemed to understand which words she was attempting.
“Don’t you have a translator?” he asked, coming back toward her.
“No.” She suddenly ducked her head and toyed with a loose thread on her shift. She searched the floor for her dress and went to pick it up from a crumpled pile. “My father didn’t think it was a good idea for me to have one.”
Having an implant was so commonplace as to be an expected process not long after a child was born. Her father hadn’t even made an effort to have her fitted for the device, though she knew he and most of his men had one.
“Who is your father? One of Lord Maurin’s people?”
Saedra pulled her dress over her head with rough jerks, hating this topic after the sizzling feelings he’d created with his kiss. Garik was smart. She knew that from everything she’d heard about him. One wrong word and he’d know everything and leave her behind after all her hard work. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
He continued to push. “Is that the reason you want to leave Quantoon? To escape your father?”
Talk of her father ruined the wonderful swell she’d been feeling from their intimate moment. Saedra ran her hands through her tangled hair and glared at him. Pressure built inside her chest behind the fear of his persistence. “Why aren’t you listening to me?! I said I don’t want to talk about him!”
The last came out in a shriek and Saedra slapped a hand over her mouth. She’d never yelled at anyone. Not once in her entire life because of fear of retaliation. Her throat locked as she nervously waited for his response.
Garik’s lips twitch. “The little rabische has a bit of a bite to her, hmm?”
“You’re making fun of me,” she declared and her stomach cramped at the thought.
He must have sensed her mood change. His mouth became a grim slash. “No. I’m teasing, Saedra.”
Once more her lack of experience with humor was a hindrance. “Right. Well.”
“Have you never been teased?” he probed.
Saedra could only shrug. How to explain her childhood or life in general without going into the nightmare of having Maurin as a parent? She spun on her heels and marched away only to be confronted with a wall.
There was nowhere to go in here, no way to remove herself from his irritating presence but she headed for the mattress on the floor and the stash of blankets strewn about from their hasty morning tumble.
Saedra grabbed the first one and started to fold it. The act of busying herself by cleaning up usually worked when she was home. It allowed her a way to calm down and ease the temper that didn’t often make an appearance.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take more than a few minutes to fold the blankets and gather the torn clothes Garik had thrown on the floor. So focused was she on the task, she didn’t