tangled up together in his bed. They came back up here, holding hands as they walked through her woods, for lunch and supper and spent the evenings snug together in the cabin. She liked showing off her cooking for him—fried chicken and gravy, biscuits and chocolate cake—as much as he enjoyed polishing it all off.
And in the past three days she’d learned just how expensive it was going to be to keep a seven-foot-tall alien warrior well fed.
’Course it was all worth it for the look on that warrior’s face as he sampled his very first root beer float.
Ra’kur sat at the battered kitchen table, his huge hands wrapped around the frosty glass, straw in his mouth, rumbling happily as he started on his third float.
“I wish to have more of these,” he said with a blissful look at the foamy contents of his glass. “I will have them with every meal.”
“Yeah, I’ll need to hit the Harris Teeter if we’re going to have any meals at all.” She gave a final look at the empty pantry and shut the cabinet door. It probably hadn’t been this bare since the Great Depression. “In fact, I don’t even need to make a list because we’re out of everything .”
“Harristeeeeterrrr?”
“It’s a grocery store,” she said, dusting her palms against her white cook’s apron. “It’s where I buy food.”
His straw made a slurping sound as he finished off the last of his float. He put the glass down and gave a nod. “We may go now.”
“Uh, no. Ra’kur, you can’t go with me.”
“My repairs are nearly completed.” He leaned back in his chair and with a practiced eye checked his weapon, then holstered it again. “A hour’s work at the most remains.”
“Ra’kur,” she began slowly. “We’ve talked about this. There aren’t any people on this world who aren’t human. You can’t go into town. You can’t let anyone see you, I told you that.”
His brow creased. “I did not think you meant never let anyone see me.”
“What did you think I meant?”
He glanced at her breasts, her body. “I thought you were shy about letting others know that we have been fucking so much.”
Jenna crossed her arms over her chest, her back against the pantry door. “You know, maybe we could try another word for that?”
“Bashful?” he offered.
She closed her eyes briefly. “I meant instead of ‘fucking.’”
“But that is what we do.” Ra’kur frowned again. “We fuck.”
He was right and, really, it was just how the linguistic chip managed to translate it, but it still got under her skin that he called it that.
“So your people never call it ‘making love’?” she asked, annoyed at how important this suddenly was to her. “It’s always just ‘fucking’?”
His face lit up. “I like this new way of describing how we fuck.”
“You know,” Jenna said, rubbing her forehead, “maybe we tackle that later and get back to the ‘not-letting-anyone-see-the-alien’ part.”
“I will not let you go unprotected.” Ra’kur stood, seven feet of brawn, glowing eyes, and bared fangs. “I am going with you.”
“You can’t .” She took quick steps to stand in front of him. “If anyone sees you they’ll—I don’t know—panic? Or call out the National Guard or something!”
“I will not let you go about alone in on a planet so uncivilized as this.”
“Wait a—did you just call my home, my world, uncivilized ?”
“Jenna,” he began, and his growl had an overly patient tone that set her teeth on edge. “This is an unsafe world for females. You have told me so yourself. I will not allow my lifemate to put herself in danger to purchase foodstuffs. I am going with you.”
“Do you know what they would do if they found out about you?” she demanded, throwing her arms wide. “If—and that’s a big if —they didn’t kill you on sight, they would capture you, experiment on you—!”
“Perhaps,” he growled, “because they are uncivilized .”
Her eyes narrowed at
And in the past three days she’d learned just how expensive it was going to be to keep a seven-foot-tall alien warrior well fed.
’Course it was all worth it for the look on that warrior’s face as he sampled his very first root beer float.
Ra’kur sat at the battered kitchen table, his huge hands wrapped around the frosty glass, straw in his mouth, rumbling happily as he started on his third float.
“I wish to have more of these,” he said with a blissful look at the foamy contents of his glass. “I will have them with every meal.”
“Yeah, I’ll need to hit the Harris Teeter if we’re going to have any meals at all.” She gave a final look at the empty pantry and shut the cabinet door. It probably hadn’t been this bare since the Great Depression. “In fact, I don’t even need to make a list because we’re out of everything .”
“Harristeeeeterrrr?”
“It’s a grocery store,” she said, dusting her palms against her white cook’s apron. “It’s where I buy food.”
His straw made a slurping sound as he finished off the last of his float. He put the glass down and gave a nod. “We may go now.”
“Uh, no. Ra’kur, you can’t go with me.”
“My repairs are nearly completed.” He leaned back in his chair and with a practiced eye checked his weapon, then holstered it again. “A hour’s work at the most remains.”
“Ra’kur,” she began slowly. “We’ve talked about this. There aren’t any people on this world who aren’t human. You can’t go into town. You can’t let anyone see you, I told you that.”
His brow creased. “I did not think you meant never let anyone see me.”
“What did you think I meant?”
He glanced at her breasts, her body. “I thought you were shy about letting others know that we have been fucking so much.”
Jenna crossed her arms over her chest, her back against the pantry door. “You know, maybe we could try another word for that?”
“Bashful?” he offered.
She closed her eyes briefly. “I meant instead of ‘fucking.’”
“But that is what we do.” Ra’kur frowned again. “We fuck.”
He was right and, really, it was just how the linguistic chip managed to translate it, but it still got under her skin that he called it that.
“So your people never call it ‘making love’?” she asked, annoyed at how important this suddenly was to her. “It’s always just ‘fucking’?”
His face lit up. “I like this new way of describing how we fuck.”
“You know,” Jenna said, rubbing her forehead, “maybe we tackle that later and get back to the ‘not-letting-anyone-see-the-alien’ part.”
“I will not let you go unprotected.” Ra’kur stood, seven feet of brawn, glowing eyes, and bared fangs. “I am going with you.”
“You can’t .” She took quick steps to stand in front of him. “If anyone sees you they’ll—I don’t know—panic? Or call out the National Guard or something!”
“I will not let you go about alone in on a planet so uncivilized as this.”
“Wait a—did you just call my home, my world, uncivilized ?”
“Jenna,” he began, and his growl had an overly patient tone that set her teeth on edge. “This is an unsafe world for females. You have told me so yourself. I will not allow my lifemate to put herself in danger to purchase foodstuffs. I am going with you.”
“Do you know what they would do if they found out about you?” she demanded, throwing her arms wide. “If—and that’s a big if —they didn’t kill you on sight, they would capture you, experiment on you—!”
“Perhaps,” he growled, “because they are uncivilized .”
Her eyes narrowed at
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