Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 89162 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89162 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
His eyes were glowing red and his hands were curling into fists.
“No, please!” Molly exclaimed. Turning around in his lap so she was facing him, she cupped his face in her hands and made him look at her. “Don’t go, Torus,” she begged softly. “I…I just came back from the bad place I was in. I need you here, with me. Please don’t leave me!”
The big Kindred took a few long, deep breaths and she could feel him willing the Rage away.
“All right,” he said at last. “I won’t promise to never go after him but for now I’ll stay here with you, sweetheart.” He shook his head. “I’m so, so sorry I wasn’t there when you needed me. He should never have been able to get to you like that—I should have been here to stop him.”
“How could you know what he was planning?” Molly protested. “I’m the one who was stupid—I never should have opened the door to him.”
“It sounds like he had an effective ruse, though,” Torus pointed out. “You shouldn’t have to worry that any random male at the door might turn out to be an attacker.”
Molly sighed.
“Well, unfortunately that’s the way it is in a lot places here on Earth.”
His face hardened.
“Which is why we’re leaving.”
“Leaving?” Molly asked, frowning. “Leaving where?”
“Leaving Earth. Don’t worry—we won’t go far,” he assured her. “We’ll just move to my ship—it has living quarters in the back when I expand it. We can stay in low orbit until Councilor Paige tells us it’s time to come back for the trial.”
“All right.” Molly nodded, she could definitely see the wisdom in this decision. But part of her couldn’t help feeling sad. Their “honeymoon” was now officially over—it made her feel like their fake relationship would soon be coming to an end as well.
“I feel your sadness that our honeymoon is over, sweetheart,” Torus rumbled. “But it’s simply not safe here anymore. I want to be sure no one else can get to you—these human males are crazy!”
“Yes, they are and thank you.” Molly put her arms around his neck and hugged him, pressing her cheek against his in the way she loved to do. She never wanted to let him go.
Torus’s long arms came around her and he murmured through the link,
“I don’t want to let you go either. Over-hug me, sweetheart. I love it when you do that.”
“I love it too,” Molly confessed.
They clung together for a long, long time but at last, Molly reluctantly let go and sat back.
“I know we need to get going but I love being close to you,” she told him.
Torus smiled and stroked her cheek.
“Love being close to you too, sweetheart. I promise that once we get into orbit, we can go back to the ship’s sleeping chamber and hold each other for hours if you want to.”
Molly’s heart gave a little skip.
“Really? That sounds perfect.”
Inside she was wondering if something else might happen between them.
The thought surprised her a little—after the traumatic experience she’d just had with that awful Mandrew Pate, she would have expected to have zero interest in sex. But somehow being near Torus brought out her spicy side. He always smelled so good it made her want to be close to him—as close as possible.
But though they had been sleeping curled up in each other’s arms every night, they hadn’t done anything sexual since their first night together when she’d had the Bonding Fruit wine. Molly wasn’t sure if that was because they didn’t have the excuse of the extreme sexual need the Bonding Fruit had given her or because Torus was trying to be careful with her.
Regardless of the reason, after a five-year dry spell, the return of her sex her sexual desire was very welcome. Even if she still had some reservations and hang-ups, she wanted to explore more with the big Kindred. And since they were technically married, she didn’t even have to feel guilty about “living in sin”, which was what having sex outside of marriage had been called in her family when she was growing up.
She didn’t say any of this and she did her best to keep her speculation behind her mental wall, but she did catch Torus eyeing her thoughtfully as they packed their carry-all cubes.
Molly wondered what the next stage of their relationship might bring—she hoped it was something exciting. She wanted to feel Torus’s big, warm hands on her body again and hear his mental voice growling that she was a “good girl” while he touched her.
35
TORUS
Torus was surprised to feel her desire through their TET link. After the traumatic encounter with the human male who had forced his way into the bungalow and menaced her, he’d been certain she wouldn’t want anything to do with anyone male for quite some time—not even him.