Barbarian Lover(6)

“Don’t worry about it,” I say quickly. I step away since he’s awful close and it’s making me fluttery. “I think Maylak needed more tea leaves.” I hurry over to the next plant.

“Fine means…ahhhh.” He chuckles and follows me. “You heard my conversation.”

I shrug my shoulders as a non-answer.

“You did, and your feelings are hurt because you think I do not find you attractive.”

‘That’s not it at all,” I lie, averting my face. I feel like my emotions are painted across my forehead and he’s going to be able to see right through me.

“Mmm. Is that so? Then look me in the face, Sad Eyes, and tell me this.”

I don’t. I pluck a few leaves off of the newest bush, because it’s a nice distraction.

“Look at me, Kira,” he commands again.

I peek over at him. It’s weird that I’m so attracted to an alien. Back on earth, my relationships were nonexistent. I’m the type of girl invisible to guys. I don’t dress in sexy clothing, I don’t flirt, and I rarely wear makeup. My hair’s an uninteresting brown and sits flat against my head, and my face is a little too long to be pretty. I’m not even a great conversationalist. I’m not a virgin because I’m holding out for marriage.

I’m a virgin because I’m boring and unsexy. Normally I don’t care. But Aehako? He’s masculine and utterly breathtaking. He’s one of the few sa-khui who keeps his hair cropped super short against his skull. It’s a short buzz against his scalp, which just draws attention to his big, handsome smile and the enormous horns that jut from his browline. The plated, bumpy ridges down his face are also more prominent, and it makes his face – especially his nose – seem blunter than most. But he’s got such an endearing smile that you can’t help but find him handsome. He’s tall and muscular, thickly built instead of lean like Liz’s Raahosh, and his entire body is a pale slate-blue that I find intriguing.

To say he rings my bell is an understatement. And I hate that I don’t do the same for him. I look away again. “I don’t care if you think I’m ugly.”

“I don’t think that at all,” he murmurs, and I feel the heat of his big body as he moves closer to me again. “I simply did not correct Asha because I wanted to get rid of her, not continue a conversation.”

So he thinks I’m pretty? A happy shiver races through me.

I squelch that line of thinking. It doesn’t matter if he finds me attractive. Leading him on is just a mistake, and I can’t afford to get my heart caught up in matters.

I’m sterile. There’s no way he’s ever going to resonate to me. He can flirt all he wants, but a relationship with me is a dead end. “We’re just friends,” I say, when he leans in even closer.

“If we are just friends, why do you care so much?”

“I don’t,” I protest again. I look over and his face is inches from mine. It makes that weird flutter start in my stomach once more. “Why…why are you standing so close?”

That lopsided, too-sexy grin curves his mouth. “Because you keep backing away.” He leans in. “And I like the scent of you.”

“Aehako,” I say, my voice soft. I can’t lead him on. He needs to know that flirting with me will get him nowhere. He should save his attentions for a woman that might someday be able to be his permanent mate. “Listen…” I stop, because he’s pulling something out from under his tunic. “What are you doing?”

“I am giving you a courting gift.” He pulls something long and thick and wrapped in leather out of his tunic and holds it out to me.

“A gift?” I take it from him, touched. We humans have so little and I already feel like a big mooch with all the things that the kind sa-khui people have given us. Now he’s giving me a gift?

“A courting gift,” he emphasizes. “I worked very hard on it.”

A…courting gift? Is this a sa-khui thing? “I see.” I shouldn’t take it, but I have to admit that I’m curious as to what it is. It fills my hands and is about a foot long, and thick like a baseball bat. I unwrap it slowly… And then stare. Surely that’s not…”Is this your, um, penis?”

He nods proudly. “It’s a very good likeness. I worked hard to get it just right. Of course, the others think I’m mad for staring at my own cock for hours while I whittle.” He shrugs. “Do you not like it?”

It’s a dildo. I stare at it in a mixture of horror and disbelief. It’s made of bone, and I’m a little terrified of what sort of creature comes with bones this…thick. Oh God, I’m blushing. It’s really thick, though. And long. Surely these cannot be the actual dimensions of his penis. But there’s no mistaking the heavy crown on the end, and the veins tracing the length of his, ahem, equipment. It’s definitely a penis. There are even ridges along the top like the ridges on his brows and big muscular arms. And there are even balls attached, and something that looks suspiciously like a pinky finger above the cock.