Barbarian Alien(66)

“Yeah, Kira,” I say, lathering up my soap cake. “What’s up? You don’t want to get in?”

Her cheeks are hot. “I’m fine.” She swings her legs in the water but makes no move to dunk herself.

Georgie gives me a knowing look and lifts her chin, indicating something behind me. I look over and sure enough, there’s Aehako again, pretending to look busy off to the side. “That man needs a hobby,” I tell them.

“Vektal asked him to watch over you for a bit,” Georgie says in a whisper.

“I figured as much.” I soap my arms and then start on my torso. “So, should I give him a show?” I pretend to wash my breasts in an obscene fashion under the water.

“Stop it, Liz,” Kira says, but she’s blushing.

“You’re right. If I want his attention, I should wash your breasts,” I tease.

She huffs and jumps to her feet, then storms away. I watch her go and then look over to Aehako, who is also watching her.

“She’s a little sensitive,” Georgie says, moving to sit on one of the underwater ledges.

“Aren’t we all,” I comment, thinking of my own man. Georgie has Vektal’s ear. While part of me wants to hold her underwater until she gets him to cave, the other part of me knows that I’ll get further on the Return-Raahosh-To-The-Fold quest if she doesn’t hate my guts. I sit on another one of the ledges and set my soap on the lip of the bathing pool. “This sure is a weird cave.”

“Right?” Georgie says, agreeing. “I asked Vektal about it but he says his ancestors carved it. I kind of wonder if they had some equipment back on their ship that we don’t have now.” She shrugs. “At any rate, I’m grateful for it. Especially the bath.”

“A bath without the face eaters is nice,” I agree. That sets off another round of memories of Raahosh and our first makeout by the river. Dammit. I miss him so much. It’s like an ache in my chest that won’t go away. Blinking back tears, I notice the women scraping the skins nearby have their heads together and they’re talking and giggling while looking over at me.

“I thought you said they don’t care if we’re naked?” I ask Georgie.

“They don’t,” she says, and avoids meeting my gaze.

A curl of unease unfurls in my stomach. “What?”

She bites her lip. “Raahosh has been showing up every few hours with a kill.”

“A kill?” I repeat dumbly.

Georgie nods and wrings out her wet curls. “Kills to feed his mate. He says you like the quill-beasts best. He’s brought four so far over the last few hours, and they have to keep chasing him away.”

Warmth suffuses my body, more than even the hot-tub-like pool can give. He’s still trying to care for me. What a total sweetheart. Tears prick my eyes again. “I love him, Georgie.”

“I know, Liz. We just have to give things time.” She shrugs her shoulders helplessly. “Vektal can’t cave on this, not with so many other men eyeing the girls. He worries about them, too. Six girls haven’t resonated, and he is concerned that if he eases up on Raahosh, he’s going to put them in danger. Some of these men have never had a mate. They’re full of longing for a family. What’s to stop one of them from kidnapping a girl and holding her captive for months – or a few years – to try and force her to resonate for him?”

“Would that work?” I’m shocked.

She shrugs again. “How do we know it won’t? We’re all young and healthy so it stands to reason that if they haven’t resonated yet, they will soon enough.”

The situation’s a lot more complicated than I thought. I feel a little sorry for Vektal, who’s clearly trying to look at all angles of the situation…and then I get pissed that I’m feeling sorry for the guy that’s keeping me and my mate apart. “It’s different,” I point out to Georgie. “Raahosh was resonating to me when he stole me. It’s not the same.”

She gives a half nod. “Which I tried arguing to keep him here. Vektal’s super torn up, you know. Raahosh is one of his closest friends. Exiling him was so hard on Vektal. Even now he’s out there trying to talk to him, to make him understand.” She grimaces. “Your mate is…not that understanding.”

“All he sees is that you’re separating him from me.” Surely they can’t expect him to be happy about that.

Georgie nods. “It’s hard for me because I want to side with you…but Vektal’s my mate. I have to trust him to know how to run his tribe or else I’m sabotaging him, too.”