Found(70)

Lauren laughed. “No, silly—mosquitoes are just bugs. They don’t hurt when they bite but they leave itchy red welts on your skin. So let’s go.”

“Very well.” He nodded once more to her mother. “I bid you goodnight, mother of Lauren.”

Her mother smiled faintly. “You can call me Abby, I suppose.”

“Abby, then,” Xairn said. “Good night. And please don’t have any more fear for your daughter.”

“I’ll try not to.” Lauren’s mom still sounded worried but at least she was headed for her car. “Good night.”

“Good night.” Lauren waved at her. She waited until her mom had started the car and then tugged Xairn back into the condo and closed the door.

She was finally back home but she had a feeling it was going to be a long, long time before things really got back to normal.





Chapter Twenty





“Your mother does not trust me.” Xairn crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at the simple white tile flooring.

Lauren’s living space was small but attractively arranged. It had high ceilings and the walls were painted a pale, sunny yellow that made the space seem larger than it was. There was a small living area set off by a short blue couch, as one first stepped in the door. Diagonally across from the couch was a bed that looked to be a little smaller than the one they’d shared in Slk’s guest suite. Facing the bed and separated by a small archway was a tiny food prep area.

The bathroom, which was at the far end of the living area, was the only room separated from the rest of the space by a door. Everything else was contained in one small area. Lauren had told him the arrangement was called an efficiency apartment. It was smaller than the bare metal rooms Xairn had kept aboard the Fathership, but warmer too. In fact, he liked it—or thought he would once he got used to it.

“She’s just worried about me.” Lauren sat down on the side of the bed. As soon as they reached her living space she had changed into much more form fitting clothes than the garment Xairn had bought her in O’ah—jeans and a t-shirt, she called them. All Xairn knew was that the tight bottoms clung to her rounded ass and the soft, thin material of the top stretched across her full breasts in a most distracting way.

“She has a right to be worried,” he murmured, trying not to see how the outlines of her nipples were faintly visible through the shirt.

“She’ll be fine once I’ve been back home awhile.” She patted the spot beside her. “Come here.”

Xairn looked at her warily. “Why?”

Lauren sighed. “Because I want you beside me—near me. I love you, Xairn. People who love each other show it by being close and touching.”

He frowned and settled carefully on the bed beside her. “You mean the way you and your mother were holding each other?”

“Exactly.” Lauren scooted closer to him until she was leaning against his arm. She looked up at him. “You really never had anyone hug you?”

Xairn looked down at his hands. “I…I had a nursemaid for a little while—just until I was able to fend for myself. Then my father took me from her. She used to hold me on her lap when I was very small.” He shook his head. “But there’s been no once since then. Not until you.”

“Oh Xairn honey, how sad.” Lauren pressed closer to him. “Come here and let me hug you.”

Awkwardly, Xairn lifted his arm and let her press against his side. He felt the softness of her body and smelled the warm scent of her skin—the scent that marked her as his. Gods, she felt good! Too good. “Lauren?” he said hesitantly but she only pressed closer.

“Put your arms around me and hold me close,” she directed. Feeling helpless to disobey, Xairn did as she said. When he was holding her soft, warm body against his own Lauren sighed contentedly. “See, isn’t this nice? It’s good to be close. Warm. Comforting.”

There were other words Xairn would have used to describe the sensation of her body pressed against his but ‘nice, warm, and comforting’ were not it. He’d been feeling strangely melancholy as he watched the interaction between Lauren and her mother but now his body came to life in another way. His secondary shaft stiffened in his flight pants and his skin prickled with pleasure and desire at her touch. Strangest of all, for some reason his eyes felt hot—just as they had when he was enraged and defending her back on O’ah.

What’s happening to me? Am I going to lose control? He shifted uncomfortably on the bed and Lauren shifted with him. Somehow they wound up lying on the bed instead of sitting on it, with her draped over his left side.