In The Roar(19)

“That’s probably the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me,” she mumbled, her throat filled with emotion.

“It’s not meant to be nice. It’s the truth. This bed,” he said, pointing at the raised bed, “it’s a small luxury I can give you. I know you are unsure about me, about us. That’s okay. The fact you are giving me a chance tells me all I need to know.”

“What’s that?”

“That you are more than my mate,” he replied. “You’re the woman I’ve been waiting for. The one who won’t be easy all the time, but will make my life easier to bear.”

She licked her lips and cleared her throat. This was getting way too emotional for her. She really liked Karel. More than liked at this point. She wanted him in her bed, and to spend lots of time with him to see where things went.

“Do you have water?” she asked, in an attempt to take control of her body. Her hormones were in a frenzy.

He gave her a look that told her he knew she was trying to divert his attention, but he let her and reached into the open back of the bike for a jug. He pulled out a small plastic cup and filled it before handing it to her.

She drank the cool liquid in two quick gulps.

“Come on.” He grinned. “Let’s go to the beach and watch the suns set.”

He brought his bag with him.

They sat on the beach, quiet for a long while. “Is the water deep?”

“No. This area has long, shallow slats of beach. Why?” He glanced at her tank top and shorts. “Do you want to go in?”

Yes. She really did, but she was scared. This was a different environment. What if they had strange animals in the water? Her fear of drowning made itself known at that moment.

He must have read the indecision on her face because he got up and yanked his shirt over his head. Her attention stuck and stayed riveted on his contracting abs. He had such a gorgeous body. All toned and muscled without being overly bulky. Though her caramel skin looked chocolaty compared to his much paler one, he still made her mouth water. His pants came off next. Oh, my. He was naked. Very, very naked. And hard.

She stared at his manly goods for way too long before lifting her vision to his face. A wicked twinkle flitted through his eyes and a sinful smile spread over his lips. “Come on. You’ll love it.”

Yeah, she bet she would. She also loved ice cream and cake but both were bad for her. Ah, what the hell. What was that saying? You only live once, or some shit like that. That was a good excuse.

She stripped, conscious of her naked state and the fact he stared at her like she was offering her body to him for a meal.

The sand felt ultra-fine and soft between her toes, molding around her feet. She wiggled her toes and lifted a foot off the sand. Her brow furrowed in confusion.

“It doesn’t stick?”

“What?” he asked, glancing at her foot, appearing confused as well.

She grinned and lowered it to the ground, grabbed a handful of sand, letting it run through her fingers, watching every single grain fall without leaving anything on her hands. “The sand. It’s not sticking to me.”

“It won’t. That’s not how it works. Sand here is not clingy. I am not sure of the properties of your earth sand, but the sand in Aurora will never stick to you.”

This planet got cooler by the second. She took his offered hand and walked to the edge of the water with him. He held her in his grasp with enough pressure to calm her nerves. He wouldn’t let her go.





SIXTEEN



Karel watched his mate dip a toe into the sea. Fear clung to her pores, but once he’d tighten his hold on her hand, she’d calmed. To his pleasure, her entire foot went into the water. “It’s warm!”

He laughed at the wonder in her voice. “It is.”

He’d heard about earth beaches. Temperatures were usually cold, and even at the warmest beaches, the water didn’t get to the heat levels they did in Aurora.

She stepped farther out, lifting a handful of the pink water. “It’s so clear,” she gushed. “I can see my feet.” She glanced up to meet his gaze. “How come it doesn’t look pink when I scoop only a little?”

“It only looks pink when you put a lot of it together. The amount of mineral in a large body of water makes it look pink.”

Time passed with her asking questions and him answering as best as he could. He sensed her fear the farther out they went.

“Why are you afraid of the water?”

Panic dashed through her eyes. She bit her lip and splayed her fingers through the now waist high water. “I almost drowned when I was a kid.”

His chest tightened and his lungs burned. He’d almost lost her before he’d found her. “What happened?”