He rolled his eyes. “You don’t want me to answer that right now.” He was painfully aroused and the need for her pulsed through his body, but the Feerbas weren’t going to let her go any time soon. Rosamund was utterly enraptured. She was showing them how to do different kinds of braids, and braiding flowers into their fur, which raised new cries of delight from them.
Watching her, he felt a little of his frustration easing up. The smile on her face was contagious. The childlike delight she took in the Feerbas and in making them happy, the clever way she braided their hair…it was a pleasure to watch.
The Feerbas, who were a bright, imitative species, began braiding each other’s fur, and for a minute he thought he’d get Rosamund back.
Then she started playing some kind of odd game in which she slapped her palms against theirs and sang a song. Something about a woman named Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack, who had silver buttons, buttons, buttons, all down her back, back, back. Did Miss Mary Mack have a stutter? How would one open a dress with buttons down the back?
She was far too distracted to explain it to him.
“Fine, I will go prepare us a meal,” he said, and walked into the cabin.
“You’re the best!” she called after him, which filled him instantly with a glow of pride and happiness.
His heart’s fire thought he was the best!
He put on a loin cloth that was stashed in the bedroom closet, not bothering to get fully dressed.
He hoped to be removing the loincloth soon enough.
Then he rummaged through the cupboard and began pulling out bags of kmeer-flour and jars of spices. Draell men prided themselves on being excellent cooks, and it was most important that he showed his heart’s fire that he could care for her.
It was another hour before she came in, and he saw that her hair was now done up in about twenty braids with flowers woven into them.
“The Feerbas did that for me! Oh, my God, are they adorable,” she said as he set down plates of kmeer stew and piles of roasted vegetables on the big wooden table.
She chattered happily over dinner, until the end, when she pushed away her plate and said, “So, I never thought to ask, but why exactly did your group split off from Sekari’s clan? Why did you decide to colonize this planet?”
He hesitated for just a moment. “There have been several groups of Draell that have split off and colonized their own planets over the years,” he said carefully.
She raised an eyebrow. He hadn’t really answered her questions, and she knew it.
“The clan leaders tend to have strong personalities and opinions on how things should be run,” he said. “Sometimes they clash with the current Lord High Commander. When that happens, the clan leader can bow to the commander, which rarely happens, or fight to the death to challenge the commander for his position, which sometimes happens, or move to a new planet.”
“You don’t get along with the current Lord High Commander, then?”
He shook his head. He could not go into detail without telling her everything. And that he could not do. Not yet. Not unless he was released from his promise.
“I do not. It has been a long time coming.”
That part was true. Sekari was a bully, the type of leader who mistook abuse for a show of strength. But since he and his clan had lived on a different continent than Sekari, he had tolerated Sekari for probably far longer than he should have. Until…until he couldn’t any more.
Rosamund was still watching him, waiting for him to say more.
When he remained silent, he saw a look of disappointment on her face, and it slashed him to the very core.
“I am sorry,” he said. “What are you thinking right now?” He was afraid that she was going to ask him to return her to Agora at once, or at least say that she would sleep in her own bed tonight.
But to his surprise and delight, a smile spread across her face.
“I am thinking that it’s my turn,” she said.
“Your turn?”
“My turn to give you pleasure.”
He started to protest, and she stood up and walked over to him.
“You came to me in my dreams two nights in a row,” she pointed out to him.