Page 43 of Finding Her Heart
Doku-ni answered with a louder grunt of assent.
She giggled. If she counted how many ways he could respond with that mid-chest grunt, there must be hundreds.
"What is that sound?" he asked.
"What?"
He imitated a stuttered noise—her giggle.
"I was laughing at how many things you can say with a grunt."
He grunted again, sending her into more laughter.
Leaving the clean animal pelts on the beach, he waded into the moving current up to his knees. Keeping her close to him, he had her kneel in the icy cold water to get wet. Teeth chattering and using him as a bulwark against the pressure of the moving stream, she didn't argue. As much as she did not enjoy being naked outside, the way he bathed her was a pleasure she did enjoy. She held onto him while he lathered her with a block of soapy stuff in his palm. The cold of the water and the heat of his hands and actions kept her from freezing.
Remembering the armored fish with teeth he'd told her about, she avoided the temptation of distraction. She wanted this wash, not to be bitten by some strange fish. Although she loved how they smelled together, they were sticky and crusty with it. Her heat, as he called the sickness, and his physical response to it had been elemental and filthy. Standing nude in the water, his cock hard, she pondered all the filthy things she hadn't yet gotten to do and felt a rush of trembling desire go through her body.
He knew the instant it happened. Answering the call of her body by clasping her throat and pulling Annabell into him, using her soapy belly to wash his hardening shaft. His change in demeanor was all it took to forget all about being outside, other Orki nearby, and the threat of a deadly fish. But the brief teasing was all she got. He made her kneel again, then pushed her back to wet her hair and washed her face, cooling off her outside if not her insides. He washed her long hair faster than she could, then himself faster than she would have, picked her up, and took her to the shore.
The day felt much cooler now. Reaching for the animal skin, she wrapped herself in it and watched him shake himself dry before picking her up. In his embrace, she pet his dry skin. "How is this happening? You were wet and cold like me, but now you are dry? All you did was twitch a bit."
"Orki different."
"You had metal in your throat for how long? You make a noise as intoxicating as a full bottle of berry wine? And a hunting party of twelve took out a small army of raiders. Yes. You are different. But I don't understand how you can be dry."
"Orki skin is special," he said. Either he wasn't sure the best way to explain, or he simply didn't want to try to. Snuggled in the safety of his hold, she traced her finger along the line at his throat.
Special indeed.
Back in the place where they had slept, he sat her down with a snoring Zerzer. The war beast and the Orki shared a connection that she didn't understand. Not only could they speak with one another, but they shared a kinship, a correlation in nature. Milk of the Sister, the fermented drink that changed her into an Orki Original war bride, had come from some kind of animal somewhere. The possible answers to that question made Annabell's eyebrows climb to her hairline. But no less strange was the idea that the massive killing machine had puppies somewhere. Kids? Babies. Zerzer had behaved with a teasing and motherly attitude towards her since their very first meeting.
Dropping her hands to cover her belly, Annabell wondered what kind of mother she would be. Was there a baby growing inside of her already? After not conceiving with Mark in the first year of conscientiously attempting parenthood on a monthly basis, Annabell decided motherhood was out of the range of her life's possibilities. It was the only reason she gave in to wed Mark.
Seeing to other tasks, Doku-ni left her side. But he'd only been gone for a minute when Annabell swore she felt a strange tingling warmth in her chest, the pulling of a drawstring. There was a sense of him and his feelings towards her—his desire and his affection. It must be all in her romantic imagination. She built up years of fantasies about the Orki Original myths that could not be true.
Arms full of fresh bedding and food, Doku-ni returned. Picking her up, he sat down in her spot, Zerzer complaining in a grunt when he leaned back and positioned Annabel in his lap. What an amazing thing to be able to sit in his lap. She was woman and child all at the same time, stirring emotions she didn't have words for.
He fed her cold meat, sweet cake, and the orange fruits. She blushed when she saw them. Snatching one off the plate, she popped one in her mouth and tried to bite into it. The too-hard skin didn't break, she only bruised it releasing, a tiny bit of the tangy flavor.
"May I use your knife please to cut it in half?"
He took the fruit from her. Caught in his gaze again, helpless to look away and turning red. He rewarded her with an almost-smirk. His tongue licked across the surface of the round thing. In his hand, it looked like a tiny piece of candy. That black tongue of his set butterflies and tingles rising in her belly. His big, round white head, that subtle smile, his gentleness, the intense way he did everything regarding her—this quiet male was the most attractive being she had ever encountered. She wanted his attention. Badly. Her core pulsed with desire for him.
He took the fruit, bit it in half, and handed it back to her. With the tension in the skin broken, it was much easier to eat. Clear-headed now, Annabell appreciated the unique flavor. They must grow on the island. "What are these?"
He answered with a word that sounded like kut-coot. The ridiculous name tickled her sense of the absurd, and she giggled. His eyes danced in response. Sitting up, holding his face between her hands, she answered his smile with one of her own before letting her own boldness escape and running her tongue up one of his tusks. Afterward, she sat back, shocked at her actions, embarrassed she waited for rejection to come.
Tilting his head to the side, he said, "More."
"Can you feel that?"
"Doku-ni feel everything redress does for her one. Again."
She licked his other tusk, feeling the smooth ivory of the exposed tooth. It had a unique texture. Kissing his closed mouth, she sat back on her heels, blushing again. Oh, how she liked all of him.
Chapter 14
The Woe Is Ever Hungry
