Page 146 of Sun Warrior

“It’s fun to let his hunger take you through dinner. Your food will always taste better. But you have to stop the connection at the end of the meal. Look at them.” Nik gestured to a spot very near the center bonfire.

Mari looked, and the corners of her lips lifted. “They’re sleeping. All of them.” And they were. Laru, Rigel, Fala, her puppies—minus Chloe—Cammy, Sheena’s Captain, and even Bast were sprawled in front of the fire in various stages of sleep. “Oo-oh, I get it. Rigel was making me sleepy!”

“Yep, he sure was, but you’re back now.” Nik leaned into her and kissed Mari, softly but intimately. Then he sat back and smiled at her. “Danita did a good job of dancing her name. Or, at least, I think she did.”

“I’m sure she did. I wasn’t able to watch her much, but she practiced over and over.”

“You didn’t watch her, but I noticed someone who did,” Nik said.

“Bast?”

“Of course. But I was talking about Bast’s Companion.”

“Huh! I knew it. They’re going to mate. Just wait and see, and I’m glad of it—very glad of it,” Mari said.

“Are you a romantic?” Nik gave her a raised-brow look.

She smacked his arm. “And if I am?”

“Then that makes two of us. My mother died too soon, but she did instill several things in me before she left, and being a romantic was one. You wouldn’t think my father would have appreciated it, especially in his only child, but he did. He often said I reminded him of her.” Nik smiled sadly, staring down at his hands.

Mari touched his cheek gently, and he turned to her. “It’s hard, being without them. I understand.”

Nik cupped his hand over hers. “I know you do. That’s part of why I fell in love with you. You understand me. But I often wonder why you love me.”

“That’s easy. It’s because you accept me.”

“Lots of people accept you. Look around. You have a whole Pack that accepts you.”

“I know, but you were the first Companion to accept me. You could have been mean-spirited, especially after you saw that Rigel had chosen me, and not you. But you weren’t. Your heart is bigger than that. You accepted me, Sora, Jenna, Rigel, Antreas, and all the rest of us. That’s why I fell in love with you.”

“Thank you. I don’t know what else to say except that. Words aren’t enough to tell you how happy I am that we’re together—that we’re creating a new future, a new world… together. But I can show you. If you let me, I’ll spend the rest of my life showing you,” Nik said.

“I’ll let you, Nik.” Mari kissed him then. Not one of her chaste kisses. Not a timid kiss. And not a kiss she broke off because she was suddenly embarrassed and unsure of herself. Mari kissed Nik—fully, passionately—pressing herself against him and losing herself in the touch and taste of him.

Nik broke the kiss first. His breath had quickened, and his eyes were hooded, his expression intense. “You can’t do that out here.”

“Did I do something wrong?” Mari asked, feeling vulnerable and a little confused.

“No! Absolutely nothing!” Nik assured her. “It’s just that when you kiss me like that—touch me like that—all I want is to be with you. Alone. In your burrow.”

“Oo-oh!” A smile bloomed on Mari’s face. “That’s good.”

“That’s good if we’re alone and in your burrow. Not so good for sitting in the middle of our Pack with watching eyes everywhere.”

Mari glanced around them and saw several people, Companions and Earth Walkers alike, averting their eyes suddenly with knowing smiles. Her face blazed with color and she took a long drink of the winter beer Nik had brought her.

“I’ll remember that when we’re alone again,” she said.

“Sunfire! I hope you do,” he said.

They shared another long, intimate look, and as Mari felt herself leaning into him again she straightened and changed the subject.

“So, how’s it going with the women? Are they weaving what we need for the trip?” she asked, smoothing her hair as she tried to stop staring at Nik’s lips.

“Oh yes!” He brightened instantly. “Mari, they’re incredible! You and Sora were right. If I can describe it to them, they can create it.”

“Well, I knew that part, but can they create it in just a couple more days?”