“I…” Danni didn’t know what to say. What could you say to something like that? “I’m not wearing any perfume,” she offered at last.
“I’m not talking about perfume,” he growled. “Not that artificial stink you Earth females wear that you think smells good and actually smells disgusting. I’m talking about your scent—your personal scent.”
“Oh, like…my hair and skin?” Danni asked hesitantly.
“Among other things,” he said darkly. “Look, don’t ask me any more. You’ll just get offended all over again.”
Danni opened her mouth to say that he couldn’t say something like that and expect her not to ask more when Lovely Eyes gave a sudden little hop with her hindquarters which pushed the big Kindred forward in the saddle—and right up against her back.
Bravik swore but he was suddenly plastered against her and the long, hard ridge of his shaft was rubbing right against Danni’s ass and the small of her back.
Holy crap—he wasn’t kidding! she thought, her eyes going wide. The shaft she could feel pressing against her was hard as a rock and absolutely huge. Clearly, Bravik really was very turned on.
And all from smelling me—smelling my scent, she thought and wasn’t sure how to feel about that. She’d been sure the big Kindred hated her—but could you hate someone and be that attracted to them at the same time?
Then Bravik was scooting back, quickly making space between them again.
“Sorry,” Danni heard him mutter. “Didn’t mean to.”
“I, uh, know you didn’t,” she whispered back. “Don’t worry about it—it was the horse’s—er, the lubby’s fault.”
“No, it’s your fault, little girl—you smell too damn good,” he growled back. “Damned if I know why Commander Sylvan wanted to torture me by sending such a gorgeous, unmated female on this mission. I thought he liked me!”
Danni didn’t know what to say to that, but just then the lubbies turned a corner and they were riding into what looked like a simple, quiet village in the foothills of the mountains.
“New friends,” Kozen said, turning his head to smile at them. “Welcome to our township and the seat of our Mother Stone. Welcome to our home!”
Nine
Brav could have kissed the male—if he had any wish to kiss another male, that was. Finally, an excuse to stop talking! It seemed like every time he opened his mouth, he stuck his foot directly in it.
Why did he keep telling Danni such embarrassing, personal things? Did she really need to know how her scent affected him? Or that he found her so fucking attractive it was almost painful to be around her?
Of course she didn’t need to know all that! So why had he told her? Why was he acting like a fucking adolescent blurting out embarrassing secrets around a pretty female instead of the battle-hardened veteran he was?
Bravik had been caught and tortured in the line of duty during assignments much more hazardous than this one. Both times it had happened, he hadn’t given up anything but his name and rank—not even the most extreme pain or mental anguish could pry sensitive information from his lips.
Yet here I am, telling this curvy little Earth female how much I want her with no more provocation than just breathing in her scent and having her close to me for a little while, Brav thought. He had to get hold of himself and start acting his part—that of her commanding officer and the leader of this mission.
Promising himself there would be no more embarrassing personal confessions to the little Earth female, Brav straightened up and looked around the village they had just entered.
The dwellings were tall and graceful—they looked almost more like they had been grown than made. After a moment, he saw why. The outer walls of the houses were made of closely planted white tress with supple, graceful trunks. The roofs were the trees’ branches, woven together so that their silvery-green leaves interlocked to keep the sun and wind and rain at bay.
Brav wondered how good a job the tree-houses actually did at keeping the elements off the people who lived in them. They didn’t look like they would provide any kind of insulation but then, Soluu Four appeared to have a very mild climate.
But despite the overly rustic housing, the village was fortified by a tall metal fence—almost the only metal Brav saw anywhere in the town. It was silver gray and there were tall spikes extending upward at five-foot intervals. Lifting his head to get a better look—(and also to give himself a break from Danielle’s maddening scent)—he saw that the spikes appeared to be hollow. Interesting. Did something come out of them? Some kind of chemical or gas to protect the inhabitants?
Brav wondered why such a peaceful village needed such heavy fortification. The H’rakens had gone out of their way to explain that they were pacifists who didn’t engage in any kind of conflict at all. There was, supposedly, peace between all their people around the whole planet.