Pak groans. "Papa, take me with you."
"Some other time," Juth says. "I promise."
"But when you're with Steff, you press your faces together instead of hunting," Pak complains, holding onto his father's neck. "If I come with you, I can hunt!"
And now I really do want to hide with embarrassment. Pressing faces together, indeed.
"I have an idea," Daisy says, speaking up. "Pak, I just remembered a game back on Earth that we used to play when I was little. It was called hopscotch, and I bet you and I can play it right here on the beach. Want to?"
"Oh, hopscotch. I remember that." Sam chuckles. "We used to play it all the time when I was a kid, because all you needed was chalk and a rock."
"On the beach, you don't even need chalk." Daisy holds a hand out to Pak and shoots me a wink. "Want to play?"
Pak hesitates, then nods. "Can we pick out a pretty rock?"
"We can absolutely do that. Let's go scour the beach for one, shall we?"
Juth sets his son down, and then Pak leaps over the trench again (scaring me half to death in the process) and racing over to Daisy's side. My new mate moves to my side, his hand warm and strong on my back. It sends a hot shiver through me, and my pulse starts thrumming below the belt. He leans in, his breath tickling my ear. "Do you want to go hunting?"
"Hunting sounds great," I echo, since we're all keeping this pretense up. "I was helping get this thing back out to sea, though. Seems wrong to leave when we're so close to done."
He brushes his lips over my temple. "I will help, then."
I'm both happy he's doing a team-oriented task, and a little miffed at myself that I even suggested it, because now I'm all turned on at the promise of sex, and I'm positive that both N'dek and O'jek are going to be able to tell. But the tide is coming in, and the trench starts to fill up with water even as we dig, and then we all get behind it and shove as the first brush of the ocean waves touch the shell-beast's tentacles. The creature perks up a little, then, making a weak effort to get into the water on its own. The sand erodes around us even as we push it forward, but we're successful a short time later when it starts to drift deeper into the waves.
N'dek breathes a sigh of relief. "One fewer problem to worry about."
"Aw," Devi says, and she looks terribly disappointed. "I was kinda hoping I'd get to dissect it."
He places a big hand on his mate's head, stroking Devi's silky black hair. "Some other time."
I bite my lip and look over at Juth, who's watching me with a burning look in his eyes. The sight of it makes my knees weak all over again, and I glance to where Daisy is hopping with Pak farther down the beach. She looks over at us and waves, and then gives a thumbs-up, letting me know we're good. We have a little time to ourselves, then, and I take back every frustrated thought I've had about Daisy. Maybe we just need to find the right focus for her to help with the tribe.
Juth comes to my side as I brush sand off my hands, and he pulls me against him. "You look deep in thought."
My face feels hot, but I'm close to not even caring any longer. Let the others see us touch each other. Doesn't matter. I lean in against him. "Just thinking about where we're going hunting. Someplace…quiet?"
He leans in and his lips practically move against my ear, sending skitters of longing through me. "It will not be quiet for long. My mate is always very, very noisy when she gets pleasured."
Oh dear god. My nipples prick against my clothes and I want to rip them all off and fling myself into Juth's arms. I take the hand he holds out to me and clutch it tight as we practically run in our haste to score a few minutes alone. I'm pretty sure I hear Sam stifle a chuckle behind us, but I'm also pretty damned sure I don't care. I just need Juth. Need how good he makes me feel. Need his mouth on my body, licking and teasing me until I come, over and over again.
Juth always walks fast, so it's a bit of a hike for me to keep up with him. I feel like I'm racing as we head up the sandy slope, toward the cliffs. Instead of heading for the caves and the campfire a short distance away, however, he steers me a bit farther down the way, past the normal area that everyone hangs out in. I don't really notice where we're going—all I know is that Juth is leading me with long, sure strides.