Talen

Pushing myself off the floor, I use the towel to mop up some of the water, hang it next to my clothes, and brush my teeth. With my more intimate parts covered, I head back out into the other room.

Aerin is on the bed, knees up, and leaning against the pillow with one of the Douglas Adams’ books in her hands. She doesn’t notice me right away, and I spend a moment just looking at her profile, her slick, dark hair, and the smooth, soft-looking skin of her neck, shoulder, and arm. Again, my cock begins to twitch.

I have no idea why I’m acting like such an uncoordinated dimwit around this woman, but I’m going to have to stop it if I hope to get any answers about her, this place, and what she’s doing here. After my most recent display of idiocy, my internal guilt about the diary, and my inability to look at her without getting a hard-on, lying in bed next to her is going to be a problem.

I really should have masturbated in the shower.

Chapter 11

I slide into bed and under the blanket without making eye contact.

I thought the shorts were enough, but now that I’m next to her with the bare skin of my upper body close enough to brush up against her arm, I know they aren’t. The brief, warm touch is enough to send a shiver down my body. I wish I were wearing a parka or at least some heavy flannel pajamas.

Keeping my breath slow and steady, I slip down a couple of inches and pull the blanket up to my armpits and then tuck it around my sides a bit. I’m not sure it will help, but it’s something.

The mattress is a real, honest-to-god mattress and not some bit of cloth wrapped around straw. It’s incredibly soft, and I feel like I’m sinking into it. By Thaves’ standards, it’s fairly low-end, but it feels like a pile of down to me. Most anything beats sleeping on the ground, but this feels particularly luxurious.

We both lean against the pillows, still in a sitting position, and I look at the wall straight ahead of me. Despite the relaxing, warm water of the shower, every muscle in my body feels tense. Aerin holds her book in her hands, but I’m pretty sure she’s no longer reading, just staring blankly at the pages. I wonder if we look as awkward as I feel.

“Can you put this on the dresser?” Aerin asks as she closes her book and holds it out to me.

“Sure.” I take the book and give it a gentle toss. It lands right in the center of the dresser top with a soft thud.

“Nice throw.”

“I have a few skills,” I say with a shrug.

For some reason, her face turns red, and she looks toward the wall for a moment. I consider asking her about it but decide against it. I go with a more benign question instead.

“Do you read a lot?”

“Yes,” Aerin says. “Well, I used to anyway. I don’t get much of a chance anymore.”

“It’s not like you can hang out on the street with a book in your hand.”

“No, I can’t do that.” She smiles and shakes her head a bit, tossing her slightly damp hair around so it falls against her shoulders.

“People would talk.”

“I’m not sure what they would do.”

“You haven’t really spent much time with Naughts, have you?” I turn my head and study her closely, trying to resist the urge to reach out and feel her hair. It looks so soft.

“I try to keep my distance,” she says.

“Why?”

“A variety of reasons.” She looks over at me. “You touched on the main one; I can’t pass as one of them.”

“Yeah, your accent is noticeable, and you don’t know what not to say.”

“I don’t think others would pick up on my book and movie references.”

“Probably not, but they would still think it sounds strange. The valley people don’t trust outsiders in general, and it sets you even farther apart.”

“Why don’t they trust outsiders?”

“Because they’re uneducated,” I say, “not stupid. Thaves periodically try to infiltrate the community, looking to expand into the valley and push us out of our land. Naughts know about the East and what’s available there, but they also know people who try to move east never make it. At best, they get turned away at the gates of the capital.”