She’s going to know immediately if I get a hard-on, he thought, gritting his teeth as he imagined Danielle’s reaction. She’d been extremely offended when he explained what her scent did to him earlier, during their lubby ride. She probably wasn’t going to be too thrilled to see the effects as well.
Well, there was no helping it, he told himself ruefully. They couldn’t offend their hosts, so he was stuck wearing the ridiculous trousers.
He just wondered how Danielle would look in her own H’raken feasting outfit.
Fourteen
“Where are we going now?” Danni asked as Navii led her down another side street to a different part of the village she hadn’t yet seen. The small town appeared to be larger than she had at first suspected, though all of it was still surrounded by the tall metal fence that Bravik had remarked on.
“Oh, to the township common grounds,” Navii told her. “That is where we hold our nightly feasts. I cannot wait for your husband to see you in your new feasting clothes,” she added, throwing an excited look over her shoulder. “Surely he will show you the proper love and tenderness now!”
“Uh, I’m sure he will.” Actually, Danni felt like she was practically nude. The sun was getting lower in the sky and its rays shining through the thin white fabric of her new feasting gown made it practically translucent. She kept having to remind herself that all of the H’raken women were dressed the same way and she wasn’t the only one who was exposed.
Yes but I am the only one with an annoying coworker who’s pretending to be my husband and who will see me practically naked, she couldn’t help thinking resentfully. She hoped she learned some amazing healing techniques here on Soluu Four because she was certainly going through enough trouble and embarrassment to earn them!
Soon, they came to a wide swath of deep, greenish-blue, which was the color of the Soluu Four grass. It looked not unlike the parklands surrounding the Sacred Grove on the Mother Ship, Danni thought. Children were running and playing barefoot and a small herd of lubbies was grazing at one end on the lush grass.
At the far end of the large parkland, a kind of long picnic table was set up. As they got closer, Danni saw that the table was quite low and everyone was sitting on the ground on white linen blankets. Many of the men were already sitting while their wives bustled around, arranging trays of food on the long, low table.
“Oh, see—we are not late—the eating hasn’t started yet,” Navii said, smiling in relief. “Come, I see your husband and my own dear one sitting at the far end together.”
She hurried over the grass, as though she couldn’t wait to see her husband again, though they had scarcely been parted an hour. Kozen was sitting at the very end of the long table and Bravik was at his right hand.
As Navii approached, Kozen looked up and saw her. His face broke into a beaming smile and he rose and held out his arms.
“Oh, my darling! My one!” Navii exclaimed, rushing into his arms and kissing him eagerly.
“My heart,” Kozen murmured, pulling her into a tight embrace.
Good grief, Danni thought, feeling irritated. Every single time they see each other it’s like one of them just came back from an extended absence to some distant, dangerous foreign land!
Then she saw Bravik looking at her and felt her stomach do a flip-flop. The tall Kindred was also standing, waiting quietly for her to come to him. Danni was certain his sharp golden-bronze eyes were seeing absolutely everything since the sun was at the right angle to shine right through her dress. She had to fight the urge to cover her breasts and sex with her hands as she approached him.
What should I do? Danni wondered. Should I throw myself into his arms and rub against him? It seemed to be the standard greeting between husbands and wives here and if she hadn’t been so nearly naked, she would probably have just gone with it. But she was acutely aware of her bare breasts poking out under the thin, silky, see-through dress and the thought of rubbing against her annoying coworker like a cat in heat was just too much to bear.
To add to her discomfort, she saw that Kozen and Navii had stopped canoodling for a moment and were watching her and Bravik sharply, as though waiting to see exactly how they would greet each other. And since the Head of H’raken Collective—which was presumably like the mayor of the town—was watching, so was everyone else at the long, low table.
Oh my God, we have to do this right—but how do we do it without being wildly inappropriate? Danni wondered. She felt like her stomach was full of butterflies as she looked up at Bravik, unsure how to approach him.