Chapter 6 #2
Then there was the other problem. There wasn’t any privacy here, so what did I do?
Demand he turn around while I splashed around in there?
Somehow, I had the feeling that he wasn’t going to agree.
He’d be worried about my legs giving out halfway through and that I’d drown myself.
The depressing part was that he was probably right.
The little dragon chirped, a loud kee-kee noise following and then he gave me a smug little grin.
He fluttered away to nose around in the sand next, so I made myself stand up and assess my options.
“I’ll stay in the shallows,” I said, quickly glancing down to make sure Zeidon still had the tip of his tail curled around my bare ankle.
“But you must promise to turn your back to me, so I can have some privacy.”
His head shot up from whatever he was searching for inside his bag, his green eyes narrowing in a glare.
He was always so solicitous and willing to do whatever I wanted that I was surprised to see that kind of glare directed my way.
“No,” he growled, his voice rough as he snapped out the word.
He shook his head next, the violet sunlight glinting off his bone-white chin horn. “I will watch.”
Now why did that declaration make my nipples perk and my panties grow wet?
He was talking about watching me bathe, not watching me masturbate.
They felt like equally naughty concepts when he’d declared his intentions to ‘court’ me.
I still didn’t entirely understand if he meant that for real or if he was just interested because I was the only girl around, I hadn’t dared to ask about that, yet.
When he looked at me the way he was now though…
There was only one interpretation possible.
My stomach swooped in my belly at that look, heated, full of a possessive kind of desire, that I felt claimed.
Maybe that was because of the grip of his tail around my ankle; it had grown a little tighter, and it had definitely slid up my calf and was still inching higher.
“No,” he said again firmly but no longer quite so growly. “I will watch, or we will go back.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, hiding my perked nipples from his sight while I attempted my own fierce look.
I didn’t like to be given an ultimatum like that and if I was feeling less faint, I would have fought this decree.
I just wasn’t quite sure how well I’d do once I actually got in there, I really might faint and that would be much worse than giving this guy a bit of a show.
What show? That was the negative voice of my mind speaking to me.
I’d just been sick for God knows how long, I had two sets of clothing and that was it, and probably at least ten pounds too many on my hips.
Zeidon wouldn’t look interested as soon as I whipped my dress over my head.
Which was exactly why I should just do it, rip off the band-aid and get this over with.
He’d lose interest, we’d be friends living in a weird, creepy cave and that was it.
Maybe at some point, he’d introduce me to his people, the Clan he had vaguely hinted at once, and I’d end up living in a hut on the edge of town, the charity case.
I sounded like a really whiny idiot, but I couldn’t help the insecure thoughts; I felt vulnerable.
“Come,” Zeidon said. He interrupted my spiraling thoughts just in time before they got really depressing and mean.
“The water is warmest here, where the sun last heated it,” he had me in his arms and was carrying me to the spot he wanted before I could protest. His gaze was still warm, his green eyes sparkling like gemstones.
My feet hit the water when he lowered me, my dress riding up my thighs against his scales.
The water wasn’t warm at all, heated by the sun he said, no way.
I squealed without meaning to and the bastard had the nerve to laugh.
From the bank of the lake, Srazz made a rumbling noise that echoed that laugh and I caught the large rodent grinning. “It’s not funny, that water is icy!”
“That is the way it is,” Zeidon agreed, “It is melting water from a glacier.” If I’d known that, I would have stuck to water at the campfire.
No, I wouldn’t have, I wanted to be clean very badly.
Breathing in deeply, I lowered my toes and found my footing in the shallow water.
Zeidon kept his arms around me, keeping me pressed close to his chest. “Here, soap.” The tip of his tail produced a milky-white, crude block of something.
I would have guessed the alien equivalent of goat cheese if not for the faintly floral scent wafting up from it.
Cold water and insecurities forgotten at the sight of actual soap, I yanked the block from his hand and took the plunge.
I was too much of a coward to take off the dress, which turned out to be a mistake.
The fabric had reminded me of a sturdy cotton, worn smooth by washing, but it became thin and translucent when it got soaked.
Despite the bold orange color, when I rose, my breasts were outlined and the dark circles of my nipples were clearly visible.
Zeidon hovered over me in the water, his long tail spread out beneath the shallow surface in shimmering, emerald coils.
His eyes were like fire as they gazed at me, a deep groan rattling from his chest. His hand slid over his belly and pressed against his groin, the other he raised to make a twirling motion. “Turn around, Precious.”
Turn around? That would obscure the view of my breasts, but those were my best feature.
I wasn’t quite so sure what my ass would look like to him, he was used to women with tails, not legs.
I still turned because there was something in his voice that just made me want to obey.
I’d analyze that impulse later, right now, I didn’t want to dawdle in the water any longer than I needed to.
Using the soap to lather up my hands, I started with my bare arms and face.
Goosebumps covered all of me but I still felt it on the back of my neck when Zeidon moved closer.
He didn’t say anything, he just hovered right behind me, close enough for me to feel the heat of him against my spine. What was happening right now?
To really get clean, I had to dunk my hair and take off the dress.
Since I hadn’t gotten my bra and panties back yet, I’d be naked.
I flashed back to the sight of my unmentionables drying on a rock next to the campfire but that thought was pushed away when Zeidon curled his hand around my hip. “Take it off.”
Mouth dry, I touched the hemline of my wet dress and started to do as he said.
I was just being practical, this had nothing to do with the desire that turned his voice husky.
The dress sucked to my skin, but my caretaker was on the ball, his hands sliding along my sides as he inched the fabric up for me.
It was the most sensual way I’d ever gotten undressed, and I wasn’t quite sure if he was doing it on purpose or not.
I stood shivering in the water once I was bare, unwilling to look at the male practically glued to my spine.
With his hand, he pressed against my shoulder until I bent my knees and started to sink into the icy lake.
All the way down. Now my mind spun with the thought of turning around, I’d be at groin height to him, I could just reach out and. ..
The water was suddenly up to my neck and panic struck me so hard and fast that it swept any amorous thoughts away in a torrent of fear.
I was drowning, I was sinking into an endless lake of black.
There was no air. My lungs burned and my vision swam before my eyes.
For heart-pounding, agonizing moments I was trapped again in the stasis pod.
A faulty, damaged stasis pod that had left me hovering between wakefulness and suspended animation.