Chapter 18
GILLIAN
If you’d asked me what the oddest thing I’ve ever done was, not so long ago, I’d have said sushi. Mostly because I am not an adventurous eater.
Not helping an enormous alien who can turn into a dragon shed his skin. That was not on my radar at all. I’ve never even seen a lizard in my life, let alone touched one.
“Wh…what do you need me to do?” I ask, my throat going dry.
“I shed better in the water,” Dalox says. “I always have. With your assistance, I should be able to shed in one go.”
“Okay…are you going to be a dragon? Because I think we’ll need a pretty big pool if you are.” I stare up into Dalox’s burning eyes.
He hitches a lip in a way I feel like I’ve known all my life, a half smile, maybe even just a quarter, which softens his severe, handsome face.
“I would not shed in my Sarkarnii form. No one would. It would result in more shed than anyone could manage.”
“So, just your current skin?”
“What you see now.”
“That’s all you want me to do?”
“That’s all. But only if you want to.”
“I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.” It’s now I notice the papery pieces of scale at his neck, underneath his long hair. “And”—I put my hand over my heart—“I haven’t said it yet, but I know you saved me from the pit, and I am thankful.”
“I appreciate it might not have seemed you were being saved,” Dalox rumbles. “And for that, you have my apologies.”
“Wow. Apologies from a warlord,” I say, attempting to hide my smile and knowing I’m failing. “Can I have that in writing?”
“You do not need a record of my undying desire to worship you,” Dalox says. “Because I will always be here.”
Which makes things a little strange.
“Come and see my aquium,” Dalox says, releasing my face from his not so tight grip, and I immediately feel the loss of his warmth and closeness.
I follow him around the dip in the center of the room, similar to the one he had in the rooms he called his lair. This one is, again, filled with comfortable looking cushions, all slightly mussed up as if they’ve been slept on.
We climb three shallow steps and turn a corner. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t the large pool which opens out in front of me.
The walls around it are lit in such a way it creates a soft, pleasant glow which is instantly welcoming. The air feels moist but not in such a way it invades my senses. All of it is not what I’d expect from these big, burly aliens. I guess I expected something more industrial and less aesthetic.
“The water is at my preferred temperature,” Dalox says…from the water.
“Wait…how?”
He’s bobbing around, happily and presumably…naked. I spot his pants at the side of the pool and his boots. Dalox must have got out of them in double quick time.
“Are you going to join me?” he asks.
“I still have the lack of a swimsuit issue,” I respond.
“I do not mind seeing your body,” Dalox calls out, his words reverberating around the pool.
Then he dives under and proves to me exactly what sort of situation he’s in, with a tail and a flash of his very, very nude scaly arse.
I have a naked Sarkarnii, in a pool, who expects me to help him remove his skin. I’m not entirely sure if this is a new high or a new low.
I toe off my shoes. The one-piece jumpsuit I’m wearing is quite lightweight. There’s no reason I can’t go into the water still wearing it. After all, I’m not getting naked with Dalox. He’s already seen far more than he should.
And I’m sure he remembers. I’m sure everyone remembers. Fortunately my mum taught me not to be ashamed of my body, and while I don’t usually go round flashing all and sundry, the occasional nip slip isn’t going to have me losing sleep.
Still, Dalox has seen quite enough. And he’s not seeing any more.
I dip my foot into the water. It’s warm, verging on hot, like a bath. It’s quite nice, so I wade in down a shallow ramp which is slightly gritty underfoot.
I can’t see Dalox. He’s still underwater.
Given he can turn into a dragon, I’m not going to worry about him being under longer than any human.
I’m sure he can probably hold his breath for ages.
Instead I concentrate on slowly lowering myself into the water, attempting not to be to icked out by the feel of wet cloth against my skin.
Finally, I’m lying down on a shelf which goes into the deeper water, and I’m fully immersed. It certainly feels better when I don’t have anything flapping around me, half dry, half wet.
In a move which does not surprise me, Dalox breaches the surface with a huge splash, his chest barreled, water running in rivulets over his scales and muscles. He brushes his hair back from his face with both hands, the claws tips breaking up the dark and grey.
I probably shouldn’t be staring the way I am, but I’ve noticed something else. Where his abs come to an end and there’s a deep ‘v’ at his hips…there’s nothing else.
I should be getting a full frontal. A complete view of his family jewels. But there’s nothing but scales, more iridescent scales.
Dalox doesn’t have any junk. Nothing. He might have talked the talk about mates and breeding, but it doesn’t appear he has the equipment.
So how would he do it?
My mind goes wild for a minute, during which Dalox is floating ahead of me in the deeper part of the pool.
I’m not sure what to say, or even if I can trust my brain, so I squeak out a hi.
“Little mate,” Dalox rumbles.
I’m still not quite used to the way he says it, knowing it means something very different to him.
“I have primed the aquium with the minerals I require,” he says, lifting his legs up and slowly spinning around. There’s a splash as his tail puts in a brief appearance, the spines he talked about in very clear evidence. “And you are still clothed.” His eyes are wide.
“Yes, Dalox. I am still clothed. This is not something which requires a lack of clothing for me.”
He cocks his head on one side. “Then we should get started.”
And why does that send a spike of desire right up my spine?