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182 pages, Paperback
First published November 3, 2015
“It is like we are joined, somehow. Like our bodies have decided to sing a song together. I like that.”
“She is mine, this female. Why doesn’t she like me? Am I not strong?”
“My chest squeezes tight at the thought. No one will ever, ever take Har-loh from me. I will rip them open with their own tusks if they should try.”
“It still feels like a dream that she is here with me, and I clutch her to me harder, afraid to wake up. Afraid that I’ll rouse and be utterly alone once more.”
“She is the only thing worth living for.”
And he can’t stop staring at me, as if I’m some magical dick-sucking unicorn come to life.
In that moment, I want to give Rukh everything I possibly can. I want to give him a mate, a family, teach him about sex, and share everything every day together. I want him to know he’s not alone.
I want him to know someone else loves him. Someone else is there for him.
I love Rukh and I’m happy with him. I don’t care that I have to brush my teeth with a hard twig or my panties are made from leather instead of silk. I love my man and I don’t want to leave him.
I hold her closer, agonizing. I will die if I lose her. She is the only thing worth living for. Now that I have Har-loh, I can’t go back to the loneliness of before. I cannot bear the thought of a day without her smile, her touch, her scent. Her small, cold hands on my skin as I wake up.
“Promise me we won’t change?” She burrows her face against my neck. “No matter what?”
“I will tear khui from my chest before I leave you,” I tell her. “We are together. Always.”
“We will stay. Our son will need friends. You will need the healer. And I,” he says, grazing his thumb over my mouth. “Will always need you. A male cannot exist apart from his heart.”
Neither can a woman, and it’s clear that Rukh has mine.