“You can hug me later,” Emilia promised. “For now, we need to get going—Rarev is already giving me a mental nudge.” She tapped her temple with one finger, indicating the mental link she had with the Monstrum commander.
Christine didn’t need any more urging. As lovely as the bathroom was, she was already longing to see Roarn again. And in the back of her mind, where their link was located, she could feel him wanting to see her again too.
“I love you, Chris-teen,” she heard him growl in her head. “Hurry and finish your shower so we can be together again.”
“I will,” Christine promised and blew him a mental kiss. But before she broke the connection, she couldn’t help asking him a question. “Roarn, did you noticed that I was rejuvenated? Did you see that I was younger now?”
“I saw that you were beautiful,” he sent back. “But then, you were always beautiful to me, Chris-teen. The most beautiful female in the universe.”
“Oh, you…” She couldn’t help blushing at his compliment. Apparently it didn’t matter to the big Monstrum if she was rejuvenated or not—young or old, he found her beautiful.
Which was the best thing any man could say to her, she thought happily.
FIFTY
Christine was feeling much refreshed after her shower and a fresh change of clothes. This time she elected to put on jeans and a t-shirt, which was how she usually dressed around the house. It wasn’t as elegant as the red wrap dress, but it was vastly more comfortable and familiar. Kat had thoughtfully sent boots and more underwear and bras along too.
In fact, she’d damn near sent Christine a whole new wardrobe. The note attached to the pile of clothes had said, “Sorry, Doll—couldn’t stop once I got going.” Kat had signed it with a little smiley face with cat ears that made Christine grin.
Emilia led her down another long corridor to a vast, open area that seemed to be under construction, though quite a few structures were already built.
“The Monstrum are building a lot of little restaurants and shops, just like they have on the Kindred Mother Ship,” Emilia explained. “They’re hoping to make their ship more homelike for the human brides they’re calling.”
“How thoughtful!” Christine remarked. “So…which of these are we going to?” she asked, indicating a row of asymmetrical buildings that seemed to serve all different kinds of Monstrum cuisine.
“Oh, we’re just meeting our boys at a cheelah bar,” Emilia told her. “Cheelah is a Monstrum drink—it tastes a bit like iced coffee and you can add all kinds of different flavors to it, but you have to be very careful—it’s extremely strong.”
“So…it can get you drunk?” Christine asked, following her as she made her way down the row of buildings until she came to one which was little more than a stall thatched with the same enormous house-sized leaves they had seen on their carpet-wole ride through the Sacred Grove.
“Only if you drink too much of it,” Emilia said. “So just stick to a single drink if you have a low tolerance. Oh look—there they are!”
She pointed and Christine saw Rarev and Roarn beckoning to them. Roarn looked like he’d had a shower—at least, his striped coat was clean and shiny. He waved to her eagerly, clearly anxious to see her again.
Christine wanted to see the big Monstrum again, too. The minute she reached him, she threw herself into his arms and Roarn held her close, squeezing her until she almost couldn’t breathe.
“Sorry,” he rumbled when she gave a little wiggle of protest. “It’s just that I’ve missed you, sweetheart.”
“I missed you too,” Christine murmured. “But what is all this about? Are we really just here to get a drink? Or is there something else going on?”
“I’m afraid there’s something else, as well as a drink,” Rarev remarked, clearly catching her words, though she had been speaking to Roarn. “It has to do with where the two of you will live, now that you’re bonded.”
“Where we’ll live?” Christine asked blankly. Come to think of it, where would they live? She supposed that she’d imagined they would both go back to her cabin, but somehow the idea lacked appeal.
“Yes,” Roarn said. “You see, though I have pardoned him, I think it would be better if Roarn made himself scarce from Earth for a little while. Especially the part of Earth where you live, Christine.”
Roarn frowned.
“I thank you for my pardon, Chief Commander, but what about Chris-teen? What about her occupation and her domicile?”
“Well, now that the Fensters are gone, I think I can probably sell the cabin easily enough,” Christine remarked. “Hopefully I can find a buyer who’ll agree to keep feeding my feral kitties.”
“What about your occupation, though?” Roarn asked her. “Will you not be sorry to leave it?”
“I love working with animals,” Christine said candidly. “But I’ve always wanted to travel. And I thought maybe, well…maybe we could travel together.”