“I have many. Once you are finished showering, I’ll show you.”
“That would be wonderful. We were able to wash at the bank, but I would love a shower.” Wrinkling her nose at him, she gave him an embarrassed glance. “I’m sure it will make it more bearable for you to be around me.”
“Come.” He motioned for her to go first into the shower room.
While his bedroom was carpeted in the finest carpet he could trade for on Uatera, the bed he had crafted by himself to fit his large frame. The three massive ornate chests, he had bought from various planets. They contained gifts meant for the home and wife he hoped to have. However, the room they were entering was as if they had entered another era.
From the ceiling, water fell with a soothing sound to land on the smooth grey stones beneath. The water would be recycled through his ship’s filtration system then returned through a series of pipes that would start the whole process over again. To the side was a slated wooden bench that was the only thing in the room other than the plants that covered the walls. It was his sanctuary, the lush greenery displacing the bleak darkness of space and the loneliness of not having a tru-mate.
She stared at the room with the same appreciative gaze she had for the vase. “I may never leave.”
“It is yours.”
“Thank you. I can’t wait to use it.” Giving him an expectant glance, she touched her pants, but didn’t start to disrobe.
He raised his brows, not understanding why she wasn’t readying herself. “Do you require my assistance?”
“No!” She lowered her shrill voice when she noticed his grimace. “I can handle it … by myself.”
He still made no move to leave.
She licked her lips and glanced toward the still open doorway. “I …” she began nervously. “I like to wash by myself.”
“You may do so. I will wait.” Skars moved to take a seat on the bench.
“Uh … I don’t feel comfortable washing with you watching.”
Frowning at her, he made no effort to get up. “You are my wife—we have no secrets. Would you feel more comfortable if I undressed?” He started to rise from the bench.
“No!”
He flinched. Her shrill was making his skull ache.
“I thought we weren’t truly married until your brother completed the ceremony?”
“True.”
“Then let’s save you watching me shower until after the ceremony. It will give us something else to look forward to.”
“I prefer not to wait,” he stated arrogantly.
“I prefer to wait, and what I want matters more than what you want where it concerns anything with me being naked.” Her eyes narrowed to mean little slits.
Thorsen had warned him being married came with compromises. Unfortunately for his little bride, she wasn’t married to his brother. He viewed compromises as a sign of weakness. He hadn’t become the best trader in the galaxy by not getting what he was determined to have.
“Very well.” He rose from the bench, pretending to look around, as if something was hiding within the room. “If you see my pet okrakratus hanging around, don’t scream. He is afraid of loud noises.” Striding to the door, he didn’t spare her another glance.
“Wait!” she whisper-screamed.
Skars turned back to her, keeping his face expressionless.
“What is an okrakratus?”
“There is no way for me to explain what he looks like. Earth doesn’t have any creatures that are similar.”
Raine warily searched around the room while she stood rooted to the same spot. “Does he bite?” she whispered.
“No, he has no teeth.”
“Oh … Okay … You can lea—”
“They latch on and suck,” he told her helpfully.
Her hand flew to her neck. Skars wondered what she was imagining.
“Perhaps it would be better for me to wait until Tayla. I mean, until Ulf calls.”
Skars wrinkled his nose at her. “If you insist.”
She clenched her teeth at him. “Fine. You can sit on the bench. Just be a gentleman and keep your back turned.”
“If you insist.” Skars resumed his seat on the bench, with his back turned toward her, listening intently as she began removing her clothes.
“Human women are very modest,” she instructed him.
“Truly?”
“Very,” she insisted. “We don’t believe in being naked in front of men until after they are married at least thirty days.”
Skars was happy his back was to his lying bride.
“I was unaware of that knowledge from my ancestors.”
“Earth has changed since your ancestors were taken.”
“How so?”
“Well, like after a couple is married, they wait six months before they sleep together, then another six months before they actually have sex.”
“Times have not changed for the better. If a husband is allowed to see his bride naked after thirty days, why does he have to wait six months to share the marriage bed?”
Skars’ eyes went to the small mirrored tile that he could easily see between hanging plants. Naked Raine had moved underneath the ceiling waterfall. Her body was exquisite, from breasts that hung like mouth-watering fwetasip fruit with red berry tips to curvy hips that a warrior could hold on to and not lose his grip. Her body had his lust rising.