Page 9 of Tempting Her Grumpy Protector
Which, to be honest, was kind of embarrassing…but kind of hot too. Especially when she thought about Greer seeing her this way.
Sunny wondered again if she might possibly be a closet exhibitionist. Because while the idea of going out in front of a bunch of strangers when she was completely topless caused a flurry of butterflies to bounce around inside her midsection, it didn’t make her feel like she wanted to run and hide. Quite the opposite, in fact.
What’s that saying? Oh right—if you got it, flaunt it! Sunny told herself firmly. Everyone else is going to be topless too. It would be rude to go to the celebration any other way.
Keeping her chin high, she exited the bathroom only to find Greer standing by the end of the elevated sleeping platform wearing his leaf kilt.
It should have looked ridiculous on the big warrior…but it didn’t. The green and yellow garment fell to just above his knees, showing long, muscular legs. He still had on his tall black boots which added to the kilt effect. Also, his muscular chest and broad shoulders were bare and Sunny couldn’t stop her eyes from perusing his half naked body. God, the man was the definition of gorgeous! Look up “mouthwatering” in the dictionary and you’d probably find his picture staring back at you!
But when she stopped staring at his bare chest and her eyes found their way to his face, she saw that her Protector was scowling like a thundercloud.
“I don’t fucking like this,” he growled, nodding at Sunny’s bare breasts. “I don’t like you going out uncovered like this!”
“It’s the custom here, silly!” Sunny smiled up at him reassuringly. “I won’t be the only woman who’s topless.”
“No, but you’ll be the most beautiful one—and you’ll probably attract a lot of unwanted attention.” His frown deepened. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”
“Well, there’s no other way to observe their Binding Week ceremonies,” Sunny pointed out, beginning to lose patience. “I’m sorry if my bare breasts offend you, Greer, but I’m here for academic research and I’ll do whatever I have to in order to get it!”
Her only answer was a disapproving grunt but at least Greer stopped arguing with her. Though he didn’t stop shooting glances at her bare breasts, Sunny noticed. Having her Protector’s eyes on her made her feel hot and naughty and flirty all at once. Oh yes, this planet was definitely the place to get the big Kindred’s attention and stake her claim on him! This was her last chance to get Greer and she intended to make the most of it.
She had no idea how much trouble they were going to run into.
5
GREER
Greer tried to keep his eyes off Sunny’s swaying breasts, but it was damned hard not to stare. They were so full and round and her nipples were so tight—they almost seemed to be begging to be stroked and sucked. The sight made his cock so hard he was afraid it would start poking out from between the fronds of the ridiculous leaf garment he’d been forced to wear.
This is worse than the fucking tissue-paper clothes we had to wear on Prakus Prime, he thought as he dragged his eyes away from Sunny’s full, bare breasts for what felt like the hundredth time. She was walking with her head held high, not showing any embarrassment at all. But then, she always fell into character easily whenever they went to a new planet. She got immersed in the local customs and fascinated by the culture and forgot about everything else.
Greer however, wasn’t so much fascinated, as wary. He didn’t like his Ward putting her luscious breasts on display like this. Especially during a festival that was dedicated to finding a mate. He was certain that many of the local males would probably want her—and if he had to end up fighting a bunch of them off, it might cut their trip short. Which actually might not be a bad thing, he thought to himself grimly as their guide led them towards the large communal hut in the center of the village.
The communal hut was more of a pavilion—it had no walls, just a long thatched roof which extended out in many directions and was held up by dark wooden pillars. Inside, it was brightly lit by many torches and crowds of Thropp’ians were milling around. Some were dancing to the rhythmic percussion coming from musicians who were drumming on instruments made of wood and animal hides. Others were sipping from cups made of leaves and bark.
All of them were topless and wearing skirts made of either long grasses or broad jungle leaves.
This didn’t make Greer feel one bit better, however. Most of the Thropp’ian males were tall and skinny with three pecs instead of two and most of the women were likewise extremely thin, with three small breasts the size of unripe peaches. It seemed clear to him that Sunny was the most beautiful and well-endowed woman there, which probably meant trouble.
The Thropp’ians displayed their bare chests and breasts with pride—many of them had painted swirls of color on their dark blue skin, emphasizing their assets.
As they came up to the hut, their guide stopped them and pointed to a row of clay jars that had smears and drips of colored paint on their rims. There was scarlet, vivid orange, and a color that looked just like melted gold—all colors that would show up well on the Thropp’ians’ blue skin.
“There are the Claiming Pigments—you can use them on each other if you wish to stake a claim,” their guide told them.
“Oh, do we just pick a color and paint it on our, er, chests?” Sunny asked, her brown eyes lighting up with interest.
The guide frowned.
“I am afraid that only your Bound Mate may paint your assets to claim them as his own,” he told her. “And likewise, only you may paint his chest. In this way, everyone knows that you are spoken for.”
As he spoke, two Thropp’ians came up and started using the paints. The male dipped his fingers in the pot of scarlet pigment and drew swirling spirals around each of his female’s three breasts, starting at the outside and ending at the sensitive nipple in the center.
The female shivered and moaned as he paid special attention to coating her tight peaks in the paint. Clearly she was enjoying his touch, Greer thought.
Then it was her turn. She dipped her fingers into the paint but instead of spreading it on her mate’s chest, she smeared a generous amount of scarlet paint on her own lips. Then she leaned forward and kissed her mate’s chest several times, leaving large lip marks all over his three pecs—a clearer mark of Claiming could not have been found anywhere.
“Well!” Sunny’s eyes were wide as she watched the display, and Greer could smell her warm, feminine scent climbing a notch.
