Page 59 of Eat My Moon Dust
“All good?” he asked, not referring to his kids. I nodded, still vibrating anxiously beneath my skin, just not enough to show.
“Yep! Let’s go.”
Zufi walked with us as the kids carried all the leftovers. I made sure we were walking slower than usual, which made them impatient, of course. They skipped ahead, approaching the bend in the footpath where overgrown palm fronds draped across the road and obscured the home towers.
Jumping in shock, I slapped my cheeks.“Watstakats!”I gasped. “I forgot my bag!”
Hunar raised a brow. “You didn–”
“No, no, Idefinitelydid,” I interrupted, squeezing his hand. “Sorry… I need to go back and get it.”
Hunar’s features were drawn, his attention split, but he nodded. “We’ll go look together.” As he called out to his brood, Zufi stopped walking, looking back at us with puzzled curiosity. “Go ahead, you three. Tinsley forgot something.”
Reha shrugged. “Okay. See you later!”
“Last one there’s a slimy tentacle head!” Taha yelled, sprinting ahead of the others with his leftovers held high over his mane.
I clutched Hunar’s hand in my clammy palm, finding it hard to breathe as the kids ran out of sight. He creased his brow. “Tinsley…” he murmured. “What’s wrong? Your bag is still on my counter.”
I caught Zufi’s eye. He faced us, lacing both sets of hands behind his back.
“Hunar?”
“What?”
I licked my lips. “Kiss me.”
Hunar slashed a glare at Zufi. Then he wrapped his upper hand around my bicep and gave it a reassuring squeeze, forcing his own anger down to soothe me.
“Tinsley, I don’t blame you,” he mumbled. “It’s not your fault I got my family into this fucking mess. You’ve given me more than I could ever ask f–”
“Hunar,” I snapped, grabbing him by the chin. “Stop talking and kiss me.”
Hunar’s breath caught in his lungs for a heartbeat, then his self-control broke. He snarled, wrapped his lower arms around my waist, lifting me into the air so he wouldn’t have to bend over, and crushed me against his chest. My fingers dug into his neck as his upper hands slid into my curls, holding my head exactly how he wanted it.
With a rumble that vibrated my chest, he crushed his mouth to mine, and I instantly opened, tasting the smooth texture of his tongue, the firmer set of lips that dominated mine. Where I’d expected hissentito reach for my throat, it coasted up my inner thigh instead, the dress too tight to wrap my legs around his chest without slipping nearly all the way to my hips. The thick tendril reached the edge of my thigh high and found bare skin.
Hunar ripped his mouth away from mine, staring down between us as his lower hands slid over the rough sequins of my dress. They hit my bare butt and he groaned, nipping my collarbone.
“Who am I?” I panted, hyper-aware that Zufi was still observing from up the path.
“Priya,”Hunar sighed, then licked the front of my throat and nipped my chin. I couldn’t get my hand all the way around hissentiat the base of his neck, but latched on and tugged anyway, forcing his lidded bronze eyes to meet mine.
“Louder,” I growled.
“Prrriyaaaa,”he rumbled, mane purring like a crocodile in heat. His colors flashed, and a spectrum of light raced down the length of his tendrils as they squirmed in their band. Hissentidid the same, that bioluminescence Bajora had told me about weaving in and out of his pulsating stripes as if they were meant to dance together.
My insides both melted and frosted over like deep-fried ice cream. Why did the first time he called mepriyahave to be like this?
I reined in my fears that he’d never choose to call me that anyway and yanked again. “Now put me down, honey.”
Hunar growled but slid me down his front until my toes touched the ground. He smoothed out my dress, then gripped hissentiwith a wince, squeezing tighter than was comfortable. I adjusted the front of his tabard too, taking my time to work out the wrinkles of where I’d been smashed against him.
“You’re not leaving,” I told him with a low, serious sniff. “And neither are your kids. You’re staying right here.”
“Tinsley–” he rasped, feet rooted to the spot. He could barely manage to speak let alone move. He was a live wire ready to jump on me again, and it shook him to the core. I gave him a gentle pat on the chest and smiled.
“I need to take care of something. Can you stand here for a sec? It won’t take long.”
