Chapter 15 | Kara

Chapter 15

Kara

Sleeping with clothes on didn’t make waking up in Rex’s arms any less intimate. Still deeply asleep, he’d curled one hand around my breast and held it snugly in his palm. My nipple perked as soon as I realized, heat arrowing through my bloodstream straight to my core. The fact that I was capable of feeling that kind of instant arousal made me realize something else: I was feeling much better.

By the time the perma-contacts should have started to work, I had a splitting headache and blurry vision to go with it. That was coupled with the feeling of failure because nothing Rex signed to me made any sense; it wasn’t working. In the morning light, I tried to tell myself that it took a little longer with humans to take effect. If he signed something to me today, I would be able to understand—I had to believe that.

The headache was gone, though my mouth was dry, and my eyes felt gritty. I felt worlds better than last night, but I was beginning to think I’d gotten scammed in more ways than one. I was still not sorry for drugging that alien, but in the light of day, I did fear that there might be repercussions. There was only one option: to come clean to Rex.

His breathing changed, the rise and fall of his chest beneath my head increasing from deep, slow breaths to a more alert pace. I knew he was waking up when his fingers around my breast twitched. The hammock swayed when he shifted, but I had gotten used to the gentle motion by now and didn’t startle. Then he abruptly lifted his hand from my chest, his eyes flying open and his mood spots flashing bright orange. My smile made his expression morph into an answering grin, and the spots turned yellow, then faded to a soft pink.

For leverage, I planted my elbow on one of his massive pecs, then scooted up so I could kiss him. He looked all tousled, his luscious black hair loose around his shoulders; too tempting to resist. Then my hip brushed his blatantly erect cock, and I felt a spiral of heat twist through my belly in response. Ah, I’d forgotten about glorious morning wood, but clearly, alien guys were not immune to it either.

I would have preferred to linger in bed with him, but when I sat up, I had to admit that my stomach was a little queasy. It was probably better if I took a quick shower and ate some breakfast before we got started on any more strenuous activities. Disappointing, but wise. It was also what Rex seemed to have in mind; he was quite firm as he ushered me to the bathroom with a hand at the small of my back.

When I was done washing up, he had prepped sandwiches waiting for me on a plate on his dresser, his four hands flying as he pruned leaves from his many plants and watered them with a dainty gunmetal-gray watering can. Rex loved plants; he had a ton of them in his kitchen too—mostly herbs—and one pretty climbing vine that he’d guided all around the ceiling.

I tried to talk to him without breaching any difficult topics, but it seemed Rex was more interested in studying my face once his plants were done. His palms slid over my cheeks, his eyes peered closely at mine. My stomach sank into my boots; did he already suspect what I’d done? If only he’d sign something to me, then I’d know if it had worked or not.

I made another attempt to get him to sign things to me when we walked to the bar. I asked questions about the city, about Drova, even asked how he'd gotten here. Rex stayed stubbornly quiet, his eyes roving the streets carefully as if he expected danger waiting for us around the corner. They’d dip to me too, and when I nearly tripped over a slightly raised cobblestone, he swept me into his arms and refused to let me walk the final bit.

I was starting to feel grumpy by the time we began the frantic food prep for the lunch crowd. He still hadn’t signed anything, and he kept pushing me into a chair to sit or do things for me as if he thought I was sick or hurt. I knew I’d been in slightly rough shape last night, but I felt fine now, and it was driving me up a wall. “Please, Rex. Enough of this. I’m fine! Can you sign something for me?” I gestured with my hands in front of me. “You’re normally way more talkative.” I sounded peeved and frustrated, but it seemed that finally startled my alien chef into properly looking at me.

His brows lowered, and the many spots that freckled the bridge of his nose and cheeks darkened, a gray that made me feel ill at ease. Then his hands flew through the air and moved in a perfect, graceful dance. It looked like it always did when he signed at me, and for a moment, I felt all hope sink into my shoes. Then my brain itched, and suddenly things made sense—total, complete sense. “What do you want me to say, my love? You know you can’t understand, not yet. I will find a way to teach you or to get you perma-contacts, but they are expensive...” His hands lowered abruptly mid-sentence, and his eyes were huge in his face. “What’s going on?” He managed to make his hand gestures convey the suspicion he was feeling, which made me smile.

“It worked! I can understand!” I exclaimed loudly and threw myself out of my chair and straight into his arms. He caught me around my waist, immediately lifting me into the air so I was at face height. He was still staring, one hand moving in the corner of my eye, asking me what was going on. I kissed him instead, eagerly pressing my mouth to his. “It worked, Rex! I can understand what you sign to me now!”

His spots turned bright yellow with happiness, then they faded to pink as we continued to make out like a pair of teenagers. It was the interruption of Drova barging into the kitchen that broke us apart. Rex growled silently, standing protectively in front of me with all four of his arms spread wide. He was even holding a knife. A blush scorched my cheeks as I peered from behind his bulky shoulders at the old Asrai, who cackled like a maniac. “Don’t mind me. Just here to remind you to get to fucking work! The bar is packing a crowd.” He jabbed a finger at me, then snatched it back when Rex nearly cut it off with a swipe of the knife. “Get to work, waitress. What am I paying you for?”

I ducked around Rex, patted his impressive abs with a smile, and followed Drova. “It’s fine! I have to get to work. We’ll talk more later, okay?” He signed a vehement disagreement, which I could follow word for word, but he didn’t stop me when I ducked into the taproom anyway.