Chapter 9

Ican talk to him.

I can really talk to him. Finally.

Lo'zar is just as kind and gentle with his words as he is with his body. When he holds me close so I can sleep, I feel warm and safe knowing Lo'zar has his gun and his sword with him. The beat of his heart right next to my cheek is steady and sure, and I immediately drift away.

It's so cozy here that I'm reluctant to wake up again. When I open my eyes, Lo'zar is holding me while intently watching the tunnel where we entered. He takes his job very seriously.

Maybe you should sleep, too, I say to him, my voice jolting him out of his daze.

Lo'zar shakes his head. They could still come. They're probably searching the whole pyramid for us.

Hasn't it been hours now? I ask. He nods. I think they gave up.

Then we should leave, he responds. Before they come back.

I don't feel so certain that we should. Here, I can talk to him. If we leave, will we lose it? Will I never be able to hear him again?

Not that I have any idea how we'll get out of this valley, Lo'zar adds. I didn't see any way up those cliffs we came down.

That is a problem.

You should still get a little rest, I tell him. Then we can figure out how to get out, now that we don't have those deranged monsters breathing down our necks.

Lo'zar smiles at this. He lies back on the ground, still holding me against him, and positions my legs across his body so I'm using him like a bed. There's a lump against my thigh where he's getting a little thick under his pants. I imagine that big, purple-blue cock, which is now pressed up against me, and my skin feels warm everywhere Lo'zar and I are touching.

Sorry, he says, scratching the side of his nose in embarrassment. You're just... hot.

And I'm lying on top of you, I add.

He smiles at that. Certainly doesn't help.

But it's turning me on, too, feeling his hard chest under my hands, his cock nudging me. There's a warm seed of affection in my belly that's steadily sprouting into something else as I become aware of the way our bodies are rubbing against one another. I want more of it, in more places. Now that I can hear him talk, I feel like I can finally know all of him, and I want to have him skin-on-skin.

It seems like it's my turn to say something, to do something. Lo'zar would never touch me without asking, not unless I did it first. That's just the kind of guy he seems to be. So I reach out and take his bejeweled fingers in mine, and his eyes dart down to my face inquisitively.

What is it, Rimi? he asks. I know I should let him sleep, but I find that I want to go even deeper, to pursue this peculiar new feeling that's growing inside me.

I don't know, I confess. I just wanted to hold your hand. That's not all I'd like to put my hand on, but this feels safe for now.

That debonair grin of his reaches all the way to his eyes, pulling his tusks back. Is that so? He cups my fingers in his palm. You're so small. I keep thinking that. How can anyone be so little?

Perks of being human, I say. And you're very big.

I'm normal-size! For a troll.

I bat his arm playfully, and when I move, his insistent cock brushes against me again. There's a warm buzzing under my skin, and instantly I remember what it looked like, hard and swollen up in the river. Lo'zar sucks in a breath, and I think belatedly that I'm not being very kind by rubbing all over him, so I slide off until we're lying side-by-side on the stone floor of this great big room. He doesn't let go of my hand.

Sorry, I say.

He quirks an eyebrow. For what?

For, you know, getting all up on you.

A goofy smile tilts up his mouth. I liked it.

My heart does a little skip, and I return the smile. I liked it, too.

Lo'zar gently turns over so he's facing me, and raises his other hand to the side of my face. He traces a finger down from my brow to my chin. I want to look away because his gaze is so intense, but I find that I can't. I'm sucked into the feeling of knowing him. I can almost sense the size and shape and color of his soul. But I can't seem to hear all of his thoughts—and he only seems to hear mine if I'm not consciously hiding them. It's as if we share a special world that only belongs to us.

He leans towards me, closing the six-inch gap between our faces, his mouth just a hair's breadth away from mine and his tusks framing my face. I don't need to hear what he's thinking to know he wants to kiss me, so I brush the surface of his lips with my own, and in a split second his mouth is firmly on mine.

It's awkward at first with our different shapes, but he's insistent and passionate, bringing his hands up to my cheeks to draw me in closer. He opens my lips with his tongue, and I didn't expect just how good it would feel to kiss him, to taste him, or how much it would make other parts of me want his touch, too. Tentatively I open my mouth for him, and with a suave maneuver that is very Lo'zar, his tongue slips inside, seeking out mine. Soon they're playing together in the space between us and all it does is make me want more. I slide towards him along the hard stone floor until our bodies are pressed close together, and Lo'zar lets out a small groan into my mouth. He's stiff as stone against my thigh, and it makes me feel even more beautiful and wanted and warm with desire for him.

There was a boy when I was seventeen who I liked a good deal. He was a stablehand who came down to the lake after he was finished with his work for the day, and his was the first penis I really saw up close. We had gotten naked in a copse of trees far from the grounds, deciding to explore each other's bodies. But when it came time to do the deed he had pushed it inside me without very much warning. All I'd felt was discomfort, and an awkward throbbing feeling followed me between the legs for days afterwards. I didn't invite him to the lake with me again.

Would Lo'zar feel in my hand like the stablehand did? How would he feel inside me?

That last thought sends a shudder of anticipation down my spine. It's as if a bright string, vibrating with tension, now stretches between the place our mouths are touching and the warm core of my abdomen. Every movement of his tongue sends a ripple down it, until my hips are moving against his without my permission.

Rimi. Even Lo'zar's mental voice feels thick and heady. Do you know what you're doing to me?

The great thing about talking with your mind is you can keep kissing while you do it.

No, I don't, I say, nipping at his lower lip. He grunts and his hand drops behind my neck to pull my head even closer. But I know what you're doing to me.

And what's that? His hips respond to each sway of mine, rubbing his significant boner against the space between my legs.

Turning me on, of course.

Lo'zar chuckles into my mouth, pleased. Oh, then we're in the same boat. His hand travels from the nape of my neck to the small of my back. I marvel at the gentleness of his touch, this same troll who carried me over his shoulder through the jungle. But I can feel his urgency through it, too.

My desire is a flame, burning higher and brighter until it threatens to become a bonfire.

We've already seen each other naked, so a slow, tantalizing tease of removing clothes feels pointless. No, I want to see Lo'zar again like I did in the river, and this time I want to feel him, too. So I sit up and grab the hem of the tunic I stole out of the wagon, then pull it up over my head.

His eyes widen. Oh.

Do you want to stop? I ask. I don't know where we're headed yet, but I'm interested in embarking on the voyage anyway. As long as I'm with Lo'zar, I know nothing will happen that I don't want to happen.

A shocked look comes over him. Please, don't stop.I want to see you. And then I want to touch you.

Perfect, I say, abandoning the shirt on the floor. His eyes traverse me, wide and salivating. I want that, too.