I waited for her response but her heavy breathing told me she had fallen asleep.

  There was something magical about being in one of my favorite spots in the world with a gorgeous woman who trusted me enough to fall asleep in my presence.

  She had been scared of me after her first visit, but the writing we had shared and the hours at the tournament had made her lower her guard around me.

  Feeling afraid that my head was too heavy on her stomach, I turned and lay on my back next to her. She looked peaceful as her chest rose and fell with deep breaths. Her lips were slightly parted and being so close to her, I could see how long her dark lashes really were.

  It was tempting to trail a finger along the bridge of her nose just like I used to do with Wilma when she was little, but I settled for holding Devina’s hand like she had asked me to.

  Closing my eyes, I surrendered myself to the peaceful tranquility of the murmuring and bubbling sounds from the creek mixed with chirping birds in the distance, and that calming sound of the tree tops swaying ever so lightly from the wind.

  “Thank you,” I muttered low because even though Devina was fast asleep and wouldn’t hear me, I felt a deep sense of gratitude in my heart that she was here with me.

  CHAPTER 21

  Dreams

  Devina

  The comforting sound of my brother’s soft snoring made me smile. I had missed being close to Justin and was quick to cuddle up against him. He made a small sound of protest when I arranged my head on his shoulder and swung my legs over his thigh.

  “Mmm.” It felt so nice to be close to him again. We had done this often when he was little. Justin had been the biggest snuggle-bug of all of us, but lately he’d complained he got too hot when we cuddled, and I didn’t visit my family as often as I’d like to. With him being sixteen he was bigger than me. My hand rested on his chest and part of my brain registered that it was harder than I remembered. And since when did Justin have a dusting of hair on his chest?

  Opening one eye, I saw that my dream of cuddling up with Justin had resulted in my wrapping myself around Tyton but when I stiffened, he turned his head and kissed the top of my hair.

  “Ehh… I dreamed that you were my brother,” I explained and tried to pull away.

  “Don’t stop.” His arm came around me. “I dreamt that you were my wife.”

  “Is that why you kissed me?” I should be moving but despite the initial awkwardness it felt nice to be this close to him.

  “Uh-huh.”

  “And what did I look like in your dream?”

  “You had large brown eyes and long thick lashes.” His voice was hoarse from sleep.

  “I have that in real life. I thought you said you dreamt of your wife. Don’t you have some imaginary dream woman?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Tell me about her.”

  “She’s my age.”

  “But I thought all brides were fifteen?”

  “They are, but we’re talking about my dream woman.”

  “Okay, go on.”

  “She’s intelligent and we can have real conversations, but the best part is that we’re more than husband and wife. We’re friends.”

  I smiled a little and didn’t think about it when I raised my leg higher on his body.

  With a hand on my thigh, he stopped my leg. “You don’t want to go any higher than that.”

  The feeling of his strong hand on my naked thigh made me almost purr from the delightful sensation that spread inside me. I had read some of my mother’s steamy romance novels and found them funny when they described arousal but being this close to Tyton, felt nothing like being cuddled up with my brother or sisters. My pulse was faster than normal, and I was aware of his body in a different way. The scent of him suddenly made me want to bury my nose against his skin.

  Something was happening and like an automated part of me took over, I pressed a little closer to him.

  In response he tightened his arm around me and began stroking my arm up and down.

  “Tyton.”

  “Yeah?”

  The way his heart was beating fast under my hand made it clear that I wasn’t the only one affected by the situation.

  “Does this feel weird to you?”

  He stiffened. “Unusual would be a better word.”

  “Do you like being this close to me?”

  “Uh-huh.” His voice sounded raw.

  “You know they say that physical contact is good against depression and it improves your immune system. That’s why massages are encouraged.”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  “So, in a way we’re doing each other a favor.” I made my tone light and cheerful as I let my fingers play with the hair on his chest. “What time is it? I left my watch at your house. You mom said it didn’t go with the outfit.”

  Instead of removing his arm from under me, Tyton pulled me closer against his chest to see his watch, one that looked much more advanced than any watch I’d ever seen. “It’s almost noon.”

  Afraid that he would say it was time to go back, I attempted small talk. “Your watch looks high-tech.”

  “It’s a small computer. It’s weird to me that you people have chosen to distance yourself from technology.”

  “It could change. Who knows, in a few hundred years we might be far ahead of you. We’re just very cautious about technology. Maybe if our ancestors had been critical as well, we could have avoided the mass destruction of the Toxic War. To create technology with the power to annihilate the planet was…”

  He cut me off and stirred under me. “I don’t want to hear about us men being the villains again.”

  “All right. Then what about that massage you promised me?”

  Again, he stiffened. “Ehh… you want me to massage you?”

  “If my choice is between going back there to see more violent fighting or staying here and getting a nice massage, it’s an easy choice. I’ll even give you a massage too, if you want it.”

  This time Tyton sat up. Placing his hands on my shoulders he looked deep into my eyes. “Don’t mess with me, Devina.”

  I laughed to ease the tension. “A massage isn’t that big a deal.”

  “It might be the most natural thing in the Motherlands but trust me: to me it’s a big fucking deal.”

  “Relax. You did fine when we snuggled up together, so just try and think of massage as a physical immune-system booster between friends.”

  His eyes widened. “You see me as your friend?”

  “You’ve been very kind to me today and I’ve forgiven you for what happened when we first met.”

  Tyton shook his head like he had a hard time understanding what was happening.

  “You’ve never had a female friend, have you?”

  “No. Not unless you count my sisters.”

  I gave him a wide smile. “Then I’m proud to be your first.”

  The way his ears grew red and he swallowed hard made me tilt my head to the side. “Did I say something wrong?”

  “No, not at all. I would be proud to be your first as well.”

  “My first Nman friend?”

  “Yes…” He looked away.

  “Since you have little to no experience massaging, how about I start with you, so you can get a sense of it?”

  “Okay.”

  “It would be better if we had some lotion.”

  “I have some sun blocker in the drone. Will that work?”

  “Sure.”

  Tyton got up and jogged to the drone. It allowed me time to watch his strong legs and back. Wearing only briefs, he was like something out of an old novel or movie. Now that I’d seen hundreds of Nmen, I could see how well-proportioned he was and how he wasn’t as pumped as some of the others. When he returned, he carried a bottle of water and the lotion.

  “How tall are you?”

  He stopped in front of me, squinting his eyes because of the sun. “I’m six foot five.”

  “We measure in meters, not feet.”

  Reaching out his hand, he pulled me up. “Then let’s measure my height against yours. How many meters are you?”

  Thinking I was being funny, I answered, “Twenty-two.”

  “Okay.” He positioned himself up against me and used his hand to mark my height. “You reach my collarbone, so I’m about one and a half head taller than you. If you’re twenty-two meters tall then…”

  “No one is twenty-two meters tall. I was trying to be funny, but since you really don’t know about meters, it fell flat.”

  “Oh. Then how many meters are you?”

  “I’m one meter and sixty-three centimeters.”

  “Hmm.” He scrunched his mouth. “I liked it better when you were twenty-two meters. That number was easier to calculate.”

  When he tapped his watch, which he’d said was a small computer, I cut in. “It doesn’t matter. You’re the tallest of my friends and close to two meters, I think.” I took the lotion from his hand. “Now get your tall body down on the ground and let me give you your first massage.”

  Tyton’s lips pursed. “Normally, I don’t like taking orders, but this time I’m happy to comply.”

  I spread the lotion on his shoulders and began massaging him. Every part of his body was firm and with some curiosity I took more mental notes to describe how Deidra would feel when she touched Mark in my book.

  We didn’t speak as I massaged his arms and fingers. He turned his head and I felt his eyes on me when I intertwined our fingers as part of the massage. “Do you like it?”

  “Yes.” For a moment we smiled at each other and another burst of butterflies made my stomach tingle.

  After massaging both his arms, I moved on to his feet and then up his shins and thighs. “You’re very tense; maybe you should get massages more often?”

  “Maybe.”

  I skipped the part of his body covered by his briefs and moved up to the small of his back.

  “Do you mind if I sit on you? It makes it easier for me to reach.”

  “Sit on me all you want.”

  We laughed about that and I crawled on top of him to sit astride his back.

  “Is this how you massage at home?”

  “Yes. It’s good, isn’t it?”

  “And you want me to do the same to you?”

  “If you want.”

  “No, for real, Devina. Are you sure you want me on top of you the way you’re on top of me right now?”

  “It’s the best way to give a back rub.”

  He didn’t respond so I kept going. “I’m almost done with your back and then you can turn over and I’ll do the same to your front.”

  “Fuuuck.” A low groan sounded from him

  “Unless you don’t want it of course.”

  Twisting his neck back to look at me, he narrowed his eyes. “Are you going to sit astride me if I turn around?”

  I frowned, not sure what the problem was. “Do you mind?”

  He gave an incredulous chuckle. “You have no idea how men work, do you?”

  “I had a brother and a father. I’m not clueless.”

  “Oh yeah? So what happens when you sit astride your male friends and massage them?”

  “I can only think of two friends that I’ve done it with and they were fine. We do this in school, you know.”

  “No fucking way.”

  “Yes, massaging is part of school. It’s a good way to make children feel comfortable, relaxed, and accepted.”

  “You people are the weirdest bunch.”

  Getting off his back, I repeated, “If you turn over, I can massage your front.”

  “I can’t right now.”

  “Why not?”

  Turning his head, Tyton squeezed one eye together and wrinkled his nose. “Because I don’t want you to be scared.”

  “Of what?”

  “Of my major boner.”

  The look of confusion on my face made him elaborate, “You know what an erection is, right?”

  By then, I understood, and I felt stupid for being so slow. “Yes, I know what it is.”

  “I get that this isn’t sexual for you, but I can’t control that I’m turned on by your closeness and your touch.”

  Again, that wild swirling inside my stomach made everything tingle and I involuntarily smiled. “You’re turned on by me?”

  “Very.”

  Having a man desire me was a first and it surprised me how a dormant female pride stretched and smiled inside of me. Tyton had already proven that he could be trusted. He had been alone with me in a secluded area for a few hours now and he hadn’t taken advantage of the situation.

  “I don’t mind.”

  He stared at me. “That’s because this all means nothing to you, but I’m not going to turn around and have you on top of me. If I do, I’ll fucking come in my briefs.”

  “If you’re so bothered by it, then you can massage me.”

  Closing his eyes, he gave a short nod. “Okay.”

  I got off him and he rolled away, letting me have his spot. Closing my eyes, I used my hands to rest my head on.

  “Do you prefer it if I keep my top on?”

  “Would you normally take it off?”

  “Yeah, but I don’t have to if this is hard for you.” I turned and noticed his hand shaking a little when he pushed his hair back.

  “Or I could take it off while you do my back and then I’ll put it back on when you do my front. Would that be okay?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  Because he couldn’t look me in the eye, I asked again, “You sure?”

  He looked serious when he nodded.

  Pulling off my top, I closed my eyes again.

  “Okay, Tyton, use those strong hands of yours.” It was meant to be funny, but he was so tense that I felt a little bad for him. “Relax.”

  “I am relaxed.”

  “No, you’re tense and serious. I get that it’s the novelty of the situation, but on the other side of the border this is just an everyday thing.”

  Brushing my hair to one side, he began massaging my shoulders.

  “Remember the lotion, it makes it easier.”

  “Oh, right.”

  It was clear that he had paid attention when I massaged him because he moved from my shoulders down my arms, fingers, and then down to my feet. Because we weren’t talking, I listened to all the sounds of nature.

  “How would you describe the sound the wind makes?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “When I studied to be an author, they taught us about onomatopoeia, which is a real fancy description of words that phonetically imitate a sound. Like a pig says oink and a cat says meow.”

  “I can’t even pronounce it. What was it again – onamoto… something.”

  I laughed and said it slower this time. “Onomatopoeia.”

  “Pretty and smart.”

  “What did you say?”

  “I said that you’re both pretty and smart.”

  “That’s funny, since twenty minutes ago, you thought I was clueless.” I could have kicked myself for bringing back that awkward incident with his erection.

  “You’re just very innocent in your thought patterns. You trust people without knowing them for years, and it tells me you’ve never been exposed to much cruelty.”

  “I haven’t.”

  “It’s fascinating to me, and I’m both flattered and alarmed that you would put yourself in this situation.”

  I turned my head to look at him. “I trust you.”

  “I know. But I’m not sure you should. At the moment I’m not even sure I can trust myself.”

  “If you wanted to hurt me you would have done it already.”

  “See, you’re doing it again. You have no idea how beautiful and tempting you are to me. It blows my mind that you’re so fearless around me.”

  “You’re pretty fearless around me too.”

  He chuckled. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “What if I decided to abuse you while you slept?”

  “I wish.”

  “Bad example then, but I could have stolen your drone or something.”

  He was massaging the back of my knees and moved up to my thighs. “You’re too sweet for that and it wouldn’t work anyway.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because you don’t know how to fly a drone and you need my thumb print to start the engine.”

  “Oh, well, never mind then, but I’m just saying that you seem to trust me too.”

  “Because you can’t hurt me.”

  “That’s not true. I could have drawn attention to myself at the tournament and told them that you touched me. Remember your words from this morning about not getting you killed?”

  He sighed. “Fair point.”

  Because he was massaging my inner thighs, I automatically spread my legs wider to give him space. It made him lose his rhythm and groan a little.

  “You were right, Tyton.”

  “I’m always right, but what are you referring to?”

  “Your hands are great for this. I’m enjoying it.”

  “Good.” He kept massaging me and then he asked in a low voice. “About that in and out thing. Do you want me to do that?” His hands went higher, and it was starting to do funny things to my body.

  “This is weird.”

  “What is?”

  “Just now, I felt a tingling.” I laughed because it felt silly that I’d react so differently to a massage I’d had hundreds of times before.

  “You mean when I did this?” He had a firm grip on the outside of my thigh and let his other hand slide all the way up my inner thigh, only to stop before touching my most sensitive spot.

  “If feels different when you do it. Maybe it’s because I’m not just another client to you.”

  “Fuck no.”

  “I’m trying to use this for the book. I’m thinking Deidra and Mark could have a massage that goes into something more.”

  “That would be hot.”

  “I’m just not sure Motlanders would see it like that. I mean massages are so common and non-sexual that they might not think anything of it.”

  “Even if he goes this high?” Tyton’s hand stopped all the way up with the tip of his fingers touching my panties.

 

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