Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 144433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
I manage a nod, because I should be annoyed that she is checking in on me. I should be strong and emotionless and proud and show no fear. But...I like that she's checking on me. It makes me feel like a person, like Zhur, instead of Honored Heir Zhurrrvas of Praxii Minor.
Heir no longer.
I pull my hand free from hers and sit up. As I do, hay floats in the air, fluttering to the ground, and I grimace at the mess I've become. Before I came here, I had never even seen hay, and now I am up close and intimate with it. I hate that, just as much as I hate the hay that seems to be under my clothing and permanently lodged in my mane. I get to my feet, shaking out my clothing, and as I do, I glance over at Maeve.
She's getting to her feet as well, but there is a tear across the shoulder of her sleeping clothes, and dark, rust-colored stains. "Are you bleeding?"
Maeve turns to me in surprise. She touches her shoulder and winces. "Oh, I guess you scratched me harder than I thought."
"I did that?" I'm appalled. I've never harmed a female. Never.
"Eh," is all she says with a shrug. She tries to touch it and can't reach the back of her shoulder, where there's a few spots of blood peppered. "You were thrashing. It seemed more important to wake you up."
"But I am filthy," I point out. "Excessively so. You must let me clean that."
"Do you even know how?"
"I am certain I can figure it out." I point at the lavatory. "Go. We will get this clean so you do not die of some sort of human plague."
"I don't think I can get a human plague from your claws, but sure," she jokes, heading over to the lavatory. She hops up on the counter in front of the sink and sits, which makes it difficult to reach anything behind her. Before I can think about what I am doing, I pick her up and set her aside onto the toilet seat.
She blinks up at me in surprise.
"What?"
"You're rather strong."
I snort. "What, you think because I am used to luxury I am a puny weakling?"
"The thought did occur to me."
"Female, I could twist you into a knot with ease."
"Don't threaten me with a good time," she jokes, and then pulls her shirt down, exposing her shoulder.
And for the first time, I notice it is a very nice shoulder. A very smooth, delicate shoulder. A very pretty, elegant shoulder attached to a pretty, elegant human that smells nice.
Hmm.
CHAPTER
THIRTY-ONE
MAEVE
My alien friend seems to have woken up on the decent side of the bed today. He's actually being nice. Well, nice-ish for him. But I'll take it. I scratch at some of the dried blood on my arm. It's really not a bad scratch at all but he's acting as if he flayed me open with his claws. He picks through all of my soaps, smelling them before discarding them, and then settles upon one that he feels is appropriate. Then he takes my best towel, wets it with an over-the-top demonstration of how the faucet works, and then dabs it at my scratched shoulder.
"This isn't necessary," I tell him, though it is kind of nice to have someone wait on me after days of catering to him.
He ignores my protests. "You have been kind to me this last night and I repaid your kindness with a wound. At least let me treat it."
"I was just doing for you what I'd wanted someone to do for me."
"Yes, and it angers me that you went through something similar. Do you still have nightmares?" He dabs at my wound, the scabs opening again and dotting with fresh blood.
"Me? No. I'm good at focusing on positive things and not negative. It helped coming here and knowing that I was safe." But I also try to stay busy and talk the ears off of anyone in the vicinity, because I don't like being alone with my thoughts. "Do you want to talk about yours?"
"Again, no."
"But is it related to why you're here?"
"Still not talking about it." He tilts his chin up, regarding my wound with a serious expression. "Do humans bleed a lot?"
"Nah, we're good. So you've never owned a human, then? Not even as a servant or a pet?"
Zhur dabs at me again. "Never."
"Why not? I thought all the rich people in the galaxy liked exotic pets."
"It was frowned upon for me to form attachments. I could be seen as weak. I was not allowed pets and my companions were cycled out regularly so I would not show favor to one family or another. All except Uba." He grows silent again.
"Is Uba your girlfriend?"
"Ubagrrresh is my house steward. His loyalty is to the heir." He wets the towel again. "He was the only constant in my life."