Page 154 of Riv's Sanctuary

Lauren wet her lips.

“I do.”

It was all he needed to hear.

Riv rose and lifted her.

Staring into his eyes as he carried her, her heart beat hard in her chest as he headed back to the bedroom.

32

A whole day of loving later, a ping sounded on Riv’s comm unit and he growled before looking at it.

They were entangled together in a comfortable arrangement on the bed and she could understand why he didn’t want to be disturbed.

She didn’t want to move either.

“It’s Ka’Cit,” he murmured. “He’s coming in.”

“Oh.” She stiffened a little before relaxing and swinging her leg from over him. “Guess I should put something on, then.”

Riv nodded as he eased off the bed and slipped on his trousers.

He gave her a longing look before he slipped from the room and hurried to meet his friend.

Finally dressed, she headed to the main room and looked out the window. She could see Riv talking to a male as large as he was. They were standing near to a hovercar near the cow-hippo enclosure.

Beside them, Grot came padding in from his morning hunt and bumped the new male with his nose.

Well, if Grot approved of this Ka’Cit, she guessed he couldn’t be bad.

As she exited the dwelling, the male’s tail seemed to grow tense when he turned her way. It stopped moving and suddenly froze in the air.

It was obvious the male was wary of her and she couldn’t help but wonder if their tails were a body part that depicted how they were feeling.

Riv’s brother had a tail but she hadn’t really noticed it back then.

Maybe her interest was because she now knew how Riv had lost his.

She reckoned that when upright, the tail would make a male look taller and stronger. That was probably why Riv was so self-conscious about his.

Little did he know that he was perfect in her eyes.

As she approached Riv and his friend, she noticed the male was covered from head to toe and the only reason she realized he was blue was because she could see his arms. Even his face was behind what she could only describe as a welding mask.

She glanced at Riv but his attention was on his friend.

As she came closer, Riv turned, saw her, and pulled her close as Grot came by her side.

A feeling of acceptance by these two strange beings washed over her and made a warm calm settle within her.

She didn't know how she could tell, but the guy in the mask was now definitely looking at her.

It was sort of how she could feel Riv’s eyes on her even when he was wearing the shades.

She was having the same feeling right at that moment.

"This is La-rehn. My...gnora," Riv said, his face splitting with a smile.

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