Page 57 of Claimed By the Alien Barbarian

“I think I’m falling in love with you, Nevarn. Is that going to be okay?”

I jerked out a nod, barely able to speak past the croak of emotion lodged in my throat. “I’m already in love with you. Is that going to be oh-kay?”

“More than okay.” Her head tilted and she smiled up at me. “Why don’t you take me to bed, mate?”

I didn’t need any more encouragement than that.

Standing with her in my arms, I carried her into the room and gently laid her on our bed, following her down.

Chapter 29

Nevarn

The next morning, we rose and washed in the bathing area. I helped Kerry don a dress commonly worn by my people.

As she belted it in with the gold band, she gave me a smile. “I like it. The material’s soft and very comfortable.” She slipped her feet into the sandals we’d collected and watched as I dressed in pants and a simple tunic. Striding close, she stroked my arm. “I enjoyed being with you last night.”

“As did I.” I lifted her and gave her a long kiss, loving how she wrapped herself around me so easily and kissed me back with renewed heat. When I ended our kiss, I stared down at her, thanking the gods for bringing her to me. How sad my life would’ve been without her.

“Let me help you with your hair.” Before she could protest, I turned her around and grabbed the comb the gods had thoughtfully left. I worked the knots from her long silky strands and when it lay smooth across her shoulders and part way down her back, I leaned around to kiss her cheek. “Do you want to wear it down or up?”

“I’m going to hire you as my lady’s maid,” she said, her eyes gleaming with humor as she looked up at me over her shoulder. “We need to negotiate your fee.”

“No fee. I will happily bathe and dress you, plus fix your hair every day of your life.”

Turning, she pressed herself against me, her arms going around my sides. “You’re special. You know that, right?”

In her eyes, I was, and that was all that mattered.

“As for my hair, I’ll wear it down. I usually yank it back to keep it out of my face, but it’s nice outside. Not too hot and not windy.”

I quickly took care of my own hair, securing it at the back of my neck. “Hungry?”

“I am.”

She strapped a sheath with a knife around her waist. I’d ask my brother for stone weapons for myself since I didn’t feel well-armed. I’d trained with stone while growing up, and they’d do until I could reach Celedar gods and ask them to give me more wooden weapons that were as strong as those of the stone clan.

I took her hand and led her outside. “You’re going to enjoy this meal very much.”

“Where will we eat?” She peered around.

“There’s a central dining area. That’s where we’ll probably find Firion. He tends to spend a lot of time there.”

We started down a narrow path, aiming toward the center of the village.

“He enjoys eating?” she asked.

“He likes sitting and talking with the members of his clan. I do the same thing, eating part of my meal with one group, another part with a second, until I’ve made my way around our small dining area and talked with each member of my clan. My clan is small, however, so I can easily do this, sometimes all at once. Firion can only speak with a small amount of clanmembers each meal, but he does his best to interact with all of them at least once a week.”

I led her right at an intersection, and we walked down a wider path weaving around homes and a few shops. Since most were eating, we saw almost no one around.

The main dining area had been built along one side of a large open area in the center of the village. I paused to let Kerry look around before we started across the courtyard.

“It’s pretty.” She waved to the fountain in the center, the lavender water sparkling in the late-day sunshine. We walked over to the edge of the pool surrounding the water trickling down the long series of tiny falls, and she gazed in awe.

“This is a small replica of falls on one of the other islands. The water flows down a mountain to the pool and a stream trickles away from the pool, traveling to the edge of the island and splashing down into the sea. The water somehow rises up through the mountain to reach the top.”

“It must be gorgeous.” She dipped her fingers into the pool. “It’s warm.”

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