Page 29 of Freedom Mine
“I’ve heard it’s as cold as a chiller. Is that true?”
“I guess, though being shoved into a chiller would be rather horrifying in comparison.” He should know.
“Being outside in the snow is freedom, Blue, in the purest sense. Just you and nature. Or in my case, me and three brothers who could make even a desert fun.” He caught her expression and remembered Medrio was a planet with more deserts than grasslands.
“Tell me more about the snow,” she said, not fazed by his comment.
“It’s not as cold as you might think, not as long as you bundle up.” Oh, the thought of peeling clothing off of her before a roaring fire had his cock rising.
“I mean, when you’re running around, throwing and dodging snowballs, you’re not thinking about the cold. I remember on my first leave, when I returned home for a family reunion, my brothers and I ended up outside, running, wrestling in the snow, sledding, like we were kids again.
Mom kicked us out of the house so she could cook in peace. She always complained that there were too many people underfoot in the kitchen, eating the food as fast as she made it.” He shrugged. “We were hungry. Anyway, even though Erlan had a baby at this point, he headed outside with us to ‘supervise’. It didn’t take much to goad him into horsing around. Sledding was his weakness, and mine, I’m afraid. The four of us would trek twenty minutes or more up these really steep hills for a three-minute race.” Gee, he hadn’t thought about that in a long time.
“My sister and I sledded too,” she said, her smile sweeter than he’d ever seen it. It was as if an outer more somber layer had been stripped away.
“I thought Medrio didn’t have snow, even in the mountains.”
“It doesn’t, but we have more than enough sand. Vanni, that’s my little sister, she and I would take the faji leaves that grew near our home and ride them down the dunes. They have a waxy underside that sand glides right off of. If you’re good at steering, without holding on too tight, then one leaf could last three or four rides until it would split apart. Then we’d feed them to our papoas. Your harkifas remind me of the papoas, except papoas can fly and are rather thin which makes riding one a lesson in balance, even with a harness.”
She was talking so fast, with such passion, that Kayo wanted to sit back and listen to her talk about home all day. “Your papoas don’t sound even remotely like a harkifa. Unless they’re good at carrying a lot of weight.”
“My father could only ride a young adult papoa since they could carry more weight, but I was thinking about how much they stink like harkifa.”
He wondered if that was why she spent so much time in the stables tending the dirty beasts. The smell had reminded her of home. No. Ranth was why she spent so much time there. Hells. Why did he have to go thinking about that?
“So, sand sledding. I’m intrigued and admittedly tempted to try if ever given the opportunity. Though I can’t imagine it would taste good when you tumble off and end up mouth down in the sand.”
“No worse than mud.”
He laughed. She wasn’t shying away from him now, just the opposite. She dared to scorn him without worrying about punishment.
“You learn early on to wear a mask and goggles,” she continued. “And to shower before going in the house, or your mom gives you a ton of extra chores, starting with sweeping up all the sand.”
“You had one of those too, huh?”
“I wasn’t an orphan.”
“No, I mean a mom who had keen eyes when it came to dirt being dragged in. It didn’t matter which one of us carried in dirt or snow, she always knew who to blame, and who to hand the mop to.”
Alli fell quiet suddenly. He placed his hand on hers and gave a gentle squeeze.
“Thank you, Kayo,” she said, her smile reaching her eyes.
“For what? If anything, I still owe you a proper apology for whatever I did up in your room.”
“You reminded me of home. And you bought me.”
He sank deeper into the bed, tearing his hand from her as he did so.
“I mean it, Kayo. If you hadn’t bought me. . . Kayo?”
He closed his eyes, not wanting to hear anymore. For a few moments there, he had forgotten who he was and had simply enjoyed her company, as if nothing stood between them. She rose, probably thinking him asleep.
“Stay, please,” he said.
The bed dipped again, and she placed her hand on his arm. Yeah, she’d stay ‘til he fell asleep, but that’s not what he’d been asking. If only she’d stay longer and make this her home.
