Page 46 of Owned By Two

We were out in the jungle alone, traversing paths the servants used when moving through the dense jungle.

He told me about my father’s plans and how the jungle had been decimated when he took possession of it — which itself was a payment for a loan a business partner had failed to follow through on.

My father had taken a large loss when he accepted the land and had immediately fallen in love with it.

He then expanded his ownership of the planet one section at a time until he owned virtually all of it.

“The only other inhabitants are those who have been here for multiple generations and don’t wish to leave,” Uhti informed me. “No matter how much your father offered them, they simply refused to leave. But he respected their decision and will not force them off. Many others would have done differently.”

I sometimes pretended like I wasn’t paying much attention.

I didn’t like admitting I was interested in anything my father had done or said, but I secretly lapped up the information and filed it away for later.

The truth was, I wanted to learneverythingI could about him, the way he thought, the way he went about his life, and the business he conducted.

I just didn’t want to admit it.

As we wound through the jungle, my eyes fixed firmly on Uhti’s back.

I admired his broad shoulders tapering down to his narrow waist.

The gentle rocking of my G'kood made me imagine what it would be like to be riding Uhti, to be on top of him instead…

I shook my head of such thoughts and tried to focus on what he was telling me.

Every few minutes, he glanced over his shoulder to ensure I was still with him.

He needn’t have worried.

I couldn’t have taken off into the jungle even if I wanted to.

Alien species swung from the trees, calling to me in strange whistles.

Odd flowers watched us as we rode past, following our every move.

“Much of the jungle is dangerous at night,” Uhti went on. “You need to pay attention if you want to keep your life. That’s something else your father loved about this place. How raw and alive it is. You need to focus at all times. He often came here, going for long walks when he had a problem he needed to solve and had to think hard.”

I couldn’t think of aworseplace to come if I wanted to think deeply on a subject and solve a problem.

Take one wrong step and you could end up dead!

We moved around a long bend that brought us to a large shimmering lake.

I gasped at the sight of the water.

It was so clean it might have come from the ice caps.

I had only ever seen such things in travel documentaries.

And to think that now Iownedit…

Well, not exactly owned it — after all, I still hadn’t signed the contract yet.

But in theory, if I did, itwouldbe mine…

Uhti climbed from his G'kood and tied it up with the leathers around a protruding branch.

He took my G'kood by the bridle and gently led it towards his own.

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