He still didn’t know what he was going to do with the human but the longer he had her at his residence, the more she was going to settle in and that was the last thing he wanted.
Moving to the cook room, he washed his hands and pulled out a pre-made bowl of dried rai from the food box. Reaching into the cooling unit, he grabbed a can of gada paste and poured it into the bowl, waiting for it to reach an acceptable level before he lifted the bowl and brought it to the table.
The hover chair slipped out easily and, as he sat, he stared at the bowl of rai in front of him.
The female was still on his mind.
Why hadn’t she left the room?
Wasn’t she hungry?
Didn’t she have to relieve herself in the cleansing room?
Riv frowned at the rai soaking up the paste, a snarl curling his lips.
Why the phek did he care anyway?
If she wanted to come out, she could come out. He didn’t care, as long as she stayed out of his way and didn’t remind him of her existence.
Lifting the bowl, he was about to put it at his lips when he paused.
Why hadn’t she come out, though?
His frown deepened and he slammed the bowl on the table, almost spilling its contents.
Phek.
She was in his head.
Memory of her body falling against his filled his mind and Riv leaned back against the chair, flexing his fists.
He’d caught her in his arms as if it’d been the most natural thing to do.
It’d been such an alien feeling, holding someone so close, that he still didn’t know what to make of it. Only that it had messed up his thoughts for the greater part of the dark-cycle and for most of the day.
Her body was unbelievably soft. It seemed as if she had no rough edges, only pure softness.
Squeezing his eyes shut, he asked Raxu why on Hudo III did he send this being into his solitude to disrupt it.
He couldn’t even eat a bowl of rai without wondering about her.
She was distracting and he didn’t need distractions.
He’d said it before and he’d say it again for as many times as it took for the universe to listen: he had enough trouble in his life; he didn’t need any more.
Opening his eyes, he looked down into the bowl of rai and sighed heavily.
Phek.
He knew what he was going to do before he even began moving.
Standing, the bowl in hand, he looked down at his tevsi on the floor. Grot blinked up at him, his tail wagging in friendly adoration.
“Stay,” Riv said and the tevsi made a low sound of understanding in his throat.
11
Riv rolled his neck as he stood in front of the door, bowl in hand.
Just what the phek was he doing?
He should turn around, head back to the main room, and eat his rai in peace.
Yet…
Slamming a hand against the locking panel, the door slid open with a hiss.
Wide brown eyes flew to the door and met his immediately.
She was sitting half-way up, as if she’d been resting on the sleeping cushion, and her shoulders stiffened when she saw him standing there.
Riv resisted the urge to set the bowl down and walk away.
The only reason he didn’t do that was because he’d have to return for it later.
She’d placed the chest in the middle of the entryway and he had to step over it to enter.
Eyes moving over her quickly, he didn’t see any physical ailments. She looked the same as she did the day before…unless she was ill and didn’t show it outwardly.
He knew animals like that—animals that hid ailments because they were scared exposing such weakness would surely lead to their exclusion.
If that was the case, he reckoned she belonged to some species of pack animal. Being the weakest in the pack was usually seen as a liability.
If she was ill, that would explain why she’d stayed in the room the entire day.
Watching her now, a weak smile spread her lips as her eyebrows lifted a little and her eyes fastened on the bowl in his hands.
Her small, pink tongue exited to wet her lips before her eyes met his again.
Riv’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Eat.” He thrust the bowl toward her and she paused for a second before throwing her legs over the side of the sleeping cushion and sitting upright.
She took the bowl from his hand and stared at the contents.
“See-ree-uhl?”
Riv’s eyes narrowed a little more as he stepped back and leaned against the wall, watching her.
“Gess soh.”
She blinked at him and smiled a little more. “No supoon doh.”
Then she shrugged and brought the bowl to her lips.
Riv tilted his head a little as he watched her, a frown materializing on his brow as he studied her.
She took a tiny sip and, for a moment, she froze. For that moment, he thought she didn’t like how the food tasted but then her eyes flew to his. There was such growing awe there that it surprised him and his frown disappeared immediately.
The female’s face lit up, her mouth falling open.
“Oh mai Gohd. Dis iz…ahmayzin!”
Her glee caught him off guard as she bared her teeth in a seriously confusing challenge before bringing the bowl to her lips and taking a huge gulp of the rai.
Riv stood, dumbstruck, as the female ate. He’d never seen someone guzzle rai so fast. Not even Sohut could do that. It didn’t even look as if she paused to chew.
She ate like this for a few moments before she froze again and looked over at him. Wide brown eyes blinked at him before she lowered the bowl slowly.
“Saw-ree, was dis for bowth ov us?” She stretched the half-full bowl toward him and jerked it a little as if she was offering him some of the food. “Dihd yoo wahnt som?”
Riv stared at her outstretched hand.
He didn’t know what to make of
