Free Captured by Julia Rachel Barrett

guilt I must accept.”
    “There was nothing you could do for them.   Their fates were sealed the moment I captured them.”   He heard Mari sigh.   She snuggled deeper into his arms and the feeling was one of comfort.  
    “Red hair, huh?”   Mari teased.   “You’re partial to red hair?”
    Ekkatt could feel blood rush to his face, and he swore he was blushing like a human.
    “If I’d known that, maybe I would have worn a hat.”
    Ekkatt snorted as he understood her joke.
    “Can you…can you help me bathe, please?   I’d like to shampoo my red hair, brush my teeth, and then…I think…I think I need to sleep for a while.”
    “Yes, little human.   I will bathe with you today.”
    Mari raised an eyebrow.
    “And I will carry you to the spring.”

    * * * *

    Ekkatt lifted her with ease and carried her up the trail to the hot spring.   He set her down on the edge, removing the blanket she’d kept wrapped around her.   This time when Ekkatt looked at her, Mari knew he saw her as a man sees a woman, despite the fact that she wasn’t at her best. Even before the bout of Tist Fever, she’d begun losing weight, but Ekkatt gazed at her body with tenderness, admiration, and yes, unveiled lust.
    He reached a hand toward her, his fingertips grazing her nipple.   He smiled as he watched it tighten into a small, pink bud.   Mari sucked in a breath. Her eyelids instantly grew heavy, but she forced them up, and she smiled back at him.  
    “Your nipples,” he said. “They are so sensitive.   Many things make them grow erect.   The chill of the air, the touch of my shirt against your skin, the brush of my fingers, even the sight of the setting sun, and the rushing river arouses you.   His fingers traced a path across her chest, brushing the other nipple, eliciting the same response.   “It is automatic, this response?”
    Mari didn’t trust herself to speak.   She nodded.   She watched Ekkatt’s nostrils flare.   She knew he could smell her arousal, could hear how wildly her heart pounded at his touch as his fingers traced the contour of her collarbone, and stroked the side of her neck.
    “Your pulse is fluttering, here.”   He pressed lightly on her carotid.   “Mari, I do not wish to hurt you.   Your body is frail.   It is not sturdy like the females of my race.”
    “Ekkatt, do you wish to be with a female of your race right now?”   Her voice was low, hoarse with desire.
    “No, Mari.   I wish to be with you.”
    Mari lifted up the corners of his shirt.   Ekkatt ducked so she could pull it over his head.   She tossed his shirt away.   This was the first time she’d seen him bare-chested.   Ekkatt had always been fully clothed in her presence.   Mari gazed at him in awe.   The man was hard and lean and sculpted, with a set of broad shoulders, a muscled chest, and a taut abdomen.   Mari noticed that just like a human, he had a navel.   Without thinking, she leaned forward and ran her tongue across it.   Ekkatt jerked but he didn’t move away.   Mari wondered for an instant how the sexual practices of his people differed from hers.   Perhaps they didn’t use their tongues or their lips, but when she stroked his chest and saw him close his eyes, she knew he didn’t care about any differences.   Nor did she.  
    Mari brushed her hands over Ekkatt’s erection, and he growled.   He lowered her into the pool. She stood, water up to her hips, steam rising around her body, waiting.   “Look at me, little human, and tell me if this is what you want.”   He removed his loose trousers and Mari did look.   She licked her lips.   Ekkatt was very much a man.   He stepped into the pool and lifted her chin so she could look into his eyes when she gave her answer.
    “Yes, Ekkatt Vom Baerkah Elae, son of Baerkah, son of Elae, this is what I want.”   To make her point, she touched him.   He was no different than a human male.   A big human male, Mari thought.   The corner of