Free The Tracker's Quest: (Forced To Serve #6) by Donna McDonald Page B

slide to his knees afterward caught her off-guard and had her clutching her limbs around his hips to hold on. His silken whispers in her ear made her forget to keep track of how long they lingered on the floor in the cylinder. Her thick mat of blonde hair was soaked by the time awareness returned to her mind.
    “You are a huge distraction to me,” Seta declared.
    Ji laughed. “Most of my brothers are much more endowed than I am, but I am glad you find me sufficient as a male, Seta of Trax. It makes us evenly matched, as Commander Jet would say.”
    Shaking her head at his sorry attempt at humor, Seta eased away from him and forced her shaky knees to support her weight. Ji was still on his and staring at the lower half of her in adoration.
    “Have you ever. . .?”
    “No,” Seta said, interrupting the question. Her face flooded with heat. “Do not ask me for anything else right now. I have to focus on what must be done.”
    Ji leaned forward, put his arms around her, and pulled Seta’s hips against his shoulders. “There is a world of pleasure I wish to show you. It’s as if every female before was just a means of learning things I want to do perfectly for you. I hope one day you grant your permission.”
    “Ji—stop. I cannot return that level of interest so do not ask me for it. It is all I can do to let you violate me now and again without complaining,” Seta said.
    “ Violate you? ” Ji declared. He let go and rose to standing at his full height. “Is that what our every interaction is to you? A violation of your body?”
    Seta bit her lip. Perhaps it had been the wrong word to use, but it was how she usually thought of bonding. “Do you want my honesty? Or do you want me to spare your ego? I am grateful for the pleasure you can give me, Ji. I admit it doesn’t compare to anything I’ve known before you. But in my mind all such acts are a violation even when done with permission.”
    “You have my apologies then. I have never violated a female in my life. Not one. I certainly do not think of what I do with you in those terms.” Ji turned his back and rinsed off one final time. Carefully avoiding their bodies touching, he pushed open the cylinder door and stepped out. “Don’t worry about attending to my clothing. I brought extras with me.”
    After Ji left the cylinder, Seta sighed and stepped under the liquid to wash herself. It had not been her intent to hurt his feelings. Ji was always encouraging her to express herself, but when she did, this was always the result. She had no words of praise nice enough for Siren ears.
    “Maybe my words are not as poetic as yours, but I know I didn’t say it wasn’t good. Bonding with you is good Ji. But I can’t change the way I look at such things in the middle of feeling the suffering of every female around me. Their energy calls out for relief of their burdens. It is all I can think of while I am here in my father’s canton.”
    When no response came to her explanation, she knew Ji had not heard her. He had likely gone back out to the main area without waiting to hear what else she might say. She palmed her breasts as she washed them and felt sorry for herself. She really wished Ji had stayed to do it for her. She really wished she could make him understand how hard she was trying to make peace with both her culture and her feelings for him. He had given her so much and all she seemed to do was hurt him.

Chapter 8
     
    Seta thought about the night as she dressed the next morning. She and Ji had slept naked together, but he had kept to his side of the giant bed. The physical distance he put between them had made her feel rejected and alone. Perhaps it had been his intention—his way of making sure they were even yet again.
    This morning he still slept, but she had escaped the bed the moment her awareness had begun.
    The knock on the door she rushed to answer had him stirring slightly, but he didn’t turn to face her. She quietly opened the door to let