AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yes,” he chuckled. “The bacteria like it a certain temperature.”
“Are these like hot springs or something?”
“No. The bacteria are exothermic. They make it this temperature. That’s why they like living on our skin. Less work for them since our skin is already warm. But when they’re in the pool, they have to generate heat to keep it like this.”
“What the…” Sophie breathed, wiggling her fingers in the water as he released her wrist. She swirled her hand around, stirring it up. “It doesn’t really feel different from regular warm water.”
“Did you expect it to?”
“I don’t know. I guess maybe I thought I could feel them or something? But that doesn’t really make sense. I can’t feel bacteria in water normally. It just feels like soft water.”
“No reaction?”
“No, I guess not.” She lifted her hand, watching in wonder as the glow diminished. “Ah! It’s gone!”
“Of course.” He chuckled. “They don’t need to make their own warmth when your body is warm enough for them. I guess they like you.”
“Woah,” she breathed, turning her hand around. The silvery moon overhead, which was always full and round and bright, shone on the wetness, but there was no more glow.
“We’ll watch to see if you have some sort of reaction or if they linger on your skin,” he said. “They might not stay on you the way they do me, but so long as they don’t hurt you, that’s all that’s really important.”
Sophie smiled, bringing her wet hand close to her chest. “So? What got you tense back at the party, hm?”
He frowned, looking into the pool. “I wouldn’t say I was tense…”
“I was holding you. You were tense.” She nudged him with her shoulder. “Come on. Out with it. You’re all about telling people things on the news, right? Give me the scoop.”
He sat back, leaning on his hand. Looking at her carefully before asking, “Do you like my home, Sophie?”
She chuckled. “Of course. It’s beautiful here. And your family is so nice.”
“Could you see this as a home for yourself?”
“Well, yeah. This is exactly how I would want to raise my kids one day. Surrounded by loved ones and knowing that they have a clan behind them no matter what.”
“Do you want to stay here?” His belly tightening with unease.
She tilted her head, looking at him curiously. He had tried to sound as nonchalant as he had asking the other questions, but he didn’t think he quite succeeded.
“Are you asking me if I want to move here permanently?” She finally responded, ratcheting up his concern now that she wouldn’t just answer him.
He grunted. Not really answering her question either but allowing her to interpret the sound however she wished.
Again, she didn’t answer immediately. The silence scraped on his nerves as she asked, “Do you want to stay here?”
“I asked you first.”
“But you’re the one worried about it.”
“I’m worried about what your answer will be.”
She laughed. “So, we both don’t want to answer the question because we both don’t want to disappoint the other, huh?”
He flinched. That was exactly what it was. Because he couldn’t tell his mate no if she wanted to settle down on his planet, but he also wasn’t ready to do that. He didn’t know if he’d ever be ready to stop traveling and chasing stories and having adventures in the deepest parts of space. Maybe one day. His father had, apparently, done some wild things in his youth. Not that Serval was sure he could believe it now, seeing how calm and steady he was, but it wasn’t so uncommon for people to want a more stable life when they got older.
But for now…
“Let me ask you something, Serval.” She wrapped her arms around her legs, resting her head on her knees as she looked at him. So sweet and beautiful in the moonlight.
