Ran-Del woke to darkness and the touch of rain drops on his skin. It took him a second to realize he was still in the betrothal lodge. He jumped up and quickly shut the ceiling flaps, leaving the room almost completely dark except for the dim glow of a few embers in the brazier. It must still be nighttime.
As he slipped back into bed, he felt a hand slide gently across his chest and down to his stomach.
“I was hoping you’d wake up,” Francesca’s voice said quietly.
“The rain woke me,” Ran-Del said. “Were you already awake?”
“Yes.” Francesca slid closer so that she was pressed against him. He could barely see her face. “How do you feel, Ran-Del? I hope you didn’t hurt your arm.”
“It feels all right. It’s not bothering me.”
“Good.” She slid her hand upward and stroked his neck. “Did you enjoy your first time?”
“Yes. I would have thought you could tell that.”
She chuckled softly. “I don’t have psy sense, remember? And besides, it’s nice to hear it out loud.”
“Did you enjoy it?”
She leaned her head back on the pillow. “Very much—and I know you already knew that. It took me a while to figure out why it was so different with you, and then I realized that you knew when I liked what you were doing in a way that no man ever did before.”
Hearing her talk so calmly about other lovers distressed him. “I know there have been other men in your bed, but I must ask you not to speak of them to me.”
Francesca moved her hand up his neck and ran her fingers through his hair. “Just so you understand that I’m not ashamed of my life. My code may have been different from yours, but I still had one.”
Ran-Del nodded and Francesca pulled his head down and kissed him. Ran-Del knew what she wanted; he had known since she first touched him, and by now, he wanted it, too. He responded warmly to the kiss, and ran his hand down her body, feeling the smoothness of her skin. She reciprocated, and Ran-Del found it hard to distinguish between her sense of arousal and his own.
There was no medicine smoke this time, but Ran-Del was so attuned to her now that he felt her perceptions just as strongly as before. If anything, he was more immersed in the experience than he had been the first time.
When they had finished and Francesca curled up against him, Ran-Del relished her glow of gratification.
Francesca gave a low, gurgling laugh. “It’s not really fair, you know,” she said with mock severity. “You get to feel that twice, and I only get to feel it once.”
“You felt it twice that time,” Ran-Del said.
She laughed out loud at that. “You not only have psy sense, you learn very quickly. I can tell I’m going to enjoy this betrothal.”
Ran-Del grinned in the dark. “That’s what a betrothal is for, Francesca.”
“I’m glad we got it right, then.” She snuggled up closer.
Ran-Del put his arm around her and held her, and after a few minutes, he realized she was asleep. He kissed her forehead gently and then went back to sleep himself.