Page 9 of The Emerald Boa’s Lover (Operation Colonise #3)

An apology bath

I awoke on my back with my tail tangled loosely and my arms stretching above my head.

My jaws opened wide to the membranes with my yawn.

The lovely rich scent that met my tongue made me snap my green eyes open and smile.

I rolled as steadily as I could as to not make any noise on my hammock.

All so I could peer over my right shoulder at the ridiculously tempting sight of Charlie sprawled out on the bed below me.

He was snoring softly, his blonde hair tousled from sleep around his head, one foot sticking out from the bedsheet and his upper body and arms bare.

For a human, he was sinfully attractive.

So what if he was a mammal and he didn’t have scales or a tail?

He had a strong jaw, piercing eyes, and an intensity to his presence that made my pouch swell.

I wanted to ululate my interest from the moment I first saw and smelt him, and more so when I got close enough to talk to him.

My cousin Rerasha was right. He was so my type.

Confident, smart, funny, and fierce. Being easy on the eyes was an added bonus.

I looked forward to the day when he invited me to tangle my limbs with his as we snuggled after sex. Not only did I anticipate that Charlie would leave me a quivering mess, but I long for the companionship of having a partner. It’s been a long time since I’ve met a man

with the right pheromone signature to indicate we’d have chemistry like this. Every time he opened his mouth, I wanted to throw myself at his human feet. He’s so funny! Even when he’s trying not to be, he can’t help it.

I carefully press my hands to the netting of my hammock and turn onto my long belly.

I fold my arms and rest my jaw on them to continue to watch my stubborn sexy human.

The day after he arrived in my nest, the rest of his belongings arrived and he set up a wardrobe of his clothes in our upper nest. He’s a creature of habit, my Charlie.

He usually tries to rise silently in the morning as to not wake me, which is considerate with the hours he keeps.

Then he uses the pulley system, taking his clothes for the day with him, to see to his needs and shower.

I usually stir by the time he is already on the first floor and making himself breakfast.

That’s when our verbal combat begins! Charlie is so flirtatious. It drives me wild and he’s made me darken at the neck several times with his underhanded comments to try and throw me off balance. I can taste his mild arousal on my tongue and try to fan the flames of that interest in any way I can.

Unfortunately, he then leaves for his assignment at the clinic.

As his sponsor, I have to escort him, which I don’t mind, but the journey isn’t far and then he insists I have to leave to let him work.

He works so many hours. I sigh softly and realise that if I’m awake before Charlie, he’s running late.

He’s exhausted, but he won’t want to be late for his shift at the clinic.

I slither on my belly to the edge of my hammock and control my swing as I lower to the floor beside his bed.

“Charlie?” I lean over him to flick my tongue at his nose.

He’s still asleep. “Charlie? You’ll be late for work if you don’t get up.

” I blinked down at him and put my hands on my hips.

He is still snoring. “Charlie?” I speak a little louder and reach down to gently pat his left cheek. “Charlie you need to wake up.”

“Mmmm.” He mumbles cutely, finally stirring, but not enough. He turns onto his side, trapping my hand between his cheek and the pillow.

“Charlie?” I chuckle when he smiles and nuzzles at my palm and wrist. I roll my green eyes and lower my right hand to pat his right cheek.

“Charlie you’re going to be late for work.

” I laugh again when he pouts and finally opens his eyes.

“Well good morning. You took a long time to—” His eyes widened with shock and he did a double-take of my hands, before shuffling back in a hurry.

“For the record? I said your name half a dozen times and you wouldn’t wake up.

You turned onto my hand. I was being perfectly respectable.

” Other than when I watched him sleep for a while first. “Now, how late are you?”

“…I’m not.” Charlie cleared his throat, blushing wonderfully, as he sat up and fisted more of the bedsheet over his lap. “I’m not working today.”

“Oh. Oh.” I groaned and palmed my scaly face.

“It’s your day off and I’ve woken you up.

I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you weren’t working today.

” Guilt stabbed me right in the chest. He’s worked so hard all week and always looks half asleep when I collect him in the dark from the clinic to return to our nest. “I’m so sorry.

” I wave my hands at him and back up. “Please, go back to sleep. I’ll leave you to rest.”

I could not retreat fast enough down the access hole.

Great. Now he’s going to be cross with me for ruining his chance to catch up on sleep and get some rest. Damn it.

I have to make it up to him somehow. I lowered to the hygiene layer and clicked my fingers together.

I’ll run him a nice relaxing path. He hasn’t had one since he arrived.

Just quick showers in my bath. I slithered quickly over to his corner bath and pulled on the cord of the water dispenser to pull it over his bathtub, before tugging it to start the water running.

My long spine tensed as I heard the squeak of the pulley system as Charlie lowered himself from the upper nest.

“Are you running me a bath?”

“An apology bath.” I clarified with a weak chuckle.

“And I’ve watched you make toast often enough.

It seems straightforward. I’ll make you some breakfast, since you’ve not returned to sleep.

” I groaned, feeling more guilty. Of course Charlie is the kind of person who once awake can’t just roll over and go back to sleep.

“You don’t have to do that?” He raised a blonde brow at me and walked over to the toilet. He pulled the privacy curtain around himself and made use of it.

“I want to.” My fingers drummed on the side of the raised corner bathtub as it filled. The scent pits in my face also detected temperature change, so I knew it was the ideal temperature for him. Charlie liked his water hotter than I did. “So…not working today?”

“No, it’s my day off.” Charlie pushed the curtain aside and brushed his teeth at the sink beside it. He didn’t seem cross with me, so I started to relax.

“Do you have any plans?”

“I’ve been on your planet a week, and in that time I’ve spent most of that time sterilising wounds, stitching them back up, and administering antibiotics.

” Charlie gave me that devilish grin over his shoulder that made my tail go weak beneath me.

“So, no. I don’t have any plans, outside of resting and reading more of the Ucfeni anatomy journals and medical articles Allico Inc sent over.

” He walked across the bathroom, around my sunken bathtub, and stood beside me.

“Is that how you’d spend your days off on your homeworld?” I tugged the cord twice more to stop the water before the bath could overfill. Charlie cast it an appreciative glance and took hold of the waistband of his sleeping shorts.

“No.” His chuckle was intriguing as he jerked his head at me. “Turn around.”

“Oh, yeah.” As much as I wanted to see his human genitals, I wouldn’t look without permission.

He didn’t contain his within a pouch when not in use, so he couldn’t control who could and couldn’t see him intimately when undressed, as I can.

I swivelled on my pelvis to look the other way as Charlie shoved his shorts down and stepped into the bath with a pleasant sigh.

“Alright, I’m in.” I lowered to rest on my coil so I was level with Charlie in the bath and smiled at him. “Oh, am I having company then?” He regarded my presence with a raised brow and the usual level of sarcasm.

“It would seem so.” I grinned and he rolled his eyes.

I’m wearing him down, slowly. “How do you usually spend your days off?” Charlie’s green eyes widened and he chuckled with a shake of his head.

My tongue flicked at the air towards him and there was something odd in his scent.

Too mild to detect. I liked its fruity undertones. “Charlie?”

“With pleasurable company.” He answered me, unabashed, and lowered more into the bathtub. He spread his arms along the rim and looked magnificent like that. I turned to rest on my right side within the nest of my coiled tail. I hoped I looked cool as I posed for him.

“Oh? Do tell?” Charlie narrowed his eyes sceptically at me. “What?”

“If we’re two friends having a conversation, I’d happily answer you. But? I think you’ll get a little too excited and make yet another pass at me if I do.”

“I’m going to make a pass at you if you tell me or not, so what do you have to lose?

” I grinned and he predictably groaned and looked up at the ceiling.

My gaze dropped to his neck and I gulped.

I saw myself wrapping my jaws around it and tasting him.

Oh I wanted to. “Tell me?” I moved my chin to rest on the edge of the bath near his shoulder and grinned when he looked down at my clear advance. “Please?”

“There isn’t much to tell.” Charlie shrugged. “If I had a boyfriend, I’d spend the day in bed with him—” Oh sweet spirits I want to spend the day in bed with Charlie. “—and if I didn’t? I’d get dressed up and go to a bar. To find company for the evening.”

“I thought you don’t fuck strangers?” I lifted my head up and pouted at him. He smirked and folded his arms over his bare chest…