Moonspear [m] better off (with you)

It didn’t make much sense, yet Treepie suddenly, desperately wished her anaa was here. If Sialuk didn’t know what to do about this predicament, she could at least comfort her stricken daughter.

Merv chose the perfect moment to make a reprisal, whispering, Is that even the right word? I think this proves you’re not a woman, not really. And you definitely can’t birth children if you don’t even have a birth can—

Stop! Tiuttuk moaned, sitting up abruptly.

She froze when she saw Kindle, surely startled by the sudden movement. Pie only now registered the damp trail from her neck, down her shoulder and toward the curve of her hip. She hadn’t been talking to him, though she was glad she’d called him off too. The last thing she wanted right now was Kindle’s mouth—Kindle’s anything—near her abominable anatomy.

I’m sorry, she found herself whispering, tears turning to icicles on her lashes.