“I really liked yours.”
“Yeah?” She beamed. “Maybe I’ll treat you to a proper strip tease next time. Give you a good look at how well these hips can really move. You know, the next time you dance for me.”
He chuckled but didn’t respond. She turned her eyes up to his.
“Idoget to see you dance again, right?”
He was stroking his hand gently over her ass. Like he was going to sooth her that way. And it was kind of working.
“I will dance for you, if you like. But only if you will always dance with me.”
“Definitely,” she agreed. “You don’t mind that I don’t have pretty lights like yours?”
“On your skin? No. Because you have these.” He punctuated the statement by grabbing her hips, that little pudge of skin that served as the meeting point between her hips, thighs, and ass, and he squeezed tight. Jiggling a little for emphasis. “S’skree females have very bony hips. Rather hard. They don’t have the softness most females have. And certainly not as much as human females have. I much prefer what you have to offer.”
Garnet didn’t realize until that moment that he’d never actually compared her to a s’skree female before. Which should have been more surprising, she supposed. Or maybe not. He was raised on a station around many different species. It would make sense that he grew up with an appreciation for all of their differences. But the fact that he’d never made the comparison before made her happy, because it meant he wasn’t thinking about all the things shedidn’thave. He liked her just the way she was, exactly as she came to him.
“So, what does it mean that we’re mates? Is anything different?”
“We can register as mates, I suppose,” he said, looking up at the ceiling as his hand continued to stroke over her skin. “Not everyone does, but it’s encouraged for recording and legal purposes. Might be best to hold off on that until after your sponsorship is over though. Just to avoid any headaches. You’ve been responding to their check ins, right?”
“Yeah. Of course.” She nodded. “They don’t take long to fill out. Annoying how often they send them, though.”
“I suppose they’re being protective.”
“No,” she frowned, “they’re being prejudiced against you. I know they don’t send them this often to other sponsors. I looked it up. It’s only supposed to be once a tenday, not once every three days. Captain Ikvar is being a pain in the butt about this.”
“I like how protective you get over me,” Tanin said. “It’s wonderful seeing you so fierce. You’re going to be absolutely vicious when you’re watching over our young.”
“Huh? Why would I be vicious? I mean, I don’t mind being a mama bear, but vicious is a bit much, don’t you think?”
“Humans take on the traits of the paternal species when they’re gravid and sometime after. And s’skree females are notoriously and violently protective of their young. Even against their mates. There are many cases every year where females attack their mates because he got too close to their slings or did something she didn’t approve of.”
Garnet frowned, horrified. “That’s terrible! I would never hurt you like that.”
“It’s natural for my kind. And you will,” he assured her calmly. Like he wasn’t talking about her physically assaulting him. “Males know it will happen when they get their female pregnant. They know to be careful around their slings because females will attack if they feel they’re being threatened. And we as males know to just stay calm so our mate will calm down in turn. Very rarely is a male truly injured from it. And I certainly don’t fear your little claws, so do what you will and don’t feel guilty when that protective urge comes up.”
“But I don’t want to hurt you,” Garnet frowned, dismayed at the very idea that she would ever do something like that to anyone she loved, much less Tanin.
“I will be proud if you do,” he chuckled. “Males that are injured often show off their wounds. It displays how powerful our females are, and how good they are at being mothers.”
She frowned. “How do you know all this? You know so little about your own kind, why are you suddenly an expert?”
“I’m not.” He bent up his head and kissed her scalp. “But I needed to know what you are likely to go through while you carry my young so I can be prepared. And since human females carry their young as the paternal species would, I had to look it up for you.”
And there he went, making her melt again. He didn’t even tell her that he was going to be doing that. It wasn’t even something she’d done for herself yet. She didn’t know that human females had pregnancy symptoms from the alien species they carried. That was news to her.
But not to Tanin. Because he knew she might be carrying his baby, and he’d taken steps to inform himself of what to expect. Even before they were expecting.
Because he was a good male who took care of his people. Including her and any hypothetical babies they might have.
She smiled, snuggling back into him as, at last, she felt his barbs starting to retract. “You’re going to be a good daddy yourself, you know.”
“If you give me young, I will make certain that I am,” he promised, stroking her body slowly, gently, adoring her the way she craved and needed.
A good father, and a great mate. Just a good male all around. What girl could ask for more?
Chapter 39
