Chapter Seven:
Xexis
“Mymatesleeps,”Xexisbreathed, leaning against the doorway to her room. Aphrodite came and went like a moon far out in orbit. The technicians assured him that it was common, humans do not heal as swiftly as Vroz according to what they knew. Which was not much, as the humans did notshare. Unfortunate.Her body was not made of the same muscle and compounds as his. The tissue grew tenderly, needed coaxing and lots of adhesive. He’d tried not to fret over it too much. Xexis was not a technician or a healer, or even a scientist. He was Kannatch, and he had to trust the people he put on this ship were good at their job. Good leaders trust in their people.
Reevar, Grooug, and Kiefgr surrounded him as he pulled away from the door. He handed the small collection of food items back to the hovering drone. It floated back down the hall of his ship. Xexis would be lying if he didn’t say he’d jumped at every moment to be in her presence. The Technicians, begrudgingly, set her sterile environment to have breath and cognizance sensors. This way he could leap to her at any moment, ensuring she was doing well.They’re always a little sensitive about privacy and letting their patients rest.
Xexis apologized profusely while also demanding that they allow him to know every moment she was awake. The oxygen on her suit had gone offline and they reported it minorly damaged her lungs. He would not suffer other injuries to his mate.Even if it pained him to make the choice for her to implant the breathers.But that was it, from here on out, she gets to choose everything—what she eats, when she sleeps, what she wears and wants…as long as she’s safe.
“Kannatch, are you alright? You seem unhappy.” Reevar cocked his head to the side, pincers drawn in a worried line.
“I worry,” he breathed, shaking his head. “Something is wrong.”
“Her stats say otherwise,” Grooug held up Xexis’ data pad that he’d stuffed in his hunter’s palms in order to take up food for her. The blip, of her being awake, went out moments before he reached the door.And he’d wanted to introduce her to them…
“Not with her healing, the technicians have seen her well enough.” He crossed two of his four arms over his chest.
“Kannatch is worried about her mind? Her heart?” Kiefgr’s face pulled in a worried, childish pout. Xexis’ protegee had been the most concerned at the flashing red lights. Practically worried over her the whole way into the ship. The technicians not only had to fight Xexis off her but had to peel her away from Kiefgr as well.
“She is upset, but has not confided in me why…I worry…there was some miscommunication, but I can not fathom what? The hunt was glorious. The bait was slain, she was so clever, and she won? She should be cheering, despite her wounds and breathers…she should be…I would have liked her to have been…excited.”
Reevar clasped a hand on Xexis’ shoulder, “Your mate is in pain. Remember when they put your breathers in? You were much younger, less accustomed to pain, and you whined for days after. Nothing could make you smile, not even sweets.”
Xexis nodded solemnly, poking his head into the doorway once more. The doors hissed open and yet, his mate still slumbered.She is soft in the flesh, she is healing, and I can be patient.Reevar was right, she was healing…once she was well again, then she’d claim him.
Chapter Eight:
Aphroditeawokegroggily,daysafter their first meeting. Xexis stepped inside, the door snapping shut behind him. The floor lit up around his massive feet. She pushed herself across the sheets to give him room on the bed, but he shook his head. “Today, you leave this place.”
Oh, what does that mean?She opened her mouth to protest only to squeak as he scooped her up in his arms. One beneath the back of her knees, one behind her lower back, hoisted with no problem. She took a deep breath in. “Where am I going?”
“I imagine a bath would be nice, a real one.”
A genuine moan of relief filled her.A bath?!?!A real one.
The vivid memory of the last time she was awake, a day or two ago, when he offered to move her and it was impossible. They opted for a cleansing rod passed over her flesh and technicians came in to wipe her wounds tenderly. Though the masked beings didn’t speak, they were gentle and communicated through charades. It was helpful but not ideal. There’stechnicallyclean and actually bathing.
Aphrodite sighed with relief, “Yes, a real one would be nice.”
Xexis tugged slightly at one of the bandages around her thigh, the dried edge already peeling back from her skin.
“Plus, your medical bandages have started to rise, meaning you can safely wear clothing again…if you want.” He shrugged.
“It’s optional? But you wear pants.” She cocked her head to the side.
He tossed his head back, the startling, full belly laugh like he was gargling water filled the air. “It is insulting to walk with one's mating trunk out.”
“Trunk?” She wheezed.
“Yes, like an—” He put an arm to his nose and waved it in a mimicking of elephant’s fashion. Her eyes widened, eyebrows in her hair line as he laughed again. “Trunk, yes?”
“Is itthat big?” she blurted out without hesitation.Look, not like I’m not fucking curious.Xexis didn’t bring the topic up since that moment when she first awoke, but Aphrodite wasn’t a fool. Xexis was a big guy. They’d discussed pro-nouns somewhere between her being coherent enough to talk and being knocked out. And while it seemed his people didn’t abide by human gender roles, they still had gendered language to an extent. He said it only had to do with titles and with mating.Vet Mphrat, that’s my mate who is a femalehe said, then followed withVet Karrotas masculine. She nearly hurt herself giggling about ‘my carrot’ on and off for the rest of that day.
“As one of the trumpet bulldozers? Maybe.” He smiled, obsidian eyes twinkling even though they looked straight ahead. Warmth bloomed in her chest as she studied his face.Was he…teasing?She sat up straighter in his arms. He peaked down at her beforereturning his attention to ahead of them. The butterflies returned with a vengeance.
“Are you joking with me?” She brushed a hand along his shoulder and relished the prickling of his skin. Unlike human skin, Xexis’ was prickly velvet. In one direction, it was soft and satin. In the other direction, pins and needles. She’d learned which direction to stroke him and found she liked it far more than she should.He is your mate!The thought stilled her heart.When had that become so easy to think—mates aren’t a thing…this is just…something?
“Quagmor tells me that your species is very competitive about the size of their mating trunks.” He puffed out his chest, proudly and with the same mischievous twinkle in his eyes. Xexis ripped her out of her own thoughts and planted her firmly back in her body.
