"Of course." My tribe wouldn't dare disobey an order from their High Spear.
"Ok," she starts, holding up a finger, "First, no crowding around the human women. This is all very new to us too and we don't need to be gawked at. Second, no-one is to touch them without their consent. They're worried that with so many men and so few women, they will be forced to do things they do not want to do."
"You have my word that no Trixikka will harm you or your friends. We live to protect our females. It has been our primary purpose since The Salvation."
She gives me a look I cannot decipher. It is a soft look. No one has looked at me like that in a long long while. "I know it is, big guy, but some of us would just like to be reassured that..." she pauses muttering to herself, "...how do I put this?... That nothing that is not freely given is forcibly taken. Like touches and kisses and such."
"Kisses?" I ask, eyeing that deeper color staining her cheeks. I do not know this word. "Is that the mouth-on-mouth you gifted to me before the Temple?" The memory is a treasured one. It stirs my blood in ways I've never before experienced. My gaze is fixed upon that sweet, soft little female mouth of hers as she nods. "No Trixikka male will force these things upon you, my little-light. This, I promise you."
She nods before her nose scrunches adorably. "Why do you keep calling me that?"
Reaching to take her hand, I pause. After just being told that touches are a gift and not so freely given, I change tact and place my palm on my chest, directly above my heart-stars. "Because of these," I tell her. "You ignited my heart-stars. You are my mate."
"I'm your what, now?" She blinks at me in rapid succession.
"My mate. For generations, we went without the company of females, but before that, before The Punishment, we were paired by our heart-stars. Bonded as one."
She looks at me, wide-eyed, her beautiful little'kissing'mouth hung open. "I... I need to get back to the others," she tells me, gesturing over her shoulder back at the hut. And just like that, she is gone once again.
I feel her absence even though she is only on the other side of the stone wall. All night, I wait for her to emerge and return with me to our nest.
And yet she does not appear.
Chapter 12
SERENA
"So, you two are what? Married?" Chastity asks, sitting cross-legged on the floor. Together, the four of us had shared the two 'nest' thingies in the healing hut to sleep on last night and this morning, two Trixikka had tentatively come in to give us more fresh fruit and drinking water - under the watchful eye of Rynn who stood there, his arms crossed over his massive chest as he monitored their very brief interactions with us.
You've got to hand it to the guy, he doesn't do things by half.
"No, we're not married." What an absurd idea. Though it reminds me I do need to talk to him about this. I need to understand fully what it means in his culture and what it means tohimspecifically. I like him. Like, I like him a whole lot, considering we've known each other barely over forty-eight hours now. But the sincerity I see in those beautiful turquoise eyes when he talks to me is kind of irresistible.'Beware a charming man with pretty eyes,'old Adeline used to tell me, 'he'll charm the panties off more girls than you can count with those eyes of his.'
Well, Adeline, this particular guy wouldn't know what to do once said panties were charmed off, so I don't think we have any worries there. Though, it does make me wonder if there's some primal, instinctual knowledge buried deep somewhere beneath all those feathers and talk ofGoddessesandheart-stars. Would he know how to handle a woman who wanted him?
It would be fun to teach him if he doesn't.
I shake my head of the notion and pop a piece of the bright purple fruit into my mouth. The texture is like watermelon, but the flavor is so much more sugary and intense. "I think it's kind of sweet," Alana offers as she attempts to finger-comb her hair.
"It's not sweet," I refute, standing and brushing any dirt off my butt with my hands. "Just because I made his fairy lights start to twinkle, it doesn't mean he owns me."
Chastity raises a brow. "Maybe it meansyouownhimnow. That could be a whole lot of fun."
Huffing, I leave the hut only to find Rynn standing outside. Has he been here all night? He stands there, tall and broad, his spine straight like a sentry and a spear in his hand. The muscle in his jaw ticks a time or two before he finally looks at me. "You deny our Goddess-given bond? You deny my heart-stars?" he asks, hitting his chest with his palm. Oh lord, he heard all that?
"Rynn," I start, pausing a moment or two with my mouth opening and closing like a fish drowning on air. How to explain? "We don't evenknoweach other." I offer lamely, though the point is valid. You can't just claim that someone you met as recently as two days ago is your mate. Whateverthatmeans. Though, I feel I have a fairly good idea.
He turns, angling his body to face me fully and takes the few steps between us, his tail flicking like an agitated cat behind him. We're so close now that I'm forced to crane my neck to look up at his face instead of the expanse of muscled chest directly in my eye-line. His little skin lights are dancing at his temples. "I know you,in here," he says, gesturing with that hand over his heart again. "And I know it will take time, but your heart-stars will ignite for me too. I will make sure of it."
There's a thickness as I swallow. My eyes drop but get drawn to that cluster of stars that pulses over his heart like a swarm of fireflies or a swirling nebula. "I don't have heart-stars," I tell him, my voice quieter than it had been before.
"You do," Rynn tells me, laying his warm palm flat on my chest. "In here."
***
The next few hours are spent waiting to hear if any more of the human women have been found. Unfortunately, that endeavor seems to be fruitless today. God, I hope they're alright. I swallow hard, remembering how Gwen had clung onto me like a safety blanket back at that horrible auction station. Instead of sitting around while we wait, the girls and I take to exploring the Trixikka's village, the eyes of its people as constant a presence as that mountain looming over us. Rynn follows close behind, offering warning growls to any of his men who look a little too long.
Throughout the morning, we met all manner of Trixikka. We learned that Rynn, as the tribe's 'High Spear' is the leader of their people as a whole, and Mavyx, as his 'Second Spear' is primarily in charge of their warrior-type men whom they refer to as 'Protectors'. Most of those are currently out searching, so we got to meet the other members of the tribe. Care-giving of their sons seems to fall to those who aren't labeled as 'Protectors', and within that group, there are other jobs as well; weavers, masons, hunters - even a potter of sorts. The hut we arrive at is home to an older Trixikka male, his once jet-black wing feathers looking a little duller in color and his hair peppered with gray. He was gracious enough to let us see that his hut was filled with shelves housing tons and tons of those 'seed pots' Rynn told me about. It had been the only time Bea was tempted to wander away from me and the other girls to marvel at the decorations covering the old man's work.
