“Only if you want to,” Hifor said and the other two nodded.
“Yes! Let’s have some fun,” she declared.
After about an hour, Belik managed a full flip. The other two groaned, and Hifor collapsed on the ground.
“I’m defeated!” he announced with a dramatic flair she appreciated.
“You made it look so easy,” Lezor said and rubbed the inside of his right thigh. “I think I might've injured myself in a way I didn’t know was possible.”
“I think I’m too old for this trick,” Hifor moaned. He lifted his head to give her a mock glare. “I thought I was in good shape. You’ve proven me wrong.”
They all laughed. Belik managed another flip but then sank to the ground next to Hifor.
“I’ve conquered the maneuver," he announced, breathing hard and rubbing his wrist.
“Good job,” she said, plopping down to sit across from him. Lezor joined them, and Miran settled in behind her, spreading his legs and pulling her between them.
Again she saw the guys staring at her neck.
“Do the Hissa think the neck is hypersexual?” she asked, covering hers with both hands.
They all looked puzzled. She looked over her shoulder to see that Miran was even confused.
“Every Hissa I’ve met keeps glancing at my neck,” she said. “Is mine really gorgeous, or ugly, or strange?”
“Oh!” Miran said, his face relaxing into understanding. “Everyone is looking for mating marks or imagining you wearing their mating marks.”
“Mating marks?”
“Anywhere from a few hours to a month after a male and female Hissa have sex, a red pattern will develop around the woman’s throat and tops of her shoulders,” Miran explained, touching his own throat as he spoke. “It’s a sign that the couple is a good match. If they decide to form a family unit, then the male will have the same pattern tattooed around his throat and on his shoulders to show that he belongs to her.”
The scoop neck style of shirts made more sense now.
“So you’re telling me that my neck is naked?” she teased.
“Hopefully not for long,” Miran murmured, lowering his face to brush his lips against the side of her neck under her ear.
She jerked a little at the implication. “You think we’re compatible?"
He drew back, looking a little hurt. “You don’t?”
“I don’t know, you’re the only person I’ve ever been with,” she reminded him. It made her think about how much she liked how he smelled. The way he touched her. Did that mean they were meant to be together?
“I promise, what is between us is something special,” Miran said. “Now that I’ve found my mate, I won’t get deployed any longer. We’ll settle on Hissa. I have a small cabin, but I could get us a bigger place if you like. The garden is completely taken over by the jungle, but it wouldn’t take long to have droids cut it back. Do you like gardening?”
“Uh, what’s gardening?”
Hifor and Lezor blinked at her question in surprise. Belik was still lying down and had closed his eyes and didn’t react. He might even be asleep. He’d worked the hardest to achieve the backflip, and his shirt was soaked in sweat.
“You don’t know what a garden is?” Lezor asked.
“I’m not dumb,” she snapped, feeling a little defensive. “I know it has something to do with agriculture, right?”
“Why would she need to know that when there were no gardens on the Delight?” Miran said to Lezor and Hifor. She appreciated the censure in his voice. “There’s no question about her intelligence. Did you two forget that she’s the reason we didn’t have to go to war with the Diniki on Tulsin I? Her actions saved many lives.”
Both men looked appropriately chastised and were quick to apologize to her.
“You’re correct that a garden has to do with plants,” Miran said after the others fell silent. “Unlike farming, a garden is smaller and usually next to someone’s home. It’s a common tradition among us to have gardens full of flowering or decorative plants. I remember my father being particularly proud of our garden because a family of Tillintailshad decided to live there. They are considered good luck.”
