“Hmph.”
Paz smirked. “You didn’t deny it.”
He looked over himself, like he’d only just realized he was completely coated in my pollen. He raised his arms and watched the viscous fluid trickle slowly to the ground.
“Not gonna lie. This is pretty comfortable,” he said with a grin. “It’s like floating in one of those sensory deprivation pods. Except the opposite.”
Once again, I had no idea what he was talking about. “Are you going to sit there soaked in my pollen all night, or should I clean you up?”
He sighed like it was impossible to decide. “Well, I’m notopposedto the former, but yeah, we should probably—”
“Hey, Paz? What in the absolute fuck are we looking at right now?”
The unfamiliar voice sent me on full alert. My gaze snapped down below the ledge to where four figures stood: two Maeleons I knew, and two humans I didn’t.
17 /Paz
Randomly hearingLevi’s voice was a huge surprise. At first, I didn’t even know where it came from. I caught Kur’tok glaring over the ledge and I followed his gaze to see Levi, Jaeyoung, Zat’tor, and Linn’ar standing down there.
“Oh! Hey, guys!” I called. I tried to wave, but Kur’tok’s viscous cum weighed me down and made it difficult to move.
Then I realized I was naked and covered in Kur’tok’s cum. In front of everybody.
I opened my mouth, about to apologize—then I realized something.
“You know what? Yeah, I’m in this sticky situation,” I declared, putting my hands on my hips. “But it’s not likeyou guyshaven’t been in incriminating scenarios before! I saw Linn’ar plowing Jaeyoung like a week ago!”
Jaeyoung sighed, burying his face in his hands. “He’s not wrong,” he mumbled to Levi.
“Whatever, that’s not the point,” Levi said, shaking his head. “Where the hell have you been, Paz? We were worried sick about you! We—”
Zat’tor put his hands firmly on Levi’s shoulders, quieting him. The teal Maeleon squinted up at us. “Kur’tok? Is that you?” he asked.
“Oh, yes, it is!” Linn’ar said joyfully. “I would recognize those red scales and those big horns anywhere.”
Kur’tok went still. His feelers wriggled erratically in place, like he was anxious. Was he embarrassed by the situation? Or maybe he didn’t feel mentally prepared to face his brethren so soon?
“Greetings,” Kur’tok said awkwardly.
The following silence was also awkward. Then Haz’rull strode closer to the group and flashed an amused, knowing look at Kur’tok. “Itoldyou there was a new development.”
Kur’tok sighed and slumped like he wanted to disappear into his seat. He clearly hadn’t been prepared to deal with this, so I took over. I stood up and cleared my throat like Iwasn’tcovered head to toe in alien cum.
“Can you give us a minute to, uh, clean up? We’ll be with you shortly,” I told my friends.
After I was cum-free and Kur’tok had a minute to mentally prepare, we rejoined the group. Levi wore his stern I-used-to-be-the-captain frown, looking ready to scold me, but it vanished when I launched myself at him in a hug.
“Oof,” he said.
Jaeyoung opened his mouth to say something, but I dragged him into the hug, too. He sighed and patted me on the back. “It’s good to see you, Paz,” he said, his voice unusually gentle. “We really were worried about you.”
“I’m sorry, you guys,” I murmured.
“What happened?” Levi asked. “One minute you were there, and the next you just vanished.”
I took a deep breath, then launched into the whole recap: of how jealous I was, how I couldn’t stand being the only non-mated human anymore, how I wanted my own alien boyfriend, and how I recklessly disregarded Tau’run’s advice about venturing into the Eukaria wilds alone.
“Ah,” Linn’ar said, exchanging a glance with Zat’tor. “If we’d known, we would’ve given you the same advice to stay in the village. But we were... preoccupied.”
