Chapter 29
Xivthar couldn't decide whether to weep or scream. Whether to tear the clothes off the woman in front of him, or whether to hurl invectives at her, or furnishings.
"AHHH!" he yelled, letting her go to run his hands through his tendrils again. "I can't take this. Not now. My planet needs me and instead I've... I've... fuck!"
Sylvie reached up and brushed her fingers along his face, her expression softening fast. "Calm down. Take a deep breath and explain to me what you mean. What is this mating frenzy?"
"Zantharian males and females can have sex with one another and reach a sort of climax, but without the male releasing his seed. Zantharian females have only one egg for reproduction, and they are very selective about the male chosen to fertilize it. So while we have sex for pleasure, most of the time it isn't for procreation."
“Oh.” She sat in the chair beside him and glanced up. “I wondered why you didn’t come when we made love.”
“Now you know.” He shrugged and ran his hand over his handsome face.
"But you have a brother," she pointed out.
"A rarity. On occasion, about one in 100,000 births, the embryo splits and one egg hatches two babies."
"Like human twins."
X nodded. The fact that his mother had been able to have two children had set her apart from so many others. Yet another thing that had made her a miraculous woman.
He turned away, pacing the small sitting room, leaving the Earthling to watch him with worry in her eyes. "When a Zantharian female has chosen to accept a male's seed, she can prompt him to go into the mating frenzy. This prepares the male to release his seed and ensures that the egg is fertilized."
Sylvie nodded, motioning for him to go on. As a biologist, she understood the details of such a reproductive arrangement without him going over them.
"However, it also ensures that unsuitable males are taken out of the gene pool." He took a deep breath, anxious to reveal the depth of his anguish.
"If a male goes into the mating frenzy uninvited, and no female allows him to fertilize her egg within a few days, the frenzy will grow worse until he eventually dies. The release will push back into my own body and it’s toxic. I’ll have cardiac arrest." He shrugged, not wanting pity, but knowing without a doubt that he had to prepare for the worst.
“Wow,” she whispered and glanced down toward her hands. It was all he could do not to pull her up and kiss her hard, forcing her to comply with his needs and the demands of his body.
Xivthar stopped his pacing and returned to her, staring down into her lovely face, a face that even now made his stomach clench with need for more of her. "Do you see what's happened?"
"You've gone into the mating frenzy. Over me?" She sounded as incredulous as he felt.
"I didn't think it was possible either. You're not even my species, but the signs are all there."
He opened his hand and began ticking the points off on his fingers.
"My skin has gone black. It will remain this color until I release my seed, or I perish. It’s the fucking toxins in my body. My moods are cycling rapidly and I feel intense physical pain when I'm separated from you. I felt like my parents had passed again when I woke and you were gone. I have the intense and unbearable need to release my seed into you, to fuck you over and over until you can’t hold yourself up, nor can I." He closed his fingers into a fist and moved his hand down to his side, hoping that she couldn't see how badly he was shaking.
"So you brought me back to release your seed into me?" Her voice was quiet, confused. She was devastatingly beautiful and the idea of mating to her would haunt him until his death arrived if she rejected his need.
Xivthar laughed.If only it were that easy.
"I don't even think I can. Like I said, we aren't the same species. My seed shouldn't be able to fertilize your eggs; therefore, it shouldn't be able to be released at all. My body knows the truth of what will happen and won’t release until it’s a sound investment."
"And you'll die because of this?" Her pitch had raised an octave as her eyes widened and filled with tears.
Maybe the thought upsets her? Does she care for me?
"I brought you back because I need you by my side. You're the only one besides my brother I trust to help me root out the enemy threat before my time... expires. I hope you understand. I’ll give you safe passage as the time draws near. Just help me. Please?"
Sylvie shook her head, the blond mess upon it catching his attention and holding him there as the air seemed harder and harder to breathe. "There are several problems with your plan, not the least of which is that your people are calling for my blood. What will they do if they discover that I'm your mate? They'll never accept that I'm working for you. They'll think I did this to you on purpose."
Maybe you did, an insidious voice inside him whispered.Maybe she's forced the frenzy on you to take you out. The kidnapping failed, so perhaps they figured seduction would be a more suitable weapon of destruction.
Now it was Xivthar's turn to shake his head to clear it of unwanted thoughts.No. I trust her. It isn't her fault. She hadn't even known about the frenzy.
