Her smile in my direction is dazzling, and it almost makes up for Trakan’s quiet snickering. I reach under the table and squeeze her hand. I’ll make sure she gets what she needs.
FARLI
By the time the endless, strange meal is finished, I am ravenously hungry and exhausted all at once. I have never talked so much at one time and yet managed to say so very little. Every time I spoke, the sly-looking male would smirk. Niri would frown. And the other one—Cap-tan—would just throw more questions at me and misunderstand everything I said. I feel frustrated and tired, and I need to ask for fire, even though I haven’t seen any since arriving. It is a long way back to the closest hunter cave in the dark, and I’ll need a torch.
I return to the healer’s room with Niri after the eating, and check on Chahm-pee. He is still asleep, but he snores like he always does, and I feel a little better seeing that. I sit at his side on one of the strange stools and stroke his furry nose. I am not sure if I am comforting him or myself. These strangers are…odd and not entirely pleasant. I do not understand why they make me feel…like less. It is a sensation I have never felt before. The sly one laughed all through his meal, and I sometimes got the impression he was laughing at me. I have always imagined what I would do if I met strangers like Vektal met the humans, and I never pictured them being…unpleasant.
All except Mardok, of course.
My mate.
I give a dreamy sigh, picturing his face. He is stern but protective. He tried to make me comfortable throughout the strange meal, and when the others made faces at my words, he scowled at them. I liked that. I think my mother would like Mardok, too. I cannot wait to return to the village and introduce him to the others. I am so proud of how handsome and strong he is. My khui has chosen wisely, and we will make adorable kits together.
As if my thoughts have summoned him, Mardok appears in the healer’s room, looking around. He pauses when he sees me, a faint look of relief on his face. “There you are.”
“I followed Niri,” I tell him, and stroke Chahm-pee’s nose again. “I wanted to see if he was well before I left.”
“Left? You’re leaving?” Mardok is shocked.
“Once I get fire for a torch. I will be back in the morning to check on my fat one here.” I lovingly smooth my fingers down Chahm-pee’s brow.
“Are you going home?”
“No.” I give him a puzzled glance as I stand. “I am out hunting. My home is many days’ travel away.”
“Hunting alone?”
“Of course. Some hunt with their mates, but I have not had the opportunity,” I say, feeling shy. Should I point out to him now that we are mated? That even now, I am resonating to him because I wish for our bodies to join together? It does not feel like the right time. Not yet, with Niri in the next chamber.
“Fire?” he echoes thoughtfully, then shakes his head. “I can give you an electronic light source, but it’d be easier if you stayed here overnight.”
Here with him? He’s finally inviting me to touch him? Pleased, I move forward eagerly. “I would love to share your furs.”
His expression grows stiff. “No, Farli, that’s not what I meant.” He clasps my hands in his, but gives a small shake of his head. “I would not use you like that. You can have my room, and I’ll sleep in the storage locker.”
I pay no attention to most of that. Use me? Use me how? I would love to mate with him, but he is gazing down at me like it is a terrible idea, and I do not understand why. “You want me to sleep in your furs, but not with you?”
“Just to give you someplace safe to sleep.”
He gazes down at me, and the expression on his face is hungry—just for a flash, but it’s there. And I feel a little better. He is attracted to me, I think, but does not know how to handle it. Maybe with his people it is not appropriate to show interest? I do not know any of the rules and feel a little lost. “All right,” I say softly.
Mardok glances over at Niri, who is watching us. “Farli’s going with me,” he tells her. “If you need her or her pet wakes up, buzz my room.”
She nods, and her mouth thins out again. “I’ll let the captain know.”
“You do that.” His tone is short, and I am puzzled again. I thought they were friends.
Mardok leads me out of the room and down a series of dark, narrow halls. It smells like the Elders’ Cave in here, that strange hard scent that Har-loh calls ‘metal.’ We turn down another passageway, and I hear the sound of voices, in the strange language. Mardok halts and tucks me behind him, against the wall, and listens to the others.
It must be the two males I met at dinner. The elder and the sly one. I did not care for either, and I feel ashamed about that. Perhaps they just need time to adjust to me, like the humans needed time to adjust to living on our world. I should not dislike them just because they made me feel foolish at their strange dinner. In their strange way, they were trying to be polite.
I think.
But Mardok does not seem to be in a hurry to leave. He is attentively listening to them, and since I cannot understand them, I focus on him. The muscles on his neck and shoulders are covered with a thin tunic, but I remember the sight of all that blue skin and the drawings underneath. This close, I cansee the lines of his skull where it meets his thick neck, and admire the shiny covers on his horns. I put a hand on his back, because the scent of him this close is irresistible, and I feel him stiffen at my touch. I can hear his breathing speed up. It sends an answering pulse of excitement through my body, and my khui grows louder, so loud that I feel it is shaking my entire chest with its enthusiasm.
He puts a finger to his lips, indicating quiet. As if I can control my khui? It chooses who to sing to, not me. I do not say this aloud, of course. Instead, I find myself staring at his raised hand. It is the arm that is capped with the shiny stone, like his horns are, and I wonder what the story is behind that. His tail flicks against my leg, its shortened length holding a story of its own.
This male is so full of stories, of mysteries. I cannot wait to find them all out. I sigh happily and press my cheek to his shoulder, pleased. I have not felt this right about a male, ever. The moment I saw him, I knew he was mine. This is why I have never had interest in Taushen, or Sessah. I have been waiting all this time for my Mardok. I slide my arms around his waist, holding him close and breathing in his scent. It does not matter that he is cooler to the touch or that his people are strange. He is mine.
