“Why don’t you tell me how it works.” And hopefully that will distract him enough that I can look at the wound and do my best to save him.
“The Paohl are mostly male, we fight to display strength. And the mating barb is usually used with caution because it is a onetime thing.”
“And leads to death?” It’s not a great mating strategy.
“Yes, if the mating isn’t accepted.”
“Why do you die instead of growing another one?”
He draws in a shuddering breath as I cut through his uniform. “A toxin was released into my body when I stung you.”
“To make you lusty?”
“No, to calm me. It slows my heartbeat and if left, it will stop. I’m told it doesn’t hurt.” Eskar sounds perfectly content with that option.
“And the cure is sex?” Will that even work given that I’m human, and he’s Paohl? He’s so much bigger than me in every way.
“That’s the cure every man wants, Larkin,” Wraight says as though warning me not to give into the dying alien.
I glare at him. “Hold the torch closer so I can see what’s been nicked.”
Eskar manages a laugh. “It’s not the sex…your blood, your body now contains the cure.”
“What? How is that possible?” I lift his hand away from the knife wound. It’s a deep stab not a slash and blood immediately bubbles up from the hole in his abdomen. But not as fast as before.
“The drug in the barb is in you. That is the cure, so I need to taste you.”
My cheeks heat and I can’t blame the fire. “I’m human, my body might react differently.”
“Maybe, but the Paohl often mate with other races. We have never had a problem before.”
“And if we mate, when will the drug stop affecting me?” Because my core is aching and the lips of my pussy are swollen and slick and my nipples are hard. It’s very distracting, verging on uncomfortable.
“When you taste me.”
Of course.
Wraight mutters something about not wanting to hear any of this. I catch the words bullshit, blowjob, and begging.
“So the poison slowing your heart will cure me and vice versa. Clever. And then what? We can walk away?”
His blood slicked hand grasps mine. “No, because the cure isn’t permanent.”
“Hang on…you said that the lust in me will fade.”
“It will, eventually. The males risk death to have a mate. Not every man is brave enough to take that chance.” There is pride in his voice, even though blood is flowing from the wound and his heart is slowing with every passing hour until he succumbs to his own poison.
“And if I die?”
“Then I will. Only you have the cure for me.”
And Noil, since he also stung me. “And the drug from Noil’s barb? Will that fade?”
“Yes. You will be uncomfortable for a few days, but it will pass when he does. Unless you choose to save him.”
I shake my head. Noil is on his own. “And your people haven’t come up with a cure for this?”
“Why would we?”
