She pulls her hand away. “Sorry. I don’t want to make it worse.”
I sigh. I need to tell her how she can help. Then at least she can make that choice. Why I am holding onto this one last piece of pride as if it matters I do not know. There is no tribal elder to judge me and deem me unworthy. My brothers will not judge me either, because they believe we are mates.
“You aren’t. You are helping.” I run my fingers up her inner thigh. “Your nectar, when smeared—”
“Of course!” She grins. “The rut is just the need to mate while you bond, so it must be something in me. That makes so much sense. So if it’s getting really bad, all you need is…” she presses her lips together.
I look at her.
Mia stares back. “You can’t ask. That is a stupid rule.”
“Not when men outnumber women by three. It is different between mates.”
A crease forms. “And we aren’t mates.”
I watch as understanding blooms in her eyes. “So if I were to ask you to…um…”
“Please you?”
“Make me come…climax?” she adds, because my face must have revealed my lack of comprehension.
“Then I will because I enjoy watching you come.” I like the taste of her on my tongue and the cool she brings to my blood.
“And then you can coat your dick.” She gives my meq a stroke. “It’s not about the actual mating.”
“It would appear not.” But that does not stop me from wanting to mate with her.
She lifts her gaze. “Maybe next time I could help.”
“If that is what you want.”
“I think it might be.”
I think it’s what I want too.
12
Mia
The back of my shirt is wet because of the water dripping from my hair, and while my clothes may not be clean, I feel better. When I glance at Sunif, he appears to be less tense than he was earlier.
He smiles that closed-mouth smile that doesn’t reveal his orange teeth. While my job is…was…to study fungi, I am intrigued by his biology. What makes his teeth orange? Why does sex with a woman cause the rut, and what purpose does it serve? I can guess that it is a way to make sure the male is attentive to his mate because getting shunned is very unpleasant. Maybe it’s also a way of stopping the males from fighting.
As we get closer to the camp, I hear Sabine’s voice.
If I can hear her, that means Sunif was aware much earlier. “When did you realize they were here?”
“Soon after we left the river. Edilk was reaching out for us.”
That is something else I want to understand. They can communicate silently, and make an electrical charge, and when we are touching, I hear him in my mind. Studying the aliens is far more interesting than fungi. Fungi was important when I was part of the colony, but I can’t go back, so I need to find something else to do. Not that anything I discover about this world and its people will ever make it back to the colony. If the people in charge were smart, they’d have asked us to remain in contact and report back what we learn.
But I guess they have Tiril to answer their questions.
I hope they are asking…
“I thought you would be glad to see her?” Sunif asks.
“I am.” I still want to blame her, but I’m beginning to see beyond the box I was placed in. Something Sabine realized long ago.
