“Yeah, human men have a dick.”
“Dick?” he gives the furry cucumber a wiggle.
I have to fight the smile that wants to form. “Yeah, and they are that skinny.”
I take the cucumber off him and break it in half, handing half back to him. “Don’t start getting ideas. I’m not having sex with you.”
6
ALDIT
Ruby takes a bite as I watch her. She was quick to assume that I want sex with her, with her small eyes and snarling lips.
But I have been wondering what it would be like. I think Sabine likes Edilk enough to choose him as a mate, though what that means exactly I don’t know. They are human, not Honey. And taking a mate means going into rut, a second change to my body and not one I’d ever planned on occurring because only a mate can trigger it. And then I will be bound to my mate, my body craving only her.
It is something I never expected to have and claimed to never want. Now though…I’m not so sure. I want Ruby to choose me, but that will not make us mates. “You aren’t Honey. We could never be mates.”
I start walking, needing to find suitable water and hoping that this stream has a source that will be safe to drink.
“Is that like being married or something?”
“Married?” Her word is strange in my mouth.
“Um…like promising to be together forever. Making a home together.”
“Ah, then yes. And no. It is more than a promise.” I glance back at her. She’s still eating the agur. It was enough to sate my thirst, but we will need more. I am reaching the point where I do not want to go on without a clear source of water.
“How is it more?”
“Why do you care? You are going back to your tribe.”
“They aren’t my tribe. It’s the human colony.”
“What is the difference? Your parents and siblings live there, the rest of your fam—”
“There is no rest of my family. My mother chose to get on the ship. My world was so fucked up, she thought agreeing to have three kids that she didn’t want was worth it. My father was just as disinterested, doing his part for the mission and nothing more. Sure they’re friends, but that’s all. Now I’m expected to have three kids with someone I don’t know, or possibly even like, to meet the colony requirements.” She hurls the peel into the trees. “Now you have kidnapped me. We’re in the middle of fucking nowhere, and we’re probably going to die out here. My life has never been mine.”
She huffs out a breath and I think she’s done.
Some of the words didn’t translate, but I understand what they mean from the rest of what she said. “And what choices would you have made?”
“I’d have never been born if my mother had stayed on Earth, so I’ve been told I should be grateful. I should be glad I’m here.”
“Do you want to be on Dirt?”
“Dirt…” She laughs. “No, it’s called Earth. I don’t want to be there either. Even if I got on a ship today, I’d be old by the time I got there. I liked being on the ship.”
“Me too. I like going to new places.”
“You like exploring and possibly dying?”
“From the time I was old enough to understand, I knew I would be banished. I saw it happen. I saw the hunting of the banished that came too close. While my parents loved me, there was always a distance, as if my mother felt guilty for having me. My father spent extra time teaching me to hunt and survive because he knew that I’d need those skills.”
“I don’t understand why you needed to leave.”
I stop. “Too many warriors, and not enough women, leads to fighting. Many families are blessed with never having a fourth son. Some only have sons.”
“What happens to the fifth son?”
