“I’m glad your hair doesn’t hold dye,” I mumbled, more to myself than to him. “Are all members of your species this colorful?”
His brows knitted together. “You do know you are being interrogated, correct?”
I barked a laugh. “Maybe this is a diversion tactic.”
I was joking, but his scowl told me he did not get that distinction.
“Kidding,” I rushed to assure him.
With a low growl, he stepped toward me again. One hand grasped my right breast while the other rested against my pubic bone for a moment before cupping my sex.
I gasped.
“We will continue the interrogation.”
All thought fled as his fingers worked their magic against the tender flesh of my labia.
“Why were you in the parking lot last night, Emily Nichols?”
Was it my imagination, or did his voice sound strained? I glanced at his crotch and swore there was a protrusion forming in his pants.
“Why were you in the parking lot last night?” He repeated his question without my name as his fingers stroked my clitoris beneath its hood.
“You found that faster than most human males.” My voice caught as I swallowed against my rising need.
“Answer the question.”
“I was celebrating my birthday,” I squeaked out, my hips rocking with the rhythmic waves of pleasure his ministrations were creating.
At my actions, Cair withdrew his hands from my quaking body.
My hands wrapped around my torso, though I wanted nothing more than to bring myself to orgasm.
Cair smoothly pulled at my arms to separate them and guide them to my sides. “The interrogation is not complete.”
“I was just out celebrating my thirtieth birthday, trying to figure out what to do with the rest of my life. You and Xelthar surprised me in the parking lot. I thought I was helping a man in trouble. On your ship, he lied to get me to help him. I just wanted to go home. I don’t know anything else. And I swear I wasnottrying to stop you from completing your … mission … or whatever.” I moaned after concluding my mini-speech.
“We do not celebrate birthdays,” was Cair’s unexpected response to my word vomit.
“You don’t?” I wrapped my arms around my torso again. This time, he ignored the movement.
“We do not. Celebrations are not common for us. Our species has historically been very pragmatic.”
“Like Vulcans,” I blurted, and he frowned. “Or not.” The memory of Xelthar’s statement about forced mating roseunbidden in my mind. In the context of pragmatism, maybe it wasn’t forced so much as expedient. “How are your hair and skin so iridescent?” I asked out of genuine curiosity, but also to allow my aroused naked body to cool down.
“My world—Elkath—is fifty percent water,” Cair surprised me by answering. “We are among the more water-dependent species and live both in and out of it.”
I eyed him critically. “You appear to look more like a mammal than an amphibian or reptile, so like that?”
He tilted his head. “Perhaps most like a cross between a mammal and a bird. We have feather-like hair and are warm-blooded, but we do not lay eggs or fly.” His eyes twinkled in the waning light.
Was he making a joke? I stepped closer. “You don’t look like a bird to me, that’s for sure.”
“I believe you.”
His seeming non sequitur threw me for a moment until the dark pupils dilated so much they almost obliterated the amber irises. “I’m glad,” I whispered, my hands resting on his chest.
“You have passed the interrogation,” he said, yet didn’t move away. His voice sounded thicker, and the tented front of his pants more pronounced.
