“Oh,” she murmured, blinking as she processed his words.“I just assumed, since she was, you know, naked and everything…”
“She took off her fur covering,” he said and yet another flush marred her cheeks.“I was trying to cover her when you came in.”
“Right,” she whispered, clearing her throat.She didn’t know what else to say so she settled on, “Well, thank you for explaining.”
Rixavox was studying her face.He was still leaned forward, so that he was only a foot away, and his eyes were level with her own.
“May I ask you a question?” he asked softly.She inhaled a sudden breath when she felt his fingers brush her left outer thigh.Even through the fur blanket she had huddled around her, the contact felt…jolting.
“Y-yes.”
“Are humans monogamous?”
“What?” she asked, eyebrows rising.Out of all the questions he could have asked, he’d asked this one?
“I am wondering about human males.I am wondering how different they are from Luxirian males.Do you mate for life with one partner?Or do you have several?”
Cecelia didn’t know how to take a question like that and why he wanted to know.“Well, it depends, I suppose,” she answered.
“How?”
Rixavox’s thumb brushed her outer thigh again and when the strand she’d tucked behind her ear fell over her cheek, he brushed it back with his other hand.He felt…everywhere.His touch, his scent, his voice…it both confused and thrilled her.
She licked her lips since they felt dry and his gaze tracked there.She was tempted to do it again, but wasn’t bold enough to try.All she knew was that she liked his eyes on her lips.
“It depends on religion or culture or preference,” she tried to explain.“My country is called the United States.That’s where I was born.And most, uh, humans in the U.S. are monogamous.Cheating on one’s partner is generally frowned upon.Many relationships break up if the other partner cheats.As for having one partner for life, that depends too.Some people marry one person and then get divorced.They might marry again afterwards.The dad of a friend of mine is on his fourth wife.”
His brow furrowed.“Divorced?I do not understand this word.My language implant is not translating correctly.”
It was strange explaining these things to someone, but Cecelia found she didn’t mind.“People get married for all kinds of reasons, but mostly it is because they love each other.”
“Like a mating bond?” he questioned, his voice low.
Cecelia didn’t know for sure but she could guess that they were at least similar concepts.“Yes.But when they decide that they don’t want to be together anymore, then they file for divorce and they go their separate ways.Sometimes divorce can get ugly.”
Rixavox made a sound in his throat.“Rebax?”
She might not understand the word, but the confusion on his face said it all.“Marriages can end,” she said.“And then you can remarry if you wish.”
“Nix.”
A short, surprising burst of laughter made its way up her throat.“It’s true.”
“Then it is not like a mating bond,” he said, leaning a little closer.The smile slowly slipped off her face and her gaze flickered to his lips this time as he spoke.“Luxirians mate for life.To one and to one only.”
“Oh,” she whispered, her heart fluttering in her chest.
“Fated mates,” he continued, “are the strongest bond of our race.The Fates, our deities and creators, choose them for us and bless the union.”
Something Kate told her pushed into her mind.“Is that the Instinct thing?”
“Rebax?” he murmured, going still.The tension in that fire pit felt like it was thickening by the minute and for some reason, Cecelia couldn’t take her eyes off him.
She felt breathless as she said, “Kate said something about an Instinct in Luxirians.It’s like a force that creates this…mating bond.I think that’s how she described it.”
Rixavox’s jaw ticked and he did that familiar head jerk.“Tev,” he murmured, his throat bobbing as he swallowed.“It is a force.A strong force.One that is almost impossible to resist.”
She looked down at his fingers, which touched her thighs.Something about the way he said it dismayed her.“You have felt it then?”
