He took it from her and examined it closely. Then he looked at the other items on the shelf. After a moment, he sounded a rumble she couldn’t identify.
“It’s for sexual gratification!”
She nodded and waited for his reaction. She had a partner find her stash of sex toys once and get really upset that he hadn’t been enough for her. That had led to an unpleasant scene. She’d hate for what was developing between her and Myrum to be over before it even started.
“Do you want this?” he asked.
Better to know now than later. “Yes.”
He didn’t even hesitate to put it in the basket before turning back to the shelf. “There are many more items here of different shapes and sizes. Do you want any of them?” Then he picked up the other one she wanted and presented it to her. “This one vibrates! That seems like it might cause pleasant sensations for a human.”
“I think I might love you, Myrum.”
She didn’t realize those words were going to come out of her until they hit her ears. With a little gasp, she slapped both hands over her mouth.
Myrum sounded a rumble of amusement. “Don’t worry, I know humans can mean the word love in many different ways.”
She let out a little sigh of relief. “You really don’t mind that I like to, um, use these?”
“Of course not,” he said, putting the vibrating toy in the basket and picking up another. “It’s good for humans to be able to express their sexuality. It must be hard to find partners when you’re always surrounded by family, so these toys must be helpful.”
“That’s true,” she agreed. The thought of sleeping with anyone on the crew grossed her out. She might not be genetically related to them, but she’d grown up with these Ugarians.
“Besides, even if they weren’t family, it wouldn’t work. You aren’t sexually compatible with Ugarians,” he said.
“That’s not true, humans and Ugarians are compatible," she argued.
He jerked a little and almost dropped a box set of penetrative toys in various sizes. He turned to face her.
“You are?”
“We are, and human males don’t have to go into rut to want to have sex,” she explained. “It’s one of the reasons Ugarians like human males to join in their marriages. The humans can fill the needs of the women when there aren’t any males in rut.”
“Rut?”
That’s when she realized he didn’t know anything about Ugarians. “So you guys are like humans, right?”
He sounded a confused rumble. “In what way?”
“Talins can have sex at any time, right?”
“I suppose, but there are decency laws that prohibit sexual acts in public,” he responded.
She laughed. “I don’t mean it like that. You don’t have to wait for your hormones to be at certain levels during the year.”
“Is that what you call rut?”
She nodded. “That’s what Ugarian’s call it, but there are a lot of species out there that only have sex when they are in a certain part of their cycle. Ugarian females can be ready at any time, but the males go into rut about once a year. In most Ugarian marriages, all the females will enjoy the male in rut. The guys love it.”
As she’d hoped, Myrum wasn’t disgusted. He seemed intrigued. “All at the same time?”
“Depends on the marriage," she answered. “Every Ugarian marriage group is a little different. They talk about it and decide what expectations are before anything happens. I know my dad is really popular with two of the wives, so he usually sleeps with them every night. But he’ll also sleep with the other wives if they ask. The way everyone discusses and agrees together is really sweet.”
“Have you slept with an Ugarian before?”
“Of course,” she answered. “But not within the context of a marriage. They have these organizations called Conveniences that are set up for Ugarians who aren’t married. You hang out there if you're single. You get to know people and make friends. When someone goes into rut you can decide to join them without any further obligations. I’ve joined a few times. It’s safe because I go in with other Ugarian females, and they make sure the male doesn’t get too rough.”
Myrum let out a startled rattle. “What do you mean ‘too rough?’”
