That made him uneasy. He did not want to be insane--or to do anything that might make him behave moreirrationallythan he already did. The thoughts that ran through his mind were already illogical more often than they were logical and those were hard enough to deal with.
"You have been in a foul mood for days," he said finally, deciding it was worth the risk of another fight if he could get the answers from Seth that he had not been able to figure out by himself.
Seth narrowed his eyes at him as if he was contemplating removing his head from his shoulders. "I have not," he growled.
That was not at all helpful, Niles thought indignantly, and it just went to show that Seth had crossed the line. He was no longer rational at all! Heshouldhave responded by sayingwhyhe was in a foul mood! Notliedabout being in a foul mood!
Mayhap Seth was unable to grasp the true question, though, because he had attempted subtlety?
"Whyare you in a foul mood?"
He could hear Seth grinding his teeth together. "I just said that I am not!"
The response made Niles angrier, but he was determined to remain reasonable even if Seth, apparently, had lost that ability! "I have considered this data for some time and it seems illogical to me that you are ... not happy when you sexed Danika and, logically, should be. Why is this?"
Seth surged to his feet. Niles instantly followed suit, watching him warily. Instead of pouncing as Niles had fully expected, however, he turned on his heel and strode away. After a few paces, he turned and strode back, made an about face just as Niles was convinced he would attack and paced away again. Frowning, Niles moved to a safer distance and watched, more disturbed by the lack of purpose than he would have been if Seth had attacked. He had not even been ordered to pace the perimeter and beyond that he was not walking the length of it, which he should have if he had decided on his own to do so. Accessing his data banks, he discovered that predatory beasts had been known to pace--when caged--as if searching for a way of escape, but that made no sense to him even though he was aware that part of the awakening was due to the development of the part of the biological brain associated with animal instincts. Seth was not caged. Why would he feel the need to pace?
He stopped after a time and settled on the rock where he had been sitting before. Propping his elbow on one thigh and supporting his chin on his fist, he glared at the ground for some minutes before he abruptly tensed and looked around as if surprised to find himself where he was.
Frowning, Niles debated whether to return to his own perch or keep his distance.
He had just decided it would be safe to sit down again when Seth spoke abruptly.
"I pleasured her. I am certain of that," he said, his voice threaded with uncertainty in direct contradiction of what he had said.
"I did not dispute that," Niles said cautiously. "According to my data banks her reaction was one of pleasure." Doubts surfaced almost instantly. "Unless ... perhaps she screamed because she experienced a muscle cramp? Or saw something that disturbed her? You did not drop her?"
Seth had looked at him hopefully during the first part of Niles' speech, but a thoughtful frown replaced it and then an angry one. "Of course I did not drop her!" he snapped irritably, but then looked thoughtful. "She did not seem to be in pain ... or startled. I do not think it could have been that."
"Then it must have been pleasure."
Seth looked hopeful again. "You think?"
Niles frowned. "You did not interpret the screaming as pleasure?"
Seth frowned. "I was certain it was ...," he hedged.
"But?"
Seth wrestled with his reluctance to admit that he was not certain, in fact had finally concluded that he had not given her any pleasure at all, and the vague hope that his logic was faulty and Niles would arrive at a different conclusion. In truth, he had thought for a time that he had fried both his logic circuits and his biological brain because neither seemed to be working just as they ought. "She seemed in a very great hurry to leave when I had finished," he finally said.
Surprise flickered through Niles, but he considered it thoughtfully. "I do not find anything in my data to suggest that behavior to be an anomaly. You pleasured her. She was finished. She left."
"My data says that also," Seth said slowly. "It did not seem ... right, however. I felt pleasure. I also felt a desire to sex her again."
"At once?" Niles asked in disbelief. "Why? The swelling did not go down?"
"It did, but it came back almost at once. And it has been far worse since."
Dismay flickered through Niles but anger, as well. He had thought that he might feel pleasure and it pissed him off that he had not even had the chance to discover whether he would or not and Seth was complaining because he had! "That is fucked up! You are saying it does not help to have the sex?"
Seth sent him a speculative look. A look of cunning flickered across his features for a moment before he could mask it with a look of concern. "It makes the swelling worse. You should not do it."
Something about his expression instantly made Niles suspicious. "If it is worse after, then why do you want to do it again?"
"I did not say that I did."
"You saidexactlythat!" Niles snapped. "You said that you immediately felt a desire to sex her again!"
