“Lo denaii are really… special,” Dace decided on. “From what I’ve seen, when they have a mate they really want to get her pregnant.” Why did Dace look so sad by the idea?
When I stared at her curiously, she continued. “Maybe it’s part of being mates, that you want, you know, all of him like that.”
“Like a biological urge?” I blurted. Good god, now I’m at the whims of my alien biology. Fantastic. Though I’d admit it made me feel a little better, putting it that way. How does one get past that? When I voiced this thought out loud, she had no answer.
Biting at her lip, she looked like she wanted to say something but wasn’t going to.
“What?” I muttered.
“Have you thought about, if it gets real bad, maybe there’s another guy out there for you too? If it’ll help?”
Did I want to just mate with some other beast just to ease the burden? What if I mated with some other guy, and even got knocked up, but this need riding me to complete my bond with Kehl remained? What if it just never went away because he flat out refused to cement our mate bond? What if this got worse? I was already going mad with it. Then what?
“I don’t want anyone else. The idea makes me nauseous.” My stomach churned just thinking about it.
“Maybe don’t try that one then,” Dace cut in quickly. Popping up, she grabbed two slices of bread and crisped them up on the stove without a word. She just knew. Or maybe my stomach was gurgling that loudly.
“I have some things to take care of after breakfast but I was thinking later we could go to the market? You know, if you wanted to.” Dace rarely bought anything there but she talked about the market like it was some fancy bazaar.
Apparently, some beasts had sticks up their butts about trading to unmated females, and the reasonings behind this were stupid to me. Kehl was amongst the list of reluctant sellers.I had no idea if he’s changed his mind about selling to unmated females since then.
A knock on the door sounded and Dace jumped like she’d been goosed.
“Eh? What the gives?” Vurhg called out. A louder bang on the door sounded.
“Sorry.” Dace popped up and rushed for the door. “That’s for me.”
Studying her as she rushed to the door, opened it, and slipped out, I sat there wondering what on Earth Vurhg could be doing here for her.
Dace took so long to come back inside I wondered if she was even still standing out there. She could have left. She did say she had things to do.
When the door finally creaked open, Dace was pink cheeked, flustered. Cradling the bag she’d rushed out with last night that she kept by the door, she had this funny little smile on her face, pinched funny the way she was nibbling on her lip.
“Everything alright?”
“Hmm? What? Oh. Yeah.” Dace nodded absently. “Everything’s fine.”
Putting her things away, she rejoined me at the table.
When she continued to sit there staring off into space, deep in thought, I ventured, “Do you want to talk about it?”
Dace blushed hotly. “No,” she blurted.
Vurhg? Really? “Did you enjoy your… outing?”
Dace’s face was just shy of plum she blushed so hard. Was she holding her breath?
“I’m just messing with you,” I assured her.
The tension riding her, stiffening her skinny frame, eased. “Please don’t tell anyone,” she whispered. “It’s not what you think.”
“Dace, you’re my friend. My very best friend around here. You don’t have to explain anything to me and anything we say in this hut stays in this hut. Know that.” Unable to hold it back, I added, “Just be careful. I don’t trust him.”
Dace smiled then. “I’m being careful.” Just as fast, her smile fell, slipping into a frown. “Can I ask you something?” she asked into the comfortable silence that followed.
“Sure. Shoot.” Walking my dishes to the wash basin, I soaped them up and rinsed them of.
I was just putting my plate in the little drying rack when Dace blurted, “Why doesn’t kissing count?”
