“I proposed this process to the Coalition. I was told I had to be the founder, the first one to participate. It was not my ideal outcome, but I accepted the decision.”
“Do you know when you meet someone to mate with? Or do you just think ‘oh, that one’s good.’?”
“There is a physical change.”
“Like hormones?”
“In a base way, yes, it is hormonal. But it’s so much more than that. It is said that you know, but I could never find a way to quantify it.”
"Until you met me." She smiled. He even sounded like a scientist.
"I cannot explain what it is. I had been around plenty of females. Kantenan and otherwise when I traveled off-world for some of my education. But no one sparkled to me. You did. I couldn't look away from you, even when I tried. You were playing with that animal when you were supposed to be listening. It irritated me--"
"So, I make you crazed?"
"Yes. In that way that one is supposed to make a mate crazed. Or so I have been told. I felt it immediately."
Their gazes met.
It hit her almost like a physical touch. It was so intense.
And he was just looking at her.
"How did you know?"
He very gently put his hand on her knee.
"I knew."
She shook her head and sipped more of her drink. Was the liquor making her more susceptible to suggestion? Or was she just more honest than usual? She typically kept her feelings and thoughts close to her and didn't share them. Too often, it wound up being detrimental, so she kept a distance from everyone.
Yet he was bringing it out from her.
"I do feel something when I look at you," Janae said. "If it's attraction or if it's the drink talking, I don't know. But there is something between us. A pull I'd never felt before to anyone." She raised her cup. "It could be the drink."
"It is not the drink." His gaze ran over her, and stars if it didn't make her body tremble.
She licked her lips.
This time, his horns did move.
“Your horns moved.”
“They do that when aroused.”
The idea made her cheeks warm, so she touched her hair and stroked her bangs to be sure they covered her brow. “Do they always? At any time?”
“They can,” he said.
“Can I touch them?” She held out her hand to feel the horn closest to her. He leaned in, and she stroked the hard shape. Like sticks, but thicker, and they were smoother than she thought. “They’re almost soft. But hard. There’s a layer to them.”
She wrapped her hand around them, feeling the—
“Yes, they are.” He grabbed her wrist.
She gasped, startled by his quick move.
“Stroking them can be more enticing," he said, his voice low and gravelly.
