Instead, I had to commit the sight to memory, hoping it would not fade over time.
I looked over at Axon to see what his reaction might be, but he wasn’t looking at the crystals on the wall, he was looking at me.
Chapter 10
Axon
I loved watching Ashley take in the beauty of the room. Her eyes darted everywhere, trying to take in the entire scene. She was so beautiful. She was one of the tallest hu-mans in our dekes and I was one of the shortest sirrets, which made us pleasantly close in height.
My poor vision prevented me from seeing the exact color of her hair, but I could tell that it was light. Not white like mine, but similar.
I had no trouble, however, seeing all her amazing curves. She carried more weight on her frame than the other females, and my hands itched to caress every inch of her.
She looked over at me and caught me looking at her. I gave her a warm smile, and she gave me one in return.
“Come, sit.” I beckoned her over to a small boulder where we could sit together off the ground. I set the torch down in between two large crystals that kept it propped up, letting the light flicker over the shiny rocks.
Ashley joined me on the boulder, and we sat in silence for a time, taking in the view.
“Thank you for bringing me here.” She smiled up at me as she tucked some hair behind her rounded ear.
“Of course.” I set my hand down close to hers. We didn’t touch, but I liked the closeness all the same.
“Thank you for not making me go back home to the mountain. I really needed some time away.”
“I understand. Why did you come out here? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but I’d like to help if I can.”
Ashley sighed and looked away. After a beat of silence, I figured she wasn’t ready to tell me what was on her mind. I was about to change the subject when she said, “I...” she sighed again. “It’s hard to explain.”
“We’ve got time.” I assured her. “Go ahead and give it a shot.”
“I’m, uh, I’m what we humans call ace.”
I nodded my head and waited patiently for more of an explanation.
“Ace is a sexual orientation, or a way of describing one’s personal sexual preferences. From what I’ve gathered, most of the women here are heterosexual, which means they are women who are only attracted to men or males. Although I suspect some are bisexual, which means they are attracted to both males and females.”
“So most of the humans are heterosexual, butyou are ace.” I summed up her words, making sure I understood everything she was saying.
“Yes, exactly.”
“Is being ace bad? Is that why you wanted to separate yourself from the others?”
“No, it’s not bad, it’s uhh,” Ashley chewed her lip and looked at the ground, avoiding eye contact.
On instinct, I reached out my hand to comfort her, but then I pulled back.
“I’m here for you Ashley. Whatever you say, I’ll support you.”
She tilted her head back up and gave me a nervous smile.
“Thank you. That means a lot.”
She took a deep breath and continued. “Being ace means that I’m just not that interested in sex. There are different ways to be ace, but for me I just don’t think about sex very often. Well, except for when I’m ovulating, then I think about it, but that’s usually just one day a month.”
I nodded my head as I took in this information. Her explanation was clear, but I was still confused about one part.
“Being ace doesn’t sound like a bad thing at all.” I agreed with her earlier statement. “Sex is only one part of life that a person might experience out of the multitude of experiences a person could have, but yet being ace seems to trouble you. Why did this sexual identity make you want to flee to the kala?”
