“Um, no. We sort of…” I genuinely do not know how I’ve ended up in this conversation. “We shed our womb lining.”
“Ugh.” Dyoti recoils. “Why?”
“I don’t know. It’s not needed if we’re not pregnant, I guess.”
“Humans are weird,” Dyanii says.
“And you don’t…shed your womb lining?”
“If we complete a breeding cycle without a male hooking us, then any preparation our bodies has made is reabsorbed, save for the venom,” Dyris says. “And there’s nothing weird about another species doing it a different way.” She glares at Dyoti.
“Hooked? What does that mean?” I ask. “Dalox mentioned it.”
All three Sarkarnii exchange glances.
“Males and their cocks, if only they kept them in the pouches when they don’t know what to do with them.” Dyanii sighs. “A male in rut, once he’s mated with his female, his cock will hook inside you, in order to ensure his seed is implanted and, in ancient times, to stop another male from coming after.” She chuckles. “Our ancestors were happy to mate with as many males as they could when they were in breeding condition.”
“But what does it mean? Hooked?”
“Hook into your womb opening,” Dyris says. “His seed will prevent any pain you might feel, and I understand it makes the entire mating experience extra pleasurable.”
I feel like I must be the same shade as a tomato.
“Are you feeling okay, Gillian?” Dyanii asks.
I swallow. “Yes, I’m, er, fine.”
“You will be fine when Dalox hooks you,” Dyoti says, putting her hand on my shoulder with a thump. “And you will enjoy being filled with his sarkarnling too. Males love a female full of sarkarnling.”
I open and close my mouth a few times, rather like the fish out of water I obviously am.
“I bet you’re the first of us to be filled.” Dyanii pokes Dyoti in her side. “You love a bit of Sarkarknii cock.”
Dyoti bares her teeth and growls. “I do not.”
“That’s not what they all told me.” Dyanii laughs. “You’ll be mated and round with sarkarnling before the nova-year is out.”
Dyoti snarls loudly and stomps away.
“She needs to find a mate,” Dyris says quietly. “Her mind is not as bad as some, but it’s not good. Being with another who will care for her in a way only a male can would be her salvation.”
“Hopefully, if we do this right, everyone will find what they are searching for,” I reply.
“Even you, Gillian?” Dyanii asks.
“Even me.”
GILLIAN
There’s a buzz on board the ship as we see land up ahead. Dalox’s chosen continent couldn’t be more different to the one we’ve come from, the rocky shore giving way to a golden tundra. The windows are crowded with excited Sarkarnii who are pointing out various things to each other.
“I was never a jungle Sarkarnii,” Dalox rumbles to me. “Our planet had areas with vegetation, but you had to be a Haisarkarnii to like the damp and warm.
“You like your aquium, don’t you?” I ask, recalling the sauna like nature of the hot water.
“That’s different,” Dalox replies. He doesn’t elaborate.
I guess males are males no matter where you are in the universe. He presumably doesn’t like wearing pants much either. Like Deus.
