“Why?”
I exchange a look with Thalara. “It is…honestly a very stupid story, and very, very long, but it has to do with my translator backfiring and causing me to only have orgasms with him.”
Riley opens his mouth.
Closes it.
“...this is ridiculous.”
“Mmhm.”
Riley drags a hand down his face like he’s physically trying to erase the last thirty seconds from his brain.
“No,” he says. “Nope. I’m calling bullshit. That is not a sentence that exists. That’s not—” He gestures vaguely at my whole body. “Science.”
I flop back against the counter and cross my arms. “It is extremely science. Unfortunately. Trust me, I tried very hard to make it not be.”
We both go silent. Thalara is over on the other side of the counter, chewing on her lip like she has something to say…but doesn’t necessarily want to.
“You have that look,” I mutter.
“What look?” she asks, eyes wide—caught in the act.
“The look where you definitely want to tell me something but you’re afraid it’s either going to sound stupid or terrifying.”
She hums, brow furrowed.
“It’s just?—”
She pauses.
“We talked about mate bonding the other day, and that isexactlywhat this sounds like.”
I roll my eyes. “This isn’t some soulmates bullshit, Tay. I’m sorry, I know you’re just trying to help, but I’m kind of freaking out right now…”
“No, listen to me,” she says, and she’s serious now, putting on her academic voice even though she knows absolutely nothing about science…which kind of pisses me off, but IknowI need to listen because she’s my best friend and— “Lyn, you two are human, so you might not quite get it…but for some species, there is acompulsivemating urge. It’s not like…being horny, okay? It’s likeI will die if this person isn’t inside me right now.”
Thalara blushes and slaps her hand over her mouth like she didn’t even realize what she was saying—which seems likely, given that I’veneverheard her talk like that. Riley is staring, jaw slack.
And I’m thinking about Kaelion last night…tasting me on his fingers, noticing things that seemed wrong but felt beyond right.
“Guys,” I whisper. “What am I going to do?”
Riley seems to come to his senses a little too late, peering over at me. “What do you mean? You’re going to…I don’t know, you’re going to solve it, then you’re going to stop it, then…pretend it never happened. Right?”
I bite my lip and look at Thalara. She already knows the answer.
“I think I like him,” I breathe.
Thalara gives me a hesitant smile. “I think you do.”
“Gross,” Riley grunts.
I ignore him. My head…my head isspinning. Because yeah, something definitely happened with the device, the orgasm thing was real…but maybe I couldn’t come because I knew what I wanted.
And it wasn’t my fingers. It wasn’t a dildo. It wasn’t Orin’s tongue or his dick.
It wasKaelion fucking Rhyss.
