Akkal looks up at me. “She’s not?”
I smile back because what am I supposed to say to that? I really wish we rehearsed this because I have no idea what’s about to come out of Ziv’s mouth, and I just want Akkal to be okay with it.
Ziv’s eyes land on me, searching for something. After a pregnant pause which feels like it lasts an entire nine months, he says, “We are close friends. Very close friends.”
Friends?Really?
He must notice the stiffness in my shoulders because he continues with, “You see, when two friends are close like June and me, it’s not uncommon for there to be long hugs and perhaps even the occasional mouth press.”
Akkal’s nose scrunches up. “What’s a mouth press?”
Oh god. I drop my face into my hands, wishing I were invisible. That the carpet could swallow me whole.
“Another name for a mouth press is a kiss. It’s something very close friends do; you might find June and I…doing it…” he clears his throat as he looks at me, panic swirling in his eyes, “occasionally. You know, the, uh, pressing together of our mouths.”
“Kiss. Kiss, kiss. Kiss, kiss, kiss.” Akkal repeats the word, giggling at the sound. “Can I kiss my friends too?”
“No,” I answer quickly. “Not unless you ask first if you can.”
“Right, and this is only something very close friends do,” Zivren clarifies, putting an emphasis on very.
I wish he would stop doing that because, regardless of how he phrases it, Akkal is going to have a very specific and inaccurate view of how friends act with each other.
“Kissing is mostly for grown-up very close friends,” I add, hoping it’s enough to deter him from running around and putting his mouth on every child he interacts with.
Akkal nods as he looks between the two of us.
Zivren looks hopeful. “Do you have any questions?”
“Can I go outside with Soppo?”
We both let out a sigh of relief before Ziv says it’s okay.
“That was…”
“It was not good,” he admits, watching Akkal from the front window. “But it’ll work for now.”
“Just make sure you don’t include the word friend in your sex talk when he gets older.”
He chuckles, and the rough sound of it makes my stomach flutter.
About an hour later as Akkal finishes his breakfast, there’s an ominous pounding on the front door. Ziv and I exchange a knowing glance. We’ve been waiting for this day to come.
It’s time for the first part of the test.
Chapter 11
ZIVREN
The Test: Part One
We expect to find the orange idiots, the feathered piss stain, and Chancellor Uzellarin on our doorstep, but we don’t expect the three unwanteds to look as smug as they do. “This is the test, yes?” I ask, gauging whether there’s something we’re missing.
“Yes, Zivren,” the chancellor says with her signature crowd pleasing smile. “We’re here to administer the first part of your mate test. How are you and June on this lovely morning?”
“Fine.” I don’t offer anything more because this is an interruption from the morning I had planned, which was to jerk my cock and spray my seed all over June’s body until she came so many times I had to resuscitate her. Now that I know how brilliantly her body reacts to my come, I can think of nothing else.
“Right, well, may we come in?” the chancellor asks, giving me a look which clearly tells me to change my attitude.
