“Twenty-nine cycles. Nearly thirty,” he said, like he was going to shock me.
“Perfect. I’m twenty-nine too.”
“No, you’re not.”
I laughed and made a big cross on my chest. “Cross my heart.”
I got a blank look in return. “What are you doing? What does that mean?”
“It means I’m telling the truth. That’s what Larz says it means anyway. I thought you said you had a human omak, like he did.”
“I did, but mine never did that.”
“Oh. Well, anyway, that’s what it means. I’m trying to tell you that what I said was true. I’m twenty-nine years old. And a year on Laltana is one time around our sun. It’s similar to Earth’s measurement of time, but ours takes a few days more than Earth’s sun—373.5 days. So I think that might mean I may be technically almost the same or even older than you. I can never figure that out exactly. I’d have to try to do the math to be sure.”
“Pah!That’s impossible.”
“Nevertheless, it’s true. So, forget our nonexistent age difference. What else do you have? What other reasons are we unsuitable to be mates?”
“You’re a royal. Prince Larz’s son.”
“Not really. My birth father was a poor trader who died when I was young. Larz and Janos never formally adopted me. Technically, I don’t belong to anyone.”
He frowned and said, “You belong to me.”
“Do I?” I asked, thrilled at hearing the words that nobody had ever said to me before. “Then prove it. Make love to me.”
“Understand what you’re asking me to do, nobyo. There would be no going back from it. You’d be mine. You’d be my nobyo, my spouse, and my lover, and I’d kill anyone who tried to take you away from me.”
I rubbed my naked body against his. “Mmm… That sounds wonderful. What are you waiting for? I can’t think of anything I want more.”
“Listen to me. Really think about this, nobyo. You hardly know me.” I didn’t even think he realized he was already calling me by that name.
“It’s simple. Do you want me or not?”
“It’s not that simple,” he said, looking a little frantic as he tried so hard to make me understand. “This is a permanent bond,” he continued. “It means you’d belong to me forever. And even after that. I’d follow you into the lowest level of hell, where alien species are consigned after they die, and I’d fight my way out with you and bring you with me.”
“Then bond with me, Kirstos. Because I like the sound of spending forever with you.”
He began tearing off his clothes and was naked before I knew what hit me. And so beautifully made I could hardly believe he was mine.
“I don’t even know your first name.”
“It’s Kirstos. My omak was from Earth and had a name that sounded like “Kris.” He wanted to name me after him, saying that I wouldn’t have his looks, but maybe I could have his name, but my father disliked the idea. He called me Kirstos instead, because he said it sounded more Tygerian.”
“I like it. And don’t worry, you’re very Tygerian. No one would ever mistake you for anything else.”
“Thank you,” he said, looking more pleased than he had a right to be, so I laughed. That made him kiss me again and we lost track of time for a while, as his hands moved over me with more and more familiarity, caressing me and stroking me until I thought I’d go crazy. His mouth trailed burning kisses down my throat and his hands roamed over my chest before he lowered himself onto me, his weight warm and solid as he held himselfup with his elbows, so he wouldn’t crush me. I loved the feel of his weight on me, though, and nuzzled him until he claimed my mouth again. There was an insistent prodding at my belly, and I took him in hand to guide him lower.
He drew back and gazed down at me, shaking his head. “This will make you mine forever.”
“I’m counting on it.”
****
Kirstos
I groaned and lowered my mouth to his again. I couldn’t seem to get enough of those kisses. It was odd, because kissing wasn’t an original custom of Tygerians, though it had seemed to have caught on since the war, as more and more humans had been captured and brought to live as slaves on Tygeria. In the beginning, enslavement as a sexual toy had been a punishment for captives, a way to humiliate the enemy, given the widely known notion that the Earthan government abhorred and outlawed same-sex relationships on their planet. Then the Tygerian soldiers, though still despising the concept of a place like Earth and all of its inhabitants, realized how sexually attractive these humans actually were—how attractive in general and irresistible.
