Page 35 of Thalen

“Yeah, dried cum is a bitch,” I sighed in acknowledgement. “And we still need to put the bed together.” He stood up, holding out his hand to me. I took it, grateful for the assistance in getting up, as he’d pounded me into jelly and my legs were still feeling the effects.

“I meant it, you know,” I said as we walked hand in hand to our bathroom. “I do love you. I feel like I’ve known you forever, and my heart recognizes you.”

He stopped, drawing me to him for a brief kiss. Brushing my hair back off of my forehead, he nodded. “The stars gift us one mate, and no matter the form we take in life or death, we can but hope to find them. We were blessed to have had destiny bring our peoples together across the vast distance of space, and the chance it gave us to be matched by that test.”

I kissed his jaw, tugging him into the bathroom. We only had a couple of hours at best to get clean, put the bed together, and decide on sheets so we could make it up for later tonight, when we would sleep together for the very first time.

“I think you’re right,” I replied, turning on the shower. “It explains the pull I felt towards farming my whole life, even though I grew up in a major city. And the pull I felt towards applying for a colony spot the moment I knew that was a thing.”

I tested the water. It was perfect. I got in, and he pressed in behind me, even though the space was more than generous enough. I didn’t mind. I wanted him near me always.

20

THALEN

The claiming only served to fuel my desire for him. That first night in our bed, we only slept, but every night after, we made love frantically, Evan trying his best to muffle his voice so as to not alert Jason to our activities. The days passed in a blur of domesticity, Evan trying new recipes from his cookbook and he and Jason collecting the eggs. That first weekend, I showed him the greenhouse and how the controls worked on the agribot. The berries were all fully ripe by then, and he looked incredibly adorable in his excitement when he got the machine to work harvesting the last of them.

“Hey, did you know coffee comes as berries?” he asked me as I showed him how to get them all washed and packed into stasis containers for easy shipping. “Do you think we can grow coffee? Though we’d need a roaster too.”

“I didn’t know that. I’ll add it to the list of things to request if they become allowed, but you need to remember, we only have so much space to grow things.”

He nodded. “You’re right. But fresh coffee would be such a treat.”

He spent the following week making freezer jam from some of the berries as well as repacking some of them into smaller stasis cubes in our pantry for our own use later. The following weekend we took the rest to the general store for Doran to buy from us.

“Heard we have several new colonists coming,” Doran told us as he added the credits to our account. “A teacher and a sheriff. They’ll be here in a week. The construction on the school starts tomorrow, as well as a large house.”

“Any idea who they’re mated to?”

He shook his head. “Don’t know if the sheriff is mated to anyone or not. But the teacher apparently is Rethan Kharchech's.”

“He has the next parcel to ours on our side of the road.”

Evan perked up. “So we’ll be neighbors with Jason's teacher?” he laughed. “Jason is so going to love that.”

“I’m gonna love what?” he asked, coming over with a toy flitter in his hands. “Do I have enough allowance for this?”

I took it from him. “Sure do,” I replied. "You've worked really hard at your lessons and chores, so anything you’re short, consider it a reward.”

His face became wreathed in a huge smile. “Thanks, Pata!”

“You’re spoiling him,” Evan said, but didn’t object. “And what we were talking about Jason, is that the school is being built and your teacher is going to be our neighbor.”

“I get to be with the other kids all day? And when it’s recess, there’s kids to play with?”

Evan and I laughed. Of course that would be what he latched onto.

“I’ve had an advance order for three single beds as well as a Dragonii double. He’s not bringing some of his furniture, and apparently, he has three kits already,” Doran revealed.

“Do you know how old they are?” Jason asked excitedly.

“No,” came the regretful reply.

My wrist comm flashed, the color letting me know it was urgent.

“Excuse me, I need to take this.”

“That’s okay, babe. Go find out what’s the matter. I’ll finish up here with our order.”