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I frown down at him. “You might be waiting a while for me to purr.”
“I am a patient male.” He licks a lazy pattern on my skin, sending shivers through my body. “I can wait.”
“For me to do something biologically that I can’t?”
Nassakth chuckles, his breath hot against my thigh. “It is an expression amongst praxiians. You can claim any female, but to truly claim her heart, you must make her purr. You say that you love me, but yesterday, you did not trust me. We are getting closer, my Kim, but until I can say for certain that you are mine and mine alone, I am content to wait.”
“You’re a strange, infuriating guy,” I tell him, and wiggle out from underneath his mouth, which is heading towards areas that are already overly sensitive. “Until then, you’re going to, what, just hang around with an enormous hard-on?” I reach out and stroke a big, rock-hard arm. “Or can we shower and help get rid of that?”
His eyes gleam, dark and hungry. “I would love nothing more than to shower with you.”
We shower, and there really isn’t a lot of room to move around. I make him come with my hands and hot words, and afterwards, we curl up in the bed together, pressed skin to skin. His chest rumbles with a low, content purr, and I can’t help but wonder what he meant.
How does he expect to make me purr?
62
KIM
The next day, Nassakth is deep asleep when my stomach starts to rumble. I eye the meal dispenser in the room, and it looks awfully similar to the one in my house—which means it’s old and noisy as hell. I hate to wake my mate up, since he’s spent all night with me, snuggled around me, and woke up with a crick in his neck. Now he has the bed to himself, and I want him to sleep.
The crew seemed…decent. Surely I can be brave enough to venture out and say hello as I grab something to eat? Steeling myself, I dress in my most conservative tunic and trou, pull my hair back into a tight ponytail, and listen at the door for a few minutes before I get the courage to head out. I don’t see anyone in the narrow halls as I walk through, but when I get to the mess hall, Bethiah is there, seated at a separate table than the big mesakkah crew member also in there. He looks vaguely familiar and nods at me when I move to the meal processor to select my type of noodles. One of his eyes is dark and swollen.
Bethiah gets up, yawns, and tosses her tray into the washer. “Oh good. You two are finally separated. Maybe now I can get some sleep.” She gives me a sly look. “It’s hard to relax when it sounds like he’s decimating your poor human vagina all night long.” As she passes by me, she leans in. “They have a med unit on this ship if you need it.”
My face flushes red. “Gee, thanks Bethiah. You’re a real treat, as always.”
“I know.” She saunters out—thank god—and I get my noodles in silence. I look around uneasily, then decide I’m not brave enough to sit with a stranger. I claim an empty table and set my bowl down in front of me, pretending to be lost in thought.
There’s a loud slurp of noodle nearby. “Those are my sister’s favorite noodles,” the big alien says to me. When I look over, he points at my bowl. “She always eats those in the morning. She’s human too, you know.”
My eyebrows go up. “I didn’t know.”
“Yeah.” He waves his eating sticks in the air, gesturing at the bridge in the front of the ship. “She was our nav but mated some guy and is now navigating with him. Kaspar’s filling in until we find someone new.” The alien grins. “That’s why he’s in such a pissy mood. I’m Adiron, by the way.”
“Hi. Kim.” I smile hesitantly. “Can I ask what happened to your eye?”
His big, goofy smile gets bigger. “Turns out Bethiah doesn’t like being tickled.”
I snort. “I don’t blame her.”
“Yeah. I figured she’d retaliate, but I also figured the risk was worth the reward.” He gets up from his seat and heads over to my table with his bowl, plunking himself down across from me and taking another big, slurping bite.
Oh, okay. I guess we’re friends now. I roll my noodles onto the end of my sticks and eat them a little more delicately, wondering if I should say anything. “So you guys…are used to humans?” I ask quietly, pushing the noodles around. It makes sense. When I boarded, I didn’t get treated the way I normally do when I meet others. At best, I get treated like an adorable dog. At worst, I get treated like a stain on the carpet. Neither is particularly fun. But these aliens have been…neutral. Like they noticed I was human and didn’t care. I appreciate that and it makes me feel safer. “Because of your sister?”
