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I rolled over in bed and grabbed my bracelet to look up donen mating.
I read and read and read, eyes widening.
cypra
I had planned on renting a speeder, but Holston said we should take his, because it was made specifically for traveling off road, and there weren’t a lot of roads up there. It was a big thing, with four huge tires with deep treads, and we had to climb up built-in ladders to get in. Inside, I looked around at the two-person sitting area and couldn’t figure out how we were both going to sleep in this thing like he’d said we would.
We were going to be on top of each other. Of course, what with all I’d read about donen mating habits, it wasn’t a particularly tender thing that happened organically from being in each other’s arms. It was more of a chasing-down-and-pinning-against-a-tree-trunk thing.
So, maybe it didn’t matter in the end.
I also was not going to admit to myself that my stomach did this funny flipping over thing at the thought of being pinned to a tree trunk by Holston or anything like that either, because…
Well, better not to acknowledge, really.
He seemed to have taken a page out of the same book this morning and was barely looking at me. When we spoke, we were both businesslike. We ate a quick breakfast of protein ration bars and talked only about what route we’d take up to the pole.
Then we climbed up into the speeder and I looked around and thought about how we couldn’t sleep in there and said nothing to him about that.
We strapped in to the seats. He drove.
We took off.
It was early morning, but we went due north, and within about two hihors, it looked as if dusk was settling.
For another hihor, we kept pacing with the setting sun, so it was sort of perpetually going down. Of course, you couldn’t quite see it, not through the heavy atmosphere that was settled over the planet. It was beautiful, though, the way that the sun reflected against the clouds, staining everything bright colors—a range of reds, purples, oranges, and fuchsias.
Then we burst out of the clouds and into the darkness.
Overhead, the sky was pitch black, dotted in stars, and everything felt a little less humid but somehow warmer. I started sweating again, and I asked about putting on the climate control in the speeder and Holston growled that it was a waste of fuel and I opened the window instead.
He turned to glare at me, his antlers brushing against the ceiling and I told him to watch the road.
“Put up the window,” he said, flipping on the climate control.
“But—”
“Last thing I need is pollen from the plants,” he said pointedly.
Oh, right. That would make him pin me to a tree trunk. I was intrigued by the fact that his kind had two different appendages down there, one literally called an arousal protuberance by the scientific-sounding articles I’d read. Apparently, their women had to have an orgasm in order to ovulate, and that kicked off the entire process, and I was extremely interested in the fact donen males had an entire organ whose only purpose was to get their partners off.
I wanted to see it.
I’d tried to look for pictures on my bracelet last night—yes, I should have been sleeping and I meant to sleep, I just… Anyway, there had been none, only things behind paywalls. Apparently, there was a distinct lack of easily accessible donen pornography, probably owing to the fact that they’d been suppressing themselves unless they actually wanted to have kids, which meant that donen sexual interest was apparently pretty low.
That seemed sad to me, though.
Sex was a part of life, and jettisoning one’s desire for it seemed…
Of course, what was I saying? I never thought much about sex either. But that was just because I was busy and I had other things to occupy me. I could get horny if I wanted. Witness this now.
ExcepthadI chosen this?
I closed the window.
We continued driving. We were now traversing a narrow road that was made of dirt. It had big ruts, and the big wheels of the speeder bounced over them. It was a jolting ride. It was dark, no lights except the frontlamps of the speeder illuminating the path directly in front of us.
We crested over a hill, and there was something in the road.
