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“I understand that, but I’ll tell you right now that I don’t want anyone else. If that’s part of your agitation then it really shouldn’t be. I just want you.” She rolled her eyes. “Clearly, otherwise I wouldn’t let you sink your teeth into me wherever you wanted.”
Ezul’s eyes softened. “I wish it were that simple, Cordelia. Now that we have mated, this new fervor will continue to grow. But as you are not with child, any male could choose to challenge me for you.”
Cordelia sputtered, clutching her stomach protectively.
“But... we’re mated. I’m off limits,” she replied heatedly, frantically looking around as though another alien was lurking just out of sight, ready to snatch her up at the first opportunity.
“No one will take you,” Ezul assured her. “I will kill anyone who tries.”
The thought of more murder shouldn’t have put Cordelia at ease, but it did. She slid under Ezul’s arm, hugging herself to his side while he stared down at her in confusion. “I’m gonna need a hug for comfort, not for sex,” she hastily added when his face darkened with lust.
“We do not typically embrace so publicly. It is not a custom of Aragnok.”
“Is there a particular reason you all are against PDA?” Cordelia asked, snuggling closer to him as they began walking again.
Was that why he’d kept himself separated from her while they were walking? She didn’t understand the big deal. Ezul had held her to him so protectively before, when he’d stood in front of the senators, and when she’d been scared earlier, back in the infirmary.
He stared at her in bewilderment. “PDA?”
“Public Displays of Affection? Like a hug, a kiss, anything like that, but in public.”
“Ah yes.That,“ Ezul stated, nodding as if he’d known all along what she’d meant. He was so full of shit, her lips twitched. “Aragnokans respect strength, especially when they see a warrior. To coddle someone... It is considered a sign of weakness unless another is in distress and requires support.”
Oh.
Well, she didn’t like that at all, but it would be rude of her to ignore his culture just because she preferred hers.
“On Earth it’s a sign of love and affection, but I’ll try to be more considerate.”
His eyes widened, lips parting as she pulled away, her hands dropping to her sides. Ezul snatched her back to him, an arm going over her shoulder to keep her close.
“What are you doing? I thought this made you look weak?”
“Perhaps your custom is better,” he murmured into her ear, and Cordelia couldn’t keep back the smile that spread across her face.
Cordelia’s stomach chose that moment to growl, reminding her she needed fuel for the tons of sex she was sure to get later. “Is there a restaurant we could go to?”
“You wish to go to a building and rest?” Ezul’s brow furrowed.
“What? No. Where do you go to eat when you’re here?”
Comprehension dawned across his features. “We can pick up some sustenance from one of the stores and bring it back home with us. Typically we only dine with family or alone. We do not share meals with strangers unless it is unavoidable.”
“Oh. Well in a restaurant you typically share meals with friends and family that go with you. A chef cooks your meal, and a server brings it to your table. The strangers are just at nearby tables eating their own food.”
Ezul’s head reared back in surprise. “You allow someone to provide for you so intimately? Someone who is not family? And in front of others?”
“I– Well, I mean I guess? It’s a common thing on Earth. There are restaurants practically everywhere.” His eyes widened like saucers. “What? What did I say that freaked you out?”
“What hasfreakedme,“ Ezul rolled the word off his tongue slowly, as if learning it, “is that humans would allow themselves to be so vulnerable in front of others. We only allow that in private or with kin.”
Cordelia nodded sagely, trying to keep a straight face at the ‘freaked me’ comment.
“Okay. Let’s grab some food and head home.”
Ezul nodded. “It is just as well. The meeting my father insisted on in the infirmary is this afternoon.”
“Oh right! I assume you can’t take a raincheck,” she said with a small laugh.
