Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 144433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Shit. Now I'm thinking about having sex with a cat alien. I must be hard up after all, because now when I close my eyes, I'm seeing that hog of his resting against his thigh as I cut his hair. That thing will rearrange my insides.
But it'll probably be pleasant, a tiny, horny voice whispers.
No, I decide. Absolutely not. If I want shameless sex with a stranger, I could grab some guy from the docks...and then deal with his weird alien shit. Ugh. If he didn't try to own me, he'd probably try to dominate me or something creepy like that. Zhur is a snob, but he's a polite snob and decent. I don't know that I trust any of the dockworkers to be the same.
There's a clatter at the front door and I jump up off the bed with a yelp.
Zhur pokes his head into the bedroom. "Are you all right?"
"Just spaced out for a moment there." I hug my arms to my chest and notice that he's wiping his hands clean of bot grease.
They're big hands. Big, strong hands.
Big strong hands that had braced on either side of the counter, trapping me against him...and yet I hadn't felt like I was in danger. I'd immediately started thinking horny things instead of terror things. Surely that's a sign, right?
"Okay, fine," I blurt out. "I'll do it."
CHAPTER
FIFTY-ONE
ZHUR
"Do what?" I ask.
When I enter Maeve's house, she seems rattled, off-kilter. I worry that she's found out something that bothers her—or worse, she's thinking about how I let it slip that I'm part of the ruling house on Praxii Minor. I've been trying to keep that secret, but being Heir is such a big part of who I am that it's impossible not to have it come up at times.
Could that be why Maeve looks so alarmed when I enter?
I can't recall asking her a question.
Maeve lifts her chin, her cheeks flushed with color as she gives me a haughty stare. "You said we should have sex. That it can be just between friends. So I'm telling you that I'm fine with that. If you want to have sex, we should fuck."
She says the words in an almost-abrasive tone, as if she's daring me to turn her down. I continue to clean my nails with the rag I'm holding, so I seem calm and collected. "You are angry about this. I told you I would not bring it up again if you were offended at my suggestion."
"I'm not angry. I'm just..." Maeve throws her hands in the air, then starts to pace the floor. "You brought up a good point, that's all."
I'm not entirely certain what point I brought up. "Oh?"
"That it's going to be hard as hell to find someone to have sex with if it's not you. So I figure we might as well. Scratch each other's itches and all that."
If she's trying to make it sound completely unappealing, she's succeeding. "I see."
"But we need to set down a few ground rules. First, that we use birth control every time. I don't want a baby out of this."
"I cannot make you pregnant."
"But..." She frowns, thinking. "Skritch said that Nassakth had a human wife and they had kids."
"Yes, and I imagine they paid well for the gene-editing that would allow for her to become impregnated by him. If we do not have such a thing, there is nothing to worry about. We can do blood tests prior to sex if you wish to determine if I have any diseases, and I can use plas-film if you like. I am not arguing, just pointing out that that particular fear is unfounded."
"Oh." Maeve scowls. "For a guy that doesn't like humans you sure know the ins and outs of making us pregnant."
I snort. "I never said I disliked humans."
"Not outright, but you did imply that everyone that wasn't praxiian was kinda garbage."
Did I? Well, I am praxiian. It is not that everyone else is garbage as much as we are just...the best. Humans are starting to have their appeal, though. "Forget I brought it up, Maeve —"
"And if it sucks I don't want to do it again," she blurts out, interrupting me.
I'm not entirely sure what she's referring to, but I do my best to answer. "My cock does not suck. It spurts."
Maeve makes a pained sound in her throat, continuing to pace the floor. "No, that wasn't what I meant. I'm saying if we have sex and you're terrible at it, I want to be able to say 'never again' and you not harass me about having sex again."
She thinks I am going to be terrible at sex? Me, who was trained by courtesans the moment I became an adult? "You insult me by implying I would be bad at sex. I am quite skilled, you know."