"Aaah." The look on his face is full of understanding. "And was this your first female?"
Coming from anyone else, I would be enraged at that question. But Khex knows me, knows my history, knows how strait-laced I am. Knows that my focus has always been my career. A mesakkah female would not look at me twice. She would ask about my family and then run in the other direction. But I also never thought I would meet anyone like Lucy. She's beautiful, clever, loves to cook…and wants me for some reason.
I never hoped for a mate. Now I can't get the thought out of my head.
"She is my only," I tell him, and hope that answers it. She is not the “first” because that implies there will be more at some point. I do not want more, I just want Lucy. Only Lucy.
Khex beams at me. "Congratulations, my friend. I'm happy for you. A word of advice, though—don't listen to all the hygiene law nonsense. Plas-film on everything ruins all the fun."
Plas-film. I didn't even think about plas-film. It's a thin film designed to protect one body from another, to prevent the spread of germs. I think about how she touched me last night, her hand covered in my spend. How she licked her finger to taste me. There was absolutely zero plas-film involved and it didn't occur to me to ask how she feels about such things. It is a very common practice on Homeworld. It also strikes me as very sterile and unpleasant. "I will talk to Lucy and see how she feels about it."
"Good idea. In fact, talk to her about everything. She's had a traumatic experience being taken from her planet and dragged to this one. You will want to make sure she's absolutely okay with everything you two plan on doing. She might not bring something up, but then it means it's your job to do so. No matter how uncomfortable the conversation is, it's far better to have the discomfort ahead of time than when you're balls-deep inside her. Feel me?"
"You have given this a lot of thought," I point out.
"Let's just say that I'd much rather have no partner at all than an unenthusiastic one," Khex replies with a grin. "And trust me, you don't, either."
I really don't. I can't imagine Lucy looking up at me in distaste or displeasure, not when her smile is so utterly entrancing. "I'll talk to her about everything," I reassure him. "I've no wish to scare her."
Talking isn't something I particularly excel at, but I need to try harder…for her sake.
10
LUCY
"I'm so excited," I tell Kim, practically dancing in place with my enthusiasm. "I loved your last story. I can't believe the new one is about to start already!"
She pats her slightly rounded stomach, smiling. "It's because of this. When I'm home, Nassakth wants me to lie in bed all day so I can rest. He's afraid I'm going to hurt myself working on the farm. And this is the first baby for both of us, so I'm taking it easy. It gets boring, though, so I work on writing." Kim smiles at me, an expression of blissful pleasure on her face as she rubs her pregnant belly.
I'm so jealous I could scream. No, “jealous” isn't the right word. Envious. I love Kim and I'm thrilled she's found a good alien man that makes her happy and gives her great sex. I'm so excited she's going to have a little half-cat baby, and I can't wait to babysit for her. But I'm downright envious. She has everything I want, and it just highlights how lonely I am.
"Well, the book club is more than ready to have something new to read," I gush at her. "We've taken to re-reading your last one just because we've run out of new books."
"Ugh, that's so frustrating. I didn't realize." Kim gets a thoughtful look on her face. "I could ask Nassakth if he can pull strings, see if we can put a bounty on any human books that show up for trade. Bethiah's always checking in with us and asking if we need anything. Maybe I'll put that bug in her ear." She snaps her fingers. "Oooh, or I'll ask Sophie. She's a friend of mine and lives out on an abandoned station with her mate. She's got a few books and I'll ask if she can find a way to scan one of them in for me."
I try not to squeal with excitement. We've got plenty of food and drink on Risda III, but entertainment-wise, it's a bit of a desert. Most of the alien vids are completely baffling for humans to watch, and since most of us can't read any languages but our own, we've had to create our own entertainment. There are a few paper books that have been smuggled onto the planet, but the borrowing list for those is a mile long and it takes months and months to get your hands on a book. We have an email chain of sorts set up between the ladies here, and Kim has taken to writing chapters to keep us entertained. She finished her second book recently and has started her next, and our book club (which is more of an excuse just to get together since books are so rare) is beyond excited to have more reading materials. A few books scanned in so someone can share the files would be magic. "Tell her you want the books, no matter how bad the scans are. I will happily re-type them into a data pad if needed."