Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 68478 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 342(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68478 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 342(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
My thoughts are dark as med bay opens. Both Farli and Niri are still here, and Farli’s ridiculous, smelly pet is in the corner, chewing on something, tail flicking. Farli’s dressed in a thin plastic gown as she sits on Niri’s examining table. She swings her legs like a kit, and her face lights up with excitement the moment she sees me. Even from across the room, I can hear her begin to purr. And I smile despite myself. She’s like a ray of sunshine breaking through the clouds, and just seeing her delight at my return…it makes me feel too keffing good. “Sorry I took so long to return.”
“I missed you,” Farli says, beaming at me. In the gown, swinging her legs, she looks like a kid. But then she licks her lips and her gaze moves over me possessively, and I remember all the very adult things we did last night. She’s not a child. Not in the slightest.
Niri looks up from her scanner. “Oh good. We’re just finishing up here.” She squints at her screen and then looks at me, then back at it again. “Huh.”
“What?” I ask.
“Nothing.” She taps a few buttons and then puts her pad in a pocket of her jumpsuit. “Are we done here?”
“I should take Chahm-pee outside if you do not want him dropping dung in here,” Farli says as she hops to her feet and pulls the plastic gown over her head. Her gorgeous body is suddenly nude, and my mouth goes dry at the sight of all that blue skin and her long legs. My gaze is drawn to the vee between her thighs, and the sight of her delicate folds makes my cock grow hard immediately. Keffing hell.
“Farli!” Niri squawks, and rushes over with a blanket. “What are you doing?”
She gives Niri a confused look, glancing over at me. “I am not cold.”
“I don’t care!” She wraps Farli in the blanket. “Get dressed in here. We’ll wait outside.”
I let Niri usher me out of the room, and I don’t correct her that I met Farli nearly naked. Niri likes protocol and order. She clearly also dislikes nudity, and the thought makes a grin sneak across my face as the door to med bay slides shut. “Don’t worry, Niri,” I tease her. “I’ve seen naked women before.”
Niri shoots me a look and pulls me away from the door, her bony hand clenching my arm. “We need to talk.”
“What’s wrong?” Has she found something terrible in Farli’s scan? I feel cold with fear. “Is she sick?”
“Actually, she’s probably healthier than you and I both.” She pokes a finger in the center of my chest. “What I want to know is what’s going on between the two of you.”
I take a step back. “What do you mean?”
“I know you didn’t sleep in the storage room last night. I came by to chat with you and you weren’t there. Wanna explain that, or do I need to bring it to Chatav’s attention?”
I just snort, because we both know she won’t do that. Niri is trustworthy. “Nothing happened.”
She crosses her arms over her chest and looks at me.
“I swear, nothing happened. We talked a little and I slept on the floor.” I don’t add that Farli draped herself on me and slept right next to me. “She didn’t want to be alone in a strange place, that’s all.”
“You’re full of shit,” Niri tells me. “She’s been asking questions about you nonstop since you left. If you have family, how I met you, what you enjoy ‘hunting.’” She gives me another patient look. “She has a crush on you.”
I say nothing.
“We’re playing that game, are we? Okay, then. You wanted me to run tests on her?” She shoots me a cross look and then pulls her pad out of her pocket and pecks the stylus on the screen. “She’s approximately twenty-five Homeworld years old. Adult. Last menstruated about three weeks ago. Blood sugars are excellent, teeth and vital signs are perfect. She’s got that parasite, but other than that, everything’s as it should be. Oh,” she adds in an exaggerated voice, “and she started ovulating when you walked into the room. Interesting, isn’t it?”
I can feel my ears growing hot. “She what?”
“Ovulated. The moment she saw you.” Niri’s brows go up. “I was doing a scan on her when you walked in, and boom. Egg production. And this is not the timeframe for her to regularly be ovulating. So now do you want to quit lying to me and tell me what the kef is going on?”
I rub a hand along my jaw, unsure of how much to say. Niri’s the closest thing I have to a friend, but she’s also prickly at best. In the end, I decide to confide in her. “She thinks I’m her mate. She said her symbiont chose me for her and that we’re now mated.” I tell her all about what Farli shared with me.