Long minutes passed before she spoke again. “Did you look around this cavern? Is there a way out? I saw vegetation and a few branches floating in the water. They got in here somehow, which has to mean there’s an opening.”
“My only priority is you.”
“Look around for me. I can’t see much with you on top of me.”
He lifted his head to study the area nearest them. “I see no openings. We are in another cave. This one contains a large pool, with dry ground covered in a strange sort of vegetation.”
“Do you see anything we can burn to start a fire?” She paused. “No. Forget that. We’d smoke ourselves out without an opening. My mind is still a little foggy.”
“I will continue to warm you.”
Kelsey turned her head and met his gaze. “Thanks for saving me.”
“It is my privilege to do so.”
She kept staring at him intently.
“What is it, my beautiful Kelsey?”
She broke eye contact. “Nothing.”
“Please share your thoughts. Haven’t I earned your trust?”
Her gaze returned to his. Her little pink tongue darted out to lick her lips. “I was just thinking that this is the first time I’ve ever been naked with a man. That’s all.”
He blinked in surprise. Her words implied she had never been bred. That stunned him. She was a very desirable female, old enough to have trained for a career on her planet. That usually took a few years to accomplish after reaching adulthood.
“I mean, there was one time when I had to arrest a guy who was buck naked, but I don’t think that counts. My uniform had a lot of padding, since I was a red-code responder. He put up a struggle and I had to take him down, pin and handcuff him. Not to mention, he was much older, and trust me, I didn’t want to touch him. He wasn’t, um…attractive. It’s probably why he decided to strip down in a shopping mall and grope helpless women, offering up free sex. He grew violent when there were no takers. I think he was going a little senile. Ultimately, I was ordered to transport him to a hospital instead of the precinct. That’s the only time I’ve ever come into contact with a totally naked guy.”
“You’ve never had intimate knowledge of a male?”
“No.” She looked away before holding his gaze again.
“I feel deeply honored.”
“Really? Because this is really embarrassing and kind of uncomfortable.”
“Am I too heavy? I could turn us over and put you on top of me.”
“No!” Kelsey clutched him tighter. “I’m fine here, and you’ll only see more of me if you move. The ground isn’t even hard. It feels kind of cushioned, unlike the dirt outside or whatever passes for it on this planet. I meant uncomfortable as in, we’re both naked. Maybe I should have used the word awkward instead. Now I’m babbling. I’ll shut up.”
“I would never harm you in any way,” he swore. “This is us sharing my body heat. Not my attempt to seduce you.”
“Of course.” She gave a rapid nod. “Right. Ignore me.”
“I could never do that. It would be impossible.”
She blinked up at him as seconds passed. “Please distract me. Tell me more about yourself.”
Her naked body beneath his made thinking about anything other than sex impossible. “Tryleskian males go into heat every three years.”
“You mentioned that before.” She held his gaze—then her eyes widened. “Are you going into heat right now because we’re both naked?” Her cheeks turned very pink. “I…um…feel something between us. There’s no missing that. You… I mean, just because I haven’t had sex before doesn’t mean I don’t know what a hard-on is. You seem to currently have one.”
“No. Yes.” Crath growled softly in frustration. “I mean…yes, I am attracted to you, Kelsey. I’m attempting to ignore my physical reaction. No, having you bare under me won’t trigger my heat.”
“I take it that you can still have sex even if you’re not in heat. Right? I mean, since you’re hard right now.”
“My seed is only fertile during my heat, but my shaft always works.”
She glanced away before looking at him again, her cheeks redder still. “I understand. You’re definitely able to have sex.”
“Yes.” He cleared his throat. “Why have you never been intimate with a male?”
Kelsey hesitated. “Why are you looking rather astounded?”
“It is unheard of in my culture. You said that you were with law enforcement. That means you were considered an adult, old enough to train for a career and to be of service to protect other humans. All our mature females engage in intimate contact.”
“I’m not like you.”
“I’m aware.” He adjusted his body a little, making himself groan since his shaft had hardened even more between them. Her skin was so soft, and the movement only increased his urge to rub against her. “Tryleskian females are life-locked immediately when they reach the age of maturity, if she and a male share strong feelings for each other. Otherwise, agreements are made between families for emotionally unattached females to share a male’s heat, in hopes of her getting pregnant with a litter and becoming life-locked to that male.”
“You said that was marriage, right?”
“Yes.”
“What if a woman doesn’t want to get married?”
He’d had this discussion before with other females who weren’t of his race. “It is the way of my people. Females have an overriding urge to birth young and bond to a male. It is like breathing to them, instinctual. The desire is that great. When males go into heat, we must breed. We can die or be severely sickened long-term otherwise. That is the Tryleskian way. Nature will not be denied. Once a female gets pregnant, even if there is no emotional attachment between the couple, the male will bond with her for life to raise their young. That is also part of our nature.”
Her body tensed beneath him. “Are you married? Do you have kids?”
“No.”
Kelsey relaxed under him, her relief obvious in her features.
He smiled, liking that she cared so much.
Then she tensed again, her arms tightening around his neck. “You’re fully mature, right?”
“Yes!” Her question shocked him.
“Oh…good. It’s horrible to think that you might be an alien teenager when we’re naked, plastered together for warmth.”
“Why would you question my maturity?” Crath felt insulted.
“I thought you may not have gone through your heat before, which might mean you’re a lot younger than you look. And you did just imply that your women tend to get pregnant during that time. See where I’m going with this?”
He did. “I spent my heats only with widowed females beyond their fertile years. Because of my job, I wasn’t ready to be life-locked or to raise young. I was also fortunate not to be pressured into it by my father.”
Her eyes widened again. “Pressured?”
He tilted his head. “I’m the third son born of the first litter. While that makes it important for me to add another generation to our family line, my father believed I was too irresponsible to demand that I life-lock with a female from a prominent family. That I would embarrass the Vellar name. His low opinion allowed me to make my own arrangements with females beyond their breeding years, ones who had lost their life-locks to death. They shared my heat but I couldn’t impregnant them. It was mutually beneficial to us both.”