She also wondered why that made her feel jealous, and far more disappointed than she should be at the thought that maybe Jotaha already had a partner. Maybe Jotaha wasn’t male at all, and this was her mate, and Sarah had been attracted to a female for the first time in her life. The thought didn’t do anything to change her strange attraction to Jotaha.
“Vauteg!” the stranger said. “Ver-os troka!” Since he spoke slowly, though forcefully, she could distinguish word patterns in the sounds, but still had no idea what he was saying.
“Os troka,” Jotaha answered, one hand gesturing to his groin and the remarkable glowing tattoo.
It had a really nice design, with thick lines that curved around and around inside the outer circle in a maze pattern. Wherever their starting and end points were, the lines all terminated in tapered tips.
The stranger spoke rapidly again, and again, the only patterns she could make out from his speech was draw-he and niche-ear, and one other pattern that was repeated multiple times as Jotaha responded and they fell into a conversation. Set-ah Zool.
To her relief, the stranger suddenly stopped speaking and left the geode altogether, after waving his hand towards the shelves with a final burst of his language towards Jotaha. He didn’t sound happy, but he didn’t look her way again, almost like he was now ignoring her presence. Jotaha bent to collect his greaves and started lacing them back on again as Sarah glanced his way. He looked up from his task and met her eyes. His fingers stopped working the laces and he slowly pulled his greaves off again, once again exposing the tattoo. His gaze never left her face.
She couldn’t stop herself, human curiosity as strong as any cat’s. Her gaze dipped to his groin, and she saw the tattoo shift with the scales beneath it. A slit appeared in the scales as the tattoo glowed brighter. Jotaha hissed as if in pain, but Sarah was too distracted by the bulging beneath that slit. If he was human, that would unmistakably be the ridge of an impressive erection she spotted twitching beneath his scales. It pressed on the slit, causing it to become slightly visible, even under the increasing glow of the tattoo.
She quickly turned her back, gasping at the realization of what she was seeing. Of course, she’d already considered the idea that he had internal genitalia, which was why she suspected he could still be a male, despite not having any visible penis. It was just unnerving to have it confirmed, even though she had to admit that it was what she had hoped, now that she could admit that she did find him attractive.
She had been gawking at him like an idiot, and she hoped he didn’t take offense. He’d hissed, and though it had sounded like pain, it might have been anger at her staring so openly.
That didn’t mean the other alien wasn’t still his partner. She might be in the way of them reuniting, which was why his erection was showing beneath his scales now, when it hadn’t before. He was probably eager to be with his mate, and she was hanging around like a third wheel. She should have left as soon as she saw him stripping, even if it would have meant squeezing past the other alien who clearly didn’t like her.
Maybe that other alien was jealous of her being with their mate. Well, now that the other alien wasn’t blocking the exit, she could leave the geode and give Jotaha and his partner privacy. She rushed towards the exit, freezing at the opening when he called her name, his tone harsh, gravelly. Maybe he was angry, but she couldn’t tell if that was what put such hardness and roughness in his voice.
Then he said “vauteg” like it was a curse. She’d heard both aliens say it now, and started to think it was.
20
Nothing had gone as Jotaha had hoped it would. Sentil Kevos’ initial reaction to the sight of Sarah was understandable. As the last line of defense, the sentils who patrolled the barrens had been given the same training as the jotah when it came to the nixir enemy. Though Kevos had never seen a live nixir, he knew enough about their appearance to instantly recognize what Sarah was.
Yet, Jotaha had foolishly believed Kevos would change his demeanor when he understood that Sarah was Jotaha’s drahi. Instead, Kevos’ hostility towards Sarah had not faded. It had expanded to include Jotaha, despite their previous friendship. Kevos’ menacing behavior had come as a big surprise. No sentil would dream of confronting a Jotaha with aggression. He was the highest ranking of all yan-kanat guardians, and the chanu zayul gave him a distinct advantage over the sentil, even as wounded and depleted as they were in Jotaha.
Kevos had backed off when Jotaha reminded him of his place, and had allowed them into the outpost to refill his supplies for the last leg of the journey to the skilev, but he had still been insistent upon seeing the seal for himself. As if Jotaha was somehow lying in order to smuggle a nixir back to the skilev. To what end, Kevos wouldn’t speculate, but he hadn’t hesitated to remind Jotaha about the duplicity and cunning of nixirs. Historical tales told of the enemy using their own females and nestlings to sneak into yan-kanat strongholds and poison their water supplies or sabotage their food stores during a siege, because the yan-kanat had been hesitant about harming females and nestlings, even nixir ones. All yan-kanat knew that a nixir could offer peace in one hand, while concealing a dagger in the other.
The way Kevos still glared at Sarah made Jotaha eager to leave this outpost as soon as possible. He didn’t think Kevos would dare to harm her, but it was clear that the enmity remained strong. Knowing that Seta Zul herself had chosen Sarah for Jotaha didn’t seem to be enough to wipe away Kevos’ hostility. Although he had left them alone after verifying the seal.
Then Sarah had shown an interest in his seal, her gaze lowering to study it, causing an instant and painful response from his salavik. With her scent constantly surrounding him for four sun cycles now, he felt as if it had become a part of him, and his body was awakening and eager to claim his mate.
Sarah, though, had dismissed him, turning her back upon him. Then she’d rushed to leave the outpost, only stopping at the exit when he called her name, desperate to keep her from storming outside where she would have to face Kevos.
He wasn’t angry at her. Stung by her rejection, maybe, but she had every right to be insulted by his open display of lust. He had not even formally asked her to perform the sata-drahi’at with him. Giving her his mating gift didn’t count, since she hadn’t understood its purpose.
He was angry at himself. First, for not realizing that the sentils could still hold onto lingering hostility, even when they knew Sarah’s role, and then, for allowing Sarah to see his loss of control. It had not sent a comforting message to her. Seta Zul’s seal was to protect females from overeager males who showed no patience in claiming their mates. It was also to keep them from discarding those females when they were no longer new and exciting to the males. The goddess’s name, Heart Wound, spoke of her own legendary pain, and explained why she had created the seal to bind her mortal subjects to their mates so they would never experience the same pain.
Though he had no intention of losing his honor in claiming Sarah, he could understand now how it would be difficult to control himself if he was not sealed.
Sarah had paused at the exit, babbling in her language, her tone distressed as she refused to turn around to face him. By the time he had his greaves fully in place again, he had calmed his salavik, and it no longer pressed against his sealed slit, causing the heat of the seal to rise to a painful level.