"Do you…wish to thank it?"
I eye him as I chew. "Thank…what?"
"Your food." He gives me an encouraging look. "Yes?"
Did my sensible alien husband fall into a patch of alien mushrooms or something? "Babe, are you feeling okay?"
"I am fine," Dagesh says. "I just wish to understand you."
"That makes two of us right now." I smile to take the sting out of my words, but I'm more than a little bewildered at his actions.
But he just grins at me and leaps to his feet again. "I will return soon. I must go clean a kill."
"Um…okay." I watch as he hustles out of our cave. Seriously weird.
12
DAGESH
I rush to the cave that Pashov shares with his mate, full of excitement. I am closer than ever to understanding my mate. The privacy screen is not across the threshold, so I enter without a second thought.
The moment I do, I see Pashov with his mate pressed down in the furs, one of her pale legs wrapped around his waist, his tail pinning it there in place.
Stay-see gasps the moment I come in, squirming underneath her mate. Her flanks are bare and shudder with each pump of her mate into her body.
"Are you almost done?" I ask. "I must talk again."
Pashov glances over at me out of the corner of his eye, even as he thrusts into his mate again. "You are a very inconvenient visitor."
"Your screen was not up," I point out.
Stay-see murmurs something indignant and Pashov pauses in his strokes to pull the furs over his bare behind and cover them. He glances over at me again. "Let us finish."
"I will be just outside," I tell them, full of excitement. I head to the front of their cave and put the privacy screen in place. I hear a few more low sounds from inside their cave as I wait, and Stay-see makes a gurgled cry at some point. I pick at my nails as I wait, bored. Surely Pashov will be done with his mate soon.
It is a bit longer before either of them comes to pull the privacy screen aside. Finally, though, Pashov appears and grins at me. He has a loincloth on again, and reeks of mating scents, but there is a smile on his face. "Should you not be spending the afternoon in the furs with your mate so I can go back to mine?"
"Soon," I tell him and step inside again. I nod at the female by the fire, who is covered in furs. Her cheeks are flushed. "Stay-see."
"Sorry if that was awkward," Stay-see murmurs, her face turning redder. "I didn't realize we'd forgotten the screen."
"It was not awkward," I reassure her. "I have seen Pashov's naked backside many times before. As for matings, I have seen—and heard—much louder, more vigorous situations."
"Ouch," Stay-see says with an amused glance at her mate. "Don't take that personally, sweetie."
Pashov just gives his mate a silly grin, and it is clear she holds his heart in her hands. I am happy for him—Pashov is a good friend. He glances over at me. "Why are you back so soon?"
"No-rah does not like white roots," I explain triumphantly.
They both stare at me.
"This makes her yoo-ish, yes?"
Stay-see groans and puts her hand on her brow. "No, I mean…you can't…actually, never mind. You weren't trying to uncover if she's Jewish. We already know she is. I was just wondering if she wanted a Jewish wedding ceremony. They're more in-depth than your average one."
"So everyone has this ceremony?" Pashov asks, curious. He moves to sit by his mate and takes her hand in his. "Do you want one?"
She snorts. "Not at all. I'm perfectly fine, thank you. And I'm not a religious girl. I didn't think Nora was, but who knows? It might not be a Jewish wedding that she's sad about after all. Maybe she had a big family that she left behind. Maybe she misses her friends." Stay-see lifts one shoulder in a shrug and the fur falls down her arm. She blushes and quickly tugs it back up again. "I'm just saying, there's a lot of things for us to be a little sad over. Give her time."
I am normally the most patient of males, but when it comes to No-rah and her unhappiness? I cannot sit and wait. "Who would know more about this yoo-ish wed-ding?"
Stay-see looks over at her mate. "I mean, I don't know. I guess I can ask around on the sly, if you're looking to surprise Nora."
A surprise. I think my mate would like that. "You will do that for me?"
"Why, sure. Nora's my friend, too." She smiles. "We're all in this together, right?"
I nod. "How soon before you will know?"
Pashov loops an arm around his mate's shoulders, pulling her against him. "Give her time, my friend. She has to pay attention to her mate before all others."