Reaching across, he took her hands in his.
“Relax,” he murmured, letting his voice dip into the purring tone that most Lionus Monstrum used with their mates. It was meant to soothe a frightened or nervous female and he hoped it would work on Emilia. “Relax,” he told her again. “Whatever happens, we’re together.”
“Thank you.” She took a deep breath and squeezed his fingers. Rarev couldn’t help thinking how small and fragile her hands felt in his. Yet, there was strength in her—and courage and determination. He admired her almost as much as he desired her, he admitted to himself.
The Director of Mining and the panel of judges finally came over. Since the crystal dome of the Trial vessel had descended again the moment Rarev re-entered it, they were looking at him and Emilia through the clear side of the dome.
“Now then, I think we can get back to the Trial of Truth,” the Director said, his voice coming from overhead in what must be a kind of built-in speaker system, Rarev speculated.
“All right, please do,” he said and squeezed Emilia’s hands again as he nodded at the Mining Director.
“Very well. Now—what I need to know is, are you two a true couple and do you love and desire each other?” the Director recited rapidly.
Rarev took a deep breath. There was no point in trying to dissemble—a lie wouldn’t even come to his lips. Instead, he told the truth.
“We were not a couple until earlier today,” he admitted. “You see, my people—the Monstrum Kindred—are protecting Emilia’s planet from a deadly scourge from another universe,” he added, explaining for the benefit of the panel of judges. “We need a mineral called Yillium which we have only found on your planet to repel this threat, which we call the Darklings.”
“There was another couple—a true couple—who was supposed to come, but they weren’t reachable,” Emilia put in. “So Rarev and I had to come ourselves.”
The Mining Director frowned.
“Oh my—how very disappointing! And my wife and I were so certain we smelled your desire for each other.” He wrinkled his three-nostrilled nose and his slime-wife, on his shoulder, did the same.
“Your senses did not lie to you,” Rarev rumbled. “Nor did we use any kind of fake pheromones as the Yonnite Mistress did.” He looked at Emilia, capturing her eyes with his own. “I have never met a female I desired so badly,” he admitted, both to the panel of Rigellen judges, and to her. “To me, Emilia is perfection, from her long silver mane to her full, curvy body. Added to that, she is sharply intelligent, witty, and wise—I find her absolutely irresistible.”
“You…you do?” Emilia’s lovely blue eyes widened with uncertainty. “But…but I’m so much older than you!” she protested.
“You are a Mature Elite,” Rarev pointed out. “Among my people, there are no females more desirable than those entering their Second Mating Period.”
“So Monstrum Kindred like older women?” she asked, her eyebrows rising in surprise.
“Full-figured older females are the ones we most desire,” Rarev said, nodding. “They call to us—biologically as well as physically. A female in her Second Mating Period has what a younger female lacks—maturity and the wisdom of the Goddess. Not to mention unparalleled beauty.”
She shook her head.
“But…but I have stretch marks and wrinkles and gray hair and I’m not young anymore!”
“All these are simply signs of the fact that you are entering your Second Mating period,” Rarev told her. “They do not detract from your beauty, my l’eeja—they add to it. Also, your mane is silver—and it is beautiful.”
Emilia stared at him in apparent disbelief.
“I’d think you were lying but the truth berries…”
“Make it impossible for me to lie. But why is it so hard to understand?” Rarev asked reasonably. “Do you not look in the mirror or the viewer? Can you not see your own beauty?”
“I…I guess I see myself the way my own people see me,” she admitted in a low voice. “As women get older, they tend to lose their worth—at least, according to our news media.”
Rarev shook his head.
“I am trying, but I find human culture very difficult to understand,” he said, frowning. “How can human males devalue that which is most precious and beautiful in their world?”
“Maybe because they don’t consider older women precious or beautiful,” she said dryly, but Rarev could hear the hurt under her flippant tone. He remembered again that her mate had left her for another—what a fool the male had been! And what a bastard—apparently his leaving had hurt Emilia so much, she now had difficulty believing that any male would find her beautiful and worthy of love.
Rarev’s heart ached for her—he longed to convince her of her worth.
“Emilia,” he purred. “Do you understand that I find you devastatingly attractive?” He cupped her cheek in his palm and looked earnestly into her eyes. “Do you have any idea how much I long to kiss you? To stroke your beautiful, smooth skin and pleasure you until you call my name and beg for more?”