PYRR
I scented her out of all the others as soon as I walked into the conference room. Scarlet was sitting with a group watching a holo-program. She was the only one who looked up when I entered, as though she had sensed my presence. The sweet essence of her desire hit me within seconds of our eyes meeting.
She looked away briefly as her face seemed to turn pink. Was she ashamed to desire me? Or was it that she was embarrassed that I knew it? It didn’t matter. That she desired to share sex with me meant I had a chance to win her as my mate. That made me smile.
Scarlet got up quietly and wove her way through the other women who were watching the program. “Is it time for evening meal already?” she asked.
“I thought we could go to my quarters and talk,” I said. When she quirked an eyebrow upward and simply stared up at me, I suspected that was the wrong answer. But I really did just mean to talk. Although I wanted so much more from her, I knew it was too soon.
“Really?”
I shrugged. “With all the extra people on the ship, we are limited to where we can find a little privacy,” I explained. “Females always have the right of choice---even solmatu. I wish to get better acquainted so that you will choose to be my mate.”
“Wow, you guys don’t waste any time, do you?” Scarlet said with a hint skepticism.
“It would be my great honor to be your mate. Solmatu is almost sacred among our people. That means we are the most compatible mates for each other that we can hope for.” I explained her. “You feel the attraction between us. It’s in your scent.”
“Okay, let’s go to your quarters,” she whispered, “I don’t want to have this conversation where everyone else can hear.”
I nodded. “Come, it’s not far.”
Scarlet followed me into the corridor and fell into step beside me. I rested my hand against her back as we walked. My cabin was up one floor on the lift and two doors the right. My door opened automatically as the surveillance eye recognized me when I came to stand in front of it. As an officer, I had a private cabin with a small sitting room with a small booth containing a table with two small benches and a holoviewer on an extension arm. I also have a small sofa and chair. The bedroom was at the back of my cabin in a separate room with a bathroom off the sleeping area.
“Can I get you some tea?” I asked, gesturing for her to sit in the booth.
“You don’t happen to have any coffee, do you?” she asked.
The word didn’t translate. “What is coffee?”
“I was afraid you would say that,” she smiled ruefully. “It’s a hot drink made from roasted beans with a mild stimulant called caffeine. It’s kind of an acquired taste.”
“What we call tea also contains a mild stimulant, slightly sweet served hot. Would you like to try it?” I offered.
“If you are having some,” she agreed. “That would be nice.”
My processor produced two steamy mugs of tea within seconds. I set one down in front of Scarlet and sat down across from her in the booth. She looked at the liquid in her cup and dipped the tip of her smallest finger into it.
“Hot! Very hot!” she murmured and finally raised her green colored eyes to meet mine. She had short hair of two colors that looked tousled on purpose. To me, she was perfect with her full pink lips and smooth golden skin. I had never met a female that attracted me the way she did. I couldn’t help staring at her, memorizing her face.
“I heard what happened to Farseek, that most of you lost your families. I am so sorry, I know what it’s like. My parents were killed in a traffic accident, and my fiancé was killed in a bombing.”
“I am sorry for your losses, Scarlet. Was your world at war?” I asked her.
“It seems like there was always a war somewhere in our world. I used to be a soldier,” she said. “I served on two different war fronts. Not in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would be kidnapped by aliens. Our world is barely space faring. They sent men to our moon a few times before I was born and we have this space station in orbit.”
“Our world was unified with one central government, but there were decades of skirmishes with the Sargus Empire on the edges of the Consortium. We were members of their Defense Force,” I explained. “We never expected a Sargan attack. Farseek is on the far side of the Consortium from the Empire. …And the Consortium let it happen. They were more concerned about their holdings than our people. Somebody knew something. There is no way they hit Farseek that fast without cutting across Consortium space.”
“You think the Consortium sold you out?”
“At least someone in the Consortium. Farseek is predominantly agricultural. The people they took as slaves were the most valuable resource we had,” I said. “The Sargans destroyed everything else.”
She looked at me thoughtfully, then shook her head. “That really sucks!”
“Sucks?” The literal translation didn’t make sense.
“Awful? Unfortunate? Bad?”
I nodded and grinned at her. “Yes, it sucks,” I repeated, and she smiled back. Then, of course, my cock was getting twitchy. I wanted her badly, but despite the scent of her desire, she was holding back. I supposed it was our cultural differences. Uatu women most generally accepted solmatu without hesitation.
She dipped her smallest finger into the tea again, “Ah, perfect.” She put her finger up to her mouth and licked off the liquid. Then she picked up the mug and sipped from it. “Mmmm. Kind of fruity and a little spicy. …Reminds me of the sassafras tea my grandmother used to make. I like it,” she said and sipped some more.
I picked up my cup and sipped from it, watching her over the rim. It was just an ordinary conversation and a simple cup of tea, but watching Scarlet watching me seemed utterly fascinating. Stars, I wanted to claim her, and I wasn’t sure how to convince her to be my mate. The way she was looking at me at least gave me hope that she liked me more than a little. We sipped our tea in silence for several minutes before she spoke again.
“This is nice,” she said. “I like you Pyrr, and I’m attracted to you. But, I want to know you a lot better before I can commit to being your mate for life.”
My disappointment must have shown on my face.
“I would very much like to know you better,” she added quickly and reached across the table to lay her smaller hand over mine.
That sent a jolt of awareness through me that went straight to my cock---just when I was starting to feel it was under control. It took a lot of willpower not to jerk my hand back as I felt that control slipping away. Instead, I set down my cup and reached across the table to caress her face with my fingertips.
“Do you have any idea how much I want you?” I asked quietly.
“Oh, I think I do.” Her faint smile was self-mocking. “It’s probably going to happen sooner than later, just not right now.”
Thankfully, a two-tone chime sounded over the com to inform us that dinner was being served in the mess hall. The thought of food distracted me from lust for Scarlet long enough so that I could stand up without a blatant erection.
I figured some cultural difference regarding mating rituals was holding her back from acting on her desire. Had she been a Uatu female we would already be mating. Plus, she had already lost a prospective mate who was a warrior. Maybe she feared that I would be taken from her as well if she let herself care for me. But judging how she looked at me, that didn’t seem the case. The simple truth was in her scent. She wanted me as I wanted her.