Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 144433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
"Simone? Your girlfriend isn't jealous of Simone but is jealous of me?" It's flattering, but weird.
The look on his face grows amused. "Simone doesn't want what I have to offer."
I make a face at that. "Ew. Gross. Neither do I! I have a husband, you know."
His eyes widen. "You're mated? Kef, no wonder you were so pissed I sent him to you."
I flap my hand in the air, as if that can somehow clear up the conclusion he's leaping to. "No, no, no. You sent him to me and I married him." I almost include the part about it all being for show but...it doesn't feel like a fake marriage all that much. Not really. We're friends, me and Zhur. Good friends.
Good friends that fuck like bunnies.
I mean, what is a marriage but two people that can't get enough of each other and also like to fuck like bunnies?
"Well now. I didn't forsee that."
He...didn't? What was he sending me a man for then? Did he expect me to put a collar on Zhur and treat him like a house cat? I'm starting to think these guys weren't paid for their brains. Holding the plant up, I indicate it to steer the conversation back on topic. "Tell your girlfriend I like my men hairy, all right? And thank you again for the plant. As long as there are no strings attached, I'm very happy with it."
"I see no strings or anything attached to it," Kazex tells me helpfully. "Just the little pot it comes in, but you can have that for free, too." He pauses. "So...you really married...him? The praxiian male?"
"Yes. Is that a problem?"
He laughs hastily, putting his hands up. "Not for me. I'm just...you know who he is, right?"
"I do. I'm aware the situation isn't ideal."
Kazex laughs again. "Not ideal? He's the most hunted male in the galaxy. If anyone finds out that he's got a female, you're going to be kidnapped as leverage so keffing often..." He trails off as my eyes widen in shock. "I mean, not that anyone will find out. It just seems dangerous, that's all."
"Well, it's not," I snap, starting to get anxious. Kidnapping me to flush out Zhur isn't something I considered...and terrifies me to think about. The last thing I want is to be held captive again. "And no one is going to find out because you're keeping it a secret, right?"
The alien man gives me a slow nod. "Oh, it's fine. I'm not telling anyone. Zebah, however..." He pauses again, stares into space, and then shakes his head. "I'm sure it's fine."
I clutch the plant to my chest. "I'm leaving now," I say, before he decides to go into greater detail about the dangerous situation I'm in as Zhur's wife. "And we're not telling this Zebah person that Zhur is married, right? We're on the same page with that?"
"It is our secret," he says solemnly.
I'm reminded of the old adage—three can keep a secret if two are dead. It seems like Zhur's secret of his being here isn't all that secret, and that frightens me. What happens if we get found out? If Zhur gets found out? How can everyone be so casual if this is a life-or-death situation?
Are we going to have to take drastic measures to ensure that Zhur's secret is kept?
CHAPTER
EIGHTY-TWO
ZHUR
I fiddle with the controls in the barn. I've ran all the scripts and updated everything. I've done the maintenance and the only thing left to do is something called an “insemination cycle,” which I'm not touching until I talk to Maeve. I don't know if she wants her cattle impregnated. I don't know what her plan is. I've seen one or two of the farms we pass that have huge amounts of cattle and some with none at all. It's not my choice to make, so I'm leaving that one alone.
Plus, I don't know how I feel about something called an “insemination cycle.” It sounds clinical and cold, and I've had enough of that in my life. It was actually suggested to me last year that I focus on getting an Heir of my own to displace my brothers, to take a wife and if I didn't want a wife, to look at artificial means of having a son. The idea filled me with distaste then...and it still does now.
If I cannot connect to a mate, then to who? The idea of eschewing one entirely made me feel unbearably lonely at the time. Now, it makes me miserable for an entirely different reason. Perhaps I should have had a son of my own and this mess with Wesskth and Rem wouldn't be happening. They would be neatly severed from the succession in favor of my newborn son...who would have likely been killed by Rem as well, now that I think about it.