She shook her head, trying to shake the suspicion that she'd taken on an impossible feat. It could take years and years-maybe generations-to understand the Sirians, and vice versa! It was mind boggling to think how very different they were from one another!
And depressing!
They had to have a place to start, though, she decided, and the most important one to her, at the moment, was an understanding of their current situation. "The babies stay with me. If they're human like you said-or mostly human-they'll need me. I'm not saying that the three of you can't stay …. Always assuming you don't decide to hunt another … queen … to breed." And she didn't think she would be sorry if they did-at least not at the moment!
"Why need?" Ronan asked curiously.
Kate stared at him as it abruptly sank in that the reason the females of their 'clan' tended to abandon their young was simply because their young didn't really need a mother! They were clearly capable of surviving pretty much on their own as long as they didn't fall prey to a predator.
A very little thought convinced her that it might not be a good idea to point out to the Sirians just how weak and vulnerable a human baby was.
They had bred weakness into their young, she realized abruptly. Early human primates wouldn't have been as weak-no more than the primates of Earth were now. It was their tendency to nurture that had resulted in babies that had to be nurtured just to survive.
* * * *
Ronan made it clear that he wasn't at all pleased at the discovery that the quarters they'd been assigned to was for them alone and that she had her own quarters. They had a brief, semi-heated 'discussion' about that when she had finished a cursory 'orientation' of the amenities of their quarters, told them she thought it would be best, for the time being, if they stayed in their quarters, and headed for the door to go to her own cabin.
"Where Kat go?" Ronan asked-actually demanded although his tone wasn't exactly argumentative.
Kate sent him a look of surprise, struggling with a rise of resentment. "To my quarters."
His lips tightened. "Mate. Stay here."
Kate flicked a glance at Jarek and Dax, saw from their expressions and body language that they weren't any happier about the situation than Ronan was, and focused on Ronan. "I've already been assigned a cabin of my own-And I signed on as single. There isn't room in my cabin for the three of you-or enough room here for four."
Ronan glanced around. "Not enough room for three," he said dryly. "Cannot protect nestlings from dis place, though, you no stay."
Kate gasped indignantly. "Your nestlings are safe!" she snapped. "I'm not going to … drop them or anything!"
"Protect mate den nestlings be safe," Jarek pointed out.
His tone was at least somewhat mollifying even if the comment was as insulting as Ronan's. "You three have been locked up since we got on board! We're halfway to Sirius! I think I can manage the other half by myself, thank you!"
"No could protect den," Dax said tightly. "Caged before. Can now. Must."
"Don't think for one minute that the three of you can gang up on me and get your way!" Kate snapped. "I'm not only perfectly safe, it isn't practical to consider changing things around at this point. Besides, we need to try not to attract attention to ourselves-any more than we can help."
Ronan studied her through narrowed eyes for a long moment and seemed to capitulate. "I go with. You stay in cabin."
Kate was about to object, but she decided it would be better to agree to his compromise than to stand arguing with them. Finally, she merely nodded.
By the time they reached her quarters, however-in a completely different quadrant of the ship-his expression was as dark as a thundercloud. The polite smile she'd pasted on her lips as she turned to tell him bye fell flat. "What?"
"We go in."
She didn't particular want to invite him with that look on his face!
On the other hand, he looked ready to explode and she didn't think the corridor would be a good place for that. Reluctantly, she led him in to her quarters. He looked the small space over with an expression of disgust.
"I told you it was too small to share. It wasn't made for sharing."
Ronan studied her assessingly. "Mak baby wid …." You said the females of your clan nurture the younglings. The males do nothing but breed? They do not stay nearby to protect their mate and their younglings?
Kate hesitated. The truth wasn't going to support her argument, but she had taken on the task of teaching them the ways of humans. If she lied when it was more convenient to her, she was going to create as many misconceptions as she was trying to eliminate.
"We don't do a lot of mating," she hedged.
Ronan sent her a skeptical look. "Why so many humans den?"
She frowned at him. "I didn't say we never had! We spent generations making the mess, though! It'll take generations to repair the damage, too!" she informed him testily.
"No answer question."
Kate released a huff of irritation. "We contract. We don't call it mating-because it often isn't about mating at all, not in the sense you mean. We aren't allowed to reproduce indiscriminately. We pair up-usually male and female-for companionship and economic reasons. And, yes, the males and females live together-share living space. If they decide to have a child and if they're granted permission, then they usually stay together and take care of the child together-at least for the duration of the contract and sometimes longer."
That explanation seemed to throw him for several moments. "Pair up but no have young … baby? Why?"
Kate rolled her eyes. "You like fucking, right?" she said dryly.
His brows rose and then descended. A speculative gleam entered his eyes. "Share libing space for dat?"
"I strongly suspect that's the main reason men do!" Kate said sardonically. "They like having it handy for when they want to have sex so they don't have to work as hard for it. It's really difficult to find jobs, though, and keep them, so that's part of it, too. It takes credits to live and nobody can count on being employed all the time. So they pair up and share expenses. Sometimes they contract with several partners, in fact, for economic security."
He studied her thoughtfully and moved closer. Kate eyed him warily, but he'd reached her before she even thought about retreating. Settling his hands lightly on her upper arms, he pulled her closer still, lowering his head and covering her mouth just as she opened it to demand to know what he was doing. A jolt went through her at the contact. The muscles low in her belly fluttered. Heat wafted through her. Her mind clouded.
Her instantaneous reaction was almost more disorienting because he now looked nothing like the man she'd come to think of as Ronan but rather a complete stranger, and yet on a primal level she knew him. With her eyes closed, every other sense was more alert and absolutely convinced she knew him on the deepest level. Her mind identified him as Ronan and reacted accordingly
Then it is your custom that mates share living space. And this is not so that the male can protect?
He had an unfair advantage, she thought with a flicker of resentment quickly drowned by the pleasure wafting through her. He could kiss her and communicate at the same time using his mind! She couldn't talk with his mouth on hers and she couldn't think worth a damn either! Sort of … I guess, she managed finally.
He lifted his head and studied her frowningly. What is 'sort of'?
We rely on the police and the military for protection … mostly. Kate opened her eyes reluctantly and peered up at him through her lashes.
Ronan's lips curled faintly at the corners. He leaned close again and sucked lightly at her lips. Curling his arms around her at the same time, he lifted her off her feet and headed toward her bunk. If it is not for protection and not to breed younglings, then the only reason that humans shave living space is for sex? He asked as he settled on her bunk with her.
" To share life, companionship, living expenses-to be helpmates," Kate murmured as she reached for the closure of her jumpsuit
and opened the one piece suit from neck to crotch. This is one very nice way to settle a disagreement.
Ronan sent her a quizzical look, but dismissed further discussion.
Chapter Twelve
Kate was all in favor of actions speaking louder than words. She'd forgotten just how much she enjoyed everything about Ronan. His scent and taste were branded on her psyche, though, and brought memories of her pleasure in him to the surface as he peeled her suit off and explored the flesh he exposed with feverish lips and hands. The weeks of separation might never have happened. She was alive as she had never been before, feeling everything more keenly.
There was no surprise, this time, to discover he was as naked as she was by the time he'd peeled her suit away, just gladness that there was no impediment to the momentum he'd gathered along the way to disrobing her. She was ready-more than ready. The moment he peeled the suit from one leg, freeing her of restrictions and dove over her again, she curled it around him and bumped her pelvis against him in invitation.
It was no stranger's cock that plowed her cleft and anchored its head in the mouth of her sex. The familiar tug of her flesh as he seated himself and curled his hips to probe deeper had her gasping with anticipation. She squeezed her eyes more tightly to focus on the sensation, shifting and undulating against him to help him fully sheathe himself inside of her.
A profound sense of pleasure enveloped her when he achieved full penetration and set a rhythm that rang with the same desperation that filled her. She didn't suffer a moment of doubt that she was going to reach her goal. She was halfway there by the time he entered her and climbing faster than the ship they were in had when it left Earth's orbit.
Her climax still swept through her with a swiftness and magnitude that caught her off guard enough to drag a cry from her. She sucked in a breath and held it as shudders rattled through her, her skin prickling all over as he achieved his own orgasm.
Breathless from the battle, she lay panting beneath his weighty bulk in the aftermath, trying to push any thought at all from her mind that might interfere with the glorious sense of completion. They came anyway, settling like an unwelcome flock of crows in a freshly planted field.
He'd blindsided her. She'd had some vague notion that she would eschew intimacy now that there was no hope whatsoever of pretending they weren't what they were, that she would backtrack and achieve the objectivity she'd lost somewhere along the way.
No such luck!
"And let that be a lesson to you," she muttered dryly. She'd already let them breach any defenses she might have been able to gather to herself before that first time. There would be no going back.
Ronan uttered a muffled chuckle that sent a jolt of surprised pleasure through her. "Dis lesson I no mind, Kat. You teach me more, I like much better."
She didn't know what surprised her more-that he had a sense of humor, or that he seemed to instantly grasp the irony in her comment.
* * * *
"Our nutritional requirements are probably a little different than yours," Kate said once she'd shown Ronan, Dax, and Jarek the workings of their kitchenette in their cabin and explained what each fixture did and how it worked. "We don't … uh … forage for food … uh … anymore. People used to, but that was a long, long time ago. We have plants that grow everything and other plants that package everything and then, once we get it from a store, we have to prepare it. A balanced diet is a healthy diet! And for us that means a serving of protein, vegetables, dairy and fiber. Fiber is really important since everything is so processed."
"Fi … ber?" Jarek asked curiously. "What dis? Why im … port?"
Kate felt her face reddening. He would focus on that! She cleared her throat. "Important for digestion and it's … uh … well, fiber. Something hard to digest. Actually, impossible-that's why it's good for you-well, us."
"What dat odder stuff?" Ronan asked.
"Meat … uh … animal flesh and plants and the dairy comes from milk. We're omnivores. That means we have to have some of both to be healthy. We could get by on one or the other for short periods of time, but to be healthy we need both."
Ronan frowned. She thought he was trying to figure out what milk was, but he surprised her. "Dat not animal," he said, nudging his chin toward the package of meat she was holding.
"Of course it is!" Kate said briskly. "It's just processed meat. That's why it doesn't look familiar. Well, factory cultivated. It isn't actually an animal. We don't raise farm animals anymore. They take up too much room, breathe too much air, and produce too much …uh … methane … and this is better anyway. Just enough fat to be healthy and none of the bad stuff."
"What mean digest?" Dax demanded.
Kate cleared her throat. "When the body processes the food?"
Jarek, she saw, was frowning thoughtfully. "Why eat food no process? No make sense. Just go out again."
"Yes, well, it helps us process the other stuff," Kate said briskly, hoping to divert any more questions by directing their attention to the food preparations. "All of the packages tell you how to prepare the food."
Ronan took the package she was holding and looked it over in frowning concentration. Any hope she'd had that they had somehow managed to learn to read vanished. He tapped at the instructions with one index finger. "Dis spek? How make talk?"
Dismay flickered through her. "It doesn't actually …. Never mind! Why don't the three of you just study the package and memorize what it looks like? Then I'll show you how to prepare the meal and we'll go from there?"
Ronan looked the package he was holding over cursorily and passed it to Dax who passed it to Jarek.
"Oh come on! I said memorize! You aren't going to be able to tell this package from the others!"
Ronan sent her an unreadable look. "Will."
"That fast?"
"Yes."
"Fine! You can show me." She snatched the package from Jarek and presented her back, blocking their view while she shuffled the package with the others inside the food locker. Then she stepped back. "You first," she said, crooking her finger at Ronan.
He sent her a sardonic look, stepped forward and picked up the package.
"You saw me! Or you read my mind."
His lips flattened into a thin line. "Memorize-You say no read mind. I no do dat."
Kate was still skeptical. Either they were reading her mind or they had photographic memories, though. She tried shuffling the packages with each one and each of them picked the package out unerringly and within moments.
Shrugging it off with the reflection that they were the ones that were going to suffer if they were 'cheating', she focused on preparing the meal.
She discovered after a few days, though, that they actually did seem to retain anything they saw once. They watched each meal she prepared, but no matter how complicated it was, they could repeat the process without any trouble at all.
It was admirable in a way.
In another way it was downright unnerving.
* * * *
"What in the world …?"
Dax sent her a wary look from the floor in front of her cabin door where he'd obviously been sitting for a while.
She thought it was Dax.
Recovering, she leaned out the door and looked both ways down the corridor and then motioned him inside. "Dax?"
He morphed into the form she was familiar with.
She was never going to get used to that!
And it occurred to her that there was nothing to stop any of them from taking any form they wanted to!
"You are Dax?"
He frowned. "No look like?"
Kate frowned back at him. "That isn't an answer! And how am I supposed to know when you guys can and do change the way you look to anything you want to look like …?" The comment redirected her mind. "You can do that, right? I mean, make yourself look like anything at all?"
He seemed to hesitate. "Muss be same size."
As brief as it was, she thought that hesitation was signi
ficant. She noticed he hadn't actually answered either question. He moved closer, however, while she was distracted by her thoughts. She flinched all over when he embraced her, nuzzling his face along the side of her neck. Her breasts tingled as her nipples hardened with the warmth that instantly flooded her.
"You fuck me, yes? No hurt baby?"
Kate stiffened and then released an irritated huff of breath.
Dax leaned away from her to study her face. "No say right?"
She had to give him points for being swift on the uptake!
She shook her head, more at herself than him. No matter that she knew he wasn't even human and could certainly not have any understanding of romance-human males weren't that damned good at it themselves!-she still couldn't help but be disappointed. Worse, she could tell him the right words to say and she didn't doubt that he'd remember and use the right ones the next time, but it meant even less than a human male telling a woman what she wanted to hear just so he could get in her pants! He wouldn't understand that! She seriously doubted he was capable of feeling any of the human emotions, or what everyone thought of as purely human emotion.
They were far more in touch with their animal side than humans were, far less tame, and thus far less likely to feel more than animal urges. In a way, she supposed that taste of wildness might be at least part of their appeal. She would never have thought such a thing would appeal to her, but it certainly didn't turn her off!
"It hurt baby?" he persisted. "Dis what wrong?"
Kate sighed again. She at least needed to make an effort to teach them some of the finer points of social behavior or they didn't have a chance in hell of getting along. She could just imagine their reception if they made a habit of asking any female that appealed to them if they wanted to fuck!
It was her fault anyway! She should've corrected them to begin with! "It's offensive to ask like that," she said a little irritably. "A woman at least wants the pretense that a guy cares something about her … even when she knows better."
You are my mate. I care. You cannot tell that I want to mate with you?
"You're never going to get good enough with your English to pass if you keep reverting to telepathy!"
Adaptation Page 21