Chapter Nine
Aphrodite was clean and drying off with one of the many towels left beside the tub when Xexis returned.
She offered him a smile while clutching the massive rug around her body.
Stepping away from the drained pool, she tentatively waited for him to pick her up or direct her what to do in the situation.
Except he sat on the bench and motioned her closer.
She took up the jar of soap and trotted toward him.
Xexis took the offered jar, tucking it into a compartment under the bench.
She caught sight of others within the drawers.
Likely his personal drawer. The compartment shut alongside a handful of other ones with names written on the fronts.
She knew Xexis and Kiefgr, but she eyed Grooug and Reevar.
Their language was more complicated than basic English, the way it was written seemed to have no connection to how it was pronounced.
She couldn’t imagine how their names sounded spoken.
But Aphrodite noticed other words labeled in the bathroom, while she scrubbed.
She spent a lot of her bathing time studying the walls.
There were signs like the ones in employee bathrooms near the bowls on the walls.
She enjoyed the look of their written language.
It was thin strokes and sharp, like someone designed everything with the tip of a knife.
One day, he’ll have to show me how to write it.
Her thoughts stopped immediately as the confession filled her mind.
One day. Meaning she was already imagining staying.
Why not? He’s your mate afterall. Wait. When did that become something comfortable to say?
It was terrifying. Staying with Xexis meant adapting, becoming his mate, and…
what even copulation would look like for them.
He was interested. And maybe I’m delirious but maybe I am too.
Aphrodite saw the way he roamed her body.
Not ogling, but there was sparkling appreciation.
Besides, realistically, can I even get away?
Aphrodite was on a foreign ship in a far away galaxy without any means of getting home.
Disregarding the mixed signals of her brain, completely throwing away her brain’s fascination with learning new stuff, she had to be practical.
The best course of action was to go along with it. Oh darn. Shut the fuck up brain.
He brushed the back of his knuckles up her thigh and she sucked in a breath. His gaze darted up to her face. Xexis spoke with a deep rumble, “You are…blushing.”
“Oh?” she gasped, lifting a hand to her cheeks. Fucking busted. “Am I? That’s weird.”
“Come, dress, I’ve had some traders send me clothing they think will fit you. Of course, I couldn’t allow any of them to see you without your clothing.” Was that a fucking wink? He pulled a stack of fabric out from behind him.
“Because you’re jealous?” she teased without a moment of hesitation. Hello? Earth to Aphrodite! Are you flirting with him now? Her face burned hotter as he beamed at her.
“No, well, the context for your word means that I am envious of others. I am not envious. My mate is mine and she won against me in our hunt, clearly my mate is superior to any who would gaze upon her. However, another context would suggest I am possessive. And of that, I am. Possessive of my mate, for she is soft and fascinating and stunning.”
She snatched the fabric away from him and hugged it against the towel wrapped around her. “Yeah, that would be—could you, er…I’m just going to get dressed.”
Get! It! TOGETHER!
She tried to skirt around him, but two hands cupped her sides and brought her skittering back in front of him.
Her body trembled as he climbed to his full height.
Xexis towered over her like a dark shadow looming.
She wasn’t sure how to conquer the queasy feeling in her belly.
The stitching at her sides ached as she flinched backward.
“Are you uncomfortable?” His words were hardened by the stony expression on his face.
“Not for the reasons you think?” She grimaced. Her teeth ground together as she scrambled for words. For a woman of high intelligence, she felt like a flounder trout as sound spilled out of her mouth. “I don’t think I know what you think yet, but it’s not—it’s complicated.”
“Aphrodite, explain to me.” He scooped her up again and pulled her to his chest. She clutched the clothing tighter and stared down at the fabric. “Aphrodite,” he warned.
Why did her name sound so good coming from his mouth?
Damn her romantic tendencies and the fluttering in her chest. Damn the tension in her thighs and the way his voice went straight to her core.
Damn the strangely tender way he cared for her emotions while also breaking down every barrier she’d tried to build.
I should be closed off. It’s safer if I wear the mask where no one can touch me. Especially not him, a stranger with intentions I don’t know if I can trust. Yet, the words fell out of her mouth without permission.
“When you speak nicely of me, I get flustered and I don’t know what to do,” she confessed in one breath.
“That is a shame—that’s the phrase? Or is it damn shame, I’m not sure if damn is correct—”
Aphrodite put a hand to his mouth, trying not to bust a seam of her stitching with the giggles that brewed inside her.
After a moment, she removed it with a squeak.
She felt a damp object lick up her palm and she hoped it was his tongue.
Still trembling, she chuckled, “It’s a damn shame is correct. ”
“My mate, it is a damn shame because you should have nice words spoken of you constantly.
It is good for a hunter's pride to be complimented. I compliment my hunters daily, remind them of their strengths, discuss their weaknesses, so they can see themselves clearly in my eyeballs.” Aphrodite bit down the bubble of giggles fighting to break through her lips.
His words were too sweet and kind to ruin with childish humor.
She smiled as he gazed at her. Really gazed at her.
In the way that melted her insides, he memorized her face.
“I decree a strict regimen of compliments will do my mate well.”
“Oh,” she wheezed, “That’s not necessary.”
“I decree it.” He nodded, heading from the bathroom and ending the conversation. She tried not to argue or bicker because…no one had ever put in the effort. And he was right; it was a damn shame.
They wove through metal hallways and past hissing doors that nearly opened.
The sensors under his feet seemed confused by his gait.
Well, it’s never had to read him while he was carrying his mate.
It was fun to watch the computer try to catch up.
Then, he stopped at a door, and it did hiss open.
Through a large doorway, Xexis brought her into a new room.
A proper captain's quarters. She scanned the room from his arms.
“Oh, man.” She whistled, raising a brow.
“I believe that means you are impressed?” He chuckled.
“So then, if I’m correct, Kannatch means captain, huh?
” She held onto him for support as he placed her sweetly on a bed.
A large bed, and not just for him. Her belly flipped strangely at the idea.
He stepped away from her, the door clicking shut behind them.
She held the towel to her chest with one arm, and the pile of clothes in her lap with the other.
“Close enough.” He shrugged.
“Oh, excuse me,” she scoffed. “What is your title then, huh?”
“Kannatch.” He put two hands to his sides and two crossed over his chest.
“For those of us who only learned Anglo-saxis, what does that mean?” she teased, eyeing him suspiciously. “What do you do?”
“What I do is simple. I lead.” He puffed out his chest, putting all four fists to his sides and proudly smirking to the ceiling.
Aphrodite rolled her eyes. After a moment of him posing, he eased and talked with all four of his hands waving in unison.
“I am in charge of hunters, their missions, where they go, who they hunt, who pays them for the hunt. In my people, Kannatch is the main source of hunts and ensures that we are all safe.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Wait, so you’re like really important?”
He eyed her, mouth pinchers curled up inwardly.
It’s his confused face. He squinted with his large eyes which only made them seem bigger in his head.
She grimaced, lips pressing into a flat line.
Ah, we’re at an impasse. Aphrodite cleared her throat, “I mean, your title is an important one. Are you a royal person or is this a title people vote on to give you?”
“Oh! You mean my heritage!” He tossed all his hands up in acknowledgement, chuckling to himself.
She let him have it, getting up from the bed.
Putting the clothes on the comforter, she turned from him as he continued.
“I am the second son of the Korzavic—I believe that is like a leader, but in the formal sense. Humans used to have them back when you had castles.”
Aphrodite had only just begun to pull on the offered panties when she smacked her shin into the bed frame in surprise.
Hissing in pain, she bounced on one leg.
He lurched forward as she spun to face him.
A large patch of fabric clutched to her chest, her free hand rubbing her sore shin, she glared at him. “You’re a prince?!”
She was ready to foam at the mouth. He is fucking royalty? She stammered, bouncing on one leg till two of his hands grabbed her and forced her to stand still. Of fucking course, he was!
He cocked his head to the side, “I am unsure why you are unhappy with that?”
“Royalty?” She hugged the shirt to her chest. “You're a prince and you are mated with me? I’m a fucking—”
She blinked rapidly. He’s a prince? There were so many things she couldn’t form into words. They all angrily floated on her tongue, biting into her flesh like a stinger on a bee.
“You are my mate.”
“Yes, but like aren’t you supposed to mate a princess?
” She forgot the shirt and tossed her arms out to the side.
The world around her slowed down as both their gazes fell to the fabric pooled at her feet.
To his credit, Xexis took three steps back immediately and wheeled around to give her his back.
She scrambled to pull the fabric over her head and chest. He audibly swallowed.
She grabbed up what were probably pants and shoved her legs into them.
“As I was saying, if you’re some important title, why is your mate not an important title person? ”
He scoffed, “Mates don’t have to be important—wait, no they are important, but not in a title way. They are—you are purposely turning me in squares.”
She choked on her own laughter as she stuffed her hands over her face. After swallowing the traitorous giggles, she spoke, “Circles.”
“Squares is more appropriate; it has sides and I am facing a side of the room.”
She inhaled deeply through her nose. Is this…
what fighting was like for him? She tentatively stepped up to his side and tapped him softly on a bicep.
Slowly, Xexis twisted to face her. His gaze was tender again and she melted.
Arms wrapped around her torso, she exhaled “Xexis, I am not an important person.
I am a smart person. And I was someone with stuff that was important to do back at the main station, but I'm not a daughter of a Korzavic or anything like that.”
He scoffed, shaking his head. “Of course, you’re not. Your species does not have a Korzavic, you have government officials who bully their underlings into committing things.”
She stared at him, wide-eyed and speechless. He smirked, chest puffed out and proud once more. She scowled, “Did Quagmor tell you that?”
“Yes. He. Did.”