Page 54 of Treasured By the Alien Rogue

He’d built it for me with his whole heart.

We walked back to the village, finding more Zuldruxians outside. Some weeded gardens near their shrooms while others carried logs from the woods, placing them near the big firepit in the center of the village. A few milled around near my new tea shop, including Tribon. They turned to face us as we approached. Tribon kept one of his arms behind his back.

“There you are,” he said. His arm shot forward, and he held out a huge hunk of bright blue meat. “For you. An offering for my future mate.”

“Oh, um, thanks,” I said, tucking my hands behind my back. He looked so stern, I wanted to take it if only to avoid angering him.

But I didn’t want anything he could offer me. I didn’t want to be with him. I suspected if I took the meat, that would make him believe I’d changed my mind. Tribon belonged on the edge of the friend zone, while Xax . . .

I wanted to drag him to his bed. I didn’t only long for the physical release he could give me. I wanted to snuggle with him and talk about how his day went. Share stories from my tea shop. Plan dinner with him and then sit together while we ate it. Laugh together while I told him funny stories from Earth and listen while he shared whatever was in his heart.

I could feel myself falling for him, and it was like an avalanche roaring down a hillside. A hurricane making shore to slam across the land.

A precious blossom opening in the forest.

There was no stopping the feeling now that it had started, and you know what?

I welcomed it with open arms.

Now I was truly worried about what Digaray would say when she returned.

Chapter 25

Xax

“Oh, thank you,” Amanda told Tribon. “That’s . . .” She swallowed hard and glanced my way.

Did she see this as a deficiency on my part? I should’ve brought her meat, a common courting gift. Why hadn’t I?

I’d followed my heart in other directions.

She’d appeared to accept my substitute gift, but only partly. While she wasn’t rejecting the structure I’d built, she might agree with Gerain and Floosar that my stumps for tables and chairs weren’t good enough. No, she’d plant a spore and have the god help her craft something new. I wasn’t insulted. Not one bit. They were hard and clunky. I should’ve thought of planting a spore myself.

How could I make this up to her?

Meat, of course. I’d hunt soon. How else?

“Thank you, Tribon, but I’m not hungry,” Amanda said. She backed away from him until she bumped into me, then remained there, her body pressing into my chest. “I appreciate your offer, however.”

Tribon’s hand dropped, as did his face.

Julop and Vessak stood nearby, holding equally appealing pieces of meat. Looking from her to me, they eased backward. They turned and walked toward their shrooms.

After pausing and dipping his head toward Amanda, Efendest rounded the tea shop and walked toward the woods, while Vessak gulped and stared down at his offering of meat, before he strode around us and over to his shroom, entering the stem. The door hissed closed behind him.

“I have a feeling it means something when someone offers meat,” Amanda said with concern, stepping away and turning to face me.

“This is a courtship ritual in my clan. It shows the recipient that the one offering wants to provide for them.”

“Ah.” Her frown didn’t ease. “They wanted to ask me out on a date?” She must’ve seen my confusion. “A date is a courtship ritual back on Earth. When someone likes another person, they ask them to do something with them. The time they spend together is called a date.”

“Do dates involve meat on Earth?”

“Sometimes, if they go out to dinner together or hold a barbecue.”

My worry dropped but didn’t completely go away. How could I arrange a date for her and me?

“If you want to accept their meat, you should tell them this,” I said. I had to state it plainly. Despite the will of the gods, she deserved to have complete say in who she mated with.

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