Page 36 of Purring, Presents, and Parties

Was she rejecting him already? He opened his arms so she could climb away from him.

“You don’t want me to touch you anymore?” he whispered, a desolate rumble coming out of his chest.

“What is that sound?” Zuri asked, placing a hand on his chest, right over his chestbox. “It’s like an Old Earth giant is sobbing underwater!”

“It’s…I…” He couldn’t finish his words, his throat felt too tight again. This time he couldn’t even breathe!

“Oh fuck, it is a type of sobbing, isn’t it?” Zuri asked, throwing her arms around his neck and putting her mouth next to his earhole. “Breathe with me, Kasium. In and out. In and out.”

He emptied his mind and followed her instructions. Wrapping his arms around her, he held her soft body against his. Anything was possible as long as Zuri was close.

“Are you feeling better?” she asked once his breathing had returned to normal. He sounded an affirmative rumble, thankful when she didn’t pull away. She kissed the skin next to his earhole then settled her head against his shoulder.

“Please explain why your parents couldn’t take you with them?”

“This planet, Talarian, is our homeworld. Our place of origin. It’s a sacred planet that could easily become overcrowded, so there are very strict laws about how many people can live here or even visit. There’s about twenty billion Talins in the universe, and only one and a half billion are allowed to live on Talarian.”

“That explains why there’s so many wild and open areas here,” Zuri murmured. “What does population limitation have to do with your story?”

“Everything. When my parents were given the opportunity to move here, they could only get permission for one child. They had to pick between myself and Tilanus. They made the better choice, she's far more intelligent.”

“No, they didn’t,” Zuri argued. “They shouldn’t have taken the position, even if it meant they got to live here. They should’ve kept your little family together.”

“That would’ve only benefited me,” Kasium explained, “and been detrimental to the three of them.”

Zuri cupped his face with her hands.

“What happened to you was traumatic,” she said, then kept speaking when he opened his mouth to argue. “No, don’t try to tell me it wasn’t. You were abandoned by everyone who should’ve loved you the most. Not only your parents, but your sister and the caregivers. No one stayed with you. No one made sure you understood that you still had worth.”

“Every Talin citizen has worth,” Kasium said but stopped talking when Zuri shook her head.

“I’m not talking about worth as a productive working unit. I’m talking about being worthy of love and care. Babies can’t work, but we love them. When one of us lived to an elderly age and couldn’t work, we didn’t abandon them. We cared for them. That’s what a real family and community does.”

“Love is a human thing,” Kasium said.

“Love and scent-bonding are two sides of the same information node,” she argued. “Isn’t that why you keep scent-bonding to us humans? We can’t provide much in the way of material wealth, but we can give you the love and affection you can’t get anywhere else. I love you, Kasium. I have since the moment you first took care of me and everyone else in the medical bay on Falsof Station. You smell like an Old Earth food called coconut to me. Everyone else smelled like something mixed with soap, but not you. You smell purely delicious.”

Her words made blood start gathering in his mating shaft. “I smell good to you?”

“Of course you do!” Zuri answered. “Why do you think I’m always trying to rub my hands on your scent glands?”

“Does that mean there’s hope that you will allow me to reinhabit the cottage with you?”

“Maybe, but we’re not going any further until you agree to give the two of us a real chance. Now that I understand why you’ve kept me at a distance, I can be more patient, but only if you promise to let me in.”

“I think you’re already in,” he answered. “In my head and in my soul.”

“Good,” she whispered, leaning in close. She moved one of her hands to the back of his neck and pressed her lips against one of his scent glands. Pleasure shot down his spine. “Would you like to be inside me?”

Chapter 14

Zuri

Kasium shuddered at her words. “You say shocking things, Zuri.”

She stifled a giggle. “I’d like to do shocking things too!”

Sex wasn’t a replacement for a serious conversation about developing a healthy relationship, but there was only so much anticipation a girl could stand! She felt like Kasium had been teasing her for the last year and she was finally on the cusp of getting everything from him, including sex.

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