Page 65 of I Married A Catman

“Give me a second to confirm,” I said, brushing my lips against his before pulling out of his embrace.

“You let him know I will attend as well,” he grumbled.

I snorted but nodded and quickly typed the response on my com.

“By the way, what was that word you said when you received the message?” Gaelec asked.

I blinked, unsure what he meant. “What word?”

“Pootain, or something along those lines,” he said.

My cheeks immediately felt on the verge of bursting into flames. I had quite the potty mouth at times. The worst part was that I often didn’t even realize I was using questionable words.

“It’s a French swear word,” I admitted sheepishly. “French is one of many languages on Earth. Doesn’t your translation implant have that module included?”

“I don’t have a translation implant. Only the people raised in the cities do. Pride members don’t get them at birth. As we don’t really interact with off-worlders, it’s not necessary,” heexplained. “We learn Universal, which is enough to meet our needs on the rare occasions some of us go on missions or in the city.”

“Fair enough,” I conceded.

Learning Universal as a secondary language was compulsory for every member of the United Planets Organization. Even species that weren’t part of the alliance—but who had achieved light travel—also learned it as it was the one language that allowed for intergalactic communication.

“So what does it mean? That word and the other strange things you say sometimes? Like...” He hesitated, his eyes tilting up and to the right as he searched his memory. “Board hell?”

I squirmed and glanced at my watch, hoping the twenty minutes were up, but we still had plenty of time left.

“It can’t be that bad?” he insisted, now looking extremely curious in light of my reluctance.

I heaved a sigh and just went for it. “It’s not Pootain, butPutain. Literally, it means prostitute,” I said, heat creeping back up on my cheeks at his stunned expression. “But in practice, it’s mostly used almost the exact same way we use fuck. So it can express amazement, anger, confusion, or excitement.”

“What a strange term for that,” he said, looking baffled.

I shrugged. “No stranger than fuck. After all it means penetrative sex. So when you think about it, saying ‘I don’t fucking know’ makes absolutely no sense if you take the word literally.”

He nodded. “Good point. And what about the other?”

“Bordelmeans whore house,” I said sheepishly. “And it’s pretty much used the same way asputain, with subtle nuances. And it will often come accompanied by a couple of extra words like for reinforcement, usually when angry. Likebordel de merde, which would literally translate as whore house of shit.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle like a schoolgirl just listening to myself say the words.

He snorted, amusement creeping in on his features. “Merrde. That’s another one I heard you say quite a few times. So I’m assuming that means feces?”

I nodded, a silly grin plastered on my face, not only over the fact that I was teaching him French swear words, but also at his ridiculously adorable accent.

“And when you truly want to go all out, you can sayputain de bordel de saloperie de merde!’right before you flip a table or something.”

He laughed. “Would it be fair to presume thatsalop…whatever that word was is also sex trade related?” he asked with a smile in his voice.

“Kind of.Salopeis another vulgar term for a whore—though it could also refer to a slob—but it’s truly used as an insult. Andsaloperieis a noun derived from it meaning something extremely crappy and vulgar.”

“Are all French swear words related to prostitution?!” he asked, laughing.

“Not prostitution, specifically. But to sex in general, yeah.”

For half a beat, I considered just stringing a whole bunch of them just to see how much I could traumatize him. But just as I was starting to think better of it, my com went off, informing me of an incoming call.

“Oh merde!” I exclaimed.

Gaelec laughed behind me as I rushed to the vidscreen. I accepted the call before casting it onto the large device while settling down on the couch. My mate sat next to me. The possessive, almost defiant way in which he placed his hand on my lap to clearly mark me as his cracked me up. I bit the inside of my cheeks to repress a smile. His insecurity was both silly andincredibly endearing. The fool didn’t realize how hard I’d been falling for him over the past few days.

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