Page 24 of Sloane

Here's some info on how our females are affected. There's nothing about how it affects humans. It shouldn't have affected her this badly. Thank you for taking care of her.

Underneath the message is a link to an article Alik sent with the message. I don't bother clicking on the link. Alik said there's nothing about how their ejaculation affects humans, and I haveno reason to doubt him. Not to mention, I have better things to think about right now rather than reading some scientific article.

"I can't believe they have come that gets me drunk," I say with a contented sigh. "As if they couldn't be any more perfect."

"Uh-huh." Essa rolls her eyes as she takes her comm tablet back and begins to read the article that I thought was too boring.

I reposition the icepack on the back of my neck and lie my head on my hands as I watch her. Really, I want to go back to my room and hump one of my pillows while pretending it's Jovi or Alik or both somehow. Something tells me Essa is keeping me under her watchful eyes until she's certain I won't die from some allergic reaction. No, I'm more likely to die from unfulfilled lust at this point.

"Anything good?" I ask, trying and failing not to focus on the pulsing between my legs.

"A lot of talk about it being a muscle relaxant for Varon women. It has medicinal and recreational uses." Essa frowns and squints at her comm tablet. "When Varons were first integrating into the extended universe, some species thought the ejaculate could be farmed and sold on illegal marketplaces. There's still a decent enough market for it that some Varon males have made fortunes selling it, even though there have been no known effects on anyone who was not a Varon or bonded to a Varon."

"Well, then, why did it affect me?" I ask.

I eye the food synthesizer and wonder if I can make myself some more of that dessert Essa makes for me. I haven't eaten in a little while, and besides my hunger for Jovi and Alik, there's also the same normal hunger that means I should eat something with some substance at some point.

Essa catches where I'm looking and gets up to make something. "I don't know why it affects you," she says, and then, much quieter, she adds. "I'm sure I can guess what we're allhoping, though." Her mumbling isn't meant for me to hear, and thankfully for her, my drunk brain is more interested in food than her vague comment.

I'm about to make sure she's making me something sweet when the kitchen door slides open. Holoth and Phial walk inside. Their eyes dart around the room until they land in the upper corner, where Alik has a camera hidden. I guess they know about it, too, because they're holding up a piece of paper to the camera and then turning to face me. Their hands stay up by their heads the entire time, and I can't help but laugh at how silly it all seems.

"You two shouldn't be here," Essa all but hisses at them as she unsheathes one of her daggers and points it at them.

"We shouldn't," Holoth agrees. "So let's make this quick before Alik and Jovi come to kill us."

"Make what quick?" Essa asks.

"We have a proposition for Sloane, and we hope that since she's more inebriated, she might be more honest with us about her wishes." Phial doesn't look at me as he speaks, but when Essa only gives him a quizzical expression, he continues. "Sloane, do you enjoy being a part of our crew?" Again, Phial doesn't even look at me when he speaks, and I frown at him instead of answering.

"Your nipples are staring at them," Essa says, as though she can read my mind. "Pretty sure Phial's just making sure he doesn't get killed."

"Holoth is looking at me," I point out Holoth, who turns pink and very quickly averts his gaze.

"I'm sure you've noticed already, but Holoth is a much bigger male than me. He might stand a chance against a Varon, but me?" Phial laughs at himself. "My only hope is to hide."

"I wasn't looking at her nipples," Holoth says, much too late for any of us to believe him. Essa and Phial both give him adisapproving glare before shaking their head and remembering that we have better things to be talking about right now.

"So, Sloane, do you enjoy being on this crew?" Essa asks the same question Phial did, almost as though she knows where this conversation is going even though she just had no idea why they were in the kitchen at all.

"I do, you know I do. You guys are my friends." I pause and then let out a small smile. "My best friends, if I'm being honest. I'll be sad to leave when this is over."

"What if you didn't have to leave?" Phial asks, his eyes not leaving the cabinets over the food synthesizer. "What if you were given the choice to stay? Would you take it?"

I sit up straight, the ice pack on my neck falling to the ground without a second thought. I think for all of two seconds that the question sobered me up, but then the world spins, and I'm toppling onto the ground with a giggle. Holoth's at my side in an instant, helping me get back into my seat.

"I'm not touching her in any inappropriate way. I'm helping her into her seat. I'm not even looking at her chest at all," he says very loudly, very deliberately, toward the camera.

When Alik and Jovi don't bust through the kitchen, he must determine he's not about to die, or maybe that they're not even watching. Either way, he's able to help me back into my seat and get me re-situated.

"I think what Holoth and Phial are trying to ask is if you are agreeable to becoming a part of our crew," Essa says, sliding a freshly made bowl of blue goop in front of me.

I grab the spoon, and it makes a soft suction sound before Essa's statement fully registers in my mind. In fact, I have a mouthful of sweet blue goo in my mouth when it finally hits me. The spoon clatters to the table, and my mouth hangs open.

"You guys want me to stay?" The question is met with a bark of laughter from Holoth, followed by laughs from both Phial andEssa. I don't quite believe it, so I ask a clarifying question. "Does this hinge on me being pleasure crew because I don't know if Jovi and Alik want me now that they know I can't blow them without this happening?"

That ceases their laughing, and Essa sits across the table from me. "Sloane, this hinges on whether you want us as friends. That is the full extent of qualifications you need to join this crew. Jovi and Alik can figure it out themselves, but if you wish to be our human crew, we would be more than honored to have you join us."

I grab my spoon off the table, needing something to do with my attention since there's a good chance I might cry. I take one bite and then a second, and when I go for a third, Phial makes an irritated sound. I glance up at him and notice his feathers are sticking up again like he's embarrassed to be caught being impatient.

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