Page 56 of Cosmic Castaway

Serlotminden grinned. “Let’s go swimming.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

My first date. Unbelievable that it took an abduction, a desolate planet, and a hot alien to make me want one.

Chapter 23

So drakcol are like cats.

I traced the ring in Mindy’s bottom lip. He had several piercings, like the studs going to the tip of his ear, and the long gold chains in his lobes. I liked them. It had never been a thing for me before this—that I was aware of—but I liked Serlotminden’s.

He bit my thumb, making me jump. “Your touch is… good. Distracting. I want a stronger word, but I don’t know one.”

“Why do you even speak English? Don’t drakcol have translators?”

“We do,” he said, claws scraping the back of my head. “I like to learn different languages myself. I feel like with every one I learn, my thoughts change a bit. I am a diplomat for my people.Not being reliant on technology has been helpful more than once.”

“Hmm.” I groaned, throwing a leg over his.

“Do you speak any other languages?”

“No. I mean, I took Spanish in high school, but I don’t remember most of it.”

“Spanish?” he said slowly, trying out the word.

“It’s a requirement to learn another language in school, but most people don’t remember them.”

“That’s sad.”

It kind of was.

“You’re not a… I don’t know the word in English,” Mindy said, “but you're not one people.”

How did I explain this in a way that he would understand? “We’re all human,” I finally said. “The same species, but we have unique and diverse ethnicities, languages, and cultures.”

“Interesting. It is like the barbarus and the tarmarus of Barus.”

“I’m not sure.”

“They are the same species,” Mindy said. “Same biology, but tarmarus are all gray and white and live underground. Most Barusians and Tarusians don’t associate.”

“That might be the same, but I’m not sure.” It was hard to agree when I didn’t really understand what he was saying.

“Would you want to learn another language?”

I ran my fingers through his long hair, the strands wet and cold. “Sure. If you’re the one to teach me.”

“I want to. I want everything.”

A sudden wave of emotions crashed over me, and I burrowed against him to hide.

His fingers worked gentle circles over my back, and I relaxed, loving when he slipped into the slits at the back of my shirt to touch bare skin. We stayed silent like that for quite some time.We had nothing to do. Mindy kept stroking my back, and I played with the fabric of his shirt, both of us lost in our thoughts.

“Talk to me,” I said as I repositioned against him.

Mindy’s hand flattened on my lower back, holding me securely. “About?”

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