Page 6 of Her Alien Prince
Pity calmed his libido, and he straightened up in his seat. "Without a new queen in our hive, many warriors continue to be infertile.” A seriousness took over his statement. His replies were all business now. “Krelins require the musk of a fertile queen to trigger our mating hormones. My queen hasn't blessed many mates in her recent cycles. I'm one of the few male warriors with active glands, though that doesn't do much good without a fertile mate. Forgive me for projecting on you."
"The whole galaxy has suffered since the asteroid showers came through. Estreldez closed its borders, and—"
"Krelis waged war on the shol," he finished my thought for me, a sharpness to his tone that made me think he was not a supporter of the war that had nearly destroyed an entire species, completely decimating a planet. The tentative agreements between Estreldez and Krelis were out of necessity, due to the proximity of our planets. No other planet had the consistency of trade that Krelis could provide for food imports.
"Some would argue that Krelis intends to wage the same war with Estreldez rather than trading for what they want," Gaven added casually, saying what was on most estrelds’ minds, including Luan's, but that most wouldn't dare say out loud. He wasn't really one to speak much, but when he did...
"Gaven," I admonished.
He shrugged.
"It's okay," the krelin dismissed. "He isn't wrong."
"He isn't..." I gaped at him. Was he saying Krelis intended war with Estreldez, or that his planet deserved the distrust based on past events? The hard set of his golden eyes was difficult to read.
"My queen is fully capable of changing her strategy between peace and war to protect the hive." I stared at him in shock. This was not the kind of interview I had expected, and we'd veered completely off topic into a dangerous political conversation that I was not trained for. Diplomacy was not the focus with these interviews, and I didn't want to be scolded by Almder or Loric for overstepping my bounds after I was clearly dismissed from my duties in the first place. This could be disastrous. "I assure you, I have every intention of making this mating agreement successful. Merging our species is my top priority."
"You are very transparent with your intentions... that is—"
"Unnerving," he completed for me.
"Refreshing," I corrected him. "I'd rather you tell me if you were going to stab me instead of being surprised when you do."
He quirked a brow. "There would be no surprise, should I impale you." I couldn't help the direction of my thoughts going right back to the large cock between his legs, detecting a dark undertone that had nothing to do with the horns protruding from his forehead. My throat went dry once more as I thought about being filled so completely I screamed, having nothing to do with fear, but pleasure. An ache built up behind my shoulder blades where my loh throbbed.
Fuck, was I about to drop my eggs for a krelin? Elder Ezra would murder me herself for putting myself in this situation. It was much too risky to find him attractive, but there was a reason why I agreed to interview a krelin. Before the decline of their alpha females, the krelin's fertilized eggs were dropped from their bodies and incubated outside of the females in their hive’s spawn hatchery. They might have the key to how I could save my own eggs. Perhaps the same methods could be utilized for estreld females with no lining capable of bringing a spawn to term.
Now is as good a time as any, I thought, trying to distract myself from the lust building inside of me. "Could you describe how krelin females bring spawn to term? It's important that we know, just in case you produce any offspring this cycle. We need to be able to assist their growth."
"All of this data should be with your scientists already. From when I submitted my physical exam." He caught me in my curiosity, but decided to humor me by answering, regardless. "Copulation is a lengthy process." He watched me with an interest that had my cheeks coloring. I'd watched the mating ceremony many times, and there were couples that took all night to copulate. So, I wondered how much time krelins believed to be lengthy. "But once fertilization occurs, the eggs are harvested, then stored in kantos sacks within our hive's nursery. It takes the queen's germination to bless the eggs in whatever order she chooses, and the growth begins. We are hoping that with an estreld pairing, the final germination will not be necessary to begin the growth cycle."
I couldn't rely on him to know the details of how the whole larva sacks were prepared for the hive's nursery, but I was intrigued and needed to find out more. "And Krelis would be providing larva sacks for future generations, should they be needed?"
"Kantos sacks,” he corrected. “That is something the mated pair build together," he said with a show of his canines. "Perhaps you'd like a demonstration in private?"
"She isn't interested," Gaven snapped.
"It's fine." I lifted a hand to calm Gaven. I'd never seen him so worked up before. He was usually so collected and aloof. "Really. So, you're saying this larva,” I stopped myself to use his terminology, “kantos sack can be created even if I'm not a krelin?" Finding out more about the larva sacks was all I cared about, but the way his tone darkened made me think it was part of the copulation process of the krelins, making my skin heat. Perhaps, it was the males who produced this incubation sack for the fertilized eggs?
I’d spent plenty of time asking questions about krelins before, but it was hardly appropriate to talk about procreation details with the Chief of Krelis Trade when I was negotiating for nectar imports.
His smile broadened, and he leaned forward to whisper in my ear, "Why are you so interested in something your scientists should already know? This has nothing to do with your questionnaire, does it." That last one wasn't really a question, it was an accusation. "I'll tell you what you want to know little estreld, if you help me secure my mate."
I blustered. "I, well, I have no control over whether a compatible mate chooses to be with you or not."
"Ah, but that isn't the point, is it?" He leaned back and stared out the window of the shuttle into the vast darkness with bored disinterest. "You have a personal reason for wishing to know more about my species that, for some reason, you can't ask one of your scientists to answer for you."
Gaven growled. "Enough. This conversation is over. Whatever he has to say about his opinions and 'feelings' before the ceremony won't help the M.R. team's data collection. We're almost to Bina, anyway."
What was up with Gaven? I'd never seen him like this before.
"You're right," I admitted out loud. Both men stared at me, waiting for what I was going to say next.
Was I agreeing with Trent, or with Gaven?
My future family depended on me to be strong, to not let pride get in the way of what could be. So I continued, "My questions have nothing to do with protocols. I should have been asking you things like what your previous experiences have been when you've copulated, if you'd like me to reserve private space for the ceremony should a mate choose you, and if there are any particular needs you might have to assist with copulation. Most of our data comes from post questionnaires, rather than the pre-screening. I want to know about your kantos sacks because I think they could help estrelds who can't carry offspring to term themselves. Because of previous tensions with your species, it's never been considered and probably won't be until the Almder is certain your peace negotiations are truthful."
"But that doesn't help you, does it?" Trent added gently, an understanding in those yellow eyes as his second lid relubricated horizontally like the glorbin flighters that frequented the food mines. They were reptilian fliers that darted around, snatching jewels and eating them. Harmless, but sometimes annoying. I found myself associating Trent with the glorbins because I didn't like the pity I saw in his eyes, and I grew increasingly irritated.
