Page 47 of Her Alien Delegate
"Evie," Broma begged for me to look at him with a sultry call of my name. "I gave you my scent the first time we met, and I would have wished to give it to you again if I was not detained by the Blue District's AI."
"Bode?"
"Confirmed," Bode spoke from my translator, "the unGor had been exposed to a viral contagion and was unable to be released for two Dan star rotations."
I gasped.
"You didn't leave..." I was putting the pieces together. "But, Violet?"
Pheyal spoke then, glancing between us, "I had searched for locally held contracts with humans that matched terminated mating contracts with a trill diplomat... there was only one available. Violet originally held a contract with a trill diplomat, only for it to suddenly be canceled for an immediate transfer request. It met the description of your meeting with Broma."
"Violet was still on Earth; she was in a hurry to leave a bad situation and wanted her exchange to happen sooner..." While my contract had transferred immediately from Ter-ak to thenecia mating contract. "I never told you about the necia," I said out loud, understanding that I was the one who left.
I didn't realize how much hurt I held onto, thinking he left and how much rationalizing I forced myself to repeat to convince myself that I knew it was only a one-time thing.
"I can't cancel my delegation contract with Violet without having enough of a reason for the clans to support a stronger claim," Broma explained. "She needs to bond with her necia mate irrevocably, and I must repair our bond."
"Repair..."
Vaquel groaned. "He tried to fight the mating sickness, but I had to sever the bond to save him. Once an unGor bonds, they need continued contact with their mate to make the bond permanent, or they need to accept the rejection."
"Accept the rejection?"
"The bond was severed because I was kept apart from you for too long, but my ormete remember. If you accept the gen of finding, we can repair it."
"Tell her the risks," Vaquel urged.
"If you reject a second bonding..." Broma couldn't finish the thought.
"The bond will not be capable of repair," Pheyal said while pushing from the table and kneeling with his ormete braid presented to me. Vaquel followed his lead and lifted his ormete in offering.
Broma sat across from me, waving to the food tray. "Please finish. We will wait."
"You're not hungry?"
My stomach gurgled again, and I winced at the sound with embarrassment.
"We will wait," Broma repeated. "What we are hungry for is not on the plate."
My cheeks heated.
Broma grunted and jutted his chin at the other unGor. They nodded and stood. Pheyal dipped a finger in my food and offered that to me instead. Vaquel, not to be left out, dipped his finger in and nudged it closer to my lips for me to eat from his finger first.
Broma watched me to see what I would do.
Knowing that he hadn't left me and came halfway across the galaxy to catch up with me made me more brazen. I stared at Broma as I gently guided Vaquel's finger to my lips by his wrist.
Without breaking eye contact, I flicked my tongue up Vaquel's finger, scooping the food into my mouth.
Vaquel groaned. "Nnnng, fff-yesss," he said incoherently, with a shudder traveling up his arm.
Broma's eyes hooded with an intensity that challenged what I would do next. My heart was racing, and my blood rushed to my ears, pounding, as I placed my finger under Pheyal's hand. I didn't grab him, I merely moved my finger closer to my lips, and his hand followed as if magnetized.
His chest rose and fell rapidly as he watched me. So I paused, smelling the sweet, woodsy aroma of the har fruit jelly. Pheyal growled, but did not push his finger into my mouth, and my eyes never left Broma's.
"Show me your tongue a third time, my mate," Broma commanded as he undid the clasp holding his robe around his shoulders.
I opened my mouth, sticking my tongue out and licking up Pheyal's finger, before sucking off the food. They all watched me as I let it dissolve, and my throat bobbed as I swallowed. Self-conscious of what I'd just done to Pheyal and Vaquel's fingers while eye-fucking Broma, I suddenly felt very uncertain. My eyes went wide. What was I thinking?
