Page 64 of Malliko
“Here in the US, we have a thing called the empty nest syndrome. It typically happens when your children grow up and move out of your house. I think I suffer from it because I see my children so seldom.”
“You could have more offspring, couldn’t you? I mean, you’re still young.”
Pushing against my chest, Clara sat up and gave me a small smile. “I could, but I would need to find the right partner first. Turns out my taste in men isn’t too great.”
When she stood and got dressed, I watched her and felt my body react to her curves. My hands wanted to reach out and touch her, but I didn’t. I had already gone too far when I indulged in tasting her. Licking my lips discreetly, I wished the taste of her would linger but good things never did.
“Malliko, I…” Clara shifted her weight and looked up at me as I rose to stand beside her. “I want to ask you something.”
“Go ahead,” I said and looked into her eyes.
“It’s just that with everything you’re doing to help me feel confident and sexy again, I wondered if there’s anything I can do in return. Maybe I could proofread your dissertation. I did that for my ex-husband when he wrote his thesis. I’m good with US grammar.”
“You would do that?” Her offer was irrelevant because there wouldn’t be a dissertation, but the fact that she wanted to reciprocate meant that what we were doing together mattered to her.
She lit up. “Are you kidding? I’m dying to get my hands on your conclusions from your research. Proofreading would be the fun part.”
Opening my arms, I embraced her in a tight hug and as we stood close, I felt a longing for her to stay.
“Anyway, thank you for… you know.” She gave me a shy smile. “Tania is a very lucky woman.”
I smiled back and walked her to the door. “Do you want me to take you home?”
“No. It’s fine. I know the area is sketchy, but I’ve lived there for years now.”
The worry in my chest was in conflict with her words. I needed to respect if she didn’t want me to take her home, but I hated that place where she lived.
“Okay, but text me when you get back.”
“I will.” She pressed a kiss to my cheek and repeated, “Thank you, Malliko.”
Through my memories, Lios had seen what he asked me to show him. Leaning back in his seat, he took a moment before he said, “I’m seeing two major problems.”
“You can’t possibly think that I forced or manipulated her,” I exclaimed.
“No. But I’m definitely detecting sexual attraction from your side and what you did is considered a sexual act.”
“What about the part where he told her about our Eidron culture?” Nerix asked.
“I’m not bothered by that part as she had no idea that you were talking about another planet and not a country. But the sexual relationship between you could easily develop into something it shouldn’t.”
“It won’t,” I promised but even as I said it, I felt the loss inside me from missing out on what had the potential to be the best sexual experience of my life.
Lios made our telepathic connection mutual and since he was already linked to Nerix, I felt his curiosity poke at me as well.
Telepathically, I felt Lios address me: “Thank you for sharing your memories and thoughts with us. We sympathize with your situation and find no proof of force or manipulation of any kind. However, our recommendation will be that you do not have contact with Clara again. The attraction between you seems to be mutual and strong. A sexual relationship isn’t problematic in itself as long as it’s consensual, but it couldresult in crossbreeding, which is prohibited under the cultural protection laws.”
“I’m not going to fall in love with a human or have offspring with Clara,”I assured them telepathically.
Nerix pushed his chair back and closed off the mental connection between us. It suited me fine and I closed mine off to Lios as well. The feeling of privacy was welcome.
“How about we leave Lios to do the report and then you come with me to see the rest of the team? They all want to see you,” Nerix suggested. I was both surprised and grateful that he hadn’t been aggressive during the interview.
Lios got up and walked to the door. “I’ll inform the captain that we’re closing the investigation and that you can return to your work.”
“Thank you.” Relief filled me as I walked with Nerix to meet the other crew members of the cultural defense team.
Two of them were new, but the rest were the same soldiers I had worked and lived with onboard theGreat Defender, which we had nicknamed our transporter.
