Page 92 of Malliko
He had that expression on his face that told me he was listening while keeping silent, so I continued.
“Everything is different with you. Better.”
His smile warmed me more than the sunbeam had a minute ago.
“The way you see me has changed the way I see myself. You came into my life and looked at me as if I was special.”
“Youarespecial.”
I took his hand and kissed the back of it. “Thank you. But what I mean is that it was like you saw the best version of me before I did. I was consumed with sadness and completely stuck in feeling sorry for myself.” Looking out the window, I admitted, “I hated Shanice for being younger, more beautiful, and for stealing Jeremy away from me.”
“She’s not more beautiful than you,” Malliko insisted. “Not in my eyes.”
With a wide smile on my face, I gave him a loving glance. “And I love that. But my point is that I used to think that she stole something from me, and now I feel like she set me free. Without her, I might still be stuck in an unhappy marriage with a man who made me doubt myself constantly.”
Malliko placed a leg over mine and pulled me closer to him. I loved his natural scent and pressed my nose against his chest.
“Being with you has changed me too, Clara. You make me look at everything that I know with different eyes. Your questions when I tell you about my planet and the different cultures that I’ve encountered in the Universe are so unexpected, and you keep surprising me. The fact that we don’t share a brain link makes you a constant mystery to me. And the sex we have is like nothing I’ve experienced before.”
“How is it different though? Isn’t sex just sex?”
He shook his head. “No. With you it’s like…” While searching for the words, he began kneading my left breast as if it was a large stress ball to play with. “It’s very hard to put into words, and this is one of those times when I wish I could have you see if from my point of view through a brain link. When I’m insideyou it’s like you’re letting me into you not just physically but emotionally and mentally as well. I’ve never had a woman want me as badly as you do.”
“That’s because you make me horny,” I teased and intertwined my fingers with his.
“It’s not just lust though. It’s something more… like you want us to be one. I know that sounds strange maybe, but it feels that way to me.”
I grew serious. “No, it doesn’t sound strange. I know what you mean. While we’re in the act, I do want to melt into one with you. Do you think…” I tried to find the words to express the idea that had just occurred to me. “Do you think that we humans are still somehow inclined to miss the ability to communicate with telepathy and do you think they had it?”
“Who?”
“The doomed ones. What were they called again?”
“Mulkas. Our shared ancestors.”
“Yes. Did they use telepathy and if so, why did we humans lose that ability?”
“From what the archives tell us the Mulkas were technologically and mentally advanced, but each planet has shaped us descendants into the different races that we are today. Some have developed to fit the environment of the planet. Others have bred with the local population who were already living on the planet they arrived at, and it’s caused radical differences in looks. My guess is that humans lost the ability of telepathy because of that strange ego thing. You hide your thoughts; say one thing and mean something different. It takes enormous amount of energy to conceal your true intentions if you’re sharing a brain link. Lying is almost impossible unless you’re an Ugon master.”
“So, you think humans rejected telepathy because we’re deceitful as a race?”
“Maybe. Even among us Eidrons there are people with greater abilities than others. It could be that on Earth these abilities weren’t valued as highly and so they slowly died out.”
“You mean natural selection?”
Malliko leaned down and kissed my nipple. “Mmm.”
I was sure he was going to make love to me for the third time that morning but before we got that far, he pulled back a little. “Someone wants to connect with me. It’s work related.”
“On a Sunday.” As soon as I said it, I could hear how dumb it sounded as alien races probably didn’t follow the social structures of a human workweek, let alone a human calendar.
From the way, Malliko sat up and wrapped his arms around his knees while staying quiet, I knew he was communicating with someone.
It only took a few minutes and then he lowered his head and rubbed his hair.
“What is it?” I asked and cuddled up against his side. “Was it bad news?”
Turning his head, Malliko looked at me. “I received instructions about my next destination. It’s here on Earth but in a much different place. I’m investigating cultures next where marriage is considered a business deal. Arranged marriages and forced marriages. I’ll be looking at phenomena such as dowry and the strange importance of virginity in some cultures. They want me to investigate if bride stealing and child marriages are still happening. We’re looking to see if there’s been a progression or regression in women’s right to choose their partner.”
