Page 44 of Love Galaxy

She releases a long breath. “I need to find some dry clothes.”

Dripping water, I follow her back into the kitchen.

My datapad is releasing a high-pitched beeping sound that has me clutching my ears.

Briar pokes it with a finger, her free hand covering one ear, and so I cover her other ear for her. Lines pinch her mouth, but at her touch, the datapad stops screaming at us, and the screen clears to reveal two paragraphs. One is in a writing which I cannot read but which presumably is for Briar.

“It looks like this task is specifically for you,” she says, her eyes scanning the words. “Hashtag getting physical. Hashtag tell all.” She raises her voice, glancing toward the camera clipped to the kitchen counter. “I think what you actually mean is hashtag coitus interruptus.”

Confused, I frown.

“Humping interruptusisn’t as funny a joke,” she explains without laughing, as if that clarifies everything.

I hurriedly read:

Sorin,

Briar taught you Human kisses.

Now it is your turn to reciprocate.

Your second task is to instruct your partner in the ways of Ril’os mating rituals.

#GettingPhyscial #TellAll

“I do not know… ” I falter, my heart beating uncomfortably fast.

“It’ll be fine.” Briar smiles, but there is a tightness to her jaw that was not there before John Smith’s interruption. “You’ll think of something.”

“I left Ril when I was five,” I try explaining, my mouth suddenly dry. “I do not know what the Males of my species do when they wish to gain the attention of a Female.” I shift uneasily, hating that I have to admit to such a weakness out loud.

Briar pushes on my chest, and my knees bump into the chair behind me. I sit, and she climbs onto my thighs, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and twisting at the waist to look at me. Her wet dress sticks to my scales too, and water from her hairs drops onto my chest.

Like this, our eyes are nearly level, and I bow my head, resting my forehead against hers, wishing I could sink inside her body entirely and hide my humiliation from the cameras.

“It doesn’t matter,” she whispers, her warm breath tickling my lips. “Why don’t you show me something you like instead?”

“The task?—”

“Fuck the task,” she says with venom.

I straighten, confused. “You wish to rut with the task?”

“What? No! It’s an expression. It means ignore the task. I think you should show me something you like.” She squeezes the back of my neck, and immediately I am thinking about her handon my cock. Or, better yet, my hand on her pearl. I like that very much.

Reluctantly, though, I dismiss the idea, and not only because those are things she does not wish to do while being filmed. More to the point, human kisses are special, intimate, something Briar and I can do together that is not rutting. Kissing is more like a prelude. Or a promise. And scudding fek, I can think of no Ril’os ritual that compares.

I stare down at the datapad, hating LOVE GALAXY for putting me in such a position. Neglected, the screen fades into black as the datapad switches to power-saving mode.

Maybe I could use it to research Ril’os mating rituals. There is sure to be such information stored in the database. Again, humiliation churns my stomach. How do I not know such things? How did I not make it my mission to learn such skills for this very moment?

Because I never thought I would have a moment like this. I never allowed myself to believe I would meet a Female, let alone Briar.

I pull the datapad toward us, and when the screen wakes, I click a few buttons.

“What are you doing?” Briar frowns at the screen, evidently unable to understand what I am typing.

As the datapad connects to Roan’s, I kiss her temple. “This is what I would like to gift you.”

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