Page 20 of I'm Not Your Pet

I could only assume that meant something about the ship having docked. I nodded, hoping I’d gotten that right. Huu-goh relaxed, slumping into me, his face sticking to my chest as tiny tendrils that had a mind of their own reached out to cling.

I pulled them back as swiftly as I could—once again, terrified of crossing that line between us.

At least, before he did.

Though I was due back as captain, it didn’t feel right leaving Huu-goh alone in my rooms. I wanted to. I really, really did. Though I didn’t know where we stood in our relationship, I was still terrified of him becoming frightened or hurt if he left them.

The planet we’d landed on was a safe one, as far as planets go. It had a temperate climate. No fauna that was necessarily harmful—at least en-route to the pick-up station. Its yellow skies and red dirt were familiar as I held tightly to Huu-goh’s leash,terrified he’d wander off the path even though I knew there wasn’t anything out there likely to hurt him.

“Is that really necessary?” Mala asked from beside me, nodding toward the leash.

My spots turned fuschia in embarrassment as I glanced toward Huu-goh and made a sound in affirmation. He had his notepad out. He’d had it out a lot lately, scribbling away with a writing device that was worn to the quick. Page after page was full of the strange scratch-scratch of his people, along with illustrations of the many things we’d encountered on our trek from the ship.

Behind us, a progression of crewmates were driving the empty carriers that we’d be using when we reached our destination. By the time we returned to the ship the following day, they’d be full to the brim with gemstones—the very same gemstones that powered the fertility pods back home.

This was arguably one of the most important stops on our journey. It felt…wrong to leave Huu-goh behind when I couldn’t explain to him that I’d be gone for several days, even if things went well.

“He could get injured,” I argued, though admittedly even I knew I’d waited too long to respond.

“By what?” Mala asked, sounding more amused than he should.

“Shut up.” I glared at him, and he shrugged, unbothered.

Huu-goh didn’t seem to mind the leash. At least, at first. I was careful to keep my steps slow so that he could keep up—and even slower still when we encountered a new plant for him to sketch. His eyes were glued to the papers in his grip, a look of wonder on his face every time he saw something new.

The exchange went without a hitch when we arrived to our destination. Mala took over setting up camp inside the mine, and Huu-goh sat obediently beside me as I exchanged creditswith the manager of the location. He eyed the huu-man with hunger, and it took everything I had not to lean over and bite his head right off.

That emotion left me feeling drained and a little shocked at myself.

I liked to think I was clear-headed, but apparently Huu-goh brought out a different side to me.

When everything was done, I kept a tight hold on his leash as we exited the main office and headed toward the front of the mine where the guest accommodations were. If you could call them that. This planet was less developed than Osheania, and I knew that the comfort we’d be offered here would be rudimentary at best.

Most of the crew was already settled in for the night, Mala included.

Beside him, a few feet away to offer some semblance of privacy, was a pile of furs for Huu-goh and I to share. I glared at Mala’s back as he snored—he didn’t fucking snore, so I knew he was pretending. It wasn’t as though I didn’t want to sleep with Huu-goh. But again…I was doing my best not to cross that line until he did.

He hadn’t been given much autonomy, if any. He deserved to make this choice—even if it ached to know that this was out of my hands. I hated when I wasn’t in control. Especially when I wanted something. But for once in my life, I kept that feeling to myself.

I didn’t act.

Not even when we settled down for the night, the cavern of colorful rock climbing high above us, and Huu-goh sleepily snuffled beside me.

I ached to reach out, to nuzzle into the fur on his head, to taste the salt on his skin that I could smell after a day spent hiking through the wilderness. But I didn’t.

When I woke up the next morning, however, Huu-goh was tucked against my chest. And he was trembling. It wasn’t like the crying he’d exhibited that first night—but something else. Something that smelled musky-sweet—his lovely little hips rub, rub, rubbing against mine. I’d smelled this once before.Thiswas the scent of Huu-goh’s arousal.

Euphoria burst through my body as I pulled back to look at him, a grin on my face—only for that grin to quickly fall when I realized that he was asleep.

He hadn’t chosen me.

For all I knew he was imagining someone else entirely.

Disgusted with myself and the situation, I held still till Huu-goh awoke, doing my best to ignore the panicked little sound he made—like he was embarrassed. His face was flushed, nearly as fuschia as my spots became when I was embarrassed. We had so many differences that the simple similarity settled me, even though I felt untethered.

Huu-goh liked the crystals. His eyes were wide and bright, constantly catching on the glittering surfaces as the crew filled the carriers, each box piled high. Iridescent, the jagged surfaces caught and refracted the light from the hanging lanterns above, casting rainbows on the walls.

“Pre-tty,” Huu-goh said, mumbled under his breath as he furiously scribbled on his notepad beside me. I tightened my grip on his leash, my head swimming as the familiar word came back to me.

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