Page 109 of Sky Song
Lyle chuckled, his arms flexing against her body. “They were going to put me out of my misery, but they saw my markings.” He pulled the neck of his shirt down, revealing the inked blue signs in full. “The markings display my heritage, and the women knew who my father was. They dragged me to his camp, but I heard he hadn’t been impressed, either. He hadn’t killed me but he ordered them to take me to the Commons where all the helpless lived, the discarded women, most of the children, and other bottom feeders. A normal Rix’s marks show both sides of his or her family, but there, the tradition was only maintained to record paternity, and only on boys for the leaders to know who they’re training to fight. It is very probable that had my father recognized me as the son of his traitor wife, he would have offed me then.” He smiled, revealing a mouth full of amber teeth with a darker gap in front. The sunlight hit his face just so, and his teeth glowed with dimension. “But he didn’t know. And I grew up.”
A twig snapped again, a normal forest sound, but this time it didn’t shatter Cricket's nerves. Instead, Serenity Park came into focus all around her. The birds were chirping and the insects buzzing. The ever-present wind whispered in the trees.
And amidst all of those normal, serene surroundings, was this alien. They stood so close that she could smell his faint musky-sweet smell. She heard him breathe, slow and steady. Everything was too sharp, overwhelming her every sense.
“Are you better now?” he asked softly.
“Yes, I am. No more barking dogs in my head.”
“Good. No scary wildlife around either, except for a massive slug over there.”
“It’s gotta be a bezod.”
“Oh, yeah? The one you asked me about like it was my long-lost cousin?”
Her eyes flew to his face. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make fun of you.”
“Stop lying.”
She saw the bezod then as it wobbled in the most grotesque way circling a tree trunk before bunching up into a translucent ball with guts and leaping into the forest and out of sight. She giggled.
Lyle’s arms flexed.
“Sorry.” She covered her mouth with her hand, but the laughter bubbled forth, snorting out of her mouth. “I’m sorry!”
“Liar.” Lyle’s energy pulsed out, warm and strong.
He kissed her.
She opened to him without hesitation, without a single doubt that it may not be the right thing to do. Her body pressed against his, her arms going around his neck. He made her giddy and itchy on the inside. She wanted things she couldn’t name, that awareness hovering all around her, agitating her nerves, injecting pulses of hot energy into her body.
She tasted a faint sweetness on his tongue, and her laughter died. He pulled back.
“What’s wrong, my hearts?”
“You taste so sweet.”
His mouth lifted in the barest smile. “You taste sweet yourself.”
But it wasn’t what she meant. “The medicine you’re on… I think it’s the medicine.”
“Oh, that. That may be so.” He hadn’t winced, hadn’t gotten self-conscious. Nothing changed in his demeanor at her mentioning the drug.
Cricket stared at him. He was a male who had been, for all intents and purposes, chemically castrated. And he was so calm about it. She couldn't decide if he acted so nonchalant because he had, figuratively, no balls at all or a massive pair.
“I hate what they’ve done to you. How could they make you less than what you should be?” Now she was ready to cry, her emotions out of control.
Lyle cocked his head. “Do you think I’m less of a man now than when I used to nail women at the Commons every night?”
She coughed.
“My hearts, what makes a man, a man?”
Such a simple question. Surely, the ability to consummate a love affair should be a huge part of the deal. Yes, that. But was it the crux?
Lyle shifted to stand sideways to her. “The drugs removed the trimmings, like the shape of my body, my sex drive and violence that goes with it. My speed and good balance. If that’s what you hang your definition of maleness on, I’m no longer one. But I still act like a man because I think like one. No drugs can change that. Aeshac knew it when our deal was struck. I knew, too. The question is, will that be enough for you?”
She fell into his arms.
