Page 48 of The Alien Who Saved Christmas
“I think we should break Jynn out of the blue salt mine tonight.” Sadie called from the shower pod, oblivious to his lustful fantasies. “That will give the town enough time to settle down from the casino thing, but not enough time to replace Elf or notice his key is missing.”
Xane shook his head.
She must have seen the motion. “You don’t think so? We could wait until tomorrow, I guess. But the more time we stay here, the bigger the odds someone finds the ship. It’s hidden, but it’s notthathidden. And I feel like we have some Christmas magic helping us today. Crazy criminal schemes always work best on Christmas. Look atMixed Nuts,Silent Night DeadlyNight,Reindeer Games…” She paused. “Wait… do the bad guys get caught in those movies?”
He ignored the parts of that remark that made no sense, which was most of it. “I am not disagreeing about your crazy criminal scheme. I am simply incapable of contributing anything useful to the discussion, at present.”
“Huh?” Sadie sounded confused. As usual, her happy, felonious plans consumed all her attention. “How come?”
“Because I am too painfully aroused to think of anything beyond water running all over your naked body.”
Silence.
“Oh.” Sadie finally said.
“Oh.” Xane agreed, darkly amused by his frustration and her goodness. Yes. Hathgarr wouldrelishthis situation. “Do you know what a Weakness is, wife?”
“Um… sure. It’s like the opposite of a strength.” She sounded confused by the question. “Why? Does it mean something different in your language?”
“When a Rtaharion speaks of a Weakness, generally he refers to the one thing he should avoid, at all costs. …And the one thing he most needs to survive. It gives him life. But in the end, it will break him to pieces.” Xane studied the metal sheeting on the wall, as if it held the mysteries of the Lost Constellation. “Dangerous and irresistible. This is the quandary.”
“So it’s like loving someone.” Sadie translated. “You’re better because of your feelings. But caring also leaves you feeling vulnerable.”
“Rtaharions do not accept or give ‘caring’. The word has no meaning to us.”
“It means the same things as ‘Weakness’ means, only it’s a much nicer way to say it.” Sadie told him dryly. “You know, Rtaharions might do better in the romance department, if you weren’t so down on the idea of feeling feelings. You said you don’t get a lot of girls signing up to be your wives, right? Not having a proper word for ‘caring’ might be why.”
“There are few women on my planet. The ones we do have switch husbands often. The system works better without emotions.”
Sadie snorted, like that was nonsense.
She still did not understand how marriage really worked. Xane closed his eyes. As much as the idea of keeping one husband forever benefited him, he could not mislead her. It was wrong. The Weakness inside of him would not allow him to take advantage of his wife.
“Women switch husbands often.” He repeated stressing the words, so she would comprehend their meaning. “It is not like your Earth, where women are plentiful. Females have endless choice here, and they constantly trade one man for another.”
“Why in the world would they do that?”
“Why wouldn’t they?” Xane retorted.
“Because they’re happy with the husband they’ve got.” She made it sound simple. “Why not just pick a guy who makes your heart goboomand wants to keep you happy? Someone who really cares for you.”
Xane felt agitated, now. “Caring would be disastrous for the husband. This is why we have no word for it.” How did she still not understand? “The wife moves on, when another male offers her more or seems to be a better companion. The husband stays behind. Alone.”
“Oooooh.” Sadie breathed. “Because marriage is temporary. It would devastate him when she went away.”
“Yes. This emotion isWeaknessand it is dangerous.”
Sadie considered the foundational belief of his people and snorted. “On the other hand, if the husband cared, maybe the wife wouldn’t go away in the first place. My mom and grandma were perfectly happy with their one-and-only husbands until the day they died.”
Xane refused to be captivated by the possibility of Sadie staying with him forever. No good would come from wishing. “The women think differently in this galaxy.” He muttered dourly. “You will learn.”
“Maybe you will learn theydon’tthink differently. Maybe your girls are switching husbands a lot, because all of your men are afraid to love them and it sucks. Maybe they’re just looking for someone with enough balls to risk getting their heart broken.”
That idea was so astounding, Xane turned to gape at her. “Rtaharions have plenty of balls! We do not…fuck.” His head snapped back around to the wall, his mouth going dry. He’d just seen far more than he was supposed to see.
Rather than delight him, it added to his misery. Gods! He’d known she’d be perfect, but she wasperfect. Every centimeter of her was now imprinted on his mind. And all thosesmooth, wet, perfect curves were a few feet away and completely out of reach.
Xane stifled a groan.
