It is a genius idea. I look around the beach, at the scatter of crude huts with animal hides stretched atop stone walls. Bah, I can easily make something like this. And I know instinctively that Vivi will like it. A private place to call her own where no one can bother her…except me, because I will surely be at her side and in her arms as she shrieks my name. “This is an excellent idea, my brother. I shall start on it now.”

“Start on it in the morning,” he says, clapping me on the back. “For tonight, we celebrate that our strange little tribe is growing.”

I scowl. “But I want to court her now. I want her to be impressed with me.”

“Then go talk to her instead of the gladiators.” Ashtar gives me a shove forward, indicating I should head to her side. “Get to know her. Listen to her needs and show her that you care about more than just her cunt.” He pauses, and then adds, “Or ass-sucking.”

“I care about more than just her cunt,” I tell him, wounded. “I care about all of her. It is all attached.”

He shakes his head at me. “Talk to her about something other than resonance, ssethri fool. Talk to her about something that shows you value her thoughts. Make conversation, flatter her, learn about her, and it will lead to the ass-sucking.” Ashtar pauses. “Though knowing my mate as I do, it is probably best if you start with kissing before you lead into the ass-sucking.”

“Kissing?” It is a word I have heard before, and it takes me a moment to place it. “The strange mouth-massages that Flor does with I’rec? And O’jek and Daisy do to each other?”

“That’s it. Humans love kissing. You can ask her to show you how…but make sure you don’t start with kissing or she will think you only want her cunt. Remember, talk about things that interest her first.”

Mmm. I consider this even as I cross the sands towards my mate.

Chapter Seventeen

VIVI

I listen to the endless chatter around the fire from a safe distance. When I start to feel overwhelmed—which doesn’t take much—I edge to the back of the group and just absorb what others are talking about. It’s not that I dislike anyone or don’t want to participate. It just feels like too much. Like someone’s going to ask something I’m not prepared to answer—like my name—and it’s better to hang back and let others handle all the conversing. It’s more comfortable that way.

Even so, I’m not surprised when Skarr approaches me, a frown on his face.

He drops onto the rocky seat next to me and eyes the fire, then eyes me again. I can see in his mind he’s calculating just how far I’m sitting from the others. I hug my legs and pretend to ignore his expression of annoyance, because I know I’m hanging back. It’s just…there’s so many strangers. I’m still getting used to our small group and now there are so many more to greet. For a shy person like me, it’s downright painful.

Skarr’s not shy, of course. He flicks his cloak back with a flamboyant gesture and leans in, all show, like he’s the prince of the beach deigning to speak to one of his subjects. “Are you hungry? Thirsty?”

I shake my head, even as my stomach growls loudly.

He narrows his eyes at me.

Biting the inside of my cheek, I stare back at him. How do I get him to understand that I want nothing more than to retreat from the crowd? That getting up and demanding food and drink from the laughing, merry group is beyond my capability at the moment? I freeze the moment a stranger even looks in my direction.

He grunts and gets to his feet again. “Stay here.”

As if I have anywhere else to go? If I did, I would be there already.

I watch, tensing inwardly as he moves to the fire and gets food and drink. Knowing Skarr, he could just as easily snag it for himself and then eat it in front of me with a scowl, daring me to get my own. That would absolutely be on-brand for him.

He doesn’t, though. He returns to my side, cutting through the group, and then sits next to me again, balancing the dish on his knee and indicating we should share. “Lucky for you that I am a wildly generous male,” he says. In his other hand, he holds up a skin. “I brought drink, too. They call it sah-sah.”

“Thanks.” I want to be sour at his back-patting but I’m just relieved that he’s sharing with me without forcing me to go and get my own. I pluck something that looks like a rib out of the dish and nibble on the meat. It’s so tender it falls off the bone and flavored with herbs that are both pungent and appealing at the same time. I devour it in a few quick bites and then put the bone back in the dish, reaching for a long, skinny tuber. It tastes a bit like a boiled potato, and I nibble on it, watching Skarr as I do.

He’s not eating. He’s watching me eat and holding the plate for me. I swallow the mouthful I’m on and put a hand to my mouth to cover for crumbs. “Are—are you not eating?”

“I want to make sure you’re full first. What kind of mate would I be if I ate all your food?”

Oh. I should probably point out that him getting me food doesn’t mean we’re mates now. That it doesn’t mean anything at all. But I’m exhausted and overwhelmed, and right now Skarr is what’s familiar. So I don’t say anything at all, I just keep eating.

He leans in close as I take another rib. His voice drops low. “How is your finger?”

“Better today,” I admit, flexing it a little. I’ve still got it bound to my ring finger but it doesn’t throb and ache like it did yesterday. How long do fingers take to heal? I genuinely don’t know.

“And yet you retreat from everyone?”

The reproach in his voice makes me shrink down into myself again. “It’s just…kind of overwhelming. First this planet, and then the clone thing, and now this.” Everywhere I look, there are people. There are humans wearing leathers and carrying half-alien babies, and alien men of all different shades of blues and even a few red. The beach looks as forbidding as the mountains, and the waves crash against the shore like they have a personal vendetta. Nothing about this seems inviting or homey.

We were told the camp on the beach was sheltered. Safer. This doesn’t feel safe. It looks like a primitive camp on the unfriendliest ocean ever. I don’t know what I was expecting but…not quite this.

It’s a lot to take in.

Skarr grunts, eyeing the group. He offers the waterskin to me. “Drink this. It will make you feel better.”

I take a cautious sip of the drink. It tastes like juice with a bit of a tangy kick, though I can’t tell what fruit it reminds me of. It’s good, though, and I take a bigger sip as I eat another tuber. Skarr’s still watching me, and I feel the need to explain. “I just need time to get used to everything. It’s all different than what I’m used to.”

He huffs. “Don’t I know it. Out of all these people, not a single one wants to spar. It’s downright baffling.”

His indignation strikes me as funny. I giggle around a mouthful of potato-tuber and wash it down with a sip of juice, then offer the skin to him. “You do know that fighting isn’t everything, right?”

Skarr takes a big swig of the drink, gives it a look of appreciation, and then downs another hearty gulp. He offers it back to me, and I drink a bit more, just so he won’t hog it all. “For you, it is not,” he says. “But for me, fighting is all I know.”

“Then you’re in the same situation I am,” I tell him. “Now we both have to learn how to live here. Now we’re both starting from scratch.”

He grunts, sounding as displeased as I feel.

I nudge the plate toward him as I take another rib. “Eat some. There’s plenty for both of us.”

He grins at me and leans in and takes a bite from the potato I hold in my hand. It’s a very lover-y thing to do, and I should get mad, but he grins like a mischievous child and all I can do is giggle at how ridiculous he is.