I don’t see Skarr anywhere. I rub my chest, because the constant resonance thrum that’s been present since that fateful day is silent. It’s…odd and vaguely unpleasant, like my khui is punishing me for not doing the deed with him yet. “Where is …um, everyone?”

“Everyone, or just Skarr?” Callie asks.

“Hush,” Gail scolds her as my face burns. “She came out here for a meal, not an interrogation. And as for the others, I don’t know. Some of the women are sleeping in. Some have babies and husbands and get started later than others. It’s still pretty early, but you can see a few people are fishing over by the shore.” She points at the forms in the distance. “Everyone’s got things to do, even though there was a party last night.”

“A few of the men headed out super early,” Callie volunteers. “Hunting.” Her attention turns to the freckled woman. “Morning, Harlow. You want bowls for everyone?”

“Yes, please.” Harlow situates the children, and Callie grabs bowls and fills them.

Is that where Skarr went? Hunting? I know he loves to show off, but for some reason, I thought he’d make sure I was okay first. Why do I care? I ask myself that, and the only reason I can come up with is that he’s been protective of me. He handed me his leather cloak when it was obvious he needed it, all so I could cover up my injured hand.

We will not tell anyone, he’d reassured me. We are a team.

Maybe that’s why I feel vaguely bothered by his absence this morning. He talked about “team” until we arrived and now he’s gone and I’m here awkwardly trying to converse with two strangers.

“If you’re asking about Skarr,” Gail says in a low voice at my side. “He disappeared with Ashtar early this morning.”

I nod. I’m not sure what else to do. I appreciate the information, but it doesn’t solve anything for me. Why did Skarr run off? What’s he doing?

Why’d he leave my side when he knows how nervous I am about being here in the village? Is he mad I grabbed his dick—dicks?—and ran off?

“Oh, here’s Penny,” Callie announces as she dishes out food for the redhead and the children with her. “Have you two met?”

“Hi,” Penny says, sitting on the other side of me with a smile. Her arms are full with a little girl with delicate, pale blue skin, fat cheeks, and dark hair twisted into two knots atop her head. The child’s horns are tiny nubs and she sucks her thumb, even after Penny pulls her fist out of her mouth.

She’s adorable.

“It’s so nice to meet you,” Penny says to me, beaming. “I love that we’re getting more people! New blood is always welcome, you know? And more hands to help out around camp.”

“That’s Vivi,” Callie says, spooning more of the strange porridge out. “She’s the one that resonated.”

Inwardly, I cringe at Callie’s words. Is that what I’m going to be known as? The gal that resonated to Skarr?

Penny’s eyes go wide. “Oh, I’ve heard good things about you! That you’re already a whiz with fire and you pick things up quickly. If you want a mentor, I’m going to call dibs.”

“Hey,” Callie protests “What if I want dibs?”

“Dibs are whoever calls it first and I just did,” Penny tells her with a laugh. She pulls her daughter’s thumb out of her mouth again, and then winces. “Oh, my stomach is crap this morning. I think I need to go get my tea.”

And then she hands me her daughter, as if I’m not a stranger.

Penny puts the bowl of gruel into her daughter’s hands. “Miss Vivi’s going to help you eat, Brenna. You be good and Mommy will be right back.” She wrinkles her nose. “Two jifs. Gonna barf and get my tea and I’ll be back in a flash.”

Oh. I stare after her in surprise.

“Pregnant,” Gail explains.

Ah. I hold Brenna in my arms and while it doesn’t feel familiar—my memories don’t flood with babies, which might be a good thing—it’s also not unpleasant. She smells sweet and giggles at Gail as she eats a spoonful and Gail makes faces at her.

“I miss when my boy was that little,” Gail says wistfully. “Z’hren’s getting so big now. He went hunting with his papa this morning. I’ll introduce you to them later.”

Brenna solemnly dips her spoon into her food and tries to offer it to Gail.

“Thank you,” Gail says, and pretends to eat, which makes Brenna giggle.

Surreptitiously, I lean in and sniff Brenna’s baby pigtails. They’re soft and curly and dark and remind me of Skarr’s hair. I don’t know why I’m thinking of him, or why I’m still hurt that he left without saying goodbye. It’s not like I’ve agreed to be his mate. If we have sex, there will be babies.

Babies like Brenna, with cute fat cheeks and sweet-smelling pigtails.

Oh no. I wonder if the khui makes me baby-crazy, too. I’m alarmed at the thought and I want to ask, but I also don’t want it getting around camp. The last thing I want is for Skarr to find out that I’m asking about babies or how resonance makes you feel.

If there’s anything that needs asking about, it’s the plural-dick situation, and I don’t know how to ease into that conversation. Do all aliens have two dicks? Is Skarr an anomaly?

Where does that second dick go? I mean, there’s an obvious hole but…

Flustered at the thought, I automatically eat the spoon of food Brenna shoves at me, much to the child’s delight.

Chapter Nineteen

SKARR

I set off early in the morning with Ashtar, and he brings along the human Jason. I am not thrilled about the addition to our party, but he says Jason wishes to learn how to build a hut as well. I understand this. We are the smart ones, looking to impress females with our skills. Let the others sleep in while we gain the advantage.

I will need every advantage I can get in order to impress my Vivi.

So Ashtar shifts to a dragon and takes us several coves away, where we can pick through the tumble of rocks and look for large ones that will make up the base of the hut. When Ashtar is in his “battle form” he can haul extremely heavy things, and he will fly them back for us. We only have to pick out what we need and try to fit it together.

I walk the beach, looking for the best, the most perfect rocks, and I think about Vivi.

Last night has been playing through my mind, over and over again. How beautiful she was when she laughed, how her eyes sparkled in the moonlight. The drink loosened her inhibitions, making her relax and forget her worries. And she kissed me.

Kissing. I can definitely see the appeal of it, now that I have experienced it. Vivi knew what she was doing. She flung herself at me and planted her mouth on mine and then coaxed her tongue into my mouth, taking control. It was incredible, and realizing that she was kissing me only because she was drunk ruined the moment for me. I do not want her kisses when she is out of her mind with drink. I want her kisses because she wants me.

Then I tried to stop her, and everything went wrong.

Vivi gave me frisky touches, and it took everything I had to push them away. She reached for my cock and rubbed, and I immediately extruded both upper and lower cock, like an untouched boy.

Immediately, she ran.

It was humiliating.

I don’t even know what I did wrong. Were my cocks not large enough to please her and she realized I was failing her? Was it that I extruded right into her grasp even after I turned her away? I wish I knew the answer. While she has no memories of her name or where she comes from, I have no memories when it comes to touching females. I assume I am good at it, but doubt eats away at my confidence and leaves my mood sour.

I find a large slab of rock in a vaguely triangular shape and wave both Jason and Ashtar over. They examine the rocks and Jason makes a pleased sound as he hops down to another rocky outcrop right below. “We might have enough for both floors right here. Now we just need to piece them together like a jigsaw.”