“Your ears?” Was that some kind of metaphor about being embarrassed? But that had to be a human thing – burning ears. I hadn’t even seen any ears on this guy! Where was he hiding them?

He gave me a sideways glance with eyes that once again were veined blue instead of white. Then he took off his hat and tipped his head down to me.

So he did have ears after all.

And, my God, they were the cutest fucking ears I’d ever seen, alien or human.

They were on the top of his head, normally hidden by his hat. The only other times he’d been bareheaded so far he’d either been behind me on the horse, or I’d been distracted by other things. Like his dick.

But now, with him bent down like this, I could get a good look at his adorably rounded, velvety ears, sticking up from the top of his head like an Old-Earth mouse. They were the same yellow-gold as the rest of him, though the edges and backs were darker, with streaks of irritated-looking black.

“Are they burned now?” I asked uneasily. I may not have known much about Zabrian anatomy, but the black streaking along the skin there really didn’t look right.

“Yes,” he grunted, straightening back up.

“Wait, what?” I gasped at his careless reply. “Why?!”

“Same reason you can burn,” he said, sounding completely unconcerned. “Sun.”

“Is this from today? From the ride back here?” I asked, feeling like a total ass. He’d given me his hat and now he had an injury because of it. “I’m so sorry, Silar!”

He blinked his lashless eyes.

“Why?”

“Because! You got burned because of me!”

“I got burned because of the sun.”

“You know what I mean!”

Impossible fucking man.

“It is only my ears,” he said slowly, looking mystified by my reaction. “We have good hearing, but it makes the skin there more sensitive.” He eyed me for a moment. “If I’m not mistaken, your scalp, face, and neck would have burned without the hat. And maybe even your ears on top of all that.”

“Well, yes, that’s true. But still!”

“Still what?”

Oh my God. Was this how all of our conversations were going to go?

“Come on,” I said, shaking my head and grabbing his hand. He jolted, staring at where I touched him with eyes glowing white again. I really need to find out what that’s about…

But I’d learn about his weird glowy eyes after I’d taken care of his ears.

Thankfully, when I started walking, tugging at his big body, he followed without complaint. I let go of him once we were in the kitchen where I’d left my bag on the floor. I bent down and rummaged around, shoving aside clothing for the few bottles of toiletries I’d brought from Elora Station, which included a small tube of general antiseptic healing ointment. Seizing upon it, I grinned with triumph, then straightened rapidly and turned to face Silar. I paused, noticing the way he’d hastily averted his gaze when I’d turned.

Was he staring at my ass?

Well, that would certainly be an interesting development, considering the way he’d seemed so keen on not touching me so far.

Unless he was noticing my lack of tail back there… Maybe he thought my butt looked weird without one.

Unfortunately, that was probably the more likely (and depressing) scenario. I pushed it out of my mind, focusing at the task at hand – Silar’s poor little burnt-up ears.

I was about to ask him to sit down when I remembered there wasn’t anywhere to do it in here. Except the floor, I supposed.

“How come you don’t have a table or chair in there?” I asked him as I walked through to the bedroom.

“Why would I need one?” he asked, sounding genuinely confused as he followed me.

“For eating?”

“I eat standing up.”

I knew it.

“OK, well, in case you hadn’t noticed, you’re very tall, so I need you to sit down.”

Still holding my tube of cream, I opened the closet and attempted to drag the chair out one-handed. But it was heavier than it looked.

Silar’s tail snapped forwards from where he stood behind me, wrapping itself like a whip around one of the posts on the back of the chair and pulling it out of the closet with ease.

“Great. Thank you. Would you sit down, please?”

“Why?”

“I’d like you to sit down so I can put some of this on your ears,” I explained. “It’s from Elora Station. It’s human-made, but it’s supposed to be effective for a wide range of non-human skin types, too.”

“Not necessary,” Silar said, frowning at the tube.

“Of course it is! What if your burns get infected or something?” I pointed stubbornly at his hat which he carried in the claws of his left hand. “When was the last time you washed that thing? You knew your skin was damaged and you just plonked it back on your head anyway!”

Silar, appearing entirely confounded, glanced at his hat before putting it down on top of his chest of drawers. I took my new-to-me hat off as well, placing it down beside his. Then I stopped, frozen by the effect. Our items of clothing, his large, mine small, placed side-by-side in such a mundane fashion. Like we’d been putting out hats there together in this spot all our lives.

I shook myself and pulled my gaze from the hats to find Silar had seated his bulky body on the chair as requested.

“Oh! Great. Thanks,” I said, hurrying forwards. I stepped up neatly between his spread thighs.

I grimaced as I unscrewed the cap, realizing that Silar’s face was precisely boob-level like this, but it couldn’t really be helped. I wondered if Zabrian females even had breasts, and once again cursed my lack of Zabrian manual.

Speaking of manuals, wasn’t that the sound of one getting snapped surreptitiously shut? Silar hadn’t moved from the chair, but his tail had snuck over to the surface of the bed, closing the book, which it now shoved under the pillow and out of sight.

I couldn’t exactly say why, but the action just about charmed the pants right off me.

“You don’t need to hide it,” I murmured in what I hoped was a soothing tone. “I already saw it earlier.”

Silar didn’t immediately reply as I squeezed a bit of the cream onto the tip of my finger. I thought he’d just ignore what I’d said entirely, when he unexpectedly spoke up.

“I did not want you to see how far… Or rather, how not far I’d gotten…” He heaved a sigh, rubbing at his jaw. “But I have been reading it. Trying to, at least.” He made a gruff sound of displeasure. “I thought I’d have more time.”

It hadn’t occurred to me that coming here early would affect Silar or his plans.

Just like it hadn’t occurred to me that I should have refused his hat earlier.

“I’m sorry,” I said ruefully. “I seem to be causing you a lot of problems already. I haven’t been a very good wife so far, have I?”

It was a rhetorical question, but Silar cocked his head and replied anyway.

“Don’t apologize,” he muttered, tilting his head down slightly so I could get a better look at his ears. “I’m the one who hasn’t finished building your room and your bed.”

I halted just before my finger touched his right ear.

“My room?” I repeated. “My bed? You don’t mean for me to sleep in here?”

He wrenched his gaze up to meet mine. It was back to blue again.

“Do you want to?”

“I just… I’d assumed…” I cast my gaze around the room. For some reason it landed on our two hats again. Side by side.

I came here to be his wife, didn’t I? I wasn’t here to half-ass anything. And if I wanted him to keep me around after thirty days were up, surely I’d need to try to get as close to him as possible, right?

“What do Zabrians do?” I hedged, feeling suddenly shy. Sharing a bed with Silar…

“Haven’t been there in cycles,” he said with a toss of his tail that felt like the Zabrian version of a shrug.

“You don’t ever go there to visit?”

He stiffened, his gaze flashing white before he tilted his head down again, casting more of his face in shadow. “No.”