It was bad enough approaching Kim’s farm trussed up in the wraps the bounty hunter insisted upon. Kim’s house is surrounded by leagues and leagues of noli fern, a blooming plant which is an aphrodisiac to only one particular race—mine. It is endurable but pleasant as long as the plants are healthy and strong, but when they die, they shed pollen and it drives my people’s already robust libido into overdrive.
Inside Kim’s house? I smell pollen. I smell pollen everywhere, and when she rips off the head covering, I catch a glimpse of the colorful noli flowers. My body, already tense with excitement, is aching with arousal a moment later. My cock hardens, pushing against the front of my tight trou, and I let out a low rumble of frustration when she slaps the hood back on my head.
I can hear her panting, can smell her nervousness.
“W-what are you doing here?” she cries. “Where’s the other man?”
“What other man?” She is expecting someone else? The primal praxiian side of me flares with jealousy. I will challenge him. I will challenge him and rip his throat out if he thinks he gets Kim to himself—
“The man that was supposed to be coming here tonight,” Kim says, panicked. “My…friend was supposed to be dropping him off!”
I calm when I realize she means me. She just didn’t realize that the bounty hunter—Bethiah—would be bringing me specifically. Excellent. I loll my head, pretending to be dazed. “Where am I?”
“Um. Um.” I can practically feel her panic. “You’re in my kitchen. Just…stay calm. I’m sure this is all a mistake.”
“Someone hit me over the head,” I add. “Why did they bring me here? What is this all about?” My ears twitch under the hood, and I try to shake it off. “Can you get this thing off of me?”
“Sorry,” she yelps, and in the next moment, the hood rips off. My hands are still tied behind my back—loosely, since I was a volunteer—and my body swaddled in fabric. Once the hood comes off, I blink exaggeratedly and try to focus on Kim.
Her face is pale and utterly frantic. Her strange head-fur is tied up in two knots atop her head, and it almost looks like ears. Perhaps this is a courting ritual of her people and she wears it to entice a mate. I study her appreciatively, at her solid, strong body as she paces.
“This is a mistake,” she says, walking back and forth in the small living area of her house.
“What is?”
“You—you’re here because I’m supposed to get a husband—”
Surely it cannot be this easy? “I accept.”
Kim freezes in place, a look of horror on her face. “You what?”
Uh oh. “What?” I echo, and blink slowly again as if I am dazed. All right, I must not seem too eager just yet. It will make her suspicious.
Her shoulders relax. She crosses her arms over her chest. “This is a mistake,” she says again.
My pride is wounded. Is it truly that horrifying to have me show up as a mate? Isn’t this what she wanted? I can be kind, I remind myself. I can be what she needs. I twist against the bonds in my arms. “Can you free me?”
“Oh, of course.” She hurries over to my side, and instead of unwrapping me, she heads to her kitchen. She returns a moment later and helps me untangle my bound hands from the body-wrap…and then promptly snaps a pair of stun-cuffs around my wrists.
I jerk in surprise. The little human worked the cord of the stun-cuffs through the rungs of the chair. It’s a brave and ballsy move…and utterly useless, because I can splinter this tiny, pathetic chair with a mere stretch of my arms.
But…I’m proud of her. She’s clearly terrified, but she’s not backing down. Good. It makes me want her even more, and I start purring, my tail flicking back and forth.
Kim backs away from me with a cautious look. “I’m sorry to do that.”
“Do what you must to feel safe,” I say, fascinated with the way she moves. The noli flowers are really getting to me, and I take in a deep breath, floating on a sea of arousal. “So you will not free me?”
“I can’t.” She wrings her hands. “Oh, this is such a mess. I knew I should have clarified things with Bethiah, and now you know where I live and—”