back at me, a smile playing on his lips, a chuckle reverberating in his chest. I roll my eyes just before he throws back his head and laughs.
“Hahaha,” I mock him, although, we both know womankind don’t hunt. They walk around the hunting grounds collecting flowers and marking territories they shouldn’t be marking. I can’t hunt and leave her here. I have to accept his catch. I snatch the koiama from his hand, and just when I think he’s done for the span, he lifts the hand behind his back and shows me a bunch of long prepped sticks. That’s for the female. Womankind use weapons to cut predator flesh into pieces, line up the cubes on sticks, and heat them up a little before consumption. It is all very disturbing to me, but it is what it is.
I snatch the sticks from him too.
He smirks and reaches behind him again and pulls out a boyus flower to sniff the pleasant aroma it emits.
“That’s for me, right?” I ask, irritated as fuck.
“Right.” He offers me the flower, and I think my male hunter just died inside me as I accept a flower from another male.
“Awww,” the female says.
I think we’re done here. “Get out, Mas.”
He winks and leaves. I stand there as the weight of his departure settles on my chest. “Don’t go too far,” I call out.
“Mmhm.”
“I mean it.”
“I heard you.”
He heard me, but that doesn’t mean he’ll listen. Gur needs to die, and Mas can tell I won’t be the one executing him. Mission failed. But hey, the female looks excited at the prospect of food and dick. All will be well.
Chapter Six
Michelle
Before sitting on the stool, the male takes out a dagger. I scoot away, his dagger making me nervous. I’ve never seen such a barbaric species, and culture shock is a real thing. On Joylius, the only other place where I’ve met native alien species, even before humans colonized it, the natives weren’t this primitive or even humanoid. His near-human appearance normalizes him, and it’s almost as if he was made to appear less threatening than he really is. There’s an edge to him I can’t quite identify.
He tilts his head. “What’s the matter again?”
“I’ve never seen a dead animal before,” I lie. I’ve never seen anyone like you.
“You’ll get used to that too.”
He sounds irritated, so I sit by the warm fire, extending my feet toward it, keeping them warm while my mind wanders back to the adjacent small space and the sacks full of fur I found there. I wonder if I can have an extra one to cover my feet.
“After I feed you, we’re going hunting,” he says as he starts carving the animal’s flesh. My belly churns. I stand, intent on getting another fur, but trip and twist, trying not to land on my face. I thump on my side instead. Heat crawls over my cheeks, and I look behind me to where the male sits, unmoving, eyes wider than before.
“I was on my way to get more fur, if that’s okay with you.” Sitting up on the floor, I struggle to move my arm and push the hair out of my eyes. He tied the pelt across my arms and knees, and I feel like a potato sack again. I blow on my hair, but it’s wet and sticking to my face. “Can’t a girl get a break here?” I push against the pelt, kicking, wriggling, trying to get out of it and unable to. Frustrated, I thrash on the floor, practically growling, mad I can’t help myself with anything in this place.
I bite the pelt and growl, rejoicing when I catch a string between my teeth. I tug it by moving my head, untie it, release my arms enough to free them, and pull off the pelt. I get up and move my hair out of my face, then rip the leather string off the pelt and use it to secure my hair behind my head. “There.” I step out of the pelt that’s trapping my legs and look up.
Nar’s caught midmovement, leaning forward as if to rise, but then freezing in place, watching me, eyes like saucers.
I huff and walk away.
From the variety of furs in the sacks, I pull out a beautiful one with soft, long brown hairs. I bring it to my face and stroke my cheek with it as I return to lay it beside the fire so I can sit on the floor and across