Page 27 of Reaper

I shook my head, feeling suddenly intimidated.

“That’s right, because I’m not. I love having you near me.”

The now familiar flame he always seemed to stir inside me poked its head up.

“And I love being near you,” I said a little bit more eagerly than intended. I didn’t feel confident yet in my ability to properly court him. However, I wanted to get a better sense of what he thought of me. Was I was merely a wounded animal he felt protective over or something more? “You make me feel safe and happy. I’m so glad you were the one to find me.”

“My Janelle…” he said in that strange tone he sometimes used that left me wondering. “I couldn’t be happier that I found you.”

I hugged him, seizing the opportunity to bury my face in his neck again and inhale his delectable scent. Something shifted, even in the way he was holding me. It was subtle yet undeniable. My mouth watered, and my nipples suddenly tingled as the delicate notes of cinnamon wafted to me. A dull throbbing in my core slowly intensified as Reaper’s spicy scent increased.

At that instant, I became convinced my suspicion regarding the cause was founded. After the incident in the mess hall yesterday, I had tried to figure out what would provoke such an embarrassed reaction from Reaper. With my limited interaction with people, I didn’t have too many references to go by. But I distinctly remembered similar mortified responses from my father whenever sexual matters were involved. The first time we had walked in on two Creckels copulating, my father had all but hauled me out of the room, covering my eyes as if he’d feared that sight would have mentally scarred me for life. It had only made me more curious.

Every time Reaper had started smelling of cinnamon, it had been while holding me in his arms, usually with us chest to chest, and every single time when his hold had become more possessive. Judging by my reaction to his scent, I could only deduce this was some sort of pheromone. Creckels possessed three different types of pheromones, only one of them used for courtship. Was it farfetched to assume Reaper’s species could have them as well, and that proximity with me was causing him to release in a subconscious—or maybe even conscious—effort to seduce me?

“I love when you smell like cinnamon,” I blurted out, immediately mentally kicking myself for it.

To my relief, Reaper didn’t balk or become embarrassed. His face took on an intensity that made my stomach quiver. He cupped my cheek in a gentle caress, and then his thumb traced my lips in a slow motion that sent a bolt of fire to the pit of my stomach. I hated my messed-up sight and not having the temporary optical aids on. I wished I could clearly see his face and the emotions he currently felt rather than trying to interpret them based on what little I perceived.

“I’m glad you do,” Reaper replied with a voice full of promise. “Let’s get up. The others are already back at work.”

Guilt washed over me that I’d been entertaining naughty thoughts about my beautiful rescuer while not having spared a single thought to my life-long companions or the rest of the team.

I quickly ran to my room and got dressed. This time, no panic attack manifested itself, probably because I was only passing through. After a quick bite—the wretched Jessica having put a holographic tag next to the dishes I was allowed to eat—we went to meet the team outside.

Brees immediately ran up to me, and my heart filled to bursting with love for the female that I had grown to consider as a strange mix of a mother-figure and a sister. She bumped her snout against my hand in greeting, and I scratched those sensitive spots under the scales right behind her ears. The Creckel shivered with pleasure, her broad, flat tail wagging from side to side with a slightly scraping sound caused by the spikes lining its contour.

A strange whine drew my attention. Standing next to Doom a couple of meters in front of us, Stran was looking at me with a needy expression that most people probably wouldn’t recognize.

“Come here, handsome,” I said with warmth.

Brees graciously stepped aside, giving her place to Stran. She bumped the side of his snout with hers in an affectionate gesture of friendship. I was relieved with that turn in their relationship. While Stran would have made a wonderful mate, Brees had already taken Grol as hers. Like my father and my mother, I didn’t think she and Grol werein lovewith each other, but they had love.

Stran parked himself at my feet and lifted his head towards me. While he was bulkier and far more muscular than the modified Creckels, Stran stood slightly lower than they did, as part of the modifications done to my companions had also lengthened their legs. Nevertheless, like them, he also had that little crease under the scales at the back of his ears.

The loud purr that tumbled out of his throat when I began scratching that sensitive spot had me bursting out laughing. Even the other Creckels made the snorting sound I associated with laughter. Doom’s eyes seemed on the verge of popping out of his head as he stared at his friend’s draconic face dissolving into an expression of pure bliss. Instead of the slow and steady wagging Brees’s tail had done on the ground, Stran’s was frantically tapping in quick bursts before pausing, his body shivering with pleasure.

“What the fuck?” Doom asked, bewildered. “What are you doing to him?”

“Scratching the back of his ears?” I said, stunned that he seemed unaware of it. “That is an extremely sensitive spot for Creckels.”

Doom’s jaw dropped. He gaped at the Creckel disbelievingly before looking back up at me.

“Stran and I have been friends for the past thirty-five years, and I never knew that!” Doom exclaimed.

Stran gave his friend a sideways glare and snorted with disdain as if to say Doom had failed him. He then closed his eyes again to continue to enjoy getting petted. The rest of the team chuckled. Shaking his head, Doom headed back into the underground base, this time with Thanh, to finish opening the way to the basement while the others returned to their work.

The females had set up some tables and benches to cut the meat in the shade of the ship, in large part to protect Madeline’s sensitive albino skin and eyes from extensive exposure to the UV rays of the sun. The men had set up their own workstations a few meters away, butchering the still whole Zebiers laid down on a large hovering platform.

“You know,” Reaper said pensively, “you are probably the biggest Creckel expert in the galaxy. Once we get back to Khepri, I suspect many of the best xenobiologists of the Coalition will die to speak with you.”

I felt myself flushing with pleasure, and I preened under his genuine admiration. He was probably right that few people knew Creckels as well as I did—at least modified Creckels. It was a unique quality I had to offer, something that would add to my value as a potential mate.

Not waiting for me to answer, Reaper caressed my cheek with his knuckles before getting back to his workstation to butcher the Zebiers. After subjecting me to a quick scan and another protein injection, Jessica got me back to work alongside Martha and Madeline who, like Thanh, had also completed her task with the ship repairs.

Less than an hour into our task, Reklig came to our area to bring Madeline large sections of Zebier’s skin. Instead of cutting up meat like Jessica, Martha, and I were, she began scraping off the fat, skin, and tissue behind the scales.

“She’s saving them for our females,” Reklig said in response to my confused look. “Scelk females love to craft pretty things with natural materials. When we hunt, every part of an animal is used in one form or another. Nothing is wasted.”