She felt like that should’ve been easy to answer, but she couldn’t figure it out. She’d been in shoot outs with dangerous people, had felt bullets and sizzling plasma bolts zip by within centimeters of her face, had partaken in deals that could’ve erupted in terrible violence at any moment…and none of that had been as scary as the prospect of a simple medical exam was now.
Circumstances—like being a wanted criminal on Earth and then being abducted by aliens—had prevented her from getting the medical attention she should’ve sought after first discovering her pregnancy. Things hadn’t been much different here on Arthos—at least not until recently. Even if it made her uncomfortable to know they must’ve spent a big chunk of money on it without asking her for anything in return, Arcanthus and Drakkal had purchased medical equipment specifically to assist in prenatal, birthing, and postnatal care. Urgand had been setting it all up over the last few days.
Shay had no more excuses, no valid reason to hide. Her fears didn’t matter—this was for her baby.
Shay pushed herself out of the chair and patted Thargen’s shoulder. “Looks like you’re on your own now. Don’t have too much fun.”
“I always have too much fun, terran,” he replied, finally stopping the entertainment feed on something unexpected—a Volturian drama.
Samantha grinned. “Did Razi finally corrupt you?”
Thargen chuckled and shook his head, settlingmore comfortably into his chair. “This shit’s funny. Even funnier when I tell Razi that to his face.”
As Shay moved toward the door, she lowered her voice and said to Sam, “He totally has a hard-on for that Volturian actress.”
Thargen barked laughter. “Damn right I do, terran!”
Shay thrust a finger at him, narrowing her eyes. “Hey! I work in here. You’d better clean up after yourself.”
He waved a hand dismissively. “Only time I mix work and pleasure is when I have to kill someone. Now get to the infirmary before your kitty gets anxious.”
Both the women laughed.
“Arcanthus has the whole place calling Drakkal kitty now,” Samantha said as they stepped out into the hallway.
Shay smirked, falling into step beside Sam as they walked down the corridor. “He doesn’t seem to mind when I do.”
“You’re his mate. Of course he doesn’t mind.” A smile played on Samantha’s lips. “Arc does just about everything he can to needle Drak, but Drak retaliates in kind. Seems to be their way of showing affection for each other.”
Chuckling, Shay nodded. “Sounds about right.”
Comfortable silence stretched between the two of them for a few moments. Shay glanced at the other woman, who, along with Thargen, was fast becoming her closest friend. The two humans were complete opposites, but Shay suspected that had they met under different circumstances, had their lives not taken the bad turns that eventually led them here, they would have met some other way and formed a friendship all on their own. Samantha was a caring, compassionate woman with a great sense of humor she only revealed to those close to her.
Were they still on Earth, Shay would’ve loved to teach Samantha’s abusive ex a lesson after Arcanthus was done with him—if there was anything left.
“Sooo, out of curiosity, what’s it like with a sedhi?” Shay asked. “I mean, we’re both mated to some prettyalienaliens, and well…there’s some differences between sex with a human.”
Eyes going wide, Samantha stopped and turned toward Shay. “Oh my God, you havenoidea how badly I wanted to ask you the same thing! I just…didn’t know how to.”
Shay chuckled. “You just ask. Easy.”
A blush stained Samantha’s cheeks. “Not so easy. It’s a little…embarrassing. Other than Sekk’thi, I was the only female here, and well… I just didn’t know how to really…bring up sex, you know? And it’s pretty clear that her experience with it is pretty different from mine…”
“Yeah, Sekk’thi sure isn’t shy about it. Though at the same time, neither am I.”
Samantha peeked back and forth down the hallway before meeting Shay’s gaze again. “When you and Drak have sex, does…anything weird happen?”
“Other than getting cock-locked for extended periods of time? Nope. It’s some pretty amazing sex, and if I were to say it gets intense…well, that’d be an understatement.”
“Oh God, yes. The sex…” Sam’s expression turned curious. “Cock-locked?”
“As in, we’re locked together. You couldn’t pry us apart with a damned crowbar.”
Sam’s eyes widened. “You too?”
“Me too? Okay, back up a second there. Now I need the deets.”
To Shay’s astonishment, it was possible for Samantha to get redder still. The poor girl was far too self-conscious, but Shay found it endearing.