The Problem with Mating

When I'd cleared the plate – and I WAS quite hungry – he went to get more and I pat his arm, shaking my head as I finished chewing the last piece.

"I'm good. Your turn," I said gently.

"Oh…right…I should do that." Gharret gave a little smile and nodded, shifting a little bit below me, and though something had been poking the back of my thigh for the entire duration, I decided to pretend not to notice.

This guy…who essentially forced me into this position and ended up HAND-FEEDING me a whole other meal…forgot that he needed food, too. I shook my head at him and sighed before I looked out at the thinning crowd.

For the most part, they left well-enough alone. A few had approached and given their 'congrats', and one even stated that this gives him hope that he'd find a mate, too, someday. It also made me wonder just how much of those longhouses were dedicated to sleeping space and how much for other functions, like making food.

I disentangled my hands from him and reached for the food, pausing only when his grip around my waist tightened.

"Be careful…some of it might still be hot." I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him, set my hands as much on my hips as I could and turn an irritated look on him.

"I am not some delicate, breakable little flower. Stop hovering and stop worrying about little things like that. Or I promise you, my opinion of you will sour VERY quickly."

He leaned his head back a little, looking as though I'd just slapped him as I huffed slightly.

"Besides. It's my turn." A coy grin appeared on my face as his twisted with fear and curiosity.

I leaned forward again and filled my plate before, clutching the plate gently, I gripped a piece with my fingers and held it up for him to take. He hesitated, swallowed, and turned a bright shade of pink.

"This is…something the, um…males do…," he said, obviously incredibly nervous. I shrugged and nudged his lip with the piece of chicken, causing his stomach to grumble.

"We have a similar tradition in my home world…except it's an equal exchange, promising that both parties will contribute to the relationship." I used the piece of chicken to tease his lower lip a little, turning it glossy from the grease. "In my world, marriage…er, mating…is where two people come together, share everything, build their lives together and become partners. Equally."

I couldn't quite understand the look on his face. He seemed to relax, as though what I said was some kind of panacea on his heart. He nodded and opened his mouth, taking the piece.

There was the tiniest gasp behind me at one of the long tables, but I didn't pay it any mind and neither, it seemed, did he. I waited until he swallowed before I took another piece to his lips and this time, his tongue reached out and brushed against my skin. I couldn't help but bite my lip, even as the pressure on my thigh became a gentle and insistent nudging.

"I think I see why you like this so much," I said softly, passing a small bite of some nutty, sweet gourd. He smirked a little in response.

"I enjoy it because I like the idea of some day providing for you…everything you'd ever need, I'd happily give you. If you chose me as your mate, I…I would do anything you asked of me."

I watched his Adam's apple bob as he spoke, and this look of placid devotion pass over his features. I may as well have put a collar on him and called him 'Fido'.

As a seductive sense of power crept over me, I thought about Bai and how powerless she seemed throughout the novels. Whenever her husbands fought, she sat by and let it happen, or when she found herself in danger, she cried out for one of her mates. But this feeling I had, to make such a powerful male essentially my slave with sex, alone was…

…a very dangerous power to have.

I frowned a little, blindly grabbing another piece and slipping it into his mouth as he suckled diligently on my fingers.

Right then and there, I realized that I couldn't really decide which version of Gharret I liked: the cool, confident one who defended his people like some stalwart warrior…or the mewling pup who wanted nothing more than his mistress's attention. And how easily I flipped that switch in his head.

All these males were drooling for something like this, to hand their leashes off to some female who'd use and abuse them for hard labor, just so she could sit on her fat ass and pump out babies like some freaky-deeky factory…only to have the cycle repeat again.

Given Gharret's physical reaction to this, I could tell that he…REALLY liked it. Wanted it. DEMANDED it, even. Servitude was sexualized, in a way…and I hadn't even committed to anything yet.

I felt caught between feeling blessed and horrified, and yet…

…I continued to feed Gharret, letting him lick my fingers each time.