Callisto: Bound to the Alien Commander |18+

Chapter 27

Every day this week follows a predictable routine. We wake up, and spend an hour wrapped around each other before Ronan has to train.

While he is busy beating different trainers to a pulp, I study, walk with Clarisse or Olexa or accompany Elite Navigator on short surveys around the capital and surrounding areas. No one mentions Santi and I'm grateful for it.

Eventually, I will have to talk to him but not yet.

While I love exploring with Olexa or gossiping with Clarisse, my outings with Elite Navigator are my favorite. His grasp of sarcasm and humor is improving, probably by the aid of a certain foul-mouthed German, but he still has a long way to go.

A few days ago he told me that we would soon be passing over a cluster of volcanoes and the air would smell strongly of sulfur. I responded, sarcastically, that I couldn't wait. He did not understand the joke and spent the rest of the ride questioning human olfactory senses.

"Doctor," he comes to sit beside me while the airbridge zooms through the sky. "Would it be inappropriate for me to ask for advice?"

"Not at all, please, ask." I dig my nails into my fist to keep my face neutral. I've bothered Clarisse for days but she won't budge. She gets a big, goofy smile that she can't get rid of whenever he is mentioned but she's been shockingly quiet. Considering how nosy she was for details about my situation, I didn't expect her to be so private about her own.

"I am told that human women have not evolved to allow for painless delivery of a child. Is this true?"

I choke on... spit or air or possibly nothing. This was not the direction I was expecting him to go.

"Why? Is Clarisse-"

"No!" He looks horrified.

"Oh, ok." I place my hand over my chest, hoping to slow my rapid heartbeat.

"I would very much like to engage in a copulatory relationship with her but I fear for her safety."

Rolling my lips into my mouth I stare at him. He's obviously large but he's different than the others. He's quiet, serious, and extremely logical. The fact that he's so concerned for her is completely unexpected and very sweet.

"Can you take birth control?"

"A blocker?"

"Yes. You could take those, couldn't you?"

He nods but his face is still etched with worry. "What if the blocker fails? You are the only other human woman here, we cannot be sure."

"Do your blockers fail frequently?" I'm feeling very warm.

"No, never. Yet, I cannot ease the distress in my mind."

"Have you tried to talk about this with her? Maybe you just need to sit down with her and talk through your concerns."

He sighs and rubs his large hand over his face, "I have tried. Whenever we approach the subject..." he takes a shuddering breath.

The pheromone.

"I see."

"I can think of nothing else."

"Well, I'm not sure it's my place to talk to her for you so, maybe, you can write it out? Give her a letter?" I pull my notebook out of my bag, handing him my last remaining pencil.

He holds it between his fingers, moving his hand to study it.

"I have never written anything. We do not write."

"O-Oh- how do you communicate with people who are not nearby?"

He picks up the tiny screen from the seat beside him and presses buttons. A moment later, Ronan's face appears.