Scaled Heart: A SciFi Alien Romance (Project: F5 Book 2) by Jade Waltz (ereader android .TXT) 📕

into that question once Selena returned but right now, it didn’t matter.

The only thing that mattered was her.

Was this how Xylo had felt when he had started his courting bond with Selena?

No matter how often I had encountered the same passages and spoken to mated Circuli males about the experience, I wasn’t prepared for this.

I sighed. Once again, I was wrong.

Somehow all my thoughts defaulted back to her, and I was perfectly fine with that.

Silently, I strode to the middle of her room and studied the objects scattered around the space while she used the lavatory. Her bed wasn’t the traditional shape of a nestbed, but its massive size suited us perfectly.

If Usthu gathered the courage to flout our species’ traditions and ask her to be his nestqueen, then we would need a larger bed, or he and I would need to pool our resources and request that Symi install a traditional nestbed in the largest guest room available in the villa.

My nestqueen deserved the best, even if that meant speaking with Sovereign Zirene about building an apartment for her.

She had spent all of these years protecting the galaxy from evil, and now she needed someone to guard her very soul. I would be her mental warrior, helping her battle her insecurities and dark thoughts.

“Time for bed?”

Instantly, I followed our strengthening courting thread to where she stood near the bed, now freshly dressed in a lacey nightgown.

“I’m ready when you are.”

She gave me a shy smile, pulling back the comforter. “What side of the bed do you usually sleep on?” Her cheeks burned pink as she eyed the sheets underneath. “I can sleep on either side.”

“Whatever side you don’t like.”

I wasn’t going to tell her what side I preferred to sleep on. This was her bed, and she was the one who would dictate the sleeping arrangements.

Following her lead, I climbed into bed and cursed myself for failing to anticipate the awkwardness that had settled between us.

As if she had read my mind, Kaica scooted closer and guided my arm to wrap around her. Laying her head on my chest, she wrapped a leg over my waist, dodging the sharp edges of my blades.

The room’s lights turned off as a sense of calm fell upon us.

“Thank you for everything, Kaica,” I whispered to her, speaking mentally for the first time. “I will prove myself worthy of a nestqueen like you.”

Eleven

USTHU

Oeta had told me I needed to allow Chyox to speak with Kaica alone, but she hadn’t explained why. I had feared that if I didn’t apologize before she went to bed, she may never forgive me and I would forever lose the chance to make her my nestqueen. But Oeta had insisted I needed to wait, to allow emotions to settle and try to speak with her first thing in the morning.

So that was what I had decided to do.

I had stayed up all night going over the notes I’d taken when Kaica told us what females enjoyed and how to attract a nestqueen. At the time, I had thought she was fabricating things but Xylo had confirmed that Selena had loved all her private outings with her mates and enjoyed the gifts they had given her.

If it had worked for Xylo and his established nestqueen, then it could work for me.

At least, that was what I kept telling myself, even after I had confirmed my theory with Oeta personally during her night shift in the infirmary. Why would Kaica tell us about courting customs if she didn’t like them herself? She wouldn’t advise us to try something offensive.

Would she?

Kaica wasn’t Wudox, so she wouldn’t recognize a taboo in our culture. For example, she couldn’t know how giving a plant—dead or alive—to a Wudox as a gift could be considered a threat. An unrooted dead plant left at one’s doorstep meant someone wished harm upon the clan. If the same number of plants had been killed as members of the clan, then the message was considered a death threat. A clan receiving such a token had upset someone of great importance, such as a Queen.

This was the reason why I didn’t want to give Kaica cut flowers as a gift, as she had suggested. Instead, I hoped she would appreciate the alternative I had chosen.

I had spoken with Symi as the first sun was beginning to peek above the horizon and she helped me gather everything that I would need. I had requested the villa’s chef make me a tray of sweetened, sliced fruits with dips while Symi and I ventured into the backyard's garden in search of an exotic flower.

I had sent a prayer to the Stars and Fates above before I plucked a seedpod from a shimmering white flower that reminded me of Kaica’s hair. When we returned to the villa, Symi had found a fancy clay pitcher and helped me gather the soil I needed to plant the flower’s seedpod.

With my gifts in hand, I approached the room Symi had told me was Kaica’s and pressed the call button with a vine. The twin suns had dawned but our shifts didn’t start for a few hours. I hoped I had enough time to explain myself and ask her to be mine.

The door slid open, revealing a sleepy Kaica in a black robe.

“May I help you?” She rubbed her eyes, blinking a few times before glancing at my gifts with awake alertness. “Did something happen?”

My mouth dried as it dropped open. I was speechless.

The beginnings of a new courting bond thread lead from her to someone deeper inside her room.

It all made sense now.

Oeta hadn’t wanted me to come here last night because Chyox had arrived first and been claimed as a nestmate.

Defeated, I handed over what I had brought.

“I wanted you to have this as an apology for what happened yesterday.”

“Okay…” She grabbed the pitcher from my hand and inspected it. “What is this?”

“I planted the seed of a flower I