“I know that when she was brought in to Meya, she’d been without food for two days,” Asivva chimed in from the background.
“Yes!” Zikas agreed. “She said she’d been running through the wilderness but was too afraid to eat anything.”
Jade was smaller than him and couldn’t cover as much ground as a Clecanian could. She must’ve been scared, and there was no way to tell how much energy she’d had when she’d started running. He motioned for Rhaego to follow him to the cruiser he left waiting outside. He set a course for the old intercity road. “Anything else you can think of?”
There was a moment of silence. “Possibly,” Asivva began. “She told Meya she’d seen the cruiser from above. She had to run down into the valley to hail it.”
“That helps. Rhaego and I are headed there now. I’ll call with any other questions.”
“Wait, Theo!” Zikas interjected.
“What?”
“I’m not certain how true this is, but you may be able to sense her if you get close enough to her location.”
“From her scent?” Theo asked.
“Your soul is bound to her. She’s your mate. There are some stories that suggest mates can always find each other because they can instinctually sense where they are,” Asivva explained.
“Since Jade is human and can’t experience the mating bond, we can’t be sure your sensing will work but, if you start to feel an urge to move in one direction or another, trust it,” Zikas added hastily.
“Thank you both,” he said before ending the call. He glanced at Rhaego, knowing his excellent hearing would’ve allowed him to hear his conversation easily.
Rhaego nodded eagerly. “Our people have stories about similar occurrences. You may be able to find her through instinct.”
Theo hoped with everything in him that what they said was true.
Chapter 36
Jade’s stomach turned yet again. She had an idea about how she might get Xoris to remove her restraints, but she couldn’t bring herself to follow through with it.
He’d informed her that he was preparing for the artificial insemination. If she could convince him that normal sex might yield better results, she might be able to get him to let her out of this chair. The constant accusation that she was a femme fatale spy must’ve gone to her head.
What if it doesn’t work?
It’d be difficult but not impossible for him to have sex with her while she was still strapped to this chair. What if she gave him this idea but he kept her secured? She would’ve orchestrated her own rape for nothing, and in order to get another chance at freedom, she’d have to pretend that she liked it.
If she persuaded him to free her, though, she could surprise him and hopefully knock him out before anything could happen. Was it a risk she could take?
“Can I ask you something, Xoris?”
He glanced at her from over his shoulder then returned to his work. “Yes. What?”
“Have you always used artificial insemination on the human females?”
“Not always,” he said absently.
“Interesting,” she said, considering.
He finally scrutinized her, then faced her fully. “Why is that interesting?”
“Well, as you know, human women are different then Clecanians in a few ways, but if we’re truly Clecanian descendants, there could be similarities in how we’re able to get pregnant.”
He cocked his head at her. “Such as?”
“I learned that Clecanian women have a recovery phase that helps with becoming pregnant. I also learned that in order to have this recovery phase, they need to have an orgasm. It makes sense. I heard that on Earth too. They say that if a woman orgasms during sex, it can increase the likelihood of pregnancy.”
“What are you suggesting?” His voice had gone hoarse.
Xoris was attracted to her. There was no doubt. He also seemed to respond to her no-nonsense scientifically minded act. She needed to make him think this was the most logical course of action.
“That copulation may result in pregnancy more often than artificial insemination would. Since you’re going to be using your own semen either way, it may be more likely to work if we have sex.”
Xoris narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously. “And why would you allow this?”
Jade had expected this. She sighed and glanced to the ceiling. “There’s no way for me to get out of here. I’ve accepted that. If I want to be free again, then my best bet is to help you solve this.”
She took in his speculative expression. He was starting to buy it. “You said that when you’re able to produce viable pregnancies in humans, you’ll reveal your work to the world. If you do that, then you wouldn’t need to keep me down here anymore. If I think about it logically, becoming pregnant is my best option to see the sky again.”
She let her gaze roam up and down his body. “If we do it this way, I might even be able to enjoy myself a bit.”
Xoris was working through her words. She knew she made sense. Knew that he’d push himself to believe her, because he wanted her anyway.
Jade decided to throw one more thing at him to really convince him they were making an arrangement. “I want one thing from you in return.”
“What’s that?”
“I only want this to happen with you. You have to promise you won’t pass me around to Nedas.”
Xoris grinned at her. In one fell swoop she’d boosted his ego and convinced him she was going to follow through. “You have my word,” he said, ringing his hands together.
He walked over to her quickly and flung her blanket off. He reached for his belt, and she gasped.
“Here?” she breathed, trying to appear incredulous.
His hands stopped, and he glanced up at her.
She let herself appear embarrassed. “Can’t we move to a bed or something? In order to have the best chance, I should probably be comfortable.” She tried to peer over her shoulder. “Anyone could walk in.”
A muscle ticked in Xoris’ jaw as he thought about
