Page 19 of Across the Stars (Cosmic Threads of Fate #1)
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
MAE
Mae’s head throbbed like a wrecking ball against her brow. She hadn’t felt this awful since the night she’d drunk too much T’sisk alcohol. No one had warned her about the strength of the sweet liquor, causing her to drink far too much for her own good.
Mae’s last memory was having a conversation with Watai’s mother within some spiritual realm. They had understood each other somehow.
She gingerly touched her brow, wondering if her headache meant she had survived Z’myu’s judgment. She didn’t know what to believe for now.
The whole thing was indescribable. She could almost believe it was all a simulation. The problem was that it felt real—too real—and the moon’s inhabitants lacked the technology to pull off a simulation anyway. In fact, they appeared to be living in the Stone Age, without wheels or metal tools.
Knowing this, she had to conclude that what she had experienced was real, and that it had been induced by Z’Omika. Whether she believed everything Watai’s mother had told her in this so-called spiritual world was a concern she’d address as she learned the ways of the land.
If she wanted her belongings back, she needed to do what Z’Omika had said and find her place within the clan.
She was used to following rules and adapting to whatever task her mission required of her. But the idea of completing this cosmic thread connection made her nervous. She didn’t want to hurt Watai because he believed they were fated to be together.
According to his mother, sharing a cosmic thread was a more profound bond than marriage, almost as absolute as life and death.
These were fated mates, not so different from what some ancient humans believed in.
The goddess Z’myu was not just a religious figure to the natives, but also a higher entity that ruled over all the living things on the moon, including the mounts and the threads that connected the world.
Mae preferred to believe that Z’myu was a powerful alien creature that had landed on the moon a long time ago and integrated with the ecosystem to tie together and control all life here.
At the very least, that was what she would choose to think.
Mae groaned as she tried to sit up. A wave of nausea overcame her, forcing her to lie back down in what appeared to be the same spiderweb-like vine hammock in which she had awoken previously. It swayed with every movement she made.
Her vision was blurry when she opened her eyes, but she could see the rafters along the ceiling and the vines that covered them. The faint glowing stones looked like bright fuzzy orbs floating around the room.
Mae felt cozy and warm. A smile tugged at her lips as she realized Watai had wrapped her in the same fur blanket as before.
She blinked slowly, clearing her vision. She felt a weight on her leg. Pulling the blanket away, she peered down to see Watai’s tail wrapped around her calf like a snake in a tree.
She froze, perplexed and unsure what to do.
Mae slowly lowered the blanket and peered over her shoulder at him. He was sound asleep, his chest rising and falling in a peaceful rhythm.
During these private moments, she was finally able to take in his features without appearing nosy or disrespectful.
His fuchsia-colored hair was tied in a long ponytail on top of his head, which was framed by a pair of curvy horns.
With his back to her, she could see the fine details of the teal scales around his neck all the way down to the base of his tail.
The scales along his spine stood out against his blue skin, shimmering in the dull light.
Watai had the physique of a professional swimmer: lean, sleek, and powerful.
Mae shivered at the thought of being picked up in his arms and carried down those stairs. She wondered if he had picked her up from the floor and placed her in his hammock.
After speaking with his mother and his mount, Iskzo, she knew that Watai would never intentionally harm her.
He believed that she was his mate, tied to him by some cosmic thread of fate.
After learning how devoted his people were to their mates, Mae was comfortable enough to sleep in the same bed as him—even with his tail staking a claim on her as they slept.
There were worse things, especially given her circumstances. Watai had taken her in soon after she had landed on the moon and had been nothing but caring and supportive, despite the language barrier.
Mae could relax, knowing she was safe and well cared for while she learned about his people and worked to return to the Atlantis .
She sat up carefully, trying not to disturb Watai, and looked around the room.
The sun shone through the vine curtains that covered the doorway and windows. The calls of nearby space dragons and distant jungle wildlife filled Mae’s ears, confirming that the clan was wide awake and moving about their day.
Her stomach growled and a bubbly sensation made her lower half feel like a cauldron about to overflow. Mae frowned, wrapping her arms around her waist, trying to figure out what she was supposed to do about her sudden need to use the restroom.
Her body decided it was time to let her know she needed to pee—badly.
The last thing she wanted to do was pee in the hammock or on the ground somewhere. She’d be mortified.
Mae didn’t know how to tell Watai what she needed. She didn’t even know if they had the same basic needs. She gently wiggled her leg, hoping to softly nudge Watai awake...and get him to release her.
Unfortunately, the blue alien male continued to sleep soundlessly beside her.
She shook Watai’s shoulder, unable to hold it any longer. Mae knew she had to act quickly before her discomfort became more pronounced.
He opened his eyes and looked at her with confusion.
“Listen, Watai,” she hissed urgently. “I really need to pee right now. Do you get what I’m saying? Pee.” She made a motion toward her lower body, as if trying to pull down her skirt.
His eyes lit up as he scrambled to his knees, untangling his tail from her leg.
As Watai grabbed the furry cover off her and tossed it onto the floor, she yelped in shock and protest. His gaze shifted between his loincloth and hers, his tail wagging excitedly behind him as he gripped his waistband.
Her eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open as she realized what he thought she was requesting.
“Watai, I’m sorry, but no.” She gripped his wrist and shook her head side to side, hoping to make him understand. “I need to pee, not your cock.”
His eyes scrunched in confusion as he paused his hands, and his tail came to a halt behind him.
“I need to pee,” she said again, pretending to drink a glass of water with her other hand and then dragging it along her body, wiggling her fingers near her crotch in an attempt to indicate her needs. “Use the washroom. Take care of your plants. Drain the hose. Whatever name you want to give it.”
Watai’s face changed, his eyes widened, he appeared to understand, and he stood up. He motioned for her to follow him and led her into the vine curtain area where the strange-looking plant was located.
Mae frowned, perplexed by what he was about to show her, hoping that what she’d somehow gotten through to him. This tree hut had no plumbing or electricity.
“Pee?” he inquired, pointing to the bright-teal bell-shaped flower she’d discovered in her curiosity the day before. “ Weze. ”
“Weze?” She pointed to her crotch and then to the plant, hoping he didn’t mean what she thought. “You want me to pee in that?”
“ Weze. ” He nodded and then approached the bell-shaped flower, grabbing it and placing it in front of his loincloth. “ Kess, weze. ”
Mae couldn’t believe it. Watai was telling her to pee into a flower.
Without any hesitation, Watai lifted his loincloth, revealing a trio of tentacle-like appendages, each a different shade of purple, dancing around.
When he placed the flower near them, they twisted around each other, resembling a swirled ice cream tower on top of a cone, and gradually expanded, filling the bell to the brim.
Mae watched both in shock and in horror at the display.
If her legs weren’t tightly crossed, she might have turned around to avoid the sight, but as it was, she watched curiously, trying to figure out if they were sexually compatible.
Something about the idea of tentacles had always appealed to her. Here was a man with three of them, twisted into a large phallic shape.
Watai closed his eyes and tilted his head up. His shoulders relaxed as he sighed in relief, his hands holding his loincloth up and away from the flower.
With a small pop, the flower detached from his twisted cock and slowly retracted to its large black mass. Watai’s purple tentacles uncoiled and deflated, collapsing back to their original state as he dropped his loincloth, covering them up.
He opened his eyes and looked over his shoulder at Mae, as if everything he’d done was perfectly normal.
“ Weze. ” He nodded and took a few steps away from the plant, allowing her to pass, before gesturing to her crotch and then the flower. “ Weze. ”
No longer caring about protocols and privacy, Mae threw caution to the asteroid belt and stepped in front of the plant. This was simply the natural version of a urinal, she reasoned.
She squatted and tucked the bell-shaped flower between her legs. When its lips came into contact with her skin, it immediately formed a suction and attached itself to her entire nether region, covering all of her holes.
Relief flooded through her body. Mae tried not to laugh at the absurdity of the situation, overjoyed that she could finally pee.
With a chuckle and a shake of her head, she congratulated herself for making the best of this situation.
She’d relieved herself outside in the wilderness but had never tried using a plant as a biological toilet.
When she was finished, the flower detached, leaving no trace behind as it recoiled back to its original position.