Page 20 of Mated to the Grumpy Alien

And just like that, the translation doodad in my head must kick in, because I hear the word as it’s pronounce, but I also understand it.

Be’lahshuk.

“A vassal bonded by Be’lah,” I murmur aloud.

“Yes. Exactly.”

“Bonded how?” I ask, my mind running through all the things Irick has said to me. About how I’m his. How I belong with him.

Or was it to him?

A bonded vassal sounds like a slave.

I almost forget I spoke the words aloud when Cyg answers, “Bonded in everyway. On Perse, once be’lahshuk have completed the bonding ritual they are as one.”

“What does that mean? And how is this bonding ritual is completed?”

“It’s completed when the couple consummates physically and–”

“When they fuck, you mean?”

“Yes, that is part of it.”

“So if I fuck him I become his sex slave forever?”

“I am not sure that’s the correct term.”

“And what do you mean, that’s part of it. What’s the rest of it?”

“Perhaps this is something you should discuss with Irick.”

“Well, he’s not here, because he’s out defending his fortress from ignorant humanoids or clubbing baby seals or whatever he’s doing. So I need you to tell me exactly how this works before he gets back.”

“Irick has never clubbed a baby seal to my knowledge.”

“I was hyperbolizing! I do that when I’m stressed out. Just tell me how this bonding happens so that I don’t end up his sex slave.”

“The bonding process begins when each person is bathed in the sacred waters of Be’lah on the lunar planet of Nerida, one of the three lunar moons of Perse.”

“Oh,” I sigh with relief. “Okay. Then it’s fine. Because I’ve never been to Perse, let alone Nerida. So I’m fine.”

“Or in the pool in the garden here on Earth.”

“Wait. What? Why? Why are there sacred waters of Be’lah on Perse and on Earth?”

“Because all members of the seven royal families of Perse carry a vial of the sacred waters of Be’lah with them at all times. Once Irick settled here, he mixed the sacred waters from his vial with the waters of the garden.”

“Oh no.” I sink to the ground and drop my head into my hands. My clean hands. “And let me guess. When I washed my hands in the stream, that counts as bathing in the waters.”

“Yes. But it was not your first dosing. Actually, when Irick first brought you up to the fortress from the village, you were cold and–”

“Right. He said that, didn’t he? I was cold and dirty and the best way to get me warm was to bathe me and put me to bed. That fucker.” I push to my feet. “What else? What else has to happen for us to be bonded?”

“Skin to skin contact between the wrists and the neck usually begins the spread of the marks that indicates the match is approved by the Be’lah.”

Yep. That sounds about right.

That’s why he keeps touching my neck. Why my skin feels so hot every time he does. It feels like I’m being branded because … what? I actually am being branded?