I sadly laugh. “You are my only contact in my GC account.”

“That will change,” he says. “You will be given a new wardrobe. You will sleep here with me. You will attend formal gatherings at my side and bear my children, if possible. Although, that’s something we must discuss with the doctor at a later time.”

“I don’t want to be sent away,” I interrupt.

“I would not send you away; that is why I married you. To keep you with me. Where did you get the notion I would send you away?”

“My friend told me that wives are sent back to the Home Planet when they have children.”

My Commander nods, understanding. “In other circumstances, yes, but we are different. You are different. I like being with you, and I think you like being with me too.”

“Yes, I do. But you have a house. I assumed that was what it was for.”

“If I had married someone else, yes, possibly. There are many versions of marriage.” He is quiet then and adds after a moment, “The other Water woman, she will have a marriage where I assume she will look forward to going to the Home Planet if she is able. But in my fleet, I let couples choose."

"Please don’t mention her. I don’t want to think about her today,” I say.

“I’ll say one last thing, she has my pity, and I think yours too.”

“Yes,” I reply. Then wanting to change the subject and my body suddenly taking over and thinking about his, I say, “You know, Water people’s anatomy is different.”

“I know,” he replies. “But we can make it work.”

The way his eyes darken with lust makes me wonder what he and the other commander discussed when they talked about their Water women. No doubt the other commander had some tips for him. I don’t want to think about the other human woman and how that commander had used her.

“I’ve not….” I begin, but he cuts me off.

“When we get there, it will be the beginning for both of us,” he says.

I wonder then if we are not going to have sex now. I had assumed that sex would be part of the marriage contract.

My Commander continues talking about my duties as a Silver wife, and all I can think about is sex—his two penises. And I am wondering how that is going to work.

CHAPTER 26

COMMANDER

Volunteer 47… No, my wife, I think, looks lovely in her borrowed blue dress. Her humility and practical mind are what attracts me to her the most right now. At first, it was her alienness, her accent on my language, and her curiosity for my culture, but now I am attracted to who she is, now that she has learned to live in this society. I am grateful the government forced me into this position, otherwise, I might have always been content with her being my valet and both of us living a life of celibacy. An unfulfilled life with a look that might have lingered too long here and there and fantasies only fulfilled alone.