"In my religion, sex is saved for after marriage."

The Yautja cocked his head to the side, curious or confused. She couldn't tell. "Sex always comes before vowing to be life mates in my culture."

Ashlynn rolled her eyes at the stubborn Yautja. "Can't you compromise for me?" She smiled sweetly, even though she knew it was futile. Once Aku'ly-de began arguing he wouldn't be won over so easily.

"How do I know if I want to vow to you alone if we don't have sex first? How do I know I will enjoy mating you?" He insisted.

"If you love me then you will enjoy it."

"But what if I don't?" The Yautja insisted. Ashlynn glared at him, but he was unphased, he even flexed his mandibles the way he did when he was being difficult.

"Than you must not love me."

The Yautja chuffed unhappily, displeased with her response. Ashlynn crossed her arms, equally as displeased with him. It seemed they were at a stalemate.

"Can we please mate?" He asked again, his back straightening. "Afterwards, we vow. This is a Yautja tradition."

Ashlynn narrowed her blue eyes stubbornly. "I want to wait."

Aku'ly-de inhaled sharply with an angry snarl. "Than you must be the one to question my commitment to you," he shot back. "And are you questioning my honor in doing so?"

Ashlynn shocked herself by how much his words offended her. She would never question his honor, she was truly indoctrinated. Questioning his honor would not only be foolish of her to test his patience but also unreasonable.

If she knew anything of his culture, she knew Aku'ly-de bowed to it as if it was his ruler. She didn't think one could have such a strict code as he did, he was as devoted to Yautja code of honor as she was her religion. A religion he clearly didn't understand.

Ashlynn's voice came out in a high pitched tone, not at all helping her. "So you will do that?" She demanded, the Yautja didn't even flinch as she advanced towards him. "You're going to be just as cold-hearted as your hunt brothers?"

"You are on a Yautja clan ship." He reminded her.

"Thanks for telling me, I didn't realize I was surrounded by horny savage aliens."

The deeply tan hunter growled in warning, and his mandibles extended for a brief moment. He quickly reigned in his anger, knowing his ferocity would scare her. That was the Aku'ly-de that she loved, and she couldn't stop herself from instantly softening.

Her Yautja was certainly the hardest man to please that Ashlynn had ever encountered. He was difficult, stubborn, sometimes stern but also sometimes very considerate. She had found, however, that there was an altruistic side to him after months of assuming he was simply a stoic crabfaced beast. She had learned quickly that was rare in the Yautja race.

What she loved was the fierce way he defended her, sometimes even against the females of his kind. Aku'ly-de had always looked at her differently than the rest, and his burgundy red eyes would flash when she praised him. She now questioned the relationship that had grown between them after he had taken her under his care.

She didn't have any dating experience back on Earth, but she found herself falling for him two years ago. Ashlynn had learned to love the hunter, and she didn't need sex to know that. It hurt to think he needed her body to love her, but she tried to understand his side of things.

"Aku'ly-de.." trying to sound reasonable, she forced her frustration to the side. "Please consider.. if you care about me."

He looked at her with relaxing muscles and a calm expression overtaking his features, that was as gentle as he would be during an argument. She had learned quickly that the best way to win him over in a fight with words was to reason with him.

"This means a lot to me," Ashlynn said softly. "I know you love me, please just compromise this once for me."

He cocked his head, stilling. She was asking a Yautja to give up tradition, and he was very much the old fashioned sort. She was setting herself up for failure, but her stubbornness balanced his. He had his head tilted, mandibles twitching. He was considering her words.

He approached her quickly and grabbed her by her tank top shirt. He pulled her to his face. Ashlynn didn't struggle, knowing it would do no good against the superior strength of a full-grown and capable male Yautja. She expected to lose her argument right there, but her strange Yautja never failed to surprise her so she waited.

He was looking into her eyes, very intense were his deep red ones sending chills through her. He looked into her eyes as if he could find something there, sincerity or something else. He adjusted his arms after a moment, swiftly and smoothly. His hands were around her hips now, and she wrapped her legs around his torso. Their foreheads met, his demeanor had changed abruptly.

"I will consider your desire." He grunted, his eyes lowered in submission to his ooman.

Ashlynn grinned happily and kissed his mandible, hugging his neck. "I'm not going to be the one comprising this time my hunter."

He growled and pushed her back to the wall behind her, she grunted as her shoulder blades bumped against the wall. His eyes were possessive and playful now, looking into her blue ones again.

He locked his mandibles over her face without another word. Ashlynn wrapped her fingers around his dreads and kissed his mouth passionately.