She would miss him and would never forget him, but they would have to continue on their respective paths alone.
The shower curtain ripped back, and a naked Grav stood there flashing an impressive ridged male member. Her hand shot up to cover her eyes, and she averted her head. “Geez! Give me some warning—like shut off the water!”
Well, that answers that. He’s notthatdifferent from human men. Except…is he missing testicles?She resisted the urge to peek.
“I didn’t realize there was a proper order. Sorry.” The water shut off. She heard him step out.
“Are you decent?” she asked after a moment.
“Yes.”
She looked at him. He was drying his face with the towel. “For god’s sake! You’re still naked!”
“I didn’t know decent meant clothed.” He wrapped the towel around his middle.
Nope, no testicles. Did Progg not have any? Had Grav been turned into a eunuch? Or were his gonads internal rather than external?
Testes were outside the body because sperm production required a lower temperature. Maybe his normal core body temp was cooler than a human’s. That might explain why hypothermia hadn’t killed him when he lay injured outside during the ice storm.
Perhaps males weren’t needed for reproduction; maybe his race reproduced some way other than sexually. What if his penis was just for urination?That would be a shame.Herpreoccupation with his male anatomy surprised her. He was an alien! And she’d almost been raped. She doubted many sexual assault victims wanted to think about male sexual organs, human or alien.
Except, fresh out of the shower, stark naked, Grav still made her feel protected and comfortable. He wasn’t deliberately flashing. “Your people don’t have any inhibitions about nudity, do they?” she asked.
“No, why would we?” He shrugged.
Questions swirled, but now was not the time to carry on a discussion. “Tell me when you have your pants on.” She turned her face away.
The room went so silent she could hear the water dripping from the showerhead.
She risked a glance. His posture had stiffened.
“What?” she said.
“The sight of me offends you.”
“What? No!”
“You seem to be unable to bear looking at me.” He swallowed. “I do not look human.”
“No, no. It’s not that. I was a little embarrassed, not offended. We’re modest about our bodies. We don’t generally show ourselves unclothed to someone unless we have a sexual relationship with that person. I was trying to give you some privacy.”
And some asshole tried to rape me.
“Oh.” His vegan smile looked sweet. “I will try not to embarrass you, then.”
“It’s okay. Really.”
“Your head was injured.” He eyed the bump.
“I have a knot. It’s sore, but it’s okay.”
Still draped in the towel, he donned the jockey shorts and sweatpants. They were a little short, but not bad. “Okay now?” he asked.
“Okay.” Her discomfort made her feel silly. She was a nurse! She saw a lot of naked people. Maintaining a professional detachment had never been a problem.
He dropped the towel and donned the undershirt then the sweatshirt. The latter stretched taut across his torso, the sleeves hitting above his wrists. Grav was broader in shoulder and chest than Brent.
Once, she would never have given her brother’s clothing to a Progg. Never.
