Project X ✔ [O L D V E R S I O N]

+ chapter twenty-four +

"It sounds cool," she murmured, glancing down at their hands as she tried to picture a design on their hands. "Do both people have it or is it just one?"

"Both."

"I would love to see Xrion; it sounds beautiful."

Xander nodded, nuzzling his nose on her cheek lovingly and said, "I wish I could take you; it really is beautiful. To answer your question from earlier, we do not shake hands because it is deemed disrespectful. When a woman enters the room, all the men present stand and bow their heads in respect and vice versa."

"Everything sounds so formal," A yawn blurted past her lips and she blushed. He chuckled at her and she muttered, "Sorry."

"It is alright. Would you like to go to sleep?"

She shook her head. "No! I want you to keep talking to me; I love your voice. It's so deep and husky; like your tone is smooth and just – ugh – I could hear you speak the rest of my life."

Xander laughed, raising his eyebrows in amusement and said, "Very well; what would you like me to speak about?"

"Mm," she breathed in deeply, "...do you remember the first night I came to your house?" He nodded. "You told me we wouldn't be sleeping together – which I was happy about – but you looked really embarrassed about it. Why?"

He laughed again, the sound rumbling through his chest and shaking his entire body. "I was not embarrassed per say, I was more nervous. Even Corah had not shared a bed with me, so to share it with a complete stranger was nerve-wracking. There was also the factor of me being a virgin; I had no clue on how to initiate physical contact that would lead to sexual intercourse."

Alexa giggled, turning red at the hilarity of it all and said, "That's called foreplay and for someone who didn't know what to do, you rocked my mind every time we did it."

"I just read a manual..." he trailed off.

"A manual for sex?!" If she could die from laughing so hard, that day would be her funeral.

Xander narrowed his eyes, trying not to let his embarrassment get to him and said, "Thanks to that manual, I, as you so tactfully put it, rocked your world. So, do not make fun of it."

She continued giggling, tears streaming down her face and she propped herself on her elbow to look at him. "I love you so much!"

A smile grew on his face, taking the place of his annoyed expression. "I love you too, mielle."

Alexa frowned and shook her head. "I prefer it when you say it in Xrion."

"Our dialect is called Klázto, not Xrion, mielle."

"Whatever," she muttered, snuggling up to him once again, "I prefer non per si viti."

His smile – if possible – widened even more and he pressed a soft kiss to her head. "Non per si viti, mielle."

"Xander?"

"Alexa?" He spoke in a mocking tone, his smile still in place.

She rolled her eyes and said, "Before we go to sleep, can you tell me about the programme?"

He frowned. "What programme?"

"Well the way the deal with President Goodhart was supposed to go through."

"He was supposed to address the citizens of the United States and ask his women if they were willing to volunteer to help us reproduce. The women that volunteered were supposed to receive surveys in the mail so that our computers could match them with a Xrionian male by their compatibility. Then, the General would send a regiment to pick up the women from a specific location they were supposed to be at."