When She Dances: A SciFi Alien Romance (A Risdaverse Tale)

by Ruby Dixon

  We’ve had a lot of desk sex in the last month, too.

  Just thinking about it makes my thighs squeeze tight, my pussy clenching on nothing. It’s going to have plenty shortly. Zakoar’s always a little turned on by the time a client leaves, and I’m always happy to accommodate. Our sex gets better and better every time. Zakoar’s so familiar with my body now that he knows just where to touch me to make me wild with need. He’s no longer reluctant to let me look at him when we make love, either, which makes me happy. Just yesterday, he pinned me against the wall in the bathroom and fucked the hell out of me while we stared into each other’s eyes and I came so damn hard I thought my body would never uncurl.

  I shift in my seat, getting more turned on by the minute. I glance over at Zakoar through the glass again. He’s almost done—maybe five or ten minutes—and then he’ll be free to do as he pleases. I turn back to my task and count a little faster, sorting the bad bolts into a small pile so they can be excluded from the inventory.

  There’s a knock at the office door, and Tikosa sticks his head in. “Are we expecting a delivery today?”

  “From Haal Ui Station?” I ask, getting to my feet. “There’s a box of synthetic tendons he’s waiting on.” The shipment got delayed when the pirates bringing it were detained by authorities, but it got moved to another ship with the right bribes and Zakoar’s been impatiently waiting for it. Some of the limbs he has in storage need to be rebuilt with the synth-tendons and it’s holding everything up.

  “That’s it. I’ll pay the fee, then.” He disappears again, closing the door behind him, and I watch through the peephole as Tikosa counts out the credits and pays the two alarming-looking pirates with the small crate. Some of the people Zakoar deals with are rather unsavory, and at those times, I make myself scarce. I might feel safe, but I’m also not stupid.

  Once the deal is done and the pirates gone, Tikosa brings the crate into the back office. It’s sealed and coded to Zakoar’s signature, so we can’t open it. I smile at Tikosa as he sets the crate down. “Zakoar’s going to be so pleased.”

  Tikosa straightens and glances at the glass partition, where Zakoar’s still working. “I take it the two of you are going to leave once he’s done?”

  He doesn’t look embarrassed, but I’m the one that blushes. He’s no doubt heard all kinds of cries coming from this office in the last few days. Zakoar’s been on a teasing kick, withholding my orgasm until I’m about ready to claw out of my skin, and then makes me come so hard that I scream like a banshee.

  It’s fun.

  I bite my lip, trying to hold back a smile. “Probably. Do you need him for something?”

  The assistant hesitates, crossing his arms over his chest. His black hair is slicked back between his horns and tied in a top-knot to keep it off his face. His hand goes to his head and hesitates, as if he wants to rake his fingers through his hair in a nervous gesture. “I just…he seems very happy lately. With you.”

  “Thank you?”

  Tikosa purses his lips. “He’s…less driven. Actually leaves the shop. I bet he’s even sleeping a full six hours a night.”

  Five, actually. He usually wakes me up with a quick fuck and lets me go back to sleep for another hour or two while he goes through his daily communications and incoming messages. “Is that bad?”

  “No, it’s good.” He thinks for a moment. “And bad, I guess. It’s just not the way he works.” He crosses his arms over his chest, scratching at his tunic idly. “He does his best work when he’s obsessing. That’s the part I’m worried about. When he can’t quite figure something out, or if someone has a special request, he’ll just take hours and hours—days, even—and go into the zone. He won’t come out of this room for anything, just works until he solves that problem.” Tikosa looks thoughtful. “He hasn’t been like that since he bought you.”

  It sounds awful, and I’m glad he’s not like that. “But you think it’s bad for business?”

  He shrugs, keeping his gaze carefully on anything but me. “The military keeps their mods secret, you know. Everything Zakoar does here, he’s had to come up with on his own. He had to think of ways to get around the fail-safes they’ve established, how to wire things that have no instructions. He’s brilliant…and a lot of that brilliance comes from those driven moments.”

  I’m a little wounded to hear that. I thought Zakoar and I were a good team. He looks after his clients and I look after him. But if what Tikosa says is true, my presence is more distraction than anything else. It’s true that he’s taken a lot of half-days since I’ve arrived, spending time with me instead of working. That’s why I do his inventory and help with what I can. But…I don’t want to interfere with Zakoar’s success.

  I don’t want him to resent my presence, either. So I smile brightly at Tikosa and try to deflect. “It’s just temporary, you know.”

  “What is?”

  “My presence here.” I keep smiling, even though I feel like ice inside. “Zakoar’s just keeping me until he’s tired of me. Then he’s going to take me to a place where it’s safe for humans and free me. It’s an agreement between us.”

  Tikosa is surprised. “Oh. I didn’t realize.”

  “Yup,” I say, trying to keep my voice light. “He doesn’t want to keep me and I don’t want to stay.” I sit down at the desk again, staring at the piles of bolts I’ve been sorting, and bite the inside of my cheek—hard—to keep from crying.

  “Oh,” is all Tikosa says again, and then leaves, shutting the door behind him again.

  My vision blurs. I put my hands in my lap and clasp them tight, trying to center myself. Trying to will my tears away. It’s been a month since Zakoar bought me as his temporary slave, and he hasn’t brought up the farm planet Risda and…I haven’t asked. Truth be told, I don’t want to leave him. I don’t want to start all over on a farm planet all alone. Now that I’ve got Zakoar’s protection, the station isn’t so bad. I don’t even miss fresh air all that much. I could stay here forever and be happy, I think, as long as I’m with him.

  He makes me happy. I love Zakoar’s reluctant smile and how I can be sassy around him. I love how attentive he is, how protective, and despite his fearsome demeanor, he’s got a good heart. His work is important, and he’s helping people with what he does. He doesn’t work for free, of course, but I’ve seen him make payment arrangements with people that don’t have a credit to their name, all so they can benefit from his work sooner rather than later. I love his good heart, and I love his mind, and I love the way he touches me, as if I’m something special and precious.

  I might be in love with him. I try not to think about that, because my time is borrowed time. He said early on that he has no plans to keep me, and I hope that if I never bring it up, he’ll forget all about how he was going to free me.

  I don’t like being a slave…but humans have no rights out here in the wider universe anyhow. Even if I was free, I wouldn’t be safe just because of what I am. Risda’s supposed to be different, but I’m skeptical of that.

  Even if it’s paradise, Zakoar won’t be there.

  18

  ZAKOAR

  He doesn’t want to keep me and I don’t want to stay.

  Tessa’s casual words ring in my ears, over and over again. She doesn’t know that I kept the intercom on in my room, that I’m always watching over her just to make sure she’s safe, even when my back is turned. She doesn’t know that I heard every bit of her conversation with Tikosa.

  At first, I wanted to murder Tikosa for complaining that I’m not as driven. The male’s too young. He doesn’t realize that it’s not a healthy sort of drive that makes me work for days on end. I do it because I need to lose myself in something, because I needed an outlet for my frustrations. It was as if I thought that somehow if I made a perfect prosthetic, or if I made life better for that one person, it’d somehow make up for my own loneliness.

  With Tessa around, I haven’t felt that yawning black hole in my spirit. I haven’t fel
t as if I needed to lose myself in a task, just so the time would pass. I’ve enjoyed every day. There’s nothing I love more than to wake up with her curled up beside me, various parts of her touching me. It’s like she has to be in constant contact when she sleeps, as if she’s afraid I’ll disappear when she wakes up.

  She smiles now. The sad look in her eyes is gone.

  And…she feels like she’s mine. Not my slave, not my property, but my mate. My companion. Her joy in small pleasures—like a salty snack at a vendor booth or the sight of a particularly flamboyant cruiser landing at the docks—makes me realize that I can still enjoy those things, too. I’m no longer just existing, now that she’s here. I feel alive.

  It’s why her words are such a gut punch.

  I know I’ve been selfish. Originally I thought I’d keep her for a few nights and then buy her passage to Risda. It’d have to be a trustworthy ship, one that owes me a favor, so I can be certain that they don’t turn around and sell her off. I’d keep her for a few days, and then once the novelty of my plaything wore off, I’d send her on. We’d both be happy.

  Except…days turned into weeks and I’ve deliberately avoided bringing up Risda III or her freedom. She hasn’t brought it up, either. Maybe she’s afraid of angering me, but I know my reasons are purely selfish. I want to keep her.

  Forever.

  Perhaps it’s that neither of us has brought up Risda that it hits me so hard when I hear her casually bring it up to Tikosa. She still wants to go, and I realize I can’t be selfish any longer. If she’s dreaming of green grasses and fresh air, I don’t want to be the keffing asshole that traps her on the station. I think of how overjoyed she’d been at the sight of the terrarium I took her to a few days ago. I think about how she watches the lone tree on my floor, commenting every day on a new bloom nestled in the branches.

  She deserves to be happy.

  My gut feels hollow as I finish the repairs and send my client on his way. Tessa meets me with a bright smile, slipping her hand into mine, and there’s a faint scent of her arousal in the air that tears at me, as if she’s been waiting for this moment to be with me.

  I hold her hand tightly as we leave the shop, and if she notices my bleak mood, she doesn’t say anything. She’s quiet, offering me little touches with her hands as we ride the elevator, as if she’s trying to comfort me, and that just makes me feel worse.

  I’m no better than Abuar for keeping her.

  Worse, because he never promised her anything, and I still want to renege on everything I’ve declared and keep her for myself. I want to grab her and chain her to my bed and never let her go…but I’d still lose her smile. I’d never hear her happy laughter again, or feel her small hand squeeze mine like it is right now.

  I lose her either way. At least if I take her to Risda I can make one of us happy.

  As we land on my floor, we walk down the hall in silence. I glance over at her, and I notice her gaze is on the tree in the median, between the walkways. She notices me watching her and smiles. “Looking for new blooms.”

  My heart squeezes painfully.

  The moment we cross the threshold of my apartments, I break. I grab her, hauling her into my arms, and pin her to the nearest wall. Yesterday, I held her like this when we mated, and she loved it. I did, too, because I didn’t have to wait to get to bed.

  I can’t wait any longer today, either.

  Tessa chuckles, her arms going around my neck as she lifts her face for a kiss. “I missed you, too,” she teases, her legs wrapping around my hips.

  I kiss her, my mouth moving over hers in a deep, searing claim of a kiss. I stroke my tongue against hers, desperate to show her just how much I need her. She moans, meeting my kisses with eager caresses of her own, and she reaches down, hauling her skirts up around her hips. “Gonna take you hard and fast,” I rasp as our mouths break apart. “How wet are you?”

  She wiggles against me, arching in a way that grinds her cunt against my raging erection. “See for yourself.”

  With a growl, I slide my hand between our bodies and find her folds. Her cunt is soaked, my fingers gliding against her skin in a way that makes her whimper with delight. I press two fingers into her, thrusting, and her body is soft and giving, and so, so wet. I heft her up just enough to spear her onto my cock, letting the station’s gravity drive her down onto my length.

  Tessa cries out, leaning forward and burying her head against my neck. “Oh please,” she whimpers. “You feel so good, Zakoar.”

  “Please what?” I rasp, my hips surging against her pinned ones. Tell me to keep you.

  “Fill me up,” she begs, pressing frantic kisses to my chest and throat. “Make me feel good.”

  I do. I plow into her hard and fast, our bodies crashing together. My cock pounds into her, and with my hand slipping between us again, I make sure my spur is hitting the perfect spot for her. I feel her body quake wildly with her oncoming orgasm, her cunt clenching tighter and tighter as she approaches climax.

  “Tell me if I’m too rough,” I demand between slaps of our bodies together.

  “Perfect,” Tessa cries out. “You’re perfect.” Her fingernails dig into my skin. “Love—this,” she tells me between thrusts. “Love—love—love—”

  And then she comes, her cunt squeezing me like a vise, and it propels my own release. I jerk against her as I fill her with my seed, panting. I’ve never come so fast—or so hard—and I’m just glad that Tessa was there with me every step of the way. When I recover, I stroke her hair and pull her against my chest, tucking her against me. She’s so small and fragile, my pretty human. “I didn’t hurt you?”

  “Never.” She drowsily presses another kiss against my neck. “I love everything we do together. Hard, fast, slow, it’s all amazing.”

  I hold her to my chest, wishing we could stay like this forever with Tessa clinging to me, smiling. “I’m taking you to bed,” I tell her. “And we are going to mate until you beg me to stop, no matter how late it is.” I want to make this memory with her.

  Her tongue teases against my skin. “That’s gonna be a while, because I’m not a quitter.” Her cunt clenches around my cock even as she teases a line up my throat with her lips. “Don’t you have to be in to work in the morning, though? You have a shipment coming in.”

  “Tikosa will handle it. We aren’t going in to work tomorrow. Once we’re done in bed, you’ll need to pack your bag. We leave for Risda III in the morning.”

  She stiffens against me, and then pulls back, her eyes wide. “Risda?”

  I nod. I don’t trust words in this moment.

  Her eyes are soft and full of emotion. They fill with tears, but she leans forward and puts her arms around my neck, holding me chokingly tight.

  She’s utterly silent. Maybe in this moment, she doesn’t trust words, either. It’s all right. Tears of gratitude are enough for me.

  19

  TESSA

  I stare out the window of The Nebula Skimmer as it races toward the small settlement on the green, green surface of Risda III. As we approach the farm planet, I wonder how it is that getting what I’ve always dreamed of is making me so damn miserable.

  It’s been a week since we’ve left Three Nebulas Station, a week of private, luxurious space travel on a passenger ship with good connections and a decent crew. Zakoar’s taken off my slave collar and I’ve been treated kindly by everyone on board. He’s also contacted the authorities on Risda III—some mesakkah lord—and let him know that a human refugee would be arriving shortly. I’m told that I’ll be given my own plot of land so I can farm, plus a house and all the necessary equipment so I can thrive and make money on my own. There’s other humans at the settlement, too, and I’ll be able to make friends.

  I’ll have freedom.

  Fresh air.

  Other humans.

  I’m so miserable I want to scream. For a moment, I contemplate raising the pillow in my lap to my face and just screaming, screaming, screaming into it, but I don
’t. Years of slavery have taught me to mask my emotions. I’ve been masking like a champ for this last week, too. Zakoar thinks I’m thrilled to be coming here. I’ve smiled and thanked him and let him know how much I appreciate him. How he’s been so kind to me.

  He’s grown tired of me. The answer is obvious. He’s keeping his end of the bargain, exactly as he promised.

  It’s not his fault I’ve fallen in love with him. It’s certainly not his fault that I’m a clingy human who would rather stay at his side forever, even if it means being on Three Nebulas and breathing recycled air. I just want to wake up with him every morning, see his smiles every day, be his partner in life. Heck, I’d settle for just being around him and knowing that someone’s taking care of him.

  Actually, no, I wouldn’t. I’m selfish and jealous and the thought of another woman touching him makes me want to scream.

  I clench my fists on the pillow and hug it to my chest, glaring out at the beautiful planet as it comes closer and closer. I’ve done my best to conceal how I feel from Zakoar. He isn’t going to want a needy, whiny slave begging him to keep her. Not when he’s spent so much money on this trip to release me. Not when that’s been the plan all along.

  Perhaps he senses my despair. It would explain why he’s been remote this week. We still make love and touch, but the conversation doesn’t flow between us like it normally does and sometimes I catch him looking pensive. He must know this is hard for me and he’s doing his best to make the split clean and amicable.

  I hug the pillow as The Nebula Skimmer descends smoothly onto a large landing pad. It floats in the air, and all around us are other saucer-like landing pads, dotting the port like a lily pad. At the bottom of the “pond” is the town itself. It looks charmingly small, no more than a few streets, and I watch as something that looks like an air car races down one of the roads. Beyond the tiny town itself, there are vast fields as far as the eye can see, green and lush and beautiful. In the distance, there are herds of what must be space cattle, and I want to cry with how lovely and serene it is…and how much I want to be anywhere but here.