by Luna Voss
“Don’t laugh at me!” I protest, noticing as I do just how good the chair I’m sitting in feels. “What’s going to happen to me? Am I going to be okay?”
“You’re going to be fine,” Julia reassures me, still not fully able to stop her laughter. “Passionberries aren’t toxic. It’s just that whatever is in them, it’s pretty strong, and it tends to be milder if you take it through your skin.”
I look back at her with wide eyes.
“Don’t worry,” she says, squeezing my shoulder. Wow, I could go for a massage. “I promise you’re going to be okay. Even if you did just eat three of them,” she devolves into more laughter.
I almost feel like I should be more worried about this than I am. Instead, I feel a surprising sense of calm. “So you really never eat the passionberries?”
“No, we paint the paste on our skin. But that’s just the way I’ve always been taught to do it. It’s not like eating them is poisonous. You’re probably just going to experience a stronger version of what I’m used to. And that… doesn’t sound like the worst thing in the world.” She giggles. “Especially since you took more than one of them.”
I’m about to respond, when the door opens again, and this time, it’s Chief Rukkarr who appears in the doorway. He nods respectfully to Julia, and then looks at me.
“Christy? I would ask to have your company alone.”
Julia makes eye contact with a knowing, suggestive look on her face. I look down, my cheeks suddenly warm. I turn to Rukkarr, and it’s like I’m noticing for the first time how handsome he looks, and how impressive I find the V-shaped outline of his muscular body. Even for a Kyrzon, he cuts a striking figure.
I get up from my chair. “Of course,” I say, and walk across the room to join my new mate.
* * *
I feel butterflies fluttering in my stomach as I follow Chief Rukkarr down the stairs. Neither of us says anything. He takes me down the hall to a wooden door and when we go inside, I’m surprised to see an attractive, tiled room with a large, Kyrzon-sized, in-ground bathtub. I’m surprised at how nice everything is. In Human Territory, you would only see a bathroom like this in the house of someone very wealthy.
I’m even more amazed when Rukkarr bends down, turns the handle on what seems to be a faucet, and steaming hot water begins to flow into the tub.
“Castle Gar has running water?” I ask incredulously. There are houses in New Byzantium without running water.
“The entire castle has indoor plumbing,” he tells me, as though it’s no big deal.
I’m both shocked and impressed. I hadn’t expected a Kyrzon castle to have that kind of technological sophistication.
“Are you planning to take a bath?” is all I can think to say.
“My clan demands a ritual for new Brides,” he tells me, walking slowly toward me.
I gulp. “And what does that ritual involve?”
He pauses dramatically, watching my face. As though he’s enjoying leaving me in suspense.
“I am to wash you,” he tells me finally, the hint of a grin on his face.
I practically do a double take. “What?”
“I am to wash you,” he repeats. “I am not allowed to breed you, nor will you be my legitimate queen until you have been washed.”
I raise my eyebrows so high they’re at risk of disappearing into my hairline. “You’re going to wash me.”
“Yes,” he says, looking like he’s doing his best to contain a smirk at my obvious indignation.
This is not what I was expecting. I can wash myself, thank you very much. What am I, a child? I open my mouth to protest, when suddenly, I’m hit out of nowhere by a wave of nausea.
“I’m going to be sick,” I gasp, clutching my stomach and trying not to heave.
“Here, come with me,” says Rukkarr quickly, guiding me to a door I didn’t even notice in the corner of the room and throwing it open.
Inside is what seems to be a huge toilet bowl. I drop to my knees and begin to retch. A moment later, I’m surprised to feel Rukkarr standing over me, holding my hair out of my face and lightly stroking my back. There’s a gentleness to his touch that seems very at odds with his fierce appearance.
I keep heaving over the toilet. It must be the passionberries, I think. This must be why nobody eats them. Fucking great.
The nausea begins to go away once I’ve finished parting ways with the last of my dinner. I keep kneeling in front of the toilet as Rukkarr strokes my back. Already, I feel much, much better.
Wow. Much better. Like, everything feels better. Especially Rukkarr stroking my back. The movement of his fingers over the cloth of my shirt is delicious, addicting. I don’t move, focusing on it, not wanting him to stop.
“Are you okay, small one?” he asks me, his voice cutting through my moment of bliss.
“Yeah,” I say. “I’m just… I’m feeling a lot better now.”
He helps me up and hands me a cloth, which I use to wipe my mouth.
“Thanks,” I say.
He looks at me tenderly. “Let me get some water,” he says. “I’ll be right back.”
I watch his back as he leaves, my sickness already completely gone. Whatever is in those passionberries, I’m definitely feeling it now. The only way I know how to describe it is that I’m about 1000% more aware of every cell in my body than usual, and every single one of those cells feels amazing. I glance at the tub, steam drifting up as the water rises, and the thought of climbing into it is tantalizing.
The door opens again and Rukkarr appears. He carries a tray containing a jug of water, two cups, and a small plate with a couple sprigs of fresh green herbs. I take one of the cups and sip it gratefully.
“You can chew on this,” he says, handing me a sprig of herbs. “It will freshen your mouth.”
I take it from him and begin to chew. Immediately, my mouth fills with a sense of minty freshness. The flavor is vivid, intense, much stronger than I’m used to experiencing. These passionberries really are something.
“Thanks,” I say, smiling at the chief. “I really am feeling a lot better.”
“We can do the washing ritual when you are well,” he says quickly. “Would you like me to ask Chief Gurrak to send for the healer?”
“I think I just reacted badly to something I ate at dinner,” I tell him hurriedly. “I don’t need a healer.” I hesitate, watching steam rise from the bathtub, and then I look at my mate. For a moment, I imagine his hands running up and down my naked body in the warm water, teasing my erogenous zones. My body begins to respond to the idea so immediately that it shocks me, the place between my legs immediately buzzing to life. A split second later, I can hardly concentrate on anything else.
“I’m ready for you to wash me,” I tell him shyly.
Chapter Eleven
Chief Rukkarr stares at me. His eyes narrow. “Say that again,” he growls.
“I’m ready for you to wash me,” I repeat, glancing at the tub. My whole body buzzes with excitement.
The Kyrzon smiles, not taking his eyes off me. Without another word, he steps forward until he’s standing directly in front of me. I gulp, not so much nervous as impressed by the sheer size of him.
“I’m going to undress you now,” he says.
I nod, swallowing, and reach for the hem of my shirt, intending to help him.
“No,” he growls, stopping me. “I undress you.”
Okay, then. I stay still as Rukkarr reaches under my shirt, then lift my arms and allow him to pull it over my head and off. Now I’m standing in front of him topless, wishing I had thought to put on a nicer bra.
As though Kyrzons give a shit about lingerie.
The moment my top comes off, Rukkarr’s eyes light up, like a kid with a new toy. My breasts aren’t even fully naked yet, but already he can’t resist the urge to put his hands on them, groping me over my bra. I gasp, very turned on. Having him touch my breasts sends a fire through me, and I’m shocked at how much more intense my arousal fe
els than normal. I don’t just want him, I need him. I need to feel those hands touching my bare skin, and not just the padded cups of my brassiere.
When the chief has satisfied himself, he grunts, looks my body up and down, and then reaches for my belt buckle. I inhale, nervous for him to expose my lower half. Losing my pants feels much more significant than my top. Soon, the only thing hiding me from him will be my underwear.
Rukkarr keeps trying to unbuckle my belt, and then, seeming to get frustrated, he just rips the whole thing off, tearing the buckle apart. I giggle in spite of myself.
“You could have asked me to help you,” I chide him playfully.
“I’ll get you a new belt,” he grunts. “I just needed that fucking thing out of my way.”
He begins to unzip my pants, revealing what I’m not super pleased to remember is a pair of yellow panties with pink polka dots. Why didn’t I think to wear something sexier? Even if Rukkarr doesn’t care, it would probably help my confidence. I wish I was wearing something with lace, or something that made me feel even just a little bit more adult.
But the chief doesn’t seem to mind at all that I’m not wearing my sexiest pair. He pulls my pants down my legs with a look of wonder on his face, his eyes fixed on the triangle of yellow and pink fabric that is the only thing covering my lower body. My pants drop to my ankles, and I step out of them.
The idea of standing in front of a Kyrzon war chief wearing nothing but my bra and panties should be nerve-racking. A week ago, I would have balked at the idea.
Now, though, I’m so turned on I can hardly stand it. Rukkarr’s eyes devour me, and instead of wanting to cover myself up, or cower beneath his gaze, I feel raw sexual energy flowing through me. An intense desire to let this big, muscular chief do whatever he wants to me.
“How do I take this thing off?” he growls, eyeing my bra. “I do not understand this puzzle.”
“Like this,” I giggle, reaching around and unhooking it in the back. “Here, you can pull it off from the front now.”
Rukkarr does so, and the moment my bare nipples come out, he dives on them with a passion, groping one breast with his hand while he attacks the other nipple with kisses, finally pulling it into his mouth and beginning to suck it gently.
I gasp. That feels ridiculously good. I didn’t know my breasts could feel like that. I didn’t know anything could feel like that. I practically double over, clutching Rukkarr, overwhelmed by the sensation.
He smirks at me. “You enjoy this, little human?”
“Yes,” I admit, my voice little more than a whimper. “It feels so good.”
His lips move to my other breast, kissing circles around the nipple, and I watch him, holding my breath in anticipation. I want so, so badly to feel his lips close around my sensitive little bud.
But they don’t. As though expending a great amount of effort, the Kyrzon pulls himself away and straightens up. “These are pleasures for another time,” he grunts. “Tonight, I must wash you.”
He glances down at my panties. I look down too, and I’m embarrassed to notice a dark circle of wetness spreading from my crotch. My body is in such a ridiculous state of arousal that I’ve basically been soaking through the fabric the whole time Rukkarr has been undressing me.
“You are wet between your legs,” the chief murmurs, his finger lightly tracing the outline of my pussy lips over the wet fabric. I gasp involuntarily, a little wave of pleasure surging through me as he brushes over my clit.
“I know,” I whisper. “It means that I’m… excited.”
“Excited?” he repeats, as though not understanding.
I blush. “As in… excited about you. Excited the way a woman gets about a man.”
His eyes flash with understanding. “You mean excited in the same way I get excited when you make my cock hard.”
My blush grows deeper. “Yes, like that.”
Great, now I’m thinking about his cock.
“I wish to see how excited you truly are,” Rukkarr grunts, and he begins to pull my panties down my legs. I gasp as he exposes me, the wet fabric at the crotch sticking to me for a desperate moment before finally coming unpeeled. My panties fall to the floor and I stand there before the Kyrzon chief, completely naked.
His eyes go right to the patch of soft brown curls between my legs. He looks like he’s never wanted anything more in his life. I should feel self-conscious, but somehow, I don’t. I feel sexy. My pussy lips are throbbing, and my clit is swollen with arousal. I feel like if I don’t get some kind of stimulation soon, I’m going to explode.
“In the tub,” orders the chief, pointing to the steaming water. He bends down and turns off the faucet, halting the flow.
I’m eager to comply. I step into the water, and find it to be exactly the perfect temperature for my skin. Nice and hot, but without burning me. I take another step into the tub, and a shiver runs through my entire body as I adjust to the new sense of overwhelming warmth.
Another step brings me in up to my waist. Kyrzon-sized bathtub, I remind myself. Rukkarr watches me as I climb in, making no attempt to hide the way his eyes linger on my breasts and my crotch.
I can barely even sit down on the bench inside the tub. The water is so deep that it covers me up to my chin, forcing me to crane my neck just so I can breathe. I look to Rukkarr for instruction, and see that he’s already topless.
Damn. Rukkarr looks good. Even better than in my fantasies. His jacked chest and rippling abs are the stuff fantasies are made of.
And now he’s starting to take off his pants. My eyes trace those wonderful lines on his naval all the way down as he bares his lower body. I’ve never seen a human man naked before, much less a Kyrzon. I watch, transfixed, as he undresses himself.
I can’t help but let out a gasp as his cock springs free. I can see that he’s hard, his shaft curving slightly upward throughout its length. The tip glistens with a drop of what I know from my sex ed classes must be pre-cum.
Chief Rukkarr and his ridiculous body begin to wade into the bathtub. He takes his seat on the bench next to me, and gestures for me to sit in his lap.
“Come here,” he commands. “I must clean you now.”
I move to him through the water, and he guides me onto his lap, putting his huge hands on my waist. Electricity surges through me as I feel our bare skin press together. I can feel his hard shaft pressing into my butt, so close to my sensitive lips. The proximity is almost maddening. I want so badly for him to slip inside. I don’t care that I’ve never had anything half the size of his cock inside me before. I just want him to take me. I want him to make me a woman.
But as much as it seems to be frustrating him, Rukkarr isn’t, apparently, here to mate with me. I watch as he reaches into a recess in the side of the tub and pulls out what seems to be a bar of soap.
“You’re really going to wash me?” I ask.
“Ritual demands it,” Rukkarr says, as though that settles the matter. “All new Brides must be washed.”
“And do you think I’m dirty?” My voice is playful.
He chuckles, his fingers teasing my pubic hair under the hot water. “I think that I need to make you clean before I leave a mess in your little cunt.” His fingers move lower, and I gasp as he brushes my swollen clit. “Christy, I believe that you have a very dirty side to you, and that you’re going to show it to me very soon.” He removes his hand from between my legs and begins to lather up the bar of soap. “But first I must clean you.”
Chapter Twelve
I feel so utterly feminine and tiny as I sit in Rukkarr’s lap, letting him wash me. He handles my body with a confident firmness, as though he knows exactly what he’s doing. There’s a certain pleasurable peace in just surrendering to him, allowing him to rub soap on me and wash it off in the hot water. His touch is firm, but gentle. He makes me feel cared for and safe.
Whatever magic is in the passionberries is now clearly in full effect. And if anything, it’s continuing to get more inte
nse. As the chief maneuvers one of my arms, lathering me up with creamy soap, I find myself enjoying the feeling so much that I have to stop myself from moaning. I’ve never experienced anything before that I can compare to this. It’s like my whole body is one big erogenous zone. Even when his sudsy hand slips under my arm to soap up my armpit, it feels great.
“Okay, Christy, under the water now,” he murmurs, dipping my shoulder under the water and washing off the soap. His hands slide across my back to do my other arm, and I let out a sigh of pleasure.
I rest against him as he cleans my other arm, feeling like I’m getting a massage. The way he’s touching me is so intimate. I can’t get over how small I feel as he holds me in his lap.
“I’m going to wash your hair now,” he tells me. “Lean back.”
He guides me delicately backwards, dipping my hair under the water and getting it wet. I moan out loud as he begins to soap up my hair, his fingers rubbing all over my scalp. Tingles erupts through me, covering my neck with goosebumps. The way he’s touching my head feels amazing.
I’m in bliss by the time he dips my head back under the water to wash away the soap. My whole body feels like jelly, as though I’ve melted into a liquid. I don’t think I’ve ever been quite this relaxed. Rukkarr strokes his fingers through my hair under the water, guiding me so perfectly that I’m not even worried about my face getting wet.
“Okay, up you go,” he says, guiding me back to a sitting position. He begins to rub soap over my back, kneading my flesh with his hands.
“Rukkarr, that feels so good,” I sigh, leaning forward and resting my head in my hands to give him better access.
The Kyrzon says nothing, just continues to wash my back and then moves around to the front. I can’t help moaning as his hands slide over my breasts, his fingers just barely pinching my hard nipples. He pays special attention to this part of me, taking much more time than is necessary for cleaning. I wish he would put my nipples in his mouth again. The way he’s touching me leaves me wanting more.