by Robin Roseau
"Do we stay here for the next three months?"
She cocked her head. "Three months?"
"Well, however long it takes to reach Saturn."
"It's a little over nine days."
"It's a billion kilometers away."
"A billion and a half, in round numbers. Yes. We can't use faster than light drive so close to a gravity well, and so it takes nine days."
"So, do we stay in these chairs for nine days."
"No. Let me give you the entire tour."
The ship actually had three decks. The top deck was the main cabin as described. The middle deck included a small galley, four very cozy staterooms, and a small room for exercise. It would be quite cozy if Bronze and I used it at the same time, but there were two very clever workout stations that could be used for a variety of exercises.
She didn't show me the lower deck, and she forbid me from entering those areas. The lower deck held the machinery of the ship, all the things that made it work. Bronze had already configured the locks so I couldn't open them, but I wasn't that interested, anyway.
"We use the chairs initially," she said. "Or the beds, if you prefer."
"I'd rather be near you, even if I'm all cocooned and can't really tell."
"Once we're well clear of the moon and Earth, then we're free to use the entire ship. But the ship's acceleration is not always directly opposite apparent gravity, and it can be disconcerting."
"How long will that take?"
"We'll be influenced by Earth's gravity to an increasingly lesser extent once we begin moving away. But we actually start with a flight past Earth. We won't orbit Earth, but will let its gravity accelerate us, and we'll accept a sling, a curve in our path out towards Saturn. We'll use the chairs for the first 31 hours. After that, we're free to move around."
"All right. I have to get naked, don't I?"
She smiled. "I suppose if I offer to help, you'll get mad."
"We'll see. Tell me about the rest of the flight."
"We accelerate for half the flight and we decelerate for the second half. Approximately. We use the chairs during the change. We'll use the chairs again as we approach Saturn." She smiled. "You'll get to experience free fall."
"Really? Will I get sick?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure. But if you find it unduly unsettling, we won't stay too long."
"All right." I paused. "May I please look at Earth once more, Moirai?"
"Of course."
She led me to a view port that faced earth. We stood there for a few minutes, her hands on my shoulders.
I stared at my old home. I didn't know if I'd ever see it from this close again.
Close. Two hundred thousand miles was hardly close. But it was big, and beautiful, and it was my home.
Bronze moved away, giving me this time. A portion of me recognized the noises she made. She undressed and stowed her clothes. She gave me a little more time then approached slowly.
I said nothing right away, but when her hands descended on my shoulders, I said, "Be exceedingly careful what you do or say right now."
"This is not intimacy," she said. "This is me helping you prepare." And then she reached forward and began to release the buttons of my blouse.
I let her but continued to stare at my home. I let her slowly disrobe me, one article at a time, but otherwise I did everything I could to ignore what she did.
She stepped away to stow my clothes. And then she was behind me again, her hands on my bare shoulders, but our bodies not touching.
"What do you need?" she asked.
"I don't know," I whispered. "I'm so afraid, Moirai. My heart is breaking."
"I know. I can feel it. I want to help. I think you need something else to think about."
I didn't say anything. She gave me a little time.
"I'm going to turn off your visor. And then I'm going to turn you to face me."
"Don't."
"I'm not going to do what you think. I'm going to put your hands on me. Just on my hips. And then you may do anything to me you want. We can stand here, with your hands on my hips and mine on your shoulders. You can hit me if it will help. But I think you should explore me with your hands. It doesn't need to be intimate. Let me distract you, Sapphire."
"All right," I whispered.
My visor dimmed, taking a few seconds before it was dark. Then she turned me to face her. I stood still, my head still up from looking at Earth. Her hands slid from my shoulders to my wrists, and I thought she had to crouch to reach. Then she gathered my wrists and moved my hands to her hips. She held them in place for a moment, and then her hand slid back to my shoulders.
"You may touch me however you want. If it amuses you to tease me, then tease me. If you wish to explore, then explore. We have no hurry."
And so I stood there for a minute. Her skin here was smooth, sleek and smooth. I stood there, but then I took one tiny step closer to her, and I ran my hands up her sides. My fingertips brushed against the fur of her back, but I brushed my hands all the way up until her arms.
I ran my hands along her arms, all the way to where her hands rested on my shoulders, then back, feeling the muscles. She had powerful, powerful arms, and I decided I liked that. Then I slid my hands back to her sides, down, and across her stomach.
More muscles.
I brought my hands up to just outside her breasts. She said nothing, but she quivered. I let my thumbs rest against the sides of her breasts, but that was as intimately as I wished to touch her there.
"I'm not telling you I want you to touch me here yet."
"I know."
"Are you looking at me?"
"Yes, but I can dim my eyes if you ask."
"No. You may look." She was wise enough to say nothing.
I moved my hands to her back. Her proportions were different from mine, but it was her back that was most different, with its fine pelt. It had been very short, but it was already growing, and it felt a little softer than it had. I reached all the way around her, drawing very close to her.
I could smell her scent. I knew I was being filled with her pheromones. And she had to know it, too. I wondered if that was why she had me do this.
But she was right. I needed to be distracted from my grief, and this was a pleasant distraction.
I caressed her pelt. I liked doing that. It was comforting. So I pressed fully against her, turning my head sideways to do so, or I would have been breathing the space between her breasts. As is, this was more intimate than I wanted, but...
I stroked her pelt, one hand down her back, then the other.
"I'm teasing you, aren't I?"
"Yes, but I don't want you to stop."
"Is stroking your fur teasing?"
"It feels very nice. It will feel even nicer when it grows further."
"Good. It feels nice for me, too." But then I slid both hands down to just above her butt, right when the pelt divided into two. "If I go further, are you going to interpret it as permission?"
"I already have permission, but no. I won't consider it encouragement."
And so I did, right down her bottom. Then I crouched, sliding down, and stroking her legs, all the way to her ankles. Then I stood, slowly, my hands running along the sides of her legs. I came to a stop with my hands back on her hips.
We stood there. I looked straight ahead, but couldn't see. That had been good. It had made this easier. Then I came to a decision. I stepped closer again, lifted my head, and then lifted a hand to the back of hers. I had to stretch to reach. Then I pulled. She let me, lowering her head, but I let her guide us after that.
Our second kiss, long, slow, and tender. I took one of her hands from my shoulder and moved it to the back of my head. She moved the other to my cheek, and I let her control the kiss.
But I pulled away first, lowering myself from my tiptoes.
"Put me in my chair," I said. "Let it cradle me, but not hold me. And then touch me, sweetly only."
She led me by the hand, but as we grew close, she picked me up and set me in one of the chairs. I squirmed, and the chair molded itself to my body. It partially formed around me, but it didn't restrict me.
She brushed my hair with her hand, and then my face. My neck and shoulders, fingers moving behind my neck to massage my skull for a moment or so. When her fingers withdrew, the chair filled the space again.
"Touch me," I whispered again.
And she did, brushing light touches across the top of my chest, my shoulders, my arms. She ran her hands down my sides then fingers across my stomach. I quivered at that.
"Tickles."
"Good tickles?"
"Sort of, but I want soothing."
She set her hand flat on my stomach instead, and that I liked.
She went around the more intimate places, but soon her hands slid down my pelvis and along my legs. She reached my feet, and I giggled as she kissed my toes.
"Oh, you're a foot worshipper," I said with a grin. "I will allow this."
She growl-laughed, but then she kissed the toes again, and the tops of my feet."
"Stay there," I said. "How much can you control the chair?"
"Quite accurately."
"Kiss or caress your way back up, and have the chair fill in behind you. You may go fast or slow."
She went slowly, exquisitely slowly. When my legs were entirely covered, I told her, "Stop now. My hands now."
She kissed my nearest hand, resting on the arms of the chair, and caressed the other. We held hands for a minute.
"Same thing to my shoulders." Again, she took her time, but soon I was swallowed, my legs and my arms.
"Stop," I said. "Let me see you now."
The visor came slowly to life, and she was looking down at me. She looked insanely happy.
I stared into her eyes for a minute.
"I want you to kiss the edges of my pelvis," I said. "And the space between my belly button and the parts you aren't allowed to touch."
She did, then I was covered by the chair.
"Higher now," I said. "Slowly."
She kissed her way up my stomach until I told her to stop.
"Take off my visor."
"You'll be bored."
"You're going to put it back. Please, Bronze. Do what I tell you."
"All right." She deactivated the visor and removed it from my face.
"I'm going to tell you the rest," I said. "You will do what I tell you."
"Yes," she said, a whisper, and half a groan.
"You are going to kiss my shoulders to my neck," I said. "The chair will follow your kisses."
"Yes."
"You are going to kiss each ear. I will turn my head for you."
"Yes."
"You may nibble, briefly."
She smiled at that.
"No licking."
"Darn."
"You're going to lick somewhere else though. But you're going to stroke my head for a minute or two, then let the chair cover my hair. You'll need to keep my face and ears exposed so you can replace the visor. But you may cover as much of my shoulders and head as you wish. You may touch, kiss, or nibble very gently, but you will not linger with nibbles."
She smiled.
"And then I am almost entirely covered, but not entirely."
She glanced down at my chest.
"This is a one time offer. You will stroke beginning at the sides, but you will nibble and lick, too."
"Sapphire."
"Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"I think so."
"The nipples will harden. You will give them enough attention to do so."
"Sapphire," my name came out as a grown.
"One time offer," I said. "Be very gentle. Sucking is good, too."
She let out a groan.
"Then you will finish covering that part," I said. "Then I want a kiss. Replace the visor. Let me look at you, then blind me. I want you kissing me until the last moment you can. You may lick, but you will not invade, even if my lips part. Do you understand?"
"Yes."
"After, leave me blinded for a minute or two, but then give me control of the visor. I'll turn it on when I'm ready. But I want you whispering to me. If you need to get yourself settled and focused on that, I will understand a delay. You will not pressure me. You will just be sweet and kind."
"Yes."
I smiled. "Do you remember your directions?"
"Yes."
"Then you may begin."
She did it all. She did it all exactly as I asked. My shoulders received caresses and kisses. I closed my eyes. It felt very good. And the chair covered me, swelling around my neck as her kisses moved on. She kissed across the front of my neck and the top of my chest, and the chair filled the space.
My lips parted, and I may have moaned, or I may not have.
I was too lost by then, but she used two fingers on my chin to turn my head, exposing the closest ear. Her lips brushed mine, but then she trailed kisses to the ear. She took the lobe between her lips and nipped, very gently.
"Like that," I whispered. "You can nip the rim too. I like that." And so she did.
Then she tipped me the other way, and the opposite ear received similar attention.
Her hands stroked my head, and slowly the chair more completely absorbed me. Soon I couldn't move my head, but my face and ears remained exposed.
She didn't exactly follow my directions. My face received significant attention from her fingers, and she teased my ears as well.
And when she brushed fingers across my lips, I smiled.
She kissed each eye, something I hadn't told her to do, but it was the right choice.
"A Temier would lick," she whispered.
"Not now," I said.
"No. Not now."
Then she moved lower, her hands and her lips. She stroked my breasts, the sides first, and the cleft. And the chair rose along my sides. Then she lowered her lips to my nipples, and I began to pant.
"Yes," I whispered. "Oh, Bronze..."
I would have squirmed if I could, but the chair held me nearly completely encased.
"Slowly," I said. "Make this last."
And she did.
"Start to withdraw," I said. "But tease me now. Tease me."
And somehow she knew exactly what I wanted, and all I could think about was what she was doing to me. It felt so good.
But she knew not to linger too long, and there was a portion that was disappointed as the chair covered me, but it was time.
I opened my eyes, and she was watching me.
"You may do this last part however you want," I said. "Except I do not want you to invade, and I do not want lingering moisture anywhere."
She smiled and nodded. I closed my eyes.
She kissed me tenderly, and then she withdrew, her lips just inches from mine. Then her tongue reached out, and she licked my lips with just the tip.
Then she cheated, but only a little. She slipped past my lips, but not past my teeth, and she licked, just the tip of her tongue. I wrapped my lips around her tongue and sucked lightly.
I know I moaned, but so did she.
Then I released her, and she knew to withdraw.
I received a few more kisses. She kissed the top of my nose, then licked it.
My eyes snapped open. "I told you-"
She used a finger to dry my nose, smiling at me, then she waited.
"All right," I said. "But now you're going to let me suck on a finger, and when it's good and damp, you're going to dampen your own nose, and you're going to keep it damp until I'm completely covered."
She laughed and offered a finger. I pulled it deep into my mouth, closing my eyes, and I played with it for a minute. She slowly withdrew, and I opened my eyes to watch her paint her nose. It was exceedingly silly, and it made me laugh.
"Now, you may do anything you want that leaves no additional moisture, mine or yours."
She smiled and brushed a fi
nger -- a dry finger -- across my eyes. I closed them, and she spent time caressing my face.
The chair covered more. And then she replaced the visor. It fitted into place and invaded my ears.
She kissed me once more, and she was kissing me until the chair pushed her away.
"Thank you," I whispered, unsure if she would hear me.
"You're very welcome," she replied, her words a gentle whisper.
"Tell me what you're doing," I said. "Keep the words soft."
So she did. "I'm moving to my own chair, climbing in. Settling. I'm going to sit here for a moment and think about what we just did."
I found myself smiling.
"I normally don't linger over this part, but I told the chair to contain me slowly. It's going to do it in the same order as yours, although somewhat less languorously. My ankles, and now, slowly, my feet. My toes are sticking out.
I giggled. "I might bite them, if I knew you couldn't escape."
"I might let you, if you don't bite too hard."
"Just hard enough you know you've been bit. Okay, I wouldn't bite. I'd nibble."
"So you also enjoy worshipping feet."
"No. I like to tickle them, but I don't usually win tickle fights. And no, you are not to start any. If I want a tickle fight, I will start it. I understand I will lose."
"I'll remember that. The chair is covering my legs, moving up slowly." Then I heard a gasp.
"What was that?"
"My imagination getting ahead of me," she explained. "Now my arms. Shoulders. I'm going to do the rest more quickly. This is driving me a little crazy."
I laughed.
It was only a few more seconds before she admitted the chair was done. "I'm going to tell your chair to begin that alien probing you find so intriguing," she said.
I snorted, but then I squirmed as the chair did just what she said.
"That is so disgusting."
"It's better than the other choices," she said.
"Eww."
"Yes."
"It's still disgusting and a little wrong that your chair can do what it's doing."
"I am waking the ship now."
"Leave me blind until we're almost ready to take off. Then when you let me begin to see, I want to see you. Then let me control my view, but if I want to look at you, you'll let me."