The president laughed, as did the old timer.
“I wish that were true,” she said. “And we do our best to meet that standard. But we’re not equal, and you’re too important to lose. We’ll keep guarding you as long as it takes no matter who it puts at risk.”
Jarl was silent. That was not good. He would never stop being drawn. He didn’t want to stop. He wanted to go to the woods and see Arlen. And he did not want other people at risk because of him. He might survive; the others wouldn’t. He thought of the female creature he had seen and shivered. They would be going to that fate. His fate with Arlen was far better, but he didn’t know how to explain it to them.
“That creature I saw,” he said hesitantly. “I don’t think he was threatening me.”
Would he be able to explain this to them? Would he be able to persuade them to let him leave?
The old timer snorted.
“Of course it wasn’t,” he said. “It was a peace. It’s the one time they don’t threaten us. But if you saw it, then it saw you and it’s going to try to draw you until it gives up. Don’t worry,” he added. “Mine gave up after a week, but most give up after a single night. This is only temporary.”
Jarl nodded, unsure what else to do. The president congratulated him again on a successful harvest and the old timer led him out.
“Take some time to relax,” he said. “You’ve earned it. And tonight, you’ll be under guard again. Don’t worry. We won’t let you be eaten.”
He smiled weakly as the old timer walked away. Was there any way to explain this to them? To tell them what Arlen was really like? He couldn’t risk it. They might put him under even heavier guard and he couldn’t allow that. Could he get by four guards? He wasn’t sure but he would certainly try.
He spent the day visiting with his neighbors, enjoying the freedom from work and knowing this was probably the last chance he would get to visit with everyone like this. He got ready for bed carefully again, cleaning himself thoroughly and getting into his best pajamas again. He closed his eyes and visions of gnashing fangs filled his mind, tinged with sadness. Wisps fluttered past him and he reached for them, but couldn’t get to them. And then he opened his eyes. It was morning.
He looked around, wondering if he had tried to leave and just didn’t remember it. He got ready for the day and came out to see the old timer again, who grinned at him.
“Looks like the creature gave up,” he said. “You got lucky. We’ll leave the guards tonight as well, but you should be fine.”
“Thanks,” Jarl said, unsure what else to say. Had Arlen really given up? That easily? No, he had said that the guards might stop him for a week but he would still be drawn. What was going on? Did Arlen no longer want him? His heart clenched. He ought to be happy that he was being spared this fate but he had come to terms with it, wanted it even. How could a creature spawned from his dreams no longer want him?
He went through the day in a daze and the next night passed uneventfully, only his dreams were almost nightmares because of the pained longing in them. Had he somehow failed? Was Arlen angry that he hadn’t been able to break free from the guards that first night? They had spent several days together and it had felt like they connected; was that broken now?
That night he got into regular pajamas. The guards had been reassigned and he wouldn’t be drawn to the woods again. Arlen wasn’t interested anymore, though he wasn’t sure why. He felt like he had failed in some way and couldn’t explain the sense of loss he felt with anyone else. Everyone had known that he had been drawn and Kandor had even asked him about it in a low voice, but he had said he didn’t remember clearly. He didn’t. Maybe he had done something wrong when he had been drawn. Maybe he hadn’t reacted the way he was supposed to react. As his eyes shut, he knew he was in for another round of unsatisfied dreams.
Chapter 7
Music filled his mind and he sat up in a trance. The song of the planet wailed like a siren in his mind and he recognized it instantly. How was it that he kept forgetting what it sounded like? It was so irresistible, so unique. He would never forget it again, he knew. He felt his body get up and head towards the wall. No guards were in sight as he reached the wall and, without any hesitation, stepped off. He was trapped inside his mind and watched with fear as the ground approached and he knew he would be dashed to pieces, but then the air seemed to thicken and slow him, and he stumbled to the ground. His body stood back up. He wasn’t in control and it was terrifying. How had he forgotten how frightening it was to be caught up in the music like this?
The woods seemed to part before him and his body seemed to know exactly where to go as he climbed over fallen trees in the areas that weren’t on the paths, the areas people didn’t dare go. It was pitch black and terror filled him. He couldn’t see anything but his body climbed regardless, in the thrall of some darkness he had never imagined. Then it began to lighten. The moonlight intensified and suddenly he saw a creature before him. The female. She needed his flesh and he offered himself to her without a thought, stepping forward so she could feast on him.
“Stop,” a voice said sharply and he turned. Arlen. He barely had time for relief because Arlen needed him, too. He needed to offer his body to Arlen, but not in the same way. He needed to offer his heart as well, he realized, and went up to the creature without hesitation. He wrapped his arms around Arlen’s tall shoulders and stood on his tiptoes to kiss the creature, not caring about his fangs or alien nature or anything else. He needed Arlen to take him. He needed to offer himself to the creature’s hunger and this was what the creature needed.
Arlen leaned down to make the kiss easier for him and his mouth opened, his tongue snaking into Jarl’s mouth. But Jarl’s tongue caught on his fangs and his mouth filled with blood, and he pulled away. Arlen didn’t need blood. He needed his heart, and his body. Not blood. He took Arlen’s hand and placed it on his heart, doing everything in his power to give Arlen the love and lust flowing through him so that it could feed Arlen and give him what he needed. He offered everything and felt Arlen feeding through the hand on his chest, but it wasn’t enough. He needed to give Arlen his body as well.
Without thought, he began tearing at his pajamas and then at Arlen’s draping clothing until they were both naked. The mere touch of Arlen’s cool skin against his set his body on fire and he moaned as Arlen wrapped one arm around his waist, his other hand still over his heart. Arlen lowered them to the ground until he was over Jarl and Jarl wrapped his leg around Arlen’s, desperate to give himself to the creature. He needed to give his body to him and now he could feel Arlen’s arousal against him. This wasn’t his first time with a man by any means, but he had never felt anything like this. He was desperate for Arlen, needed him, and this was taking too long. He grabbed the creature and pulled him towards him, but Arlen didn’t seem to know what to do or else he was deliberately delaying. He vaguely remembered that the creatures didn’t have sex, that Arlen hadn’t known what a penis was for. That was a problem because he needed to offer his body to Arlen and he needed to do it quickly.
He pulled his legs up and reached to feel Arlen’s powerful cock, then, carefully, pulled him into position. This was going to hurt, he suspected, but he didn’t care. He wanted this so badly. Every fiber of his being ached with the need. He could feel Arlen feeding on his heart but he needed to feed on his body, too. Luckily, Arlen finally seemed to understand what he was supposed to do and the creature lowered one hand to trace down to Jarl’s opening. He pressed his cock against Jarl and he whimpered with need, but Arlen hesitated. Precum coated his opening and Arlen’s fingers soothed it, but he wanted Arlen inside him. Now. He arched his back and then Arlen pressed down on his hips, stroking his cock and finally, finally, entering him. He gasped in relief and pleasure as Arlen slid into him, the sensation far better than anything he had ever experienced because he could finally feel Arlen feeding on his body as he needed to do. He offered his body to Arlen and Arlen took it, shoving into him with a jolt and
then beginning a pulsing pattern that filled Jarl with an aching pleasure. He bore down on the massive cock, needing to feel every inch as it pulsed in and out of his body, and could feel a drag against his senses that he knew was Arlen feeding.
One of Arlen’s hands was still on his heart and now he was feeding on everything Jarl was offering him, heart and body. He felt complete in a way he never had, satisfied even though his body was still purring with pleasure. The completion sparked deep within him and he cried out as his cock spasmed into an orgasm so pure he could hardly comprehend it. But Arlen kept going, and he needed Arlen to keep going. It lasted and lasted, and then Arlen gasped against him and something exploded deep inside him. Arlen kept his hand on Jarl’s chest as he pulled out, but Jarl was still desperate.
“Again,” he whispered, and without a word, Arlen entered him. He didn’t even wonder how Arlen was ready to go so quickly; he needed this and Arlen was giving it to him. He reached his peak twice more before Arlen reached his. Again. He pleaded and begged and Arlen took him again. And again. His body ached and felt battered, and he knew he couldn’t stand anymore. But he still ached with the need to offer himself. He would keep giving himself to Arlen until his body failed, he knew. He would still need it until his final resources failed. And then he looked beyond Arlen and saw the moon. He drew in a slow breath, entranced and distracted from the lust that filled him.
The song in his mind that had continued to drive him quieted for a moment as the glow of the moon soothed his senses and calmed his body. Arlen was looking at him in concern, he realized, still with one hand on his heart, still feeding but no longer inside him.
“Jarl,” he said. “Can you hear me?”
Jarl couldn’t speak, too caught up in the moon. It was so beautiful. Arlen had shown him the moon for the first time and he couldn’t believe he had never studied it before. The music in his mind slowed to a quiet twinkling of notes in the back of his mind and he took a sudden breath. He looked around, suddenly realizing what was happening and back in control of his mind.
“Jarl,” Arlen repeated, sounding panicked.
“I hear you,” he said, breaking his gaze from the moon to look straight at Arlen, who looked almost shocked. His body ached and he knew it would be days before he was able to sit comfortably. Why had he insisted on Arlen continuing like that, long past his endurance? How had he managed to last that long? He had never been fucked like that before, he thought with amusement. His previous experiences were nothing compared to that. And even over the pain and exhaustion, it had been perfect.
“You can hear me?” Arlen repeated, still stunned.
“Yes,” he said, then looked around. There were other creatures nearby, he realized, and he clutched Arlen for protection. Arlen looked up at the others.
“Stay back,” he warned, and they backed off. Slightly.
Arlen helped him sit up and he winced as pain racked his body. He could still taste blood from where his tongue had tangled with Arlen’s fangs and he was disappointed that they weren’t able to kiss, but everything else between them was better than the best kiss so he wasn’t too disappointed.
“Can you stand?”
“I think so,” he said, and Arlen helped him to his feet cautiously, pausing as he gasped in pain. But he managed to stand. And realized he was completely naked and covered in the remnants of sex. He blushed and attempted to cover himself but the creatures around him had all seen. They must have seen everything, he thought in panic. Everything. His complete loss of control and everything that had happened between him and Arlen. He backed into the comfort of his creature and Arlen embraced him.
“You have nothing to be ashamed of,” Arlen whispered to him. “You survived.”
He blinked and realized it was still night. He was standing in the moonlight, surrounded by creatures of the night, embracing one of them, and he was alive. This had never happened before, he knew.
“Leave us,” Arlen said to the others. “He needs to recover first.”
Jarl didn’t know what he meant by first, but he was grateful when the other creatures vanished into the night. He looked at Arlen shyly.
“I thought you gave up one me,” he said.
Arlen chuckled. “You should have known I didn’t.”
“Then why wasn’t I drawn here every night?”
“We can see the wall,” he said. “The first night, I saw where you were and saw you get stopped. The two nights after that, there were four guards there so I knew there was no point bringing you out. I waited until they were gone and then summoned you.”
“I didn’t know you had that kind of control,” Jarl said, thinking of the old timer’s story of how it had been a week of attempts and then he had been left alone the rest of his life. And most people were only drawn out once and if they survived, it never happened again.
“We rarely use it,” Arlen said. “If we don’t get what we need immediately, we give up and try another. But I wanted you, and no one else, so I waited.”
Jarl smiled, then shivered. It was cold in the night and he was naked and covered in cum.
“What do you need?” Arlen asked him, placing one hand under his chin and tilting it so that their eyes met. He had never imagined those large ebony eyes could look so concerned. It was definitely possible to read the creature’s emotions.
Jarl pulled away slightly and looked down at himself.
“I need to bathe,” he said. “And I need clothes. And I need to rest. What happened?”
“You found something to offer me that didn’t kill you,” Arlen said, and began leading him deeper in the woods. He followed. “Though I thought I was going to kill you until you saw the moon. I should be asking you what happened.”
“It’s beautiful,” he said, looking at the pale sphere between the treetops. “When I looked at it, the music got quieter and everything made sense again.”
“Can you still hear the music?” he asked curiously.
“It’s still there,” Jarl confirmed. “But it’s faint. I can barely hear it. It’s not driving me anymore.”
“You’ve adapted,” Arlen said with an indrawn breath, sounding awed.
They reached a small pond and Arlen gestured to the dark waters.
“This is all I can offer you to bathe. It’s safe,” he added, no doubt seeing Jarl’s hesitation. “Nothing swims here. It’s only water, and it’s not deep. Here.”
He stepped into the water and Jarl followed. Arlen led him to the center of the pond where the water reached his waist. It only reached the tops of Arlen’s thighs and Jarl’s gaze was drawn to his penis, just out of the water. Arlen followed his gaze and grinned.
“I had no idea this could do what we did,” he said with a laugh. “Quite a versatile body part. We had always wondered why humans had such a vulnerable part.”
Jarl began cleaning himself, then began cleaning Arlen as well, pulling him lower in the water so he could wash everything from the creature’s beautiful body. Arlen helped once he realized what Jarl was doing, and soon they were both clean. They left the water and he realized they didn’t have any towels or anything to dry off. Arlen went to a nearby bush, one of the ones with wide, flat leaves, and pulled off a leaf.
“Here,” he said, handing Jarl the leaf before rubbing the leaf over his body the same way he would a towel. Cautiously, Jarl pressed the leaf on his skin. It was surprisingly soft and absorbed the water and soon he was dry. Arlen went to another tree and pulled down the kind of draping cloth he had been wearing earlier. How did cloth come from a plant? But it did, and Arlen dressed himself before pulling more cloth down and wrapping it around Jarl. He still felt naked, as the cloth didn’t cover him as completely as clothes did, but he thought he would have the confidence to be seen by others now.
“We need to talk to the rest of the creatures before you can rest,” Arlen said. “None of them will hurt you. None of them can hurt you, now. You’re part of this planet.”
“You said I was poison,
” he pointed out, and Arlen laughed.
“Your poison has been neutralized. How else were you able to use that leaf like that, or wear this cloth? The leaves are prickly to you humans, and this cloth would sting your skin if you didn’t belong to this world. But everything on this planet is harmonized and you’re part of us now, so everything here will adapt to your needs.”
“But what happened?”
“I don’t know,” Arlen admitted. “We’ll have to figure it out before we send you back.”
“Back?” Jarl said in shock. “You can’t send me back to the colony.”
“Why not? We need you to teach the other humans what you did.”
“They’ll kill me,” he said. “I survived the night. They’ll assume I’m possessed, or I’m one of you posing as me, or something like that and they’ll kill me.”
Arlen studied him silently. “We need the other humans to learn from you,” he said slowly, then sighed. “Maybe the others will know what to do. I won’t let you be killed and you seem quite certain of what will happen.”
Chapter 8
The creatures were terrifying. Jarl remembered what the old timer had said about the creature he saw being like a nightmare and many of these creatures looked exactly like the nightmares that had haunted him all of his life until recently. Arlen had brought him to a large clearing and led him to the center, where an enormous creature crouched, and they had immediately been surrounded. Some of the creatures looked human, like the woman who had nearly lured him to her. They were coldly beautiful. Others were like nightmares. But the one in front of them, the one at the center of the clearing, was unlike anything he’d ever seen.
It almost looked like an enormous tree come to life, though it was only about fifteen feet tall, not nearly tall enough for a trunk as wide as it had. It had a face of sorts, with ebony eyes like the other creatures and a wide mouth he knew without asking was filled with fangs, but there wasn’t really a nose and the face wasn’t part of a head. It was part of the rest of the body. There weren’t really legs, either. The trunk just seemed to end at the ground. There were arms, long and scraggly like branches. It really did look like a tree come to life and his fear was balanced by his curiosity. A good thing, because when he looked at the other creatures fear definitely won out. He was grateful for Arlen at his side because he knew his creature would keep him safe.
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