by Meg Ripley
Ethan wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she let him lead her out of the chamber and along the corridors until they stepped out of the pyramid. She was still sobbing as he guided her into her tent, the pain threatening to crack her chest in two. His hands eased her down onto her sleeping bag and she heard him mutter to someone who had followed them to get the doctor.
"I don’t need a doctor," she said, her crying now quieted and replaced by an aching emptiness. "I need Amasis."
"Who is Amasis?"
"The descendant of one of the extraterrestrials who came thousands of years ago and helped build these pyramids."
"Please don't start that again, Liora. This is serious. You were missing for hours. Something must have happened to you."
Liora shook her head against the pillow, curling into a tight ball.
"I am serious. He has been waiting for me."
"Where?"
"I found a hidden chamber in the pyramid and it transported me to his planet. He showed me the ruins of pyramids that have been there for thousands of years, since they decided that the people of Earth weren't worth their alliance and left."
Before Ethan could reply, the doctor came into the tent. He instructed Liora to sit up and poured water down her throat, insisting she was suffering from heat exhaustion.
"She should leave tomorrow," he said over his shoulder to Ethan, "We can finish this investigation without her. We have enough of her notes on the hieroglyphs to get through."
His words sank in and suddenly Liora was on her feet, running back toward the pyramid. She leaned down as she passed the tool tent, scooping a chisel off of the ground without stopping. Behind her she could hear Ethan and the doctor screaming at her, but their words were drowned out by the pounding of her heartbeat and the rush of her blood in her ears.
Liora ran down the corridor into the chamber and through the false wall into the smaller space. Lifting the chisel, she began pounding at the wall, desperately trying to engrave a symbol into the stone.
"Stop! Liora, what are you doing?" Ethan shouted, climbing through the false wall into the chamber with her.
She continued on, screaming with the exertion of each movement, frantically hitting the wall until her arms gave out and she couldn't lift the chisel again. Her body crumpled to the ground, the tears pouring again, and Ethan dropped to his knees beside her, gathering her against him as she cried.
Suddenly she noticed a flicker of light out of the corner of her eye. She looked up and saw a new hieroglyph glowing in the stone. A moment later, another appeared, closer to the false door. She touched it and in an instant, another appeared, this one right outside the false door in the main chamber. As she followed them, more of the glowing symbols appeared, guiding her along the wall of the chamber to the opposite corner.
Light pulsed along the seam of the corner as she drew closer, and Liora touched her palm to it. Instead of another false wall, she felt the entire wall shift slightly and blinding light poured into the space. The stone beneath her hand gave way and was replaced by soft, warm skin. Strong fingers intertwined with hers and she stepped back, helping Amasis step through the wall into the chamber.
As soon as he was standing beside her, he gathered her against his chest.
"My light," he whispered into her hair, "I thought I had lost you."
"Dear god," Ethan said from behind them, "You were telling the truth."
Liora raised her head to respond, but she heard the commotion of the rest of the crew racing down the corridor and she looked up at Amasis desperately.
"Go," she said, pushing him back toward the gap in the wall, which was starting to ease closed.
"Not without you," he said.
"Take me with you."
Amasis tightened his grip on her hand and stepped back through the wall, pulling her along with him. She felt a hand close around her wrist and she screamed, yanking against the doctor's grip so he could not pull her back through. Amasis tugged hard on her and finally she ripped out of the doctor's hand and stumbled into Amasis's arms just as the wall sealed behind them.
****
Liora and Amasis tumbled backwards and landed on the dusty floor, him on his back and her sprawled on his chest. They both lay still for a few seconds, their hard, uneven breath the only sound in the isolated chamber, before Liora dipped her mouth down to his.
Amasis kissed her back with intensity, using one hand to hold the back of her head so he crushed their mouths together. Their tongues tangled, drawing unchained sounds from deep within them as they put every moment of pain, anger, and fear of losing each other into their kiss. She felt his hands come to the backs of her thighs and pull her forward, causing her to straddle his hips. The skirt of her dress caught and he reached down to gather it out of the way so she could settle onto him.
Her core cradled against a surging erection and she rocked her hips against it, her lack of panties allowing her to feel the friction of his soft pants against her body. She knew he could feel her wet heat through the fabric and she pushed down harder, coaxing him to touch her.
Amasis whisked the dress the rest of the way off of her body, exposing her completely to him. He moaned and reached up to cup her breasts, filling his hands with them and kneading his fingers into the supple flesh. In one movement he sat up, wrapped one arm around her hips, and flipped Liora onto her back so that she landed on her discarded dress.
The sun was completely set now but she could see him in the light from the moon flowing into the pyramid as he sat back on his heels and untied his pants again. Once they were loose, he raised up and pushed them off, kicking them aside so that there was no longer anything between them. Liora reached for him and Amasis came forward over her, catching himself with his hands on either side of her shoulders so that he could kiss her before pushing back onto his knees again.
She complied with the fast guidance of his hands as he pushed her legs apart, positioning them on either side of his. He grabbed her thighs and pulled her forward so that her hips lifted slightly off of the ground. Suddenly he was inside her and Liora cried out with the fullness of him burying himself deep within her body.
He didn't pause, but withdrew slightly and slammed back into her, bringing another sharp cry to her lips. The sounds seemed to spur him forward and Amasis held onto her hips for leverage as he thrust into her so hard and fast she felt like she could barely catch her breath. The feeling of him stretching her walls, plunging further than she thought possible, was glorious. She clung to his arms, digging her nails into her skin as he arched back, roaring with release and bringing his hand between them so he could touch her. The combination of his thumb swirling into her swollen, aching bud and the pulsing of his cock within her sent Liora crashing over the edge and she gasped, breathless at the intensity of the climax that milked him.
When their bodies finally relaxed, Liora straightened her legs and opened her arms so that Amasis could rest down on top of her. He buried his head in the crook of her neck and trailed lazy kisses along her skin.
"I thought my light had gone out forever," he whispered against her.
She felt tears threatening her eyes and she cuddled him closer to her, desperate to feel his skin on every inch of her.
"Never," she whispered back.
"I could feel you so close. It was almost like you were just on the other side of the wall."
"How did you know how to find me?"
"I could hear the chisel against the stone and I followed it until I got here. Every time you hit the wall, it sent a little spark of light in here to me. I knew you were there."
"When you engraved the symbols back to me, they were glowing."
Amasis raised his head and looked down at her.
"I don't think we will ever be able to use the connector transport again," he said, a hint of hesitation in his voice, "It only worked when we needed to get to each other. I think Seker planned it that way when he sealed it. He foretold this in that message. We are the civility,
the union he dreamed of for our species."
"I don't want to use it again," she reassured him, touching a kiss to his lips and feeling his erection pulse back to life. She smiled and ran her tongue along his bottom lip, easing her thighs apart to welcome him, "I want to be right here with you. I need you."
Liora sighed as Amasis sank into her smoothly and slowly, taking his time so that she felt him intensely as he stroked across every inch of her. As frantically as he had moved before, he moved tenderly now, using his whole body to envelope hers and kissing her languidly as he rolled his hips against her.
Liora wrapped her arms around him and held him close, returning his kiss softly. Her body held him closer, fitting around him as though she was made for him. She smiled as she shifted her hips, sending him deeper and eliciting a groan of appreciation. At that moment, she knew she was safe and that she no longer had anything to fear about the darkness. She had her own moonlight to protect her and guide her way.
********
If you enjoyed reading this story, I’d be so appreciative if you could please leave a review. Even just a sentence or two would be a great help!
Thanks so much for your support!
xo – Meg
~BONUS STORY~
Chosen Alien Gene: Double Quest
Lenth stepped into the nearly deserted bar, looking around constantly. His gaze flicked from one human to another, sizing up prospects and trying to understand the complex behavior going on around him; he saw a few females—but most of them appeared to be working, walking briskly from one table to another or standing behind the long, ancient-looking bar itself.
Lenth’s gaze settled on a figure unlike the rest of the patrons; the man was sitting at a booth, glancing around just as interestedly as Lenth had been. Anyone looking at Lenth and the other man—who had arrived fifteen minutes prior—would have assumed that they were brothers, or at the very least cousins; they shared the same skin tone: a shade somewhere between brown and gray—an unusual color, though not entirely out of the realm of human possibility—and a similar build: lean, muscular, and almost too tall to quite be believed. Where Lenth had close-cropped, thick brown hair, the other man’s was a few inches longer, unnatural-looking silver. Both men also had unearthly-looking blue-green eyes.
Lenth strode through the quiet bar towards the booth, his lips curling in a smile at the sight of his fellow scientist. “Bronn,” he said, sitting down across from the other man. “I apologize for my tardiness.” Bronn mimicked his smile, glancing around the room once more.
“I’m just glad you’re here,” Bronn responded. He shifted into their native language. “Our superiors are beginning to become anxious.” Lenth nodded.
“I think your idea is a good one,” Lenth said. They had spoken previously about their mutual troubles; neither of them had had any success in the goal of their mission, the goal that all of the scientists on their mission had.
“It would be better than being sent back to Khatanar,” Bronn agreed. Lenth smiled, shaking his head. The planet they came from—called Tau Ceti e by the humans—was far enough away that neither scientist was in a hurry to return alone.
“They wouldn’t send us back, they’d just make our lives miserable.”
“They’d send us back if we went much longer without any progress,” Bronn countered. “I have no interest in being crammed into a capsule and sent back.”
“How are we going to approach this?” Lenth asked.
“I’ve studied human reproduction extensively,” Bronn said, lifting the mug of what Lenth’s own extensive research told him was beer to his lips and taking a long sip. “I have seen several references to human sexuality that seem to suggest that in certain situations, humans mate in groups of three instead of pairs.”
“I have seen a few of these references,” Lenth agreed. On the months that the voyage to this planet had taken, all of the scientists had reviewed as much as they could, studying the facets of human sexuality. “But it seems to be the exception rather than the rule. Do you believe it’s a fertility issue?”
“None of the other reports suggest that it is.” Bronn sat back on the bench, sighing. “I believe—from what I have studied—that recreational mating is a common feature for this species.” Lenth considered it; certainly the wealth of information available publicly about reproduction, including videos, stories, pictures, and guides, implied that the human species did not simply mate for the purposes of reproduction. Early reports from other, more successful Khateen scientists—other members of their crew, colleagues who had already selected and recruited subjects for experimentation—suggested the same.
“This—pornography that they have,” Lenth said slowly. “It’s difficult to decipher how much of it is for the purposes of education and how much of it is entertainment.”
“They are in some ways like children,” Bronn said, taking another sip of his beer. “This isn’t bad; when the waitress arrives, you should order it.” Bronn set the heavy glass mug down and continued his thought. “It’s as though their mating is not simply for the purposes of either bonding or reproduction, but a recreational activity in its own right.” Among the Khateen, mating only served two functions; part of the challenge that faced the researchers sent to the planet known as Earth was that mating seemed to be a much more complicated issue.
“We know much more now than we did when this mission started,” Lenth pointed out. “It seems strange though that something that can result in conception could be used purely as a form of entertainment. I understand that many human women don’t desire this outcome.”
“The planet is fairly well-populated,” Bronn pointed out. “And we both know that the orgasm response in humans can be addictive.”
“But an entire planet of addicts? It should be choked with humans—they should have already destroyed themselves.”
“They have ways of preventing conception, as Hikar discovered.” Hikar, another one of their colleagues, had recruited his human female subject the week before; he had reported to the group about the existence of various methods that humans used to avoid reproduction.
“All I know,” Lenth said, shaking his head in frustration, “is that if we don’t find a subject to experiment on, we’ll be in trouble.”
Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of a human woman; she was short, even by human standards, with brilliant purple-colored hair cut short around a sharp-featured face. Dressed in a pair of shorts that revealed the indelible ink markings Lenth knew were called tattoos—designs that looked similar to human artwork in a floral motif—and a tight, black shirt, she looked to Lenth’s gaze like the human mythological creature called a pixie.
“Can I get you something?” she said, and Lenth felt a shiver cascade through his nervous system at the pleasing, soft sound of her voice. The woman’s large, dark eyes took him in.
“I’ll have what my friend is having,” Lenth told her, gesturing to the beer. The woman smiled, nodding quickly.
“Coming right up!” she scribbled something on the pad of paper and moved away from the table, and Lenth watched her move towards the bar.
“What do you think?” Bronn asked. Lenth smiled slowly.
“I think we should approach her,” Lenth replied. “She’s an excellent candidate.”
Bronn watched the woman that he and Lenth had identified as a potential recruit for their now-combined study, tracking her around the room as she went about her work. “Why do you think she’s an excellent candidate?” Bronn asked his colleague, turning his attention back onto Lenth.
“She’s obviously fertile,” Lenth said, his glance moving to watch her as well. “I find her interesting.”
“Interesting?” Bronn asked doubtfully. He had had no success in finding a recruit to study; as yet he had never found a human woman to be specifically interesting. He had found them intriguing as study participants—but his opinion about human intelligence was fairly dim.
“Did you hear her voi
ce?” Lenth asked him.
Bronn raised his shoulders in an approximation of a shrug. “She has a very nice voice; how does that make her interesting?”
“She has that—tattooing,” Lenth pointed out, still speaking in their native language.
“Many human women have that,” Bronn pointed out. When the human woman approached the table once more, Bronn looked at her artwork in more detail. The shorts the woman was wearing made it easy to view the whorls and swirls of ink forming flowers on her upper thighs.
“Here you are: one mug of Samuel Adams,” the woman said, smiling. Listening to her voice, Bronn had to admit to himself that it was beautiful. The woman hesitated; instead of turning away quickly, the way she had before, she lingered, looking from Bronn to Lenth. “Do you mind if I ask where you gentlemen come from?” she asked quickly. “Jeez! I apologize if that’s offensive.”
“We’re from far away,” Lenth said, falling back on the explanation that the other Khateen had used—the explanation that both Lenth and Bronn had used in speaking with women previously. Lenth glanced at Bronn, giving him a significant look.
“May I ask your name?” Bronn asked, falling into the English language with slight difficulty. Even after weeks of speaking the language, it still felt stilted and strange to him.
“Giselle,” the woman said, her lips curving in a smile. In that moment, Bronn’s confusion at Lenth’s choice—his decision to attempt to recruit the woman—evaporated. Bronn had seen a dozen women smile; but there was something about the way Giselle’s dark eyes lit up when her lips curved that sent a jolt through him.
“Let us know when you’re on your break, Giselle, and we can tell you all about where we come from,” Lenth suggested.
“I’m actually off in twenty minutes,” she said, glancing at them both. “I wasn’t planning to hang around, but your language sounds very interesting; I study cultures, I’d love to hear more.”
Bronn nodded, smiling at the woman. “We’ll be happy to share everything you want to hear about our culture,” Bronn told her. “Let me pay for my friend so that we don’t hold you up.” He offered one of the strange pieces of paper that humans used as currency; Giselle glanced at it and then smiled again, extending it towards him.