“This is the best job I’ve ever had.”
Now it was his turn to restrain a smile. When she saw that her face turned even goofier. Then he allowed the snort of a laugh to escape. She covered her mouth to giggle.
Prax-Denay cleared his throat. “Do you like the food?”
“Mm-hm!”
“Well, that was clearly a yes, though I’ve never heard it expressed so...”
She looked at him.
“Cutely.”
Lisette giggled again.
“Stop it.”
She bit her lower lip.
“Stop that, too. It’s as if you’re trying to charm me.”
Lisette shook her head, though with a smile affixed.
Prax-Denay scoffed and stirred his food.
Days passed and Jorenkis remained absent. Lisette ceased worrying about him. She let the meaningful work they were doing absorb her while existing in their happy bubble. Was there a whole planet outside their building? She could care less. The lab was always magically stocked with all they needed (due to robots, no doubt) and work flowed as smoothly as clarified butter.
There didn’t seem to be the concept of a weekend. Two weeks passed and work commenced every day. Lisette was fine with that. If Prax-Denay had given her time off she would have spent it in the lab fiddling around. She preferred to work with him there. They were in synch. It often just took a glance for her to convey her thoughts. Then he’d point his finger at her due to coming to the same conclusion at the same time. She’d nod and proceed without any doubt that they understood each other.
The comfort she felt with Prax-Denay, encouraged by convivial lunch dates, grew incrementally day by day. She got up the nerve to ask him for a chair with wheels like the one he had. This led to her rolling around the lab with her legs raised. If she passed to close to him she got the back of her chair grabbed and shoved with enough force to make her squeal.
Whenever they took breaks to discuss their next projects she would twirl her chair side to side. He started imitating her. This caused warmth inside her, because she knew this was the act of a man much happier than the one she’d started with.
When their eyes met in those moments of quiet—that’s when other feelings stirred. Beautiful, soft flower petal feelings. He was always the first to turn away.
They never had dinner together. She would eat alone in the kitchen and he would go to his quarters. There was some meaning to that, but she really couldn’t grasp it. Lunch was no problem; why would dinner matter?
This was when an aching sadness would drum up inside her. She didn’t want this daily reminder of the wall between them.
Lisette heaved her chair a little too hard and had to leap off it before it crashed into a console. A wheel snapped off and bounced comically across the floor. Prax-Denay darted back a glance from his micro-unit. She stood beside the scene of the accident with both hands over her mouth.
“Ha! Now you’ve done it. No more frolicking for you.”
His playful chiding was a relief. She glanced at his empty chair. It sat an equal distance from both of them.
Prax-Denay followed her eyes. “Absolutely not.”
She ran for it. He darted for it also. Lisette couldn’t stop herself in the moment after he sat. She crashed onto his lap. When she tottered backwards he clasped her in both arms. Lisette burst into laughter.
“I win.”
There was a touch of soberness to his voice.
Lisette looked into his eyes. Her smile went away slowly. The feelings she had inside—the warm fluttery pangs in her belly—they surfaced with such power she blinked slowly with rapture. Prax-Denay’s arms were around her and he wasn’t letting go.
Lisette draped one arm around his shoulders and let her body press against him. He’d ceased looking at her, but made no move to separate them. For that brief time he merely held her on his lap while she nestled against him.
“What do you think about…”
Lisette’s eyelashes lifted.
“…doing a molecular study on the moffmitts? Just to…be sure…in case there’s a…”
She lifted her head and kissed him.
Prax-Denay’s response wasn’t instant. She wondered if his kind even practiced kissing. Then he squeezed her against him and crushed her lips below his own. The sudden passion had her head reeling. She gripped him tighter as their mouths hungrily merged together. His hand coursed over her back, then through her hair. Every touch left tingling trails. Her breasts were fused against him, and her stomach had turned to goo. It was if they floated together on that chair. He broke, just for a moment, and she saw the ache of desire in his eyes. Lisette met his lips again. She wanted to return to that rapturous place of heady warmth.
He broke a second time and turned his head away. “Oh gods, stop. We’re not like human men—it’s agony to resist my desires.” She could see his chest heaving with deep breaths.
The answer was plain to her. “You don’t…have to resist.”
His acrimonious laugh returned. “I’m talking about intercourse, Lisette. The consummation ritual. Taking you to bed…and…”
“Uh huh.”
Now he looked at her. She could see a trace of anger. “I already told you—“
“But…um…”
“Talk. I can’t read your mind now.”
“How will he know? We’re all alone. We’ll usually be alone…right?”
He turned away again with a furrowed brow. “A secret marriage?”
She resisted shrugging. Whatever. All she knew was that she had feelings for him that were stronger than she’d ever felt before. Three weeks was too short for a courtship, but she still yearned for him to touch her. And if they could get away with it, then why not?
“We could never breed.”
She let herself shrug this time. Sure, she’d wanted kids (a lot of them, actually) but not enough to suffer through a marriage with Jorenkis.
“Maybe I could get away with this,” he thought out loud, “even if they suspected things. If we always denied it—if we were discreet—if we didn’t try to make a political stand.”
She stared at him patiently. It seemed unthinkable for them not to proceed. He knew it. She knew it. He might pretend to debate himself, but he was holding to her tightly as he did.
“Have you any idea what you’re doing?”
She shook her head.
“Then how could I possibly drag you into such controversy!”
Lisette lowered her eyes. It wasn’t really a question, but she’d grown comfortable enough with him to speak without direct prompts. “It’s up to you.”
He grimaced. “It should be up to you also—but you don’t understand our ways, our eons of history, our segregated culture. What do you even know about it besides what I’ve told you?”
She swallowed. “I know…Earth ways. If two people have feelings for each other, then they should be allowed to be together. Sometimes…sometimes one is rich and one is poor, or one is from a good family and one is from…like…a broken home. Maybe with a parent in prison or…whatever. They still…I mean, if the person is good enough for the other one to love, usually they’re good enough for everyone else to approve, too. You would never not be with someone you love…just because of society.”
Prax-Denay closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. His voice became choked with emotion. “That sounds…like a magnificent world.”
She waited. When he met her eyes she knew she’d won.
“And I do love you, Lisette.”
Her heart felt like it lifted in her chest.
“But, my dearest…” He caressed the side of her face. “It’s unfair for me to exploit your naiveté. You don’t know what the Etiken are.”
“I don’t care,” she said with just a touch of aggression.
“If you saw an Etiken slum you would look at me differently.”
“No. I wouldn’t. When the Instajants invaded all of us were living in the sewers and…eating r
ats and bugs and…we were all filthy.”
Prax-Denay leaned forward to look at her. “Is that so, Lisette?”
She nodded. “Some people had it even worse than me. Some people…the ones missing arms or legs from gangrene.”
He scowled. “Why didn’t your damned government just surrender to us? You could have gotten the vaccine from the start. Billions of your people would never have been infected and driven away. Was living in the sewers really preferable to being enslaved?”
“Corporations ran everything…and they didn’t want the Dak-Hiliah to rule. And everyone thought you would give us the vaccine without us having to surrender since…since you needed women so bad.”
He gave an exasperated groan. “Such a pointless tragedy.”
Lisette wet her lips. “My whole family...” She trailed off, not because of her usual sheepishness, but to keep the pain from resurfacing.
He held her closer. After a short silence he said, “I could be your family now.”
“Mmm.” She closed her eyes to focus on the melty sensations within her. The prospect brought her sublime joy. She wanted someone to love her. Someone she could rely on—who might care for her when she was in need.
He caressed her scalp. “I suppose…if you survived in the sewers for a year…an Etiken slum wouldn’t offend you. You may truly not care where I’ve come from.”
“I really don’t,” she said with a resolute pout.
He lowered his lips back to hers, this time kissing gently. Lisette wrapped both her arms around him to take in more ambrosial feelings from his mouth.
He rose while lifting her smoothly. The strong alien carried her with little effort out of the lab and up the stairs.
Her heart started racing. She’d talked a good game, but she had so little experience. She’d eloped with a boy after a single awkward date at the age of seventeen. He was in the reserves and about to be deployed. Despite both being virgins, their consummation had been shockingly passionate. Lisette still quivered when she remembered it. But then, on his first leave, he asked for a divorce. They’d been rash, and while her mind agreed, her body ached to protest. She wanted to relive their single night together—to explore things further. That bodily connection they’d discovered was all they had, though. She knew it was a flimsy basis for a marriage.
After Ryan she’d known nothing further—not even a kiss—until now.
He started grumbling while approaching his room. “I should have a drug for you. I never thought—well, still. It’s inconsiderate.”
She didn’t understand, but trusted him. The mention of drugs didn’t frighten her.
He lowered her onto a bed in his sparse quarters. The room layout was identical to hers, and just as undecorated.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said.
She shook her head in confusion.
“Apparently…human women have less capacity than Dak-Hiliah women.”
She nodded with enlightenment. “Wine?”
He lifted his chin. “Ah, of course.”
In minutes they were nestled together against his cushioned headboard with large goblets of ‘wine’ which tasted to Lisette like fermented Orange Tang. Both their lab coats were off. Prax-Denay had removed his tunic and boots. Lisette allowed her bare feet to escape their slippers. All that remained on her was the modest brown dress and white underclothes the robots had made for her. She sipped the sweet drink while the warmth of his cradling arm radiated through her. Prax-Denay had a gorgeously muscled chest without a trace of hair. She became mesmerized by his dark blue nipples.
He soothed her nape with gentle fingers. “I’ve never felt more contentment than right at this moment.”
His lilting voice added to the fluttery feelings in her belly. “Why not?”
“I’ve never had anyone who made me happy. As an Etiken I presumed I wasn’t entitled to happiness. I resented seeing the less worthy take for granted what I could never have. My existence was one of constant scorn and contention. Now, suddenly, I’ve a reason…a reason to be joyful.”
Lisette considered their shared bliss while the alcohol coursed through her blood stream and into her head. Words seemed to come easier now.
“We’re perfect for each other, Prax,” she said.
She felt him shudder. “Oh gods, it’s true. And to hear you say it…” He took another sip of wine.
She finished her glass and then closed her eyes. It’s stronger than it tastes. I’m already drunk.
Lisette yielded to the urge to trace a finger over his bare chest. She swirled her way down his stomach and made a tender circle around his navel.
“You behave like timid bird. But there’s fire inside you.”
“Mm.”
Prax-Denay placed aside their glasses and rolled on top of her. He locked her eyes in a penetrating gaze.
“Share that fire with me.”
Lisette clutched both arms around him and entwined their mouths. He ground their lips together while his hands coursed over her flanks. An impassioned tongue sought hers. She tasted the wine in his mouth and tilted her head to connect them even deeper. As their tongues wrangled sensually she could hear his hard breathing.
Prax-Denay broke from her with a flushed face. He leaned up and tore her dress open. Lisette gasped from the violence of it. His expression looked wild. He broke open her bra and attached his mouth to one of the precious pale mounds that came free. Lisette’s heart was racing. She worried he’d lost control.
His mouth worked gently, however. Sucking and then teasing a tremulous nipple before switching to the other side. His hot breath now hit against her skin causing tingly goose pimples. Prax-Denay ripped the rest of her dress open. He nestled his face against her stomach to lavish her with soft kisses.
“You can’t belong to anyone else.”
He danced the fingers of both hands over her sensitive ribs. Lisette twisted partway from the rapturous sensation.
He sat up and hitched his fingers into the waistband of her panties. Lisette’s stomach quivered. She lifted herself to help him strip her, despite feeling her face blazoning red. Her sex was now guarded only by a wispy tuft of dark hair. She bit her lower lip while his eyes went from her breasts to her sex and back again.
“You’re stunning.”
Her heart thundered now. The eroticism of being naked in front of him made her clench deep inside. She couldn’t bear his gaze for more than a moment. Lisette turned sharply onto her side just as he lowered back over her. Prax-Denay kissed the round peak of her hip and glided his hand over her buttock. The tickling touch made her wince. He lowered down to kiss just above the swell. Every touch was lighting her skin up with tingles. She knew she was already damp between her legs. Prax-Denay had full control of her.
“It’s not…fair.” She reached back to clutch a handful of his pants.
Prax-Denay knelt up and exposed himself with one fluid move. He kicked his pants off the bed.
Lisette’s lips parted. He was sitting up on his bent legs to allow her a look at him. She crept over and smoothed her hands over his firm thighs. Of course…the alien had an alien penis: it was a bulbous blue tube as long as her forearm and as thick as her wrist. It rested in a smooth curve outward before him on the bed. She thought him flaccid, but when she touched the warm flesh the shaft lifted and became straight. Lisette brought both her hands around it. The hard organ coiled around one of her arms. She gave him a look of shock only to see that Prax-Denay’s eyes were closed and his moist lips parted.
She pulled her arm free with some difficulty. The stiff organ reached out for her. Lisette tented her hands on either side of it, and then groped up and down its length. There was a soft mound beneath it, and what seemed to be large testicles embedded in his inner thighs. Lisette palmed the hot mound of flesh first. Prax-Denay groaned. His lips pulled back to expose his clenched teeth. She felt the baseball-sized bulges embedded in his thighs next, with a hand fondling each side. This made his chest pull forward, a
nd a more visceral grunt came through his clenched teeth.
Lisette watched him with short pants of breath. She rubbed the thick shaft with more vigor. That seemed the part of him which could handle the most abuse. She started to jack him with both hands. Prax-Denay’s grunts shortened and came out in a rapid sequence. She saw his hands clench to fists.
His wild eyes opened and he pushed her back so that she was beneath him again. Prax-Denay kissed her ravenously. She was swept back into her euphoria when their searing mouths rejoined, but then she felt his cock stirring against her leg. He pried the moistened head between her thighs and penetrated the tender outer folds of her sex.
Lisette’s eyes opened. His cock rubbed against her slick labia. Shocking sensation bombarded her. Her muscles clenched as the thick tool glazed itself in her wetness. A ticklish buzz of pleasure made her toes curl. Her nipples peaked against his chest. She clutched his shoulder with her eyes wide. His cock brushed her clitoris.
Lisette gasped. The way he moved the organ away from it afterwards told her he was aware of the pleasure spot. He teased her splayed petals, and then went lower to the opening of her sex. Prax-Denay ground the round head of his cock against her muscular ring without penetrating. This made her stomach tremble. He was able to mash her other pleasure spot enough to make her feel a pulsing. The sensation was more obscure and sublime than the powerful twinge he’d caused to her clit.
His organ became coated with her juices. He moved it up from her opening, over her labia, and then glided its full length over her perked clitoris.
“Ngh!”
Potent tingling throbs arrested her pelvis. Her clit was mashed by the slippery underside of his cock. He straightened the organ until the mound beneath it nestled into the cleft her sex. Part of his length was now pinioned against her stomach.
Prax-Denay thrust his hips.
“Ah!”
His cock massaged her labia and clit while his groin mound crushed against her throbbing passage. He waited after the first movement for her to stop digging her nails into his back, and then he did it again. This time there was no rest. He pumped against her sex as though he were inside her. Lisette was besieged by ecstatic sensations. She clamped her thighs involuntarily, but Prax-Denay stayed wedged between them. He thrust and grunted while sending her shockwaves of delirious pleasure. Lisette’s face contorted. Her clitoris felt like it twitched underneath him. Tingles barraged her whole pelvis. Then they transformed to a dangerous prickly sensation emanating from deep inside her sex.
The Complete Alien's Bride Page 24