by Hana Starr
You should join me, Saffron wanted to say, but there was simply no way that she could. Doing so was presumptuous and might very well be rude. What if there were very specific guidelines to this sort of thing, or he was already spoken for?
She couldn’t stand here and debate for very long, however. She knew Eban wouldn’t care if he had to stand around and wait for her to think but there was an urgency between her legs that wasn’t going to wait. All she did was smile up at him. He smiled back, making wetness start to trickle down her inner thigh.
“No, thank you,” she managed. “I’m sure it’s wonderful and I’ll just be asleep within seconds.”
He nodded understandingly. “Very well, then. Either I or my first mate –you didn’t meet her today- will be along in the morning. Sleep well, Saffron.”
Neither of them moved. Then, he glanced down and she understood, releasing her grip finally. It seemed as though he might say something about it, but then he just turned and slid away down the hall and turned hurriedly down the corner.
The moment he was gone, Saffron whirled around and hastily shut the door behind her. There were lights in here, controlled on the same system as the rest of the ship’s energy, and they were burning just enough for her to take stock of her surroundings. The room was tiny, furnished with a bed, chair, and several other amenities all squashed into the small area. It was charmingly cozy, and she didn’t care.
Grabbing at her jeans as she hurried over towards the bed, she yanked them and her panties down and then stepped out of them. The puddled on the floor, leaving the wetness on her thighs cooling in the exposed air. Turning around and falling own on the bed, she yanked off her shirt but there was no time to take care of her bra properly. Instead, she just shoved the cups up around her neck so they were out of the way.
Panting and shaking now, she swung up her legs and lay back fully. Burning hot juices were pooling in her folds, leaking down her thighs. She was covered in sweat and exhausted from holding back but now she didn’t have to. There was nothing stopping her.
Closing her eyes tightly, Saffron imagined Eban and how their similar body types would fit together so well. Slender waists, shoulder to shoulder, their sides fitting perfectly as they sat somewhere and talked. Perhaps his arm would be around her, her head laying against him. Her breath on his neck.
She spread her legs, slipping a hand down to stroke her thigh and imagining that it was his fervent touch, lingering and caressing. He was so callused and she was so soft, two people from such opposite worlds on the verge of joining.
Her breath caught in her throat now. Her pussy was on fire, burning with need. Her fingers slid inward, sliding all over her mound to spread the wetness wherever she touched. Would Eban start to squirm under her breath, getting excited that she was so near, so utterly his without a word ever passing between him?
His lips would be so sweet and soft against hers, especially lower. In the solitude of the moment, he could claim her right then and there. Bare-chested, perhaps. Removing his flight harness, unbuttoning his commander’s vest to offer her a glimpse of his defined chest and abs. He would undo his pants, sliding them down just enough to show her his throbbing dick.
“I want you,” he would whisper.
Lying there in her bed, Saffron let her fingers finally head right where they went to. They stroked over her clit, so swollen the sensitive tip protruded up from between her large, slick lips. Pleasure so large it was an ocean crashed over her head, threatening to drag her down and drown her; taking another shuddering gulp of breath, she sank in. Grabbing her clit with two fingers and holding her pussy lips spread with the other hand, she started to work her fingers up and down. Sometimes, she pressed in hard against herself and then writhed with ecstasy until she released the pressure. But mostly it was a steady motion, both fingers working in harmony to tease and torment her with pleasure, just like she imagined Eban would. He was a wonderful lover, attentive and skilled.
When it was too much and her juices were flooding not only her thighs but the bed, she slid her fingers down from her clit and positioned them just inside herself. The sensation of being filled, the want of more, and her powerful imagination brought everything forward to a powerful culmination. The bed itself seemed to heave, bucking her hips up to engulf her fingers deep inside her pussy.
In her mind’s eye, Eban had snapped and lost control, piercing her through by sinking to the hilt of his thick shaft in one smooth motion.
Her head fell back, fingers thrusting inside herself. There were no sexual thumps of contact as hips came together and apart over and over, but her pussy made delightfully wet sounds as her muscles tightened and shook to grab at her fingers. She fought against her own friction, diving deeper and deeper. First two fingers and then three, she moved the fingers of her hand right over her clit and rubbed hard.
Her head tossed. Unable to think, to move, to do anything, all she could do was play with herself with her eyes shut. Her hands were Eban’s, and her fingers were his dick –but her fingers weren’t long enough to get quite where she wanted them. Frustration grew, melding with the sexual fire starting to burn out of control. There was only so far she could go by herself, which meant she couldn’t hit the very back of her pussy walls or stretch herself like a nice shaft.
But, her orgasm was pounding for release and she knew what she had to do.
And Saffron knew exactly where it was, too. She was just as experienced. So now, in her imagination, she reached out and grabbed Eban’s dick, right near his soft and velvety balls, and pulled him around slightly to adjust. His eyes would catch hers, full of galaxies, and then he would give one last thrust.
And now, she crooked her fingers against her g-spot and shattered apart in an explosion of gasps and constricted screams. She was a noisy lover but now she struggled to control herself while her whole body shook and quivered with oblivion. Her back arched against the mattress, every muscle tightened to catch and spread the pleasure.
It was a long time before it was over. Her body collapsed long before the remnants of her pleasure faded. All at once, she felt as wrung out as a dish towel. There was nothing that could have kept her awake right then, as she fell asleep with her pussy still tingling.
Chapter Six
True to his word, Eban arrived in the morning to fetch her shortly after she’d awoken. Now, in the daylight, her fevered imaginings and powerful self-lovemaking session seemed so far away that she hardly knew what to make of it. The sight of him made her feel very warm and satisfied inside, as though it was he who really had had sex with her, but she was still replete from before and didn’t get overwhelmed with excitement.
“Hi,” she said, greeting him.
Eban smiled slightly and nodded to her. “Good morning. Did you find everything to your liking?”
She blushed a little, turning her head away slightly. He either didn’t notice or pretended not to. “I did. Thank you. The lights are a good idea. No one can stay up and be alone with their thoughts when it’s time to just go to sleep.”
“It’s an important part of our rhythms,” he replied.
Just like a bird.
“Would you like to see the seed stores today?” he asked, then. “And the farming plots?”
That was all it took to improve her mood, the exact reason she was here in the first place. Not for leisure, not for sex, but for her knowledge. “Of course!” she said brightly, and smiled up into his eyes. But, when he reached for her hand to help her, she hesitated a bit before pulling back.
Something like hurt filled his eyes, which astonished her. Could it be that he felt something for her, like she had for him? But, no. That was impossible, and she had to admit that it probably wasn’t very wise for him to get involved with her. He would be expected to find comfort with his own species. Or, was he? What if he wasn’t expected to find a mate because of his position? That made more sense, to make sure that he wasn’t distracted from his duties.
So, even though r
ejecting his touch made both of them hurt, she hid it from him secretly and just kept smiling. “It’s okay. I think I can get around well enough on my own now.”
Eban nodded wordlessly, and they headed out of the sleeping area in silence. Once they reached the main atrium, the silence cracked under morning greetings and a crowd of new eyes who hadn’t yet seen their human passenger. The meetings didn’t last nearly as long as they had yesterday, however.
“I told you they would accept you,” he commented, leading her up a series of ramps and staircases to get to a very quiet, plain sort of landing.
Saffron said, “You really did, didn’t you?”
Eban continued to walk ahead of her, giving her ample opportunity to admire his butt as he led them down a section of hallway. The light dulled from blue to clean white, and the walls here were harsh angles. It resembled a hospital corridor, with heavy metal doors on either side. The commander of the Icari stopped and gestured to the nearest door. “Unfortunately, not all of these are in operation quite as of yet.”
He left the rest of it unspoken but during their walks yesterday, he’d filled her in on the history of his peoples’ attitudes in bits and pieces. The fact that any of this was capable of happening at all was just a testament to his leadership, even if they didn’t quite appreciate it just yet.
The room held a patch of soil, clumpy and half-dried with wilted sprouts laying across the ruffled surface. The walls were white, absorbing the glare of the special lights rooted to the ceiling; the walls and walkway around the patch of dirt were covered with equipment. And though they’d paused when Eban and Saffron came into the room, the three workers quickly settled back into their work. One of them was amongst the young men she’d met first, wielding a hoe to scrape awkward lines in the dirt. Another was unraveling a house for watering, while the third studied a handful of charts written out on a tablet.
“How are you doing today?” Eban asked softly, glancing at Saffron to give her the go-ahead. She approached and crouched down at the edge of the miniature field, reaching out to touch the soil and then examine her fingertips. Half-dried and powdery like this it was hard to tell, but she was pretty sure the quality was a far-cry from perfect. The earth was gritty without being sandy, and slid through her fingers in alternating clumps or a loose stream; uniform texture and silkiness were important for growth, allowing plants young and old to spread as they pleased.
Not knowing what kind of dead buds these were on the surface, she wouldn’t have started drawing any conclusions at all if it wasn’t obvious that they were…well, dead. Something was quite obviously wrong here.
She stood up again, catching Eban’s attention from where he was getting a full report by the worker with papers. “I’ve seen enough here,” she said. “Shall we move on?”
Each and every plot of land she saw from then on, ten in total, were very nearly all the same. The earth was always in more or less the same state whether it was wet or not, and the plants were wilted or currently in the process of wilting. Her heart sank as she realized the impact this was having on them. How many seeds fit into a field? How many seeds were wasted when the entire crop died? Even those plants which were bearing fruit, producing grain, could not make up for the sheer amount of loss.
The animals were not faring much better, though she was glad that they lived in such immaculate and clean conditions. Disease was not a factor. They simply were not able to breed quickly enough, resulting in only three different rooms.
When they stepped out of the last one, Saffron wiped mud off her hands from where she’d been petting a slim pig-faced rabbit creature. Then, she looked far off down the hallway. 13 doors out of dozens. This whole situation was out of hand.
“Eban?” she asked. “Can I see the seed stores? Take some samples of everything, and the soil you’re using? I think that after seeing this, I need to get a lab up and going as soon as possible or else everything’s just going to get worse.”
The commander nodded and started to lead her towards what appeared to be an elevator down at the opposite end of the hall. “Do you think you can help?”
“I can if I study the seeds, the soil, and figure out where the problem is. If I can help you with just basic farming, that would be best. Everything needs a solid baseline.”
“And your serum?”
Saffron shook her head. “I’ll get started on that but I’ll need to do some studies first to adapt it to the differences in your plants versus the plants on earth. And, you guys need a lot of help.”
“Then, let us get started, yes?”
Chapter Seven
By the time the lights started dimming around her, Saffron’s back was aching, her eyes were sore, and she had no idea how she’d managed to stay focused so long. She couldn’t help humming to herself though, as she sat up from her work and stretched luxuriously. Even though she’d skipped dinner and opted not to join in for exercise, she felt so extremely satisfied with herself. A full day’s learning and exploring this new world of seeds beneath a microscope was like jumping into a novel. The main difference was that she could look for herself and actually touch what was right there in front of her.
Most of the seeds were similar to those on earth, which didn’t quite surprise her now that she knew the reason everything was similar. The differences could be catalogued and accounted for easily, and she found that her noted observations were identical with the descriptions found in the logs which Eban provided for her. Learning how to use the little handheld screen was relatively easy, since there were so many things like it on her own planet.
The peas were denser-shelled, and the potatoes light and sweet enough to eat raw. Beet seeds were nearly four times the size of those she planted in her garden, and sprouted terribly slow but were hardy afterwards. After the preliminary outer examinations, she then sliced off pieces to examine under a microscope, and then just cut them in half in their various stages of growth to watch the germ be absorbed and the sprout develop. She also spent some time observing the farming techniques out at the actual plots.
The Icari were awful at farming, and she made a note to start writing down some new rules for them to follow tomorrow. There was no saving the damage done today, but she immediately knew that some minimal tweaks would help even without her serum. They were watering every plant the same, but obviously potatoes did not need as much moisture as carrots; in the same vein, some crops responded better to a large overall watering every few days, while others flourished under a light soaking one to three times a day.
Everyone was trying their hardest, but she could fix some of their struggles immediately.
The next few days were much the same. She settled into a steady routine, mingling amongst the Icari as part of their flock. Eban spent as much time with her as possible but for the moment, the most she saw him now was when he walked by with that first mate of his at his side. Her name was Karee or something like that.
If Eban was attached to anyone, it would be her. Saffron never saw them even do something so much as hold hands but why would they? Maybe he didn’t see hand-holding as anything special, especially when she’d just been wandering around behind him at first. Or perhaps the Icari were just as strict on relationships and work as humans were. Whatever it was, she didn’t know.
All she knew was that it made her stomach hurt to think of Eban with someone else, but it wasn’t like he belonged to her or even knew she was interested in him.
At the end of her fourth day with the Icari, she finished a full catalogue of the various types of seeds and animals. Sitting back and stretching, she looked up and then let out a yelp of surprise. Someone was standing in the doorway, just watching her.
Gradually, she realized who it was and pressed her hand to her heart. “You scared me!”
Eban looked sheepish, rubbing his hair with one hand. “Sorry about that.”
“How long have you been standing there?” she asked, suddenly realizing that even if he’d only been there for a f
ew seconds that he had seen her breasts pressing against the fabric of her tight-fitting Icari tunic. With her back arched like that, he might even have been able to see her nipples.
“A few minutes,” he admitted, looking more embarrassed than ever. “You looked so busy that I didn’t want to bother you.”
“I just finished examining everything,” she explained. “Tomorrow, I should be able to start figuring out ways to change your procedures. Is everyone going to be able to follow through with some different directions, though?”
“How different?” he frowned.
Saffron gestured to her pages of notes. “Just some variations on what you’re already doing, is all. You’re treating all the plants and animals the same way but every single organism is different. If I wrote down some changes, how would I make sure that everyone knew about them?”