by Elin Wyn
She felt Kordiss shrug beneath her. “Seems likely, since the translation patch the Nargest put on you is working. Our minds can't be that different.” He started to slide out from under her. “You stay here, and I’ll be back to check on you in a bit.”
Sharla shook her head. “Why don't you stay and watch the movie with me,” she asked, and then felt a bit self-conscious. He'd been fixing something on the ship when she'd interrupted him. Probably he didn't really want to be playing babysitter to someone who burned herself in the kitchen right away. Her shoulders slumped. “But I'm sure you have other things to do.”
Kordiss frowned. Even in pain she had seemed so bright and curious, so enthusiastic for this new world she found herself in. What had happened to so quickly dampen her spirit?
"Things are never completely finished on this ship,” he smiled and then reached for a second cap.
He smoothed the mesh over her hair, enjoying the look of delight on her face as it conformed to the shape of her head. He slid the second cap on his own.
“What would you like to watch?”
She gazed up at him and shook her head. “I can’t imagine what the options would even be. Pick something relaxing that we’ll both enjoy.”
Kordiss thought briefly, then decided. It would be perfect. He tapped the command arm of the chair, trying to ignore the feeling stirring in him as she snuggled into him, eyes closed.
Now that he wasn’t worried about her injury, the silken skin of her arms around his neck was driving him wild. A glance down showed the curve of her breast peeking out from the front of his tunic. It had never been one of his favorites, the cut too tight across his shoulders, but now that she’d worn it, he couldn’t imagine discarding it.
He stiffened at the thought. Where had that come from? He was supposed to be rescuing her, not taking advantage of her innocence. She flashed a look up at him, and he felt the weight of her trust lash against him.
“Everything alright?”
“Of course,” he kept his hand from stroking her hair. “Finishing touches on the program. Just close your eyes and let your mind relax.”
Kordiss closed his own eyes, and the familiar tingle of the cap signaled the activation of the routine. He took a deep breath and looked around.
Home.
The ralishia trees towered above him, reaching into the swirling mist. The sound of water lapping the lake shore unraveled all his stress.
Sharla stayed in his arms, eyes tightly closed. He stood her gently on the forest floor and whispered, “Open your eyes.”
Sharla gazed about, eyes open with wonder. “It's beautiful here.” She took quick steps towards him and wrapped her arms around his waist in a quick hug. “This is wonderful, but,” she laughed, “where are we?”
Kordiss’ throat tightened as he looked down at her. A strand of hair fell across her face, and he brushed it away, painfully aware of how her skin felt under his fingers. "This is my home."
He took her hand and led her towards the lake shore. The trees opened up before them to reveal the green crystalline waters of Lake Varnoss.
He thought for a moment, and to their left a low padded bench appeared.
Her hand tightened in his. “I think we have different kind of movies at home.” She smiled up at him. “But this is lovely.”
She curled up into the sofa tucking her feet under her.
Kordiss frowned. Was she cold? He didn’t even know if this was the sort of place that she would enjoy, hadn’t thought about it, hadn’t weighed all the variables. Damn it, this is why he refused to get involved with other people most of the time. Too confusing.
“Just relax here for a little bit while your hands finish healing.”
She looked up at him and frowned. “Is everything all right? You sounded angry.” She looked around. “I can’t imagine anything here upsetting you,” she cocked an eyebrow. “So, I guess that leaves me.”
He ran a hand through his hair and sat on the bench next to her. Confusing. Complicated. “I don’t spend a lot of time with people, that’s all. Everything’s fine.”
Her eyebrow remained raised slightly, but she didn’t ask any more questions.
“How long will your ship fly herself? If it were up to me, I think I would spend all day in here, but that really wouldn’t get anything done in the real world, would it.”
He laughed. “It wouldn’t matter much. Only a few seconds have passed in the real world. Our brains work at such fast speeds that it can feel like you’re spending hours inside the stim, and reality only minutes will have passed.” He dropped into the sofa next to her. “It’s one of the reasons that stimtech is so popular. Your brain stores this as a memory anyway no matter how long it takes. It feels real, and you get all the benefits of an adventure, or relaxation…”
“I don’t think I need any additional adventure right now,” she smiled, a bit too brightly.
He lightly touched her on the shoulder. She’d snapped back so quickly it was easy to forget that a day ago she had been captured. Trapped. Ready to be given, no, sold to some piece of scum. His belly tightened at the thought and he fought down a low growl
She leaned into his touch, and he began to stroke her shoulder. “That feels good.” She paused. “Everything we do here feels real, and doesn’t take any time?”
He nodded, and she pivoted on the sofa to face him more squarely. “And I never did really say thank you for saving me.”
His hands stilled on her shoulder, his eyes searching over her face. It seemed she had some meaning there.
She broke the sudden tension with another smile. “Tell me something about your people? Or your planet?” She twisted a lock of hair around a finger, and the urge to run his own hands through the silken mass flooded through his veins. “It’s crazy that I’ve been to space, but never seen another world. Or talked to anyone but you.”
Her brow scrunched up. “And I’ve been meaning to ask, how are we talking?”
Kordiss shrugged. “I’d assume the Nargest inserted a basic translator device while they were examining you. Not the best way to get someone to learn a language, but fast and efficient. It takes the sound waves that you’re actually hearing, and rearranges them into words your brain already knows.”
“So, I’m not actually speaking, whatever your language is? Or the grey guys?”
“Nope. You’re speaking whatever language you already knew. The chip would have been programmed with four or five of the standard galactic tongues.” He looked away. “It would have increased your price, to make sure you would understand orders.”
She flushed. “But then, how do you understand me?”
He flicked an ear. “Scouts on duty for your planet had implants to receive what looked like the most common languages. It was a gamble, but seems to be working.”
Sharla shuddered. What if she’d been taken from a country the Nargest hadn’t had a language programmed for? As alone as she’d felt the last few days, she’d have been even more terrified if she and Kordiss hadn’t been able to talk. She lifted her chin and forced a smile. “Well, there goes my new career plan of becoming a world famous translator.”
He grinned. “Probably not going to work out, no.” His smile faded a bit. “If it bothers you that the device was put in without your consent, we can remove it before you go back.”
She shook her head. “If it’s not hurting anything, I’d like to keep it. It’ll be like a souvenir.”
His lips twisted up to the side. “Usually I think you take souvenirs from a trip to you enjoyed taking.”
She grinned back at him. “Maybe, but just think of all the things I know about the world now, that I never would have guessed before.” She was quiet for a few moments. “But there's a whole lot of things that I still don't know about without the...” she waved her hands in the general direction of space. “Well, the everything. I don't know anything about you, or your people. Do you always hang out, ready t
o rescue damsels in distress?”
He laughed. “Not really, no.”
“So before we get back to earth,” she called “why don't you tell me just a little about what's out there?” She looked up at him, chewing on her lip in her nervousness. “Maybe even start with telling me a little about yourself, your family.”
He looked confused. “Like what?”
She tried to look innocent. “Well, for starters, are you married?”
“Only to this ship, you should see the payments. Besides, what woman would want to spend her life out here on the fringe with me?”
Victory! she thought. Not married, and did like women after all.
“What about your family? Do they like what you do? Back home, families seem to press their children into finding mates as quickly as possible.
He grinned again. “Oh yes, I hear all the time about extension of the line. It's a little more complicated for us than I understand it is on your planet, there are rules depending on your caste and your level, but more and more people are ignoring it and doing what they want to. After all it's a big universe, who exactly is going to stop us?”
Sharla smiled to herself. Who indeed.
She swung her leg over the side of the bench so that she straddled it, and inched closed to him.
His eyes widened. “What are you doing?”
“Saying thank you.” Another few inches closer to him. She could feel his heat, the arousal radiating from him, and her own body responded, her core turning liquid.
His jaw clenched. “You don’t need to do that.”
“I know.” She placed one hand on his chest, could feel his heart beat through the fabric of his tunic. “That’s why I want to.”
He moved his hand to her wrist, held her immobile. “We should stop. You should stop.”
Sharla’s mind was caught by the image of his massive hand wrapped around her own. He could have crushed her. Could have done anything with her, from the moment he’d crashed into her cell. Instead he’d protected her, cared for her…She ran her free hand down the side of his face, traced the line of his jaw. His eyes widened, and his breathing went ragged.
“Are you sure you want me to?”
He closed his eyes as he fought for control. “You can’t want your first time to be with a stranger, someone not even of your own kind,” he whispered through clenched teeth.
“You’ve never hurt me, you’ve cared for me, made me safe.” Sharla stilled her hand and flattened her voice. “If they catch us, can you promise that whoever they sell me to will treat me as well?”
His eyes flew open, rage burning through him. “They’re not going to get the chance.”
She wrapped her arm around his neck, urging him down to meet her lips.
“Sharla, don’t start this if you’re not sure.”
She could barely hear the words over the pounding of her heart. “I have never been more sure of anything in my life.” She brushed her lips over his. “Please.”
With that one whispered word it was if all his control broke. He kissed her, and any thought of other men, other limp kisses she’d known, were swept aside. His hand cupped the back of her head, holding her to him, but it didn’t need to be. His passion was like oxygen, like food and drink and everything she’d ever needed. She tightened her arms around his neck and embraced his assault on her senses. His tongue flicked over the seam of her lips, and she opened to his demand. He pulled her closer to him, and only when she sagged in his arms, overcome by his need, did he relinquish his grasp.
He lay her back on the bench, devouring her with his eyes while she panted, squirming under his attention. His hands lightly traced the contours of her chest and lightning ran through her at his touch.
She moaned, too lost in pleasure to feel shame. No one, nothing had ever made her feel like this.
He grinned, and the tunic she’d been wearing blinked out of existence, leaving her utterly exposed to his gaze.
She blinked. “What the—“
“It’s all virtual here, honey. We only see what we want.” His broad hands covered her breasts again, kneading them lightly at first, then harder as she writhed beneath him. “And that’s what I wanted to see.”
The sensations robbed her of speech, so she could only reach for him, fumble with the buttons of his own tunic. “Not fair,” she gasped.
“Easy enough.” And with another blink his tunic disappeared, revealing his muscled chest. She ran her hands over him, desperate to feel his skin, to touch him everywhere.
Her hands encountered fabric and she frowned. His pants were still in place. “Still not fair,” she pouted, then gasped as Kordiss lowered his mouth to her breasts. Sucking, nibbling, teasing, she couldn’t separate the sensations from the wave of heat that threatened to overcome her.
His hand left her other breast and she nearly sobbed with the absence until a flick against her nether lips made her hips buck. Another flick, and she wrapped her fingers through his short hair, needing to hold on, needing him, needing something she didn’t have words for.
He raised his head from her breast and crushed her lips with his own again. When one thick finger slid between her slick folds, his mouth captured all sound.
He paused, letting her get accustomed to the feeling, then started to move within her.
Sharla froze, her senses on overload.
Kordiss licked the edge of her ear, and she melted against him again. “You’re doing great, sweetheart. Nothing’s going to hurt you.” Another finger slid inside her, the pumping motion filling her, pushing all thoughts from her mind as she squirmed under his ministration.
A third finger entered her, filling her completely. “Too much, too much,” she groaned, eyes fluttering closed.
“Look at me,” he commanded, the rhythm of his hand against her never slowing. “Open your eyes.”
His face was inches above her, lust darkening his eyes. “Do you trust me?”
She nodded, unable to speak.
“This is going to be good for you, I promise.”
The heel of his hand began to grind against her mound, and she exploded. Fireworks lit inside of her, and she spasmed beneath him, drumming her hands against his chest. As her breath slowed, his fingers stilled within her.
She looked aside, shame flooding her as surely as desire had moments before.
He turned her to face him. “What’s wrong?”
“I’ve never-- and it seems like it was so fast, and I wanted this to be about you, not just me.”
He chuckled and kissed her lightly. “I enjoyed that, entirely. Knowing your pleasure came from my hands, feeling you beneath me…” He kissed her again, deeper this time, and she felt herself stirring again. “And I’m going to enjoy this as well.”
Sharla gasped as he straightened up from her, and then pulled her spread legs up, resting them on his thighs. He wrapped his arms under them and pulled her up still further, until only the top of her back rested on the bench.
With only a devilish grin as warning he lowered his face to her. His tongue dragged across her slit, teeth lightly nibbling at her engorged lips. She struggled in his arms, but he refused to release her, instead piercing her with his tongue.
“Stop!”
He immediately pulled back, concern and confusion on his face. “Did that hurt you?”
“No, but…”
His eyes cleared as he understood. “You think I don’t want to do this?” He placed a butterfly kiss on her clit, then lapped at her as she twitched. “You taste of starshine.” He licked her again, long and slow. “I may never stop.”
She relaxed into his arms, the driving pressure of his tongue pushing her further into this madness. She didn’t know what was happening, didn’t care, didn’t want to know. Just for him to keep touching her, making her feel this way, as if she were the most precious gift, and he would relish it, even as he devoured her.
Her head lolled loose, lost i
n the pleasure, and her eyes shut against the waves of desire. The fireworks began again, lifting her slowly this time, promising an intensity that almost scared her. “Kordiss,” she stuttered, as her hips began to buck.
He didn’t pause, rather increased the pressure, the depth that his tongue explored her, his fingers tightened on her hips.
A red haze filtered through her closed lids, pulsing, incessant. She opened her eyes, and to her surprise the fog filled lake scene had vanished, only the bench they lay upon remaining.
Intent on the feast before him, Kordiss had noticed nothing, and began to suck on her swollen clit.
Sharla pushed the pleasure away. Something was really wrong this time.
“Kordiss, stop. Really, something’s happening.”
He raised his head. “You’ve got to trust—“ He blinked at the scene, or lack of one, around them. “Demon’s Deep. The sensors.”
He helped her upright, and held her to his chest again. He dropped a kiss on the top of her hair. “Time to rejoin the real world, sweetheart.”
He reached for something she couldn’t see and then they were back in the stimchair, in the recreation room of his ship.
Sharla blinked. She was fully dressed but she could still feel his hands and mouth on her body. She looked up at him, and he kissed her, filled with promises.
“We’ll have to play later.” He looked over her hands. “A little boost to your circulation doesn’t seem to have impaired the healing at all.”
He lifted her to her feet, and she swatted him. “It wasn’t just a little boost, and you know it.”
He grinned, but the flashing red light on the recreation room wall sobered him.
“What is that, anyway?”
“An alarm. Earlier I made adjustment, tried to expand our sensor range as far as possible.” He headed out of the room, and she followed through the corridors.
“And…”
“And the Nargest are on our tail.”
She stopped, shocked back into reality.
Kordiss continued a few steps without her, then realized she was no longer behind him. He returned to her side and stroked her face. “It’s going to be alright. The sensors are at the fullest. We have a day, maybe two days lead on them.”