by Nikki Clarke
She smiles, but it is sad. “And KJ? Does he get along with your brother okay?”
“KJ is Bati’s. This has been the case since he met Tiani. They do not share blood, but they share love, which my kind believes to be the most important. My brother is just as connected to your dah’san as he is to Tiani.”
“I’m glad. I don't want you to think I’ll ever make excuses for my brother. He isn't shit. A lot of Black men are great fathers, and we certainly grew up with a great example in my father, but he chose to be what a lot of guys do.”
“Mm, yes, a fuck-boy.”
Her eyes widen in shock for a moment and then her head falls back as a loud, beautiful cackle erupts from her mouth. She laughs for a long time, holding her stomach and periodically slapping me sharply on the leg. When she finally calms, her eyes shimmer up at me.
“I bet Amina taught you that. She never had time for fools. Can I keep looking?”
“Of course. As the aunt of KJ, my family is yours.” I hand over the tablet and settle back against the cushions to watch the myriad of expressions as she views my family and culture through image. Every so often, she refers to me to ask a question. When she gets to an image of one of my sculptures, her eyebrows raise in appreciation.
“This yours?”
I lean over to look at the bust. “It is.”
“She’s beautiful. Who is she?”
I stare at the speckled ceiling of her bedroom when I answer. “She is someone I once knew—someone I was close to.”
“Ah, le dreaded ex, dish.” She looks expectantly at me, and I shift uncomfortably.
"I do not know how you mean."
She makes a wet noise with her lips. "Please, you know exactly what I mean. Who was she, and how did she hurt you?"
I consider avoidance for a bit longer, but I do not want to mislead her any more than I already have.
"There was someone, but she and I parted several rotations ago. It is not something I wish to speak of."
"She was important to you?"
"She was," I return thickly, and she smiles before passing the tablet back and cuddling up next to me again.
“Do you think Tee’s basement is fixed yet?” I am grateful for the change in topic, and grateful for such a considerate lover. I press a kiss to the top of her head before answering.
“Are you ready for us to leave your home?”
Her head shifts from side to side against my chest. “No, I like having you guys here. I’d like to spend more time with you. Do you want that?”
I shift to my side so we face each other and smooth a hand over her soft cheek. “I want to spend all the time with you.” A sudden thought occurs to me, and I sit up with expectancy. “You should come to my home.”
She frowns, pulling her head back on her neck. “To Lyqa? How?”
“It is simple. Our travel abilities are exceptionally advanced. It takes very little time to get there. You should come and stay for as long as you wish. I would like to introduce you to my family, and I am sure you would enjoy seeing your friends again.”
She smiles, and her scent also colors with excitement, but a moment later she frowns. “I wish I could, but I can't just up and leave my life here. I have a job, I have rent. I have a few paid days off, but not enough to make it worthwhile or stay whatever a turn is.”
Now that the idea has taken root, I become more eager to see it come to fruition. “What is the amount that you earn for a year doing your work?”
“What?” she looks mortified that I have asked such a question, and I haul her up against my chest to place a smacking miss to her stunned mouth.
“I have been inside of you and tasted all of your sweet places. You can share with me your income.”
Her mouth turns down, and warmth tints beneath her brown cheeks. “I don't make much.”
“Saeh’ti, you do not have to feel unease. Ideas of compensation are much different on Lyqa. I would have no way of knowing if you are paid well or not.”
Her mouth folds in briefly and then she responds in a small voice. “Forty-two thousand.” I can barely make out her words they are said with such timidity.
I widen my eyes. “This is all!”
Her expression shifts to horror, and she gasps, but her eyes quickly narrow when I begin to laugh.
“I jest, Niya. If I provide you with, shall we say, eighty-thousand U.S. Earth dollars to compensate you for your visit, would you consider joining me on Lyqa for an extended period of time?”
Her mouth drops open and she stares with disbelief at me. “You can't do that.”
I smile. “I can, and I will. My attachment to you means that I get to care for you, and you do not get to refuse. It is my pleasure.”
Her chin drops and her expression flattens as she stares back at me. “You would give me eighty grand to come visit you for—wait, how long?”
I shrug, “A little over an Earth month.”
“For a month?” she finishes.
“I would give you anything you want to come home with me for a day.”
She watches me, perhaps attempting to discern if I am genuine in my offer, then her eyes shift quickly to the side, and she makes another wet noise with her lips as she blows out a puff of air.
“Shiiit, don't make offers you’re not prepared to follow through on.” She turns away as if to dismiss the conversation, but I catch her arm.
“I am very much serious. As your boyfriend, I would like for you to visit my home, and as my saeh'ti, I would, of course, make sure you were financially secure enough to do so.”
Her head shifts toward her chin. “My boyfriend?”
I nod. “I researched terms of endearment in English and have determined that this is an appropriate way to refer to me. Is that acceptable to you?”
Her full lips twist to the side, and her scent turns playful. “I mean, I guess.” A moment later, her mouth splits into a wide grin. “I would love to visit your home.”
“I already said yes!” she gasps as I slowly lap through the dripping folds of her pussy. Her back arches off the bed, and I grip her thighs to still her.
“I am not satisfied. I feel you need more convincing, and I am willing to do what it takes to achieve this.” I flick my tongue against her clit, and she spasms, moaning loudly. The sound reverberates through my ears and travels straight to my cock, which, already swollen, aches painfully with the need to join with her. I press a kiss to her pussy and continue my way up her body, stopping at each breast to suckle at her nipples and wet the petite mounds with my tongue. I fit my arms behind her knees and push them wide, spreading her for my entry. She moans and then clamps her mouth shut in anticipation of my instruction. I smirk. My desires are different tonight.
“It is always best to wait until I have issued instructions before following them. However, I am pleased that you know what I enjoy. Tonight, I wish to hear you scream.”
“But—”
I cut off her rebuttal with a driving thrust into the tight heat of her pussy. She cries out and burrows her fingers into my hair, gripping tight. The edge pushes my lust from demanding to insatiable, and I accelerate my pace, fucking hard and propelling her up across the bed.
“Ah’dan!”
I love when she says my name in this way, desperate and needy. It makes me give her everything I have. I focus my senses so I only hear her and the sharp slap of our bodies meeting. The tops of my thighs sting in the place where we make contact over and over. I still cannot understand this formation of women like Niya, so round and tight, every place a place one wants to take hold of and feel. It makes me want to see her, to admire these fleshy parts of her as her pussy swallows me deep.
I slow, sliding from her body. Her eyes peel open in disappointment, and before she can question why I have stopped, I flip her over, going to my knees and pulling her bottom up in front of me.
Hu'l. I run my hands up both cheeks and squeeze, making her moan. Lowering my body, I angle my face before her quivering
flesh and extend my tongue. I lick, beginning at her clit, swirling the tip over the tightened bud before lapping back through her folds. I don't stop. I continue up, following the line until I get to the apex of her bottom.
“Oh, my god!” She jerks and her back buckles as she begins to go. I straighten, angling my cock at her pussy and slam up, seating myself to the base, and setting up a brutal pace to see her through it.
“Oh!” she makes all manner of unintelligible sounds as I continue to fuck her through her release. Her response quickly takes me to the edge, and I drive deep before relieving myself from her body and angling my cock at her bottom. My eyes are transfixed to the sight as I lavish her skin with my seed.
***
“Are you ready to depart, saeh’ti?” I emerge from the bedroom where I have retrieved my pack and pick up the canvas I left propped against the entryway hall when I first arrived.
Niya comes fluttering past me with a handful of clothing items, which she hastily shoves into the large traveling pack that is open on the living room floor. “Okay, that’s it. I’m not really sure what to pack. Do you think this is enough?”
I look on the bursting seams of her bag, which she is even now attempting to close by sitting on, and raise a brow. “Do you own anything else to bring?”
“Ha ha,” she returns with a dry look. When she continues to struggle, I go to her and lift her to her feet, pressing down on the top of the pack and closing it with ease. “God, you’re sexy, you know that?” she replies when I am done.
“I am aware that Lyqa are an appealing species.”
She rolls her eyes and turns to Qim who is standing at the entrance to the hall leading to the bedrooms with his shoulder perched on the wall. “Don't forget, you’re welcome to stay here as long as you want. Don't feel like you have to leave. And don't worry, I’m not crazy enough to give my mother a key, so she isn't going to show up here and out you as an alien.”
“I appreciate your generosity, sa’qi. I will be sure to take care of your home and refrain from having any orgies.”
Niya cackles then frowns. “Was that a joke?”
“It was,” Qim replies evenly.
Her mouth pulls down at the corners and she nods her head. “It was pretty good.”
Qim pushes off of the wall and goes to her, taking her arms and pulling her up against him. He presses a kiss to her neck and squeezes her firmly before setting her down.
“Yeah, I think you’ll be fine,” she states cryptically and turns to me. “Ready?”
“I am. Has everything been settled with your place of employment?”
She bends down for her small bag, which she hitches over her shoulder. “Yeah, right. They fired my ass.”
"Fired means to be relieved of one's duties?" Qim inquires.
"Yup. I ain’t got no job—"
"And you ain’t got shit to do!" Qim finishes excitedly. Niya stares at him in amusement.
"I'm not even going to ask how you know that."
“It is of no matter that you have lost your employment," I insert. "I will take care of you. This will not affect your life greatly.”
She smiles, and a moment later, her cellular device emits a chime.
“Oh, that’s the car to take us back to Tiani’s.”
“I will help.” Qim takes her large pack and follows us down to the waiting truck. As we stand there at the open door after loading our belongings, he grips my arms and pulls me into a hug. “Consider explaining the leht to her. I think she will understand.”
He releases me and turns back to the residence without another word. I slide in next to an eager Niya with his words ringing through my head.
***
“Oh, my god, this is so exciting!”
Niya bounces in the seat next to me as she cranes her head to peer out of the wide window in front of us.
“I am glad you are not frightened. Amina was terrified when she first arrived.”
“Dude, please, that girl’s been a scardy cat. She used to jump at her own shadow when we were kids.”
I chuckle as this is an accurate description of my sa’aih's tendency to scare herself more than react to actual threats.
“So, what are we going to do? What is there to do? Are people going to freak out when they see me? Should I pretend to be Lyqa? Where are we going first?”
She offers these inquiries one after another without space for me to respond. I reach across and place a calming hand on her thigh.
“We will do whatever you like while we are here. There are many things to do on Lyqa. We do not, as you say, freak out at those who are different than we are so there is no need to pretend to be anything other than you are. And I am taking you home.”
“Home?”
I nod. “Home.”
"This is amazing. This whole place is yours?"
Niya looks up in wonder at the front of my home as we stop hand in hand before it.
"It is, but this is a common dwelling style among Lyqa. In my culture, we live in extended family dwellings, so every adult member of my family occupies their own wing."
"Wow, now I see how you were able to slide that eighty grand into my account before we left."
I snort and pull her to my side. "That was neither difficult nor a large sum for me to provide you with. You do not have to worry about funds while you are here. Come."
I lead her up the steps and push open the door. She smells hesitant, but I give her hand a reassuring squeeze.
"Do not worry, Niya. This is your home now, too."
It seems an eternity since I felt the pride of companionship, and as I stand at the threshold to my home with Niya by my side, I feel blessed to feel it again.
CHAPTER 4
NIYA
“Niya!”
Tiani grabs me and pulls me into a bear hug, squeezing me tightly and swaying from side to side. I laugh and hug her back.
“Hey, girl.”
“I can't believe you’re here. Bati and KJ are going to be so excited.” She breaks away and runs down one of the many halls.
“Is everyone here?”
“Yes, I alerted them to our arrival. Tiani and Bati are home, as is Amina with my other brother, Kwarq.”
“What about Shay?”
“She resides on a planet called Somii in another quadrant. She is partnered with the Somii king, Soluanitiat’ti Somiiti’un.”
I turn and raise my brows. “Yeah? Go ahead, Shay.”
Just then, Tiani comes back with Bati close behind her. Before she can reach me, KJ rushes past her and bounds toward me. I bend down and catch him when he jumps against me.
“Auntie Ni Ni!”
I hug him close and press a kiss to his head. “Hey, kiddo. I missed you.”
“Hi, Uncle Ah’dan!” I feel him wave over my back.
“Hello, my dah’san. I missed you as well.”
I lower him back to the ground.
“I missed you, too. I have so many new things to tell you, Auntie Ni Ni. I have a new apha, that’s him. His name is Bati, and he’s not my real daddy, but he loves me like I’m his, and he loves my mommy and everybody! I have two new brothers, they are babies, and they look like Uncle Kwarq. And Auntie Mina has three whole babies,” his voice raises in wonder. “She has so many babies. Mommy said she needs to zip it up for a while—”
“Okay, okay, she’s heard enough.” Tiani wraps a hand over KJ’s mouth and rolls her eyes at me. “I swear this kid repeats everything he hears.” Her mouth turns up slyly and she looks from me to Ah’dan, who hasn't moved from beside me. “So, you guys a thing now?” One of her brows arches.
“Uh—”
“She is mine,” Ah’dan replies, and wraps an arm around my waist to pull me back against him. I smile and shrug.
“I’m his.”
Tiani cackles loudly and elbows Bati in the side. “I told you.”
I frown. “Told him what?”
“That if we took them to your house after the pipe broke, you
and Ah’dan would hit it off.”
I stare, stunned, as she delivers this bit of information like it’s nothing. Bati shakes his head.
“I told her it was a drastic scheme.”
“Uh, no, you told me it wouldn’t work, and it did, so you owe me, buddy.”
KJ twists away from Tee’s hand and looks up at Bati. “Yup, apha, you promised. You said that if Mommy won, you’d give her a baby-free night, all night long.”
“Aw, man, K, I think I hear your brothers crying for you. Oh, snap, that’s them!” Tiani pauses, angling her head in the direction of the hall where they came like she’s listening for something. KJ perks up before dashing down the hall.
“I’m coming to get you, babies!”
Tiani turns back to me, shaking her head. “I don't know what I’m going to do with that kid.”
“He’s precious,” I say, and she smiles, nodding her head.
“So, how long are you staying?” She takes my arm and pulls me away from Ah’dan and toward the hall. As we pass Bati, he steps in front of us and leans in to press a kiss to my forehead.
“Welcome to our home, sa’aih. I hope you will enjoy your stay.”
“Thanks.” I hug him quickly around the waist before Tiani resumes pulling me away. “What’s the rush?” I ask as we start down the hall. She shoots me a look like I’m crazy.
“Uh, what do you mean? I want to know what the hell it was like to fuck Ah’dan.”
“We can hear you, lehti.” Bati calls from where he and Ah’dan stand in the lobby still.
“Then stop listening,” she sing-songs back. “Girl, let’s just wait until we get to Amina’s apartments.”
“We will still be able to hear you, my heart.”
***
“Really? Ah’dan?” Amina leans forward. Her nose is scrunched up in disbelief. “I can't see it. He’s so aloof and mild-mannered.”