by M. A. Church
"So sexy—I like these." He reached out to touch one of my nipples. His other hand drifted up to tug at both nipples, rolling the tips, making them hard, and I moaned. My nipples were very sensitive.
"Okay?" he asked quietly.
I nodded my head yes. That was the go-ahead he apparently needed to replace his fingers with his mouth. I gasped as his tongue dragged across my nipple. "Your tongue is so rough."
"Hurts?" he rasped against my chest.
"No." His tongue teased the hard nub, and I shivered. "No, it feels funny, but good."
We continued to kiss until we were both hard and aching, but his hands didn't go past my chest.
Keyno rested his head against mine. "I enjoy kissing you, but we need to stop. I can only take so much. Unless...?"
"Yeah." I ran my hands through all that white hair. "We need to stop. I'm not ready for more."
Keyno kissed my lips and moved away from me, the tent in his pants obvious. I nibbled at my bottom lip, waiting. Would he actually stop?
After several minutes of silence, Keyno turned to look at me. "Did you and Chad have a chance to talk any about my culture?"
"Ah... well." He really stopped. He didn't push me. "Not really. I kinda lost it and I asked to come back here. I didn't feel much like visiting after the bomb he dropped on me."
"Understandable. Maybe he can come visit here now that you..." Keyno trailed off, floundering.
"Now that I'm not likely to throw a table him?" I grinned.
"I heard things were a little loud between you two." Keyno tugged at my hair. "I was... worried."
"Look, you need to understand something. Chad and I go way back. We fight, yell, and give each other a hard time. And I love him dearly, like a brother. That's just who we are and it doesn't mean anything. I can pretty much guarantee it won't be the last time we yell at each other."
"I see. I'll keep that in mind, then. Maybe Gibor and I could place bets on which of you will win."
Shocked that he just cracked a joke, I opened my mouth to respond when my stomach started cramping again. I moaned quietly as the pain came on suddenly and intensified. Keyno had laid me out flat in the bed and injected me with a pain retardant hypo-spray before I could open my mouth and tell him what was happening. Immediately the pain was reduced.
"After the twenty-four hours are up, you can resume normal activities. Chad wants to show you the Rec Room. He told me you used to practice karate, but he wasn't sure if you still did." Keyno smoothed my hair away from my face. "Better now?"
"Um, yeah, I still practice. Keyno, how the hell did you know what was happening?"
"It's my place to take care of you, and I take my job seriously. I don't like seeing you in pain." Keyno frowned as he stared at me. "The shot should make you sleepy, so I'll work in here until you go to sleep."
I fell asleep listening to him verbally updating charts and posting orders for the next couple of days, getting ready for the Harvest at the end of the week.
The next morning, Keyno woke me up while getting ready for his shift. Since I was awake, we had breakfast together. I suggested pancakes and Keyno fixed them for us. Once again we ate in the bedroom. I had a glass of orange juice, which he didn't care for. The way he wrinkled his nose had me laughing.
"It's a little too tart for me."
"Well, do you like the pancakes?" I hadn't really needed to ask, considering he had seconds.
"Yes, they're good, but they are messy. I like the syrup you suggested. The strawberry flavor was interesting."
"I thought you would." Keyno had ended up getting syrup on his uniform shirt and had to change. How very... normal we were being.
"I'm going to be gone for several hours getting things ready for the Harvest. I commed Gibor and made arrangements for Chad to stop by later." Keyno sat on the bed and pulled on his boots.
"Oh, okay. Thanks."
"Just try not to overdo it while he's here, and stay in bed." Keyno stood and kissed me. "Study some, too."
"I'll try to fit all that into my busy schedule."
Keyno snorted as he left. About two hours after Keyno left me to my studies, Chad strolled into our quarters.
"How are you feeling?" Chad sat down next to me. "I heard you had some trouble—headaches and being sick to your stomach."
"Well, the sanitized version is that I'm doing pretty good, for now." I fluffed the pillow behind me. God, this was getting old already. "Been studying. Some of this stuff is hard to take."
"What section are you up to?" Chad scooted closer. "This okay? I don't want to move you around too much and have you spew all over me."
"Thanks for the concern. I'll make sure to aim your way." I sighed. "As far as studying goes, I'm on the Biology and Reproduction section. I have to tell you it's thin on details. Most of my lessons seem to be focused on their royal family, and not on things I really want to know about."
"Still, you're coming right along." Chad ignored my comments on the royal family. "Interesting, isn't it?"
"Well, that's one way of putting it," I agreed. "It doesn't really give many details on what happens when they, uh... when things get—you know. Busy."
"Trust me, Keyno will show you everything you need to know."
"Can you answer a few questions for me?" I picked at the sheet, uncomfortable with what I needed to ask Chad, but feeling like I had nobody else I could talk to about it all. "Chad, I've only had two serious relationships in my whole life. You know that. But here's the thing—I've never responded to a guy like I did to Keyno."
"And this upsets you... why?"
"Smartass. It confuses me. God, that scent he puts off drives me nuts." I glanced at Chad, waiting to see if he thought I was crazy. "Right out of my mind. It's been no time, and I'm letting him touch me. I've never moved so fast with someone before."
"Okay, let's start with the scent. It's their bonding scent. They use it to mark their mates. I guess you could call it a warning to other males—a way to let them know that you're claimed," Chad explained. "They're very territorial and protective of their mates."
"Is the scent always on us?"
"It's all over us and... well, inside us. Each Tah'Narian has a different scent, and yes, the scent affects us also. I guess you could say it acts as an aphrodisiac, but only on mated pairs. I wouldn't respond to Keyno's scent any more than you would respond to Gibor's. It's why you responded to Keyno and only to him, like you did. He's your mate."
"I guess that explains why I reacted like I did."
Chad leered at me. "If you think that's something, just wait until he goes after you with that tail of his."
My mouth fell open. "What the hell can he do with his tail?"
"Come on, do I need to draw you a picture? Use your imagination, Dale."
I had a healthy imagination, but what he was implying was beyond its limits. I raised an eyebrow. "Oh, bullshit. You almost had me going there for a minute. There's no way a tail could... It would have to... That's kinky as hell, dude, but not possible. Jesus, why do I listen to anything that comes out of your mouth? It would have to be a very flexible tail to be able to..." I clamped my lips shut as I realized what I was saying.
Chad exploded in laughter, which made me blush. The harder he laughed, the hotter I became. He had tears running down his face at my reaction. I finally ended up throwing a pillow at him just to shut him up.
"I'm sorry." Chad snickered, ducking the pillow as it whizzed by. "I'm not trying to embarrass you, but God, I wish you could've seen the look on your face." He wore a very self-satisfied smirk that had me wondering.
"Did I really say I missed you?" I complained, a smile hovering around my lips. "You are such a pain in the ass."
"I could really, really say something with that opening you just left me, but I won't."
I threw my hands up in the air just as Keyno walked into our quarters. "Could you please do something with him?" I pointed at Chad, who was still trying hard to control his laughter.
> "Sorry, the only one who can 'do something' with him is Gibor." Keyno winked at me as he joined us. "And he has his hands full, from what I hear."
"Hey!" Chad laughed, pointing at me with an evil glint in his eyes. "Dale's the one preoccupied with ass."
"Ass?" Keyno perked up.
"Dammit, I am not. I—I just..." I groaned as Keyno sat down on the other side of the bed across from Chad. "Chad, get your ass—I mean tail out of here." I shoved at Chad with my feet, trying to knock him off my bed.
"See?" Chad dodged my feet, grinned madly at Keyno. "He's preoccupied with ass and tail."
I rolled my eyes. What were we? Middle schoolers? "Good Lord, where's a hole I can—"
"Hole?" Keyno smirked at me, playing along.
I fell back against the pillows, giving up. "Oh. My. God. I'm surrounded by perverts."
Laughter floated around the room as I sat there in bed, trying to figure out how I'd gotten pulled into such a conversation. Keyno and Chad spoke for a few minutes, and finally Chad left—but not before he glanced down at Keyno's swishing tail and then back at me. With a leer, he promised to check on me tomorrow. The rest of our evening was quiet and relaxing. Keyno fixed us something to eat, and I took a bath while he worked on... whatever he needed to work on.
The next morning, Keyno let me get out of bed. We ate breakfast together and then he was off to do captain things. Chad stopped by again, and talked me into doing a little sight-seeing.
"Let's go to the Observation Lounge."
"What's that?" I dressed and followed him.
Chad pursed his lips. "Well, it's like an informal meeting place where you can have a drink or get something to eat. There are force-field protected glass windows you can see out of along one wall. It's really cool."
"Can we see our planet?"
"You mean Earth?"
"Well, duh, yes."
"Oh, sure. It's a really pretty planet when viewed from space." Chad stood by me as we looked at Earth. Finally, he sighed. "Dale, I'm not trying to upset you with what I'm fixing to say, okay? I don't consider Earth my home anymore. Tah'Nar is my home now, and will be yours, also. We're not human, Dale. You do understand that, right?"
I didn't answer. Chad was entitled to feel however he wanted, and so was I. But his point about not being human upset me, because he was right. I was not human anymore. I didn't know what I was. We spent a few hours there, looking at the different things he could show me. We ate, but my appetite was off. The remark about not being human kept circulating through my head.
Later I returned to our quarters. Keyno and I had fallen into a routine of sorts, dancing around the desire that both of us felt. He didn't push, and I wasn't ready to take the next step. Somehow we were stalled. There was tension between us, and Keyno showed signs of stress. Being captain of a starship was no easy task. Then throw in the Harvest, and Keyno was busy from morning to night. Of course, that didn't leave us much time together. That night we went to bed, Keyno spooning me.
Sometime in the early morning I rose to use the bathroom, turning on the voice-controlled lights as I entered. "Lights, ten percent."
On my way out, I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror. The scream that erupted from me had Keyno by my side in seconds.
"What?" Keyno actually growled as he investigated the bathroom for danger.
My hand shaking, I pointed at the mirror.
Keyno faced the mirror. Both our reflections looked back at us—mine wide-eyed and his searching.
"What—what the hell is that? Keyno! What the hell happened?"
Keyno gently laid the long curved knife—how the hell had I missed that—down. "Oh, my chosen. It's beautiful, simply gorgeous."
"But... but... but..."
A huge white streak had appeared in my hair near my face. It started at my scalp and ran down to the tip of my hair on the right side. The streak was about two inches thick, so it was very noticeable. Keyno was delighted to see it. I was more in the freaked-out category, since it had happened so fast.
"This is normal. I told you about this when I told you that you would carry our young. Remember, Chad has a streak, too. All mates get these, Dale. It's another way to identify you as mine."
"But does it happen this fast?" I ran my fingers through the white part next to my face. It looked and felt like hair... just white now.
Keyno frowned. "Well, no."
"Should we be worried about that?"
"I'll let Doc know, and he can add the info to your file chart. Before you ask, he's keeping a log on you, since you had some problems from being double-dosed. But everyone on ship has medical records, so it's not just you."
"Okay, okay, it's no big deal, then. Just happened faster than usual." I wrinkled my nose at my reflection. "Story of my life."
Chapter Six
After the excitement passed, we went back to bed. There were a few hours left before Keyno had to start his shift, and he needed every minute he could get. Sitting in bed, I found Keyno staring at me, the look in his eyes sending tingles through me.
"What?"
Keyno closed his eyes for a moment, and then opened them. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. It's hard being this close to you and not having you. But I meant what I said about giving you time to get used to me." Keyno deliberately pulled the sheet over me. "I know that the bonding scent and the changes in your DNA have caused you to respond faster than you're comfortable with."
"Chad has been running his mouth again, hasn't he?" I griped.
"He mentioned that you had some questions, that's all. If you're comfortable asking him something, that's fine. Don't misunderstand, I need you to feel able to talk to me, too," Keyno added, sighing deeply. "What I really want is for you to ask me to make love to you. But I promised I wouldn't push."
What in the hell was I waiting for? I wanted this, and he certainly did, too. Why was I putting us through this? Could a little part of my holding him at arm's length have been to punish him for taking me when I shouldn't have been part of the Harvest? At this point, did I really care? I wanted him, end of story, and I was tired of questioning why.
"Okay, then, make love to me." There. I said it.
Keyno's eyes flew open. "Are you sure?"
God bless his little alien heart, he was giving me a chance to change my mind if I needed it. "I sure wouldn't have told you that if I hadn't been ready, Keyno."
A slight nudge on my shoulder urged me back on the bed. Next thing I knew my night pants were slipped down my body, leaving me nude. Propping myself up on my elbows, I watched as he lifted a foot and leisurely licked the inside of my ankle, nibbling up the back of my leg until he reached the inside of my knee. Gently, he nipped me, and then rubbed his tongue over the small hurt. I fell back on the bed, surprised such an inconspicuous spot on my body could arouse me so. He grinned, gently placing my bent leg on the bed. The other foot was given the same treatment and that leg was placed on the bed, bent also.
"Undress, please? I feel..." I spread myself open, giving him more room to sit between my knees.
Keyno stripped off his night pants. "Touch yourself. Show me what you like."
I wrapped my right hand around my cock, easing it up and down. My other hand drifted up to a nipple, pulling and twisting until it stood straight, demanding attention. He stared intently as I played with my body. I ran a finger over the crown of my cock, rubbing the pre-come on the shaft. Fully hard, I was about six inches with little hair, except at the base.
Suddenly, he wrapped his hand around mine and we pumped my shaft together. My hips bowed off the bed as he gently removed my hand and began to work me. He placed my hand on my chest so I could play with both nipples.
"Need some lube, something to make me slick."
His finger flicked the tiny opening at the top of my cock. "How about this?" He engulfed my shaft down to the root.
"Oh!" I yelled, completely caught off guard.
His head bobbed up and down my
length while his other hand rolled my balls, his long hair tickling the insides of my thighs. Why does it feel like his hair is moving on its own? I heard a click and turned my head to see his tail push the top off a bowl by the bed. Gawking, I stared at his tail. Shit, Chad wasn't kidding. He really wasn't kidding. God help me. It dipped into the bowl, moved under his arm, and nudged my entrance.
"You—you're not really going to..." I shuddered as his tail, now slick with lube, prodded at my tiny opening.
Keyno raised his head from my cock. "Want me to stop?"
"No." My hands fisted the covering on the bed. I couldn't believe what I was saying. "No, don't stop."
I was so close to coming, the last thing I wanted was for him to stop. The tip of his tail twisted against my hole, slowly easing inside me. Several times it pulled out, only to reenter me, moving a little way farther inside. The tip bumped my prostate, and I thought I'd lose my mind. I strained to keep my hips from thrusting as his head lowered to my groin again. Okay, now I was sure I'd lose my mind. He nuzzled my length, following the vein from root to tip. His tongue probed at the tiny slit, seeking out more pre-come. My body trembled as his lips closed around the dome of my cock, his canines latching onto the crown while his tongue caressed the top.
"Your teeth!" I moaned as he fondled my sac, rolling the balls together and then apart. His lips pulled off the head of my cock as he looked at me.
"I'll be careful, trust me," he purred. With exquisite slowness, he swallowed my shaft completely, taking me fully in his mouth, deep-throating me.
"Shit." I arched on the bed as spasms caused my legs to jerk. "You're good at that."
He bobbed up and down my cock, pulling it into his throat each time, making my eyes roll into the back of my head. He had barely started when my balls tightened.
"I'm gonna come."
He pulled off again as I fought the urge, and shoved a pillow under my hips to elevate them.
"Not yet. Don't come yet." Keyno's voice was a low rumble.