Asch seems confused when he opens the door and sees me, but he doesn’t look upset. He’s not wearing a shirt, just a scrap of fabric wrapped around his waist. His rippling chest is glossy from a recent shower, and I can still smell a hint of his musk emanating from him. I feel a strange sensation come over me. Arrogant or not, there was something about him that I wanted to know more of. Despite my rudeness towards him I still find him incredibly sexy. His firm jaw tenses, as I step inside his home, but he makes me welcome.
His room is like an alien studio apartment. The room is wide open, and decorated with beaded curtains and beautifully dyed fabrics. There’s a soft glow in the room, coming from the pillars of candles that are scattered around the room. Is this how it looks all the time? Anyway, I didn’t come all this way for the décor. I’m here to try to unlock some of these strange feelings I’ve been having.
“Is something wrong?” Asch asks as he sits on his bed, a thick layer of mattresses in the corner of the room, covered by a thin canopy. I walk closer towards him, admiring the small trinkets and miniature sculptures that decorate parts of the room. Part of me was worried about talking, but I remember what I learned in the bar, and I feel a spark ignite somewhere in my chest. I know I have to overcome this, and the only thing standing in the way is me. I won’t let words tangle me up and bring me down.
“Listen, I’ve really just been horrible to you these past couple of days,” I say, the words ringing out loud and clear. I feel a glimmer of hope, pushing me to keep going. “I was so upset that you weren’t giving me a chance to express myself, but then again I could have done more to help you understand that. I’m very sorry.” Asch thinks over my words, listening to each one.
“I could’ve asked you more about yourself,” he admits finally. “I’m kind of new to this whole thing, honestly, even the whole getting-to-know-someone thing.”
“Me too,” I confess. I take the opportunity to sit on the empty space of the bed next to him. “I’ve thought about it,” I say. “I want to give you a chance. I know I said we weren’t compatible. But I mean, how could we really know…unless we try?”
“I’d like to try,” he says quietly, and I’ve never noticed the smoothness of his voice, probably because I haven’t heard him speak this way until now. Even so, I suddenly feel overwhelmed with a strange desire, which frightens me. I brush it aside though. I’m tired of being afraid. I’m going to let this feeling wash over me, a burning desire to understand, to listen, and even…to explore.
“I’d like to try too,” I tell him, almost in a whisper. Time seems to slow as we share a smile, the first we’ve ever had.
He’s quiet again, but he reaches for my face. My instinct is to turn away, but I know he’s not a threat, and this can only lead to somewhere great. His warm hand cups around my cheek, and pulls me in closer. This is it, my first kiss. My heart pounds in my chest as I feel a tingle spiral up my back like a lightning bolt as I close my eyes. I can feel his soft breath on my lips as they gently close around mine. I freeze at the touch of his other hand as it reaches around my waist. It feels like it’s over in a second. As soon as I have a taste of him, I know that I just have to get another right there.
He’s surprised, as I lean in to kiss him again. I breathe in that strong smell of his, feeling the tightness of his body against mine as he embraces me. My breasts press against his chest, as our kiss grows deeper and I’m overwhelmed with an incredible urge that I’ve never known before. Whatever this was, I never want it to go away.
I keep my lips locked tightly around his. He tastes incredibly sweet, and our kisses feel so innocent and pure until he takes a moment to slip his tongue into my mouth. He stops; worried that this lustful advance will offend me, but I’ll allow all of it in this moment, and I casually take a daring chance to bite his lip.
“Didn’t know you had a little fire in you,” he breathes.
“Me neither,” I tell him, filled with such a strong feeling of want that I lose control over myself, and I wrap my legs around his waist.
“Oh wow,” he says in surprise. “More than a little fire, I guess.”
I smile, still kissing him as I think about what I learned in the bar. I’ll just open up the book a little bit more; maybe take in a couple chapters or two. I slide my hands down his chest, over his completely shredded abs. I don’t know how lucky I am to have something this sexy under me, and I wasn’t about to let it go to waste. He’s being gentle with me, which surprises me from such an incredible beast of a man. He keeps himself behaved, only gently brushing his hands against the top of my waist, just barely lifting up my shirt.
I’m careful to bring my fingers towards the knot on his wrap, the only thing keeping me from getting closer to what’s underneath. I pull at the knot until the fabric finally comes loose, and my mind is immediately flooded with possibilities. I feel like I’ve finally unlocked a part of myself, something I’ve kept myself from understanding all this time. I reach in between his legs, the tips of my fingers tracing along his inner thighs until they find their way to a soft pair of something. But do I dare look? Asch is breathing heavily. Is he as nervous as I am?
I figure, why the hell not? I pull away the wrap, completely exposing him to me. I’ve never seen a penis in real life, but I’m surprised to see that an Avroxee’s looks almost exactly the same as a human’s, if not bigger. He’s long, contoured by the veins flexing along his shaft. I thought I’d never know what to do with something like this until now. My hand firmly grasps him, and I’m startled by how hard he is as I work up to a gentle stroke. Asch moans; a deep sensual longing on his breath as I use my thumb to rub his tip.
“How’s this?” I ask. He moans in response, almost laughing with delight, which fuels me to work my hand into a gentle rhythm up and down his shaft.
He’s warm in my hands, and I clutch him tighter, imagining just what he can do with this enormous dick. Both of us are breathing heavily now, mixing in the heat of passion. Asch leans forward, kissing up and down my neck with his warm lips as I feel him sliding in and out of my hand.
Finally, he can’t take it anymore, and he flips me onto my back on the bed. I release him, and he reaches for the buttons of my pants, pulling them down just enough for him to spread out his fingers inside and gently tease me through my panties. I can feel myself soaked through them already, and he softly brushes the side away to slip his fingers against my vulva, slowly teasing me even more. I moan quietly as his fingers search for my clit, carefully maneuvering it until I’m tingling all over.
Then suddenly, he straddles me and pulls my pants down further. He wants to fuck me, and I find I’m loving every second of this. But something holds me back, a strange quiver of fear or uncertainty. My chest feels heavy. I want him to do it, but just not right now. I’ve read a couple chapters, but am I wrong to want to save the rest of this book for later? He senses this uncertainty, and lets me pull my pants back up.
“What’s going on?” he says. I feel a twinge of regret for ruining the heat of this moment, one of the most incredible moments I’ve ever experienced, but I just couldn’t bring myself to go all the way.
“I think we should take it a little slower,” I suggest. To my surprise, he nods, understanding.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me,” I tell him.
He grabs my face again, softly kissing me on the cheek. “Don’t apologize,” he says, his voice calm and comforting. “To be honest, that was the sexiest thing I’ve ever done.”
“Me too,” I say, smiling at him, “though I feel pretty bad for freezing”.
“You shouldn’t feel bad,” he says. “It’s scary for me too. Really.” He pulls up the covers next to me. “Why don’t we get some rest?” He says. “Pick this up another time?”
Asch holds me in the darkness, such a strange and foreign feeling to me, but something inside me doesn’t want it to end. As I feel his body pressed against me in his sleep, the softness of his breath next to my ear, his arm
around my waist, I’m surrounded by a strange sense of peace, one that I wouldn’t even have if I didn’t take a chance like this. Asch isn’t horrible. My first impressions had told me was, but he proved me wrong tonight.
I smile to myself in the dark, never knowing I’d be one to feel the pulls of desire. I make a silent promise before I sleep that next time it’ll be different.
Next time…I’ll really make him mine.
CHAPTER 6: COMMON GROUND
ASCH
My head is soaring high above the mountains! Just when I was starting to give up on this week, I was met with an incredible success. I notice my training is much easier today, and I breeze right through my routine, fueled by the thoughts of Lora and the mysteries of that beautiful body. She felt so warm in my fingers, and I would have explored much more until she decided she wanted to stop. At first, I thought I’d be frustrated or something; but, I was overcome with this strange feeling of not just wanting to mate, but instead to see how she might be feeling. She told me humans have an interesting view on mating, that they have to feel a connection of some kind before mating with another. I realize how similar this is to the Avroxee “True Love Effect,” where when two people are truly connected they can unlock a special ability within themselves.
The idea of achieving this with Lora is a new personal goal of mine, and I let this energy keep me going today while I practiced my hits with my sparring partner.
“Ready for the tournament, Asch?” He asks in between hits. I shrug, dodging a swift punch.
“I’ve been a little distracted,” I tell him. “Finally broke the ice a bit with my future mate last night.” My partner raises his eyebrows at me, intrigued for more details. I shake my head at him.
I couldn’t do that to Lora. It was rare enough for her to open herself up to me like that, and I didn’t want to do anything to hurt her in that way. We stop sparring to do some finishing stretches.
“Ladies are great, truly great,” he says. “But you have to make sure you’re keeping your eye on the prize. You can’t be like these other guys that come in here. Some of them are prized fighters like you, only to be crushed under their mate from all the trouble that comes with them.”
I shrug him off. He doesn’t know anything about Lora or how I train. I’ve been a champion around here for a good while now, and he knows that I’m not so weak as to let my feelings take over my strength.
“What kind of trouble?” I find myself asking, even though I really don’t want to know. Still, I feel myself getting a little worried. The only other thing on my mind other than Lora was fighting, and she didn’t seem to be too keen on it when I brought her to the arena.
“You find one you like, and soon she’ll just tie you down,” he says. “Your training time will be converted to quality time, and soon after that….family time.” I never thought about something like that. It was definitely a detail they didn’t brief us on during the matchmaking process. “You can’t be out in the pit once you got a wife and kid waiting for you at home,” he continues. “And before you know it, you’ll be tightening gears and repairing ships until your muscles sag.” He must see the horrified expression on my face and he pats me roughly on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, Asch,” he says. “Just make sure you’re the one calling the shots and you’ll be fine.”
I find myself fixating on the words, “tied down”, over and over as I make my way back home. Lora’s waiting for me there, but now I’m wrestling with a new idea that I can’t quite grasp. I was on top of the world this morning, but after training today I realize that there was a darker side of the puzzle that I wasn’t putting together. Lora wouldn’t expect me to give up the only other thing that I’m passionate about, would she?
I guess the only way to know really, would be to ask her, but I don’t want to bring up something like that, especially since we had such an intimate moment with each other last night. I wouldn’t want to do anything to break our fragile moment of bliss.
I have something planned for the day and I direct my focus to that, instead. I’m not going to let some stupid worry get in the way of what we’re creating together. Besides, my sparring partner never even tried to apply for the mating program, so he doesn’t have any idea what it’s like to want to bind yourself to another person. And man, did I want to bind myself to Lora, every glorious inch of her.
“Where are we going?” Lora asks as we trek through the jungle together. I thought she really went for a huge risk last night with coming over to my place, especially after what she said to me earlier that day, how hostile she had been. Whatever she did to me, she did it with a confidence that I definitely wouldn’t expect from her. So naturally I wanted to do something that would surprise her right back.
“It’s not fun if I give it away,” I tell her playfully, swiping aside an enormous tree leaf. I can hear Lora shuffling behind me, and I turn to see her struggling in a tangle of roots. In one swoop, I grab her up in my arms, carrying her through the brush.
“I can walk, you know,” she tells me, slightly annoyed. I shrug it off and keep walking. I notice her shirt is unbuttoned a bit, and I can just make out a sliver of her cleavage, her large breasts struggling against the top button as they bounce with each step we take. I’m practically throbbing at the sight of them, and I want to take her right here up against these trees.
But I remember what she said about taking it slow. It’s a challenge for me, but like I said, I don’t mind a challenge, and there’s an incredible prize for me if I stay patient long enough. She catches me staring, and I look away, pretending I wasn’t just imagining my face in between those beautiful bouncing tits.
I put her down before she can really have an effect on me. Finally, we come to an opening in the jungle, and I push apart the branches to let her through. Her eyes light up as soon as she sees it. I’ve brought her a large square structure decorated with round openings and broken statues. The rocks are crumbled from centuries of time, but the important treasures still remain intact on the inside. Two broken heads made of stone lie on the ground, covered in moss and vines. Long ago, they used to be statues of baby Wanchans, dangerous cat-like creatures the chiefs kept as pets, and torture devices.
Lora stares at the place in awe.
“What is it?” She asks, bewildered.
“It’s an ancient Avroxee temple,” I tell her. “I picked it because, well, it’s old and I guess you like that kind of stuff. But also, there’s something inside that you need to see.”
I walk ahead in case there’s anything dangerous lurking inside. The pathway is dark, but luckily Lora brought flashlights for us. Typically, we don’t use them here, but since we’ve been creating new technology on Avrox, I’ve been a little more open to trying out new devices. It’s a hell of a lot more convenient than a flaming torch.
I take her further down a corridor, where the walls start to close in a little tighter. It gives her an excuse to get closer to me, which I don’t mind at all.
“It’s creepy in here,” she says, a little worried.
“Don’t worry,” I tell her. “It’s just up here.”
We press on a bit, startled only by a cluster of bats trying to find their way out of the ruins. It scares me a little, but I was surprised to see Lora unaffected by them. Her bravery has really been showing lately. Finally, we come to the end of the temple, where a large wall sprawls out before us. Enormous paintings of old chiefs are cracked from the wear and tear of time. But what really makes Lora excited is the sprawling texts, made of strange symbols etched firmly into the rock: old Avroxee glyphs.
“Oh my God!” Lora gasps. “They’re extraordinary, Asch!”
I feel like nearly blushing at the sound of my name, and how excited she is to be here. She runs ahead of me, scanning the walls with her flashlight.
“Is there a key?” She asks me. I have no idea that a wall would even have a key, especially if it’s just a wall. What would a key even open?
Oh! Here’s one!” She ex
claims, pointing to a cluster of patterns in the far corner of the wall, towards the floor. She bends down, reading them with her fingers. I duck down next to her, watching her study them intently. I guess my idea of a key was very different from hers.
“Let’s find a spot to start,” she says.
“Start what?” I ask. She looks at me with a smirk. This time I’m completely in her domain, and she knows it.
“We’re going to decode some,” she says. “I can’t imagine the kinds of stories this planet would have hidden in its past.”
We sit down together on the floor and get to work. It’s a little tricky at first, but luckily I’m available to translate between Avroxee and human-speak for her.
“They taught us this kind of thing in school,” I explain. “But never knew what these walls mean. I come here sometimes to be alone and I always find myself looking at them, even though I’ve never really taken the time to know what they say.”
“Well it’s a good thing I’m here, then,” she says softly with a smile.
“Yeah,” I say. “A very good thing.”
She’s off in her own world now; decoding things and I laugh each time she mispronounces something, only because it’s so cute. She teaches me how to read the walls so we can decode them faster. I’m amazed at her intelligence. She tells me stories about other glyphs from her planet, revealing stories about ancient worlds that her ancestors probably roamed.
I wonder what her home is like. She tells me she studies in a library all day, which sounds incredibly lonely. I feel a small hint of sadness for her, as she paints a picture of hiding in her favorite reading room. In my mind I imagine myself joining her, telling me about her findings just as she’s telling me about them now. I have a hope that she’ll never have to go back to that again, but only if we can prove ourselves by the end of the trial.
The Avroxee Mates Series: Boxset Bks 1-3 Page 10