by Opal Carew
“It hurts? What are you talking about?”
“It’s too hot—it’s burning me.” I wasn’t about to say where but Sarden’s eyes flicked to my nipples, which I was trying unsuccessfully to hide with one arm, and narrowed at once.
“The sensu-pods—what did they do to you?” he demanded.
“The what?” I asked.
“The tentacles in the tank. They’re meant to test nerve conduction and sensitivity—the same way the Commercian’s table does,” he explained. “But those had been dormant for over ten cycles—they’re starving and extremely aggressive.”
“Tell me about it,” I said, my teeth chattering. “Not to mention extremely rapey.”
His face darkened and he took a step toward me. “What did they do to you? Did they hurt you? Did they—”
“There was no, uh, penetration,” I said quickly, seeing where he was going with this. “Just a lot of really, really aggressive suction. It hurt. A lot.”
“I need to see if you’re injured—I need to examine you,” he announced.
“What? No!” I took another step back.
“I’m not going to hurt you, Zoe.” His deep voice was soft and coaxing. “I just need to make sure you’re all right. You could have a life threatening injury and not even know it.”
“I’m not injured, just sore,” I protested. “It’s not like being dunked in that damn tentacle tank is going to kill me.”
“It almost did kill you,” he pointed out. “Look, at the very least we need to be sure you got the slime that housed the sensu-pods off you completely. We need to be certain there isn’t some left somewhere.”
He looked pointedly between my legs and I could feel my cheeks getting hot.
“I’m fine. I’m sure I got it all off,” I protested.
“Then it won’t hurt to let me check,” he countered.
“I’ll check,” I said quickly.
He raised an eyebrow at me. “Are humans so flexible, then? You’re able to see that area with no problems?”
“Um…yes…” I didn’t sound very certain, even to myself.
“It will only take a minute. Come.” Sarden started for the bedroom but I hung back. “What is it?” he demanded, looking over his shoulder and seeing that I was still in the bathroom. “Is it that I’m still nude? Look.”
He made the closet appear in his wall again—(how did he do that?)—and quickly got dressed, pulling on another pair of the tight, black trousers and a black sleeveless shirt. Then he turned to face me and held out his arms.
“See?”
“Great. So you’re dressed,” I said flatly. “That doesn’t exactly qualify you as a gynecologist.”
“A what?” He shook his head. “Never mind. Look, Zoe, what if I swear to you that I have only your wellbeing in mind? I promise not to hurt you or touch you in a sexual way—I just want to make sure you’re all right.” He made his voice softer. “You trusted me to take you in the cleansing pool. Please trust me again.”
I don’t know why I went to him but somehow I did. I was mostly dry by now, just from standing around in the air arguing. Well, except for my hair which still hung wet and dripping down my back. Sarden handed me another one of his long sleeved shirts to wear—between the two of us, we were really going through his wardrobe at a quick rate, I wondered who did the laundry around here—and gave me a clean, dry cloth to blot my hair.
While I did that, he cleared the blankets that had covered the bed and still had slime on them, throwing them down the laundry chute in the wall. At least, I assumed it was a laundry chute.
“Does that lead to the laundry room or something?” I asked, nodding at it. “Or wherever you keep the washer and dryer?”
“The what and the what?” He threw a frowning glance over his shoulder.
“That chute—where you threw the slimy blankets and where you put your dirty clothes earlier today? Are there machines for cleaning clothes at the bottom of it?”
“No, the chute itself cleans them. It’s a clothing cycler,” he explained. “It connects to my storage unit.” He pointed at the closet. “The dirty items are washed and dried and hung or folded back where they belong within the space of about one standard solar hour.”
“What?” I stared at the chute, suddenly green with envy. “You have a system that washes, dries, folds, and puts clothes away? Forget your hydrogen scoop engine, we’d kill for something like that on Earth!” Especially those of us who had to deal with slobby boyfriends or husbands. Scott had been awful about leaving his dirty clothes all over the place and I was constantly picking up after him. It was either that or live in a pigsty.
“Really?” Sarden was fiddling with the controls on the bed. “It’s actually very simple tech. Here—I’m ready.”
He stepped back and I saw that he had converted the floating silver beanbag bed into a kind of semi-reclined chair.
“Umm…” I wasn’t sure what to do.
“Come sit here so I can look at you.” He patted the silver material. “Come on, Zoe—it won’t take long. I just want to be sure you’re all right.”
“Well…” Reluctantly, I went and sat in the chair. Sarden had lowered it somehow but once I was settled into it, he raised it again so that it was hovering in mid-air once more.
“Now, let’s see.” He pulled the sides of the shirt apart first (it was another black one which really did look good with my pale skin) and examined my nipples. “Hmm…” He frowned as he looked but didn’t touch. “These do look painful. And extremely red.”
“They, uh, they are.” I wished my voice wouldn’t come out sounding so breathless but he was so close I could feel his warm breath against my tender flesh. It made a rash of goosebumps break out all over my body.
If Sarden noticed my discomfort, he didn’t say anything—he just kept staring at me. Then he ducked lower, kneeling in front of me so that his face was level with my thighs—which were tightly shut.
“Open.” He put one big hand on my knee, making me shiver. “Please, Zoe—I need to see.”
Biting my lip, I spread my legs for him.
“Hmm…” Sarden leaned closer and now I could feel his hot breath against my sex, stirring the neatly trimmed reddish curls on my mound. Oh God, this was so embarrassing! I swore to myself if I could just get through this, I’d never complain about going to the gyno again.
“The outside looks all right, if somewhat red,” Sarden remarked at last. “But I can’t see your inner depths. I’m sorry, Zoe, but you’ll have to spread yourself for me. Unless you’d rather I do it?” He looked up at me and I bit my lip and shook my head.
“No. I…I’ll do it.”
Had I said I was embarrassed before? Well up that by a factor of about a thousand. I was mortified as I made myself reach down between my legs and spread my outer pussy lips for him.
Sarden leaned closer until he was close enough to kiss me. To—no! I pushed that thought away as quick as I could. Only it wouldn’t go. I kept thinking about how he’d said that Vorn males loved tasting their females. It made me feel hot and cold and trembly all over. Especially since I could feel his hot breath right against my open pussy.
“Hmm,” Sarden murmured again but this time he didn’t sound quite so clinical and detached.
“Well?” I asked at last because it seemed to be taking him an awfully long time. “All clear?”
“I believe so. Although your skin is as red as mine here—is that normal?”
I looked down—really looked—and saw that my inner pussy was cherry red, just like my nipples.
“No,” I said, sounding worried, even to myself. “No, it’s not at all.”
“I didn’t think so.” He frowned and looked up at me. “Do I need to look further in? You said that the tentacles didn’t…penetrate you, correct?”
“Right.” By now I was sure my face was probably cherry red too. “There’s no need to look any further—honest.”
“I hope you’re right. You know…�
�� He looked up at me. “You shouldn’t have been back in the hold in the first place but I’m sorry you were hurt by the sensu-pods.”
“You and me both.” I thought of the shiny black tentacles again and shivered. “They were awful!”
“I know.” He stroked my thigh soothingly. “I can heal this for you, if you’ll let me.”
“Heal it?” I looked at him suspiciously. “Heal it how?”
He shrugged. “The usual way of course.”
“And what’s the usual way? You have a first aid kit? Some kind of antiseptic cream or numbing ointment?”
He frowned. “I don’t know what any of that is. I meant I can heal you with my mouth.”
“What?” I nearly jumped out of the chair but he held me back firmly with one large hand and frowned at me.
“Why are you upset? Because I’m not your mate? I know unmated people don’t often heal each other—at least they don’t on my home worlds—but—”
“It’s not that,” I burst out. “You can’t heal me with your mouth! That’s just an excuse to be perverted.”
Sarden looked startled. “You can’t heal each other orally on Earth? What do you do when you have a minor injury like a cut or burn?”
“We get a freaking Band-Aid,” I snapped. “We don’t offer to lick each other on the…” I trailed off, blushing.
“Hmm…” He frowned. “Maybe there are some disadvantages to being so purely bred and sheltered on your little planet. Most of the rest of the Twelve Peoples descended from the Ancient Ones have the ability to heal.”
“Well maybe you evolved it or whatever,” I said. “But we don’t have it on Earth. And I don’t know that I believe you have it either.”
He raised an eyebrow at me.
“So you think I’m lying just to get a chance to taste your pussy?”
“Well…yes,” I said, feeling my cheeks get hot as I pressed my thighs together and crossed my arms protectively over my breasts. “Ouch!” I jerked my arms away quickly—my nipples were more tender than ever. In fact they were absolutely throbbing. Between my legs didn’t feel too great either.
“Zoe, please—you’re clearly in pain. And I’m afraid that the sensu-pods might have injected you with some kind of nerve stimulator to heighten your sensations. Which means it’s only going to get worse unless you let me heal you.”
He sounded very reasonable and concerned but I was still reluctant to let him “heal” me orally, as he put it.
“I don’t know…” I said stubbornly. “I mean, I just don’t know if I believe it.”
“Let me prove it to you then.” He rose from the metal floor smoothly and leaned over me again so that we were eye-to-eye. “Let me lick just one of your nipples once. If you don’t begin to feel better again right away, you’ll know I’m lying and I won’t touch you again.”
“Well…” I bit my lip, considering it. Then I thought of something else. “Your mouth—last night when you, uh, kissed me—it’s hot. I mean, it stings like hot cinnamon. I don’t need that when I’m already in pain.”
“What you tasted was my healing factor,” he said reasonably. “It’s what makes me able to heal you orally in the first place. It may sting your mouth but I promise, it will soothe your injuries.”
The sincerity in his eyes finally decided me. I didn’t know why he cared if I was in pain but he did seem to really want to help me.
“All right,” I said at last. “But just one lick.”
He nodded. “Absolutely. Do you care which one I heal?” He nodded down at my breasts with their bright red nipples. Ugh—I looked like something out of a weird porno for people who fetishize maraschino cherries or something!
I shook my head, my cheeks burning.
“No. Uh—take your pick.”
“Very well.” He leaned closer and reached for me, one big, warm hand sliding from my thigh, up my side to cup my right breast.
“Hey,” I said breathlessly as he lifted my breast to his lips. “You don’t have to uh—”
“Watch me,” he cut me off, his deep voice a soft growl. “Watch me heal you, Zoe.”
I twisted my hands into the silver material at my sides and tried not to make a sound as he brought my nipple to his mouth. Then, looking me in the eyes the whole time, he put out his tongue and dragged it slowly…so slowly…over my tender peak.
“Oh!” I gasped as the burning sensitivity in my nipple was replaced by a tingling coolness. As I watched the cherry-red flesh went back to my normal pink color. It was like some kind of magic trick—only I don’t know many magic tricks that make you hot and bothered and I was definitely both.
“See?” Apparently finished with his long, leisurely lick, Sarden leaned back and looked at me. “Was I lying?”
“No,” I whispered, all the wind taken out of my sales. “No, I…I guess not.”
“So will you let me heal the other one?”
I looked up at him. His golden eyes were blazing into mine, making my heart pound.
“Y-yes,” I said in a shaky voice.
“Good.” Sarden repeated his performance, his eyes locked with mine the whole time. It was incredibly intimate holding his gaze while he licked me but somehow, though my pulse raced and my palms grew damp, I couldn’t look away.
He spent a little more time on my left nipple, swirling his tongue around it slowly until I thought I might scream from the gentle torture. I knew he was just supposed to be healing me but God, it felt so good.
At last he drew back and gave me a serious look.
“Zoe,” he said softly. “You know what comes next.”
“I don’t know about…about that part.” I still had my thighs crossed though I had to confess that my pussy was really in pain at this point.
He raised an eyebrow at me.
“Why not? Don’t you want to be healed?”
“I’m not sure.” I was blushing and biting my lip, feeling uncertain and scared and embarrassed all over again. “I mean it’s just…very intimate. You’re sure you don’t…don’t mind?
He frowned. “Why would I mind?”
“Because, well…some guys don’t want…I mean…what if you don’t like it?” I blurted out at last. My boyfriend in college never had much and Scott had never even asked if he could go there.
“How could I not like tasting you?” he murmured, reaching out to cup my flushed cheek. “Even if it’s just for the purpose of healing you, it’s a privilege. Your scent is intoxicating and your pussy is so beautiful and delicate—it reminds me of a yonah flower.”
“A what kind of flower? No—never mind.” I took a deep breath and made a decision. “You can do it,” I told him. “But only…only on the outside. Okay?”
Sarden frowned. “But your inner pussy is in pain as well. I saw how red you were, Zoe.”
“I don’t care about that,” I said stubbornly. “I’ll manage. Just…just lick the outside—that’s all.”
He shrugged, his broad shoulders rolling.
“If that’s how you want it but I’m afraid you’re going to have a lot of pain and discomfort later.”
“Let me worry about that,” I said. “Do you want to do it or not?”
His gold eyes flashed. “More than anything. All right—spread your thighs and let me heal at least the outside of your sex”
Heart hammering, I did as he said, forcing myself to spread my thighs as he knelt in front of me again. Sarden leaned forward slowly, taking his time, making me even more nervous, the big red bastard!
“So beautiful,” I heard him murmur and then his long, hot tongue was lapping slowly over my swollen folds, making me moan and gasp and squirm in the silver beanbag chair even though I tried really, really hard not to.
“Sarden…” I gasped breathlessly.
“Hold still.” He frowned up at me. “You moved too much—I have to do it again to be sure I got everything.”
He spread my thighs even wider, putting his big hands on my legs and opening me so wide I c
ould feel my pussy lips parting with the gesture. Again my hands clenched into fists in the silver material. Oh God, I couldn’t stand this…
But I had to. Once more he dragged his hot tongue over my swollen pussy. But this time there was a difference. The first time, he’d used the flat of his tongue and I’d felt it stroke over me smoothly. This time I felt it enter me. Not a lot, but enough. I felt just the tip of his tongue slide lightly over my throbbing clit and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from moaning. God, it felt so good…
At last he finished and looked up at me.
“You’re delicious, Zoe.” His deep voice was thick and his eyes were heavy-lidded with lust. “I’d love to heal inside you now—would love to lick your sweet pussy until you’re all better.”
“I…I don’t’ know what you mean by ‘all better,’” I whispered in a breathless voice.
“Oh, I think you do.” His eyes gleamed. “I mean I want to taste you until you come. Until you come all over my face.”
“I…you…we shouldn’t,” I protested weakly.
“Why not? If it makes you feel good. Besides…” His voice took on a lecturing tone. “Having an orgasm would help facilitate the healing process.”
“It…it would?”
Slowly, he nodded.
I knew it was an excuse to let him continue but hell, at this point I wanted an excuse.
“Okay, well I guess so,” I whispered. “If you think it will help…help to heal me.”
“I know it will,” he growled. “So just lie back and let me work on you. Let me heal you.”
“I…I’ll try,” I said in a shaky voice, but he was already at work. Leaning forward again, he parted me with his thumbs and began circling the swollen bud of my clit with his tongue. I moaned and bucked up against him, unable to help my reaction. Damn, he was good at this! So good I could hear myself panting, unable to catch my breath as he licked and licked, tracing and stroking my hot little bud as though he’d been born to do it.
This was nothing like my boyfriend in college, nothing like anything I’d ever experienced before. The hot cinnamon of his mouth felt tingly against my inner folds and seemed to intensify every sensation until I was almost begging for release.