Lisette pecked him with a kiss.
They didn’t have the sex Prax-Denay had promised that morning. Lisette met him in the lab after returning to her own room to dress. Work commenced as usual. This time when he checked on her progress at a console he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. Lisette had to stifle a flurry of joy in order to answer his questions. Then, at lunch he pulled her onto his lap and fed her twelve morsels spread out in twelve little bowls. The first was warm and sweet. The second one was cold and tasted of vinegar. Lisette squealed and fussed. Prax-Denay stayed focused on her responses with a delighted smile.
After lunch she hunched over a console to tap some buttons. Prax-Denay came behind her and groped her bottom. She spun on him with a mischievous smile. His face was serious, however.
He knocked equipment off a central table, bent her over it, yanked up her dress, pulled down her panties, and perked his member against her sex from behind. She was slightly dry from the suddenness. As he wriggled against her the sensual pressure made her moisten. She was slick when he started to thrust.
The eroticism of being taken in their lab made her thighs quiver. He fucked her with strong deliberate movements, grunting as he did. His broad hands clutched her hips and he leaned over to place hard kisses on her neck. Lisette came with an involuntary whimper. Her middle shuddered as though she wept. She was clawing the smooth table trying to find something to grasp, something to anchor her during the desperate urgency she felt.
Prax-Denay closed over her so that his body weight pressed her down. He was shaking. His cock had buried deep enough to make her feel stretched lengthwise.
“Ohhhh…ohhhh.” His visceral grunts lit fire inside her. His member was contracting while her own sex still convulsed. Seed dripped onto the floor.
He stayed embedded in her while gently kissing her nape in the aftermath.
“Was that all right?” he said.
“Of course.”
“I just wanted you so badly…I couldn’t…I didn’t even…”
She turned enough to meet his eyes. “I wanted you, too.”
Prax-Denay formed an expression joyful anguish. He turned her around to kiss and embrace her. She only let this go on a short while. She had visions of Jorenkis walking in and catching them both exposed. They separated and righted their clothes.
“Um…”
He caressed the side of her face. “Yes?”
“Can you get me pregnant?”
“Have no fear about that. I researched it a few days ago. Humans must be surgically altered to be fully compatible for breeding.”
Her brow furrowed.
“I’m sure you haven’t received this alteration yet. Paggellatin doesn’t have a full human processing clinic. You’d have to go to our capital or back to Earth. It seems I worried about Jorenkis’ threat of castration for no reason. The Druid Archment prohibited Etiken from breeding outside our caste. We can’t breed as you are, so there was never any justification for castrating me.”
She nodded with some relief. Then she got a solvent to clean up the puddle of sperm on the floor. Prax-Denay stood watching her with a smirk.
“He’s not going to sneak up on us. I’ll hear the front doors chiming long before he gets near the lab.”
She nodded again. Of course, she’d heard the doors chime before when she went in or out. It was something easily ignored and forgotten. She realized she needed to trust Prax-Denay’s judgment more. If he didn’t worry, then neither should she.
They were innocently working in the lab together the following week when the doors did chime. Lisette sent Prax-Denay a panicked look. Jorenkis had been gone so long his return felt like a violation.
Prax-Denay eyed her calmly. “Don’t be scared of him, my dearest. Just continue doing your work.”
Lisette turned her chair back to the console and attempted to. Her fingers faltered. Did her ass leave an imprint on the wall when he fucked her standing up yesterday? Did his seed get cleaned up after they had sex in the kitchen? Would Jorenkis be able to tell she hadn’t been sleeping in her own bed?
“Hello?”
The two exchanged a puzzled look. This was not Jorenkis’ voice. Prax-Denay popped up from his chair. Lisette followed a few steps behind him.
In the lobby was the middle-aged friend of Jorenkis with the sideburns and earrings. He stood propped on an ornate cane with a flowing cape attached to the shoulders of his tunic. Lisette could not remember his name (or if she’d ever been told it).
“Lord Drathek,” Prax-Denay said.
Drathek wrinkled his nose with disdain Lisette thought a little too obvious. “Oh. Hello, Prax. Jorenkis not here then?”
“I haven’t seen Jorenkis for a month.”
“Is that so? And here we thought he was holed up with his little girlfriend.”
“I presumed he was out carousing with your group.”
“No. Haven’t seen him.”
“Maybe he’s dead, then,” Prax-Denay said through a smile.
Lisette stepped out of the lab. Drathek gasped. He pointed his cane at her.
“So it’s just been the two of you alone here the entire month?”
Prax-Denay crossed his arms. “Are you implying something?”
“I damn sure am! I know you’ve not been properly neutered. Are you going to tell me you haven’t laid a hand on this girl?”
“Properly neutered? You speak of me as though I’m an animal.”
Drathek brushed past him. “Oh gods, you’re worse than an animal.” He captured Lisette’s wrist despite her lunging back from him. “My dear, are you well? This is quite a deplorable situation. Jorenkis should be flogged for his negligence. Tell me what Prax has done to you, and don’t fear repercussions from him. You’re under the protection of Lord Elentinus. We can get you safe, my darling.”
“I…I’m fine.” She tried to pull her hand free.
“You don’t sound fine.”
“She always sounds like that!” Prax-Denay said.
He turned back to yell. “Shut up, you fiend!” He produced a kind face once again. “Tell me, has he touched you, my dear? You needn’t be ashamed. It’s none of it your fault.”
She shook her head. “He…no. Nothing. Nothing’s happened.” It felt as though a giant fist were clenching and twisting her gut.
“You fear to speak in front of him, don’t you?”
She continued shaking her head.
“It’s alright. Let’s step outside.”
He tugged her. Lisette stayed in place, but then he yanked. She stumbled forward. The man attempted to drag her. Lisette pulled back with all her strength.
“No!”
Drathek looked back at her.
Tears were already behind her eyes. Her throat felt choked, but she forced out more words. “I like it here.”
Drathek’s brow rose. Lisette wrenched her arm free.
She snuffled. “You’re…interrupting our work.”
The affronted alien placed a hand on his chest.
“Indeed, Lord Drathek,” Prax-Denay said, with a look of abject hatred. “Do you want to be the one to explain to Lord Matoranis why we’ve missed his deadline?”
Drathek wet his lips. He considered Lisette a moment more then set his angry glare on Prax-Denay. The rotund man moved his face mere inches from him.
“Listen you shit-swilling, garbage-picking lecher! I know damn well you can’t be trusted any further than I can throw you. She may not realize what kind of beast has seduced her—but I do!”
“I haven’t even breathed the same air as her. This is a place of work.”
“Liar! If I had a month alone with her she’d damn sure be in my bed. You’re going to claim an Etiken has more control than a nobleman?”
“Yes, you bigoted fool, because if I touch her I’ll lose everything.”
Drathek sneered and moved away from him. He made a bow to Lisette. “It was a pleasure to see you again, my dear.” He glowered once more at Prax-Denay.
“You’ve not heard the last of this.”
Prax-Denay fumed and headed back for the lab. “Of course. Petty fools like you have nothing better to do than become irritations. I’m the only one on this world bettering our society.”
“Pah!” Drathek exited the glass doors with loud thumps of his cane. Lisette watched him get into his flying car and take off before reentering the lab.
Prax-Denay sat at the central table with his forehead resting in his hand. Lisette took timid steps over to him. She was still trembling from how she’d raised her voice. There were only a half-dozen times in her life when she could remember standing up for herself. The thought of anything happening to Prax-Denay made her desperate. He was something worth fighting for, no matter how difficult it was for her, and no matter how contrary it was to her personality.
He was her husband and she loved him.
The revelation made her tremble even further. She thought of them as boyfriend and girlfriend until an outsider showed up. Sure, Prax-Denay talked about a marriage ritual and so forth, but this was the Dak-Hiliah’s customs, not hers. She’d happily gone along with things as Prax-Denay defined them because she was direly smitten with him. Then the sex—the sex turned her happy world to a paradise. She felt at the peak of her womanly powers, and Prax-Denay showed her such great respect that she had no trouble getting dirty with him. In truth, she’d been playing a game of marriage with him. Today it turned real. He became her family, whom she needed to protect.
She went to her husband and hugged him from behind. He stood to pull her into a tighter embrace. She let the sobs rise up and shudder through her chest.
“Don’t let that oaf bring you to tears.”
He caressed her hair, but she couldn’t stop herself. She was overwhelmed, not just by the fight, but the prospect of more strife in their future. Their wonderful world had just been invaded by monsters.
“He has no proof we’ve been intimate. The worst he can do is complain to the High Council that Jorenkis left us alone together. That would be an asinine waste of council time, and he’d make an enemy of Jorenkis. There are too few Dak-Hiliah left for him to have an aristocrat as an enemy on his home planet.”
She pulled back so she could look at him through her steamed-up glasses. “He won’t…cause more trouble?”
Prax-Denay wiped a tear from her cheek. “Not unless I get you pregnant.”
She squeezed him again.
“Forget about Lord Drathek. Forget about Jorenkis. This is our domain, Lisette. They’re but temporary nuisances.” He soothed her back. “Don’t let them ruin our happiness.”
Lisette closed her eyes and focused on the warmth of his embrace. He’d said just what she needed to hear.
***
Late the next morning they heard the chimes of the door. Lisette’s stomach clenched. Prax-Denay headed out of the lab, giving her shoulder a little squeeze as he passed. She followed a few steps behind.
Prax-Denay went to the doorway of Jorenkis’ office. “Oh. So you’re not dead.”
“Fuck off.”
He took a small bow. “As you wish.”
“No. Wait. Go get that girl in here.”
Prax-Denay looked at her. She stepped into the office with her head lowered.
“Hey, beautiful,” Jorenkis said with his car salesman smile. “You finally got some decent clothes. Have a seat.”
She looked at the chair but didn’t move toward it.
“Sit.” Jorenkis barked the word this time. She took the chair.
“Leave, Prax.”
Prax-Denay sneered at him. “No.”
Jorenkis gave him a look of disgust, then he leaned in toward Lisette. “How are you getting on?”
“Good,” she said. She concentrated on neither nodding nor shaking her head.
“How are you getting along with Prax?”
“Fine.”
“How fine?”
“We’re…getting a lot of work done.”
“Yeah, I heard. A friend of mine thinks you and Prax-Denay have gotten romantic. That’s not true, right?”
“Right.” She cleared her throat.
“Good. I still see you and me getting together. I had a lot of time to think things over. I think the best way to take care of your problems is if you—“
“No.”
Jorenkis blinked. “What?”
Lisette forced her eyes to meet his. Her lower lip trembled. “I don’t…want to be with you.”
Jorenkis glowered at her with the beginnings of a sneer. Then he leaned back in his large chair and propped his arms behind his head.
“Is that so?”
Lisette swallowed. She realized Jorenkis’ glare had moved to Prax-Denay.
“Yeah. I see why my friend was concerned. So you’ve been fucking her, huh Prax? Did she want it or are you torturing her?”
Lisette’s face flushed. She wanted to deny his accusation, but she’d already gone as far as she could. The imbecile’s challenge made her words get stuck in her throat. She was furious to the point of tears.
Prax-Denay merely sighed. “Are you done wasting our time? We were in the middle of a damned experiment.”
“Don’t try to deflect me. I bet you slept with her the second I was gone.”
“If you were so worried why did you leave us unsupervised?”
“I didn’t leave you unsupervised. I had the feeds of three different robots tapped to watch you two in the lab.”
Lisette felt as though her gut had been punched.
Prax-Denay remained smug. “Yes. And what did you see?”
“Nothing.”
Lisette stopped chewing her lower lip to eye him.
“Because you disabled their connections.”
“Damn right,” Prax-Denay said. “I don’t need your snide nose prodding into my lab. If you want to know what we’re doing, then drag your lazy carcass into work. The girl and I have worked ceaselessly since you’ve been gone.”
“I’m sure you found a few segments here and there for recreational activities.”
“I already told you we’re in the middle of an experiment!” Prax-Denay strode to the front of his desk. Lisette felt them to be united against their common enemy. “Are you going to lob baseless accusations all day?”
Jorenkis turned toward his console. That felt like a triumph to Lisette. He couldn’t confront the two of them head on. He spoke to his monitor.
“You don’t think she’s cute, Prax? She’s timid and bookish. Easy to bully. Just your type, right?”
“I think she’s a lure, set by you and your more ignorant superiors, in order to take me down. None of you can bear for an Etiken to be as accomplished as I am. Someone above you is intimidated and wanted to use a slave to destroy my career. Your convenient month long absence only confirmed my suspicion.”
Jorenkis shot him a dubious look.
“Tell them their ploy has backfired. Not only have I resisted your bait, I’ve used her to bring my work to even greater heights than before. Tell them this Etiken hasn’t touched a petal on the pretty flower you put in his lab. That’s something even Lord Drathek admitted he couldn’t do. For me, who is in all ways superior to you and your ilk, it was easy. I put her to work. I used her to further my supremacy over the rest of you dullards. That’s all.”
“All right!” Jorenkis said. “You’re not sleeping with her. I believe you.”
Lisette felt like clapping. Prax-Denay was magnificent! His words were so strong—so eloquent. She brimmed with pride to be married to him.
“He doesn’t even want you, Lisette,” Jorenkis said, while turning his face toward her only slightly. “I’m here, and I want to make it work with you. What? Are you going to just die unmarried?”
“Lord Elentinus said I didn’t have to—”
“He’s not here. I’m running things. I’m not going to let a woman go to waste when we’re practically extinct. If you don’t want me then you’ll have to be with someone else, and most of t
hem here are from the old guard who think women are supposed to be collar-shocked into submission.”
Prax-Denay groaned and cupped Lisette’s elbow. “Up. Up!”
She scrambled to her feet.
“We don’t have the whole day to waste on your idiocy.” He pulled Lisette towards the door.
Once out of his sight Prax-Denay’s gruff hold became gentle. He hugged her against his side and kissed her forehead. Lisette stifled a joyful laugh.
***
Jorenkis remained in the building too late for them to share their evening meal together, a ritual Lisette had come to cherish. Prax-Denay and Lisette exchanged looks of abject annoyance when the light in his office was still on past dark.
“He does have some duties,” Prax-Denay told her as they ascended the stairs. “We’ve built up a large back-log of work for him to report to Lord Matoranis. He can get obsessed with his tasks sometimes. He’ll likely be here all night.”
Lisette pouted. Her sweet husband deserved some extra-special loving for dealing with the twit so adroitly. She had to settle for a heated kiss on the landing.
“You must sleep in your own bed tonight, my dearest.”
She puffed out a breath of disappointment.
“It won’t be for long.” Prax-Denay swept his fingers through her hair. “Once he’s caught up he’ll take another extended vacation. He can’t bear to have me trouncing him.”
Lisette smiled and nuzzled her cheek against his hand.
“I love you,” Prax-Denay said.
She lifted her face to look him squarely in the eyes. “I love you, too.”
He closed his eyes to shudder with euphoria. “That’s the first time you’ve said it.” He kissed her gently and parted from her.
She fell asleep on what felt like the blissful cloud of their love. Floating turned to rocking in her dreams. She was on a cruise ship with Prax-Denay back on Earth. The waters were turbulent. She clung to him while high swells wreaked havoc on her equilibrium. In the dream she broke from Prax-Denay’s side to vomit over the bow.
She woke just in time to lean over the side of her bed. The contents of stomach poured onto the floor. Before she could fathom why another involuntary heave wrung her, shooting out still more vomit. By the forth such heave her stomach was empty and only clear liquid escaped. Finally, the onslaught within her ceased. Her temples throbbed and her torso felt cramped. She balled herself against the headboard.
Alien's Bride: Lisette Page 6