by Hana Starr
After all, it would only be fair if she returned the favor at least somewhat, she reasoned with herself.
She coaxed him to lie on his side with the hand that wasn't lightly running its fingers along his shaft. He complied with no complaint on his part, but she could tell from the questioning look in his eyes that he was curious as to what she was about to do. As she inched further down to where his manhood was throbbing, her fingers growing a little more steady in their contact with it, she saw the head of it weep a pearly drop of pre – cum, and she licked her lips, eager to taste and touch him more.
Mary wrapped her fingers around his pulsing erection and marveled at how even though it was warmer than the rest of his body, it still felt cool against her hand. Her touch turned experimental, and she stroked her hand up and down his shaft in slow, steady pumps to see how it would affect him.
His hips stuttered against her hand's movements, his body twitching, his chest heaving as he looked at her through heavily lidded eyes. Encouraged by his reaction, she picked up the pace, her hand finding a steady rhythm that she could maintain while she teased him. Leaning down and brushing her lips lightly against his seeping head, she watched him toss his head back as she took him in her mouth as much as she could. All the while, she watched for the moment that he would fall apart, that he could tumble off into the abyss the same way that she had.
He was, as it turned out, not ready for that just yet.
He rolled the both of them back to where they had been, with Mary beneath him and him hovering over her in an almost protective way, as if to shield her from the world. He smiled at her in the most encouraging and comforting way that she had ever seen from him, and in that moment knew that somehow, someway, someday, everything would work out in the end for them. Or at least, pretending to know that for a little while was something of a comfort to her.
Because, right now, she needed him, and she needed this connection between them, regardless of what pain they may have to endure later through their trials and tribulations. She was so ready to receive him physically, to take him and to run with him, literally and figuratively. To go somewhere, anywhere, where their lives could be better, where they wouldn’t be in danger simply for their thoughts and feelings, where they could find themselves, and each other, and find out what happiness meant to them.
“I love you,” the words tumbled from her kiss swollen lips before she could even think on them, but she couldn't find it in her to feel shame for them; he already knew, and he knew that it wasn't something she said with the expectation of him returning the gesture just yet. And yet, in spite of that, he smiled at her so brightly that the light in his eyes positively sparkled in the dark.
“I am fond of you,” he said, his lips meeting hers in a gentle kiss, eager to show her what he felt but not pushing her too far with it. “I am so very, very fortunate to have met you.” She wasn't aware that he had lined himself up at her entrance once again until she felt his head lightly press against her nether lips, and she shivered in anticipation for him to finally, finally enter her.
“Oh,” she let out a sweet moan as he pushed a little more, not enough to enter her but just enough for her to crave it. “Oh, please, Ordar. Take me, take me,” she panted, her chest heaving under the weight of her want of him. She knew in the back of her mind that it was ridiculous that she had been reduced to begging and gasping beneath him, but that was only a distant thought that flitted away when watched his throat bob with a swallow and nod.
One of his hand settled on her hip to steadily brace the both of them as he slowly sunk into her heat, his teeth clenching at the way that her walls clamped down on him and seemed eager to bring him deeper into her folds. He hissed through his teeth as he felt her taking him in, his throbbing erection slotting itself inside her at a slow but steady pace.
Even with them already having had sex once before, she couldn't help the gasp at the way that his engorged cock seemed to stretch her to her very limits, almost to the point of pain. He stilled himself once he had buried himself to the hilt, his hips pressing down on hers as they adjusted to one another once again. She could feel in the way that his whole body trembled that he wanted nothing more than to move, to build up that beautiful friction until they both lost themselves, but he waited, knowing that she needed to acclimate to his girth.
Steadily, her walls accommodated him easier, relaxing just enough that the clenching of her muscles wasn't painful for her. The mild discomfort that came with the coupling gave way to sweat slicked bliss, as she rocked her hips up, once, to coax him into moving, to silently tell him that she was ready for him to let go.
He did not need to be told twice.
It wasn't long before she felt the coil of her orgasm winding itself back up in her gut, the feeling of a spring being wound too tightly all too familiar to her now. She welcomed it, relished in the wait for it to snap but wanted to make Ordar tumble with her this time. She wanted to share this wondrous feeling with him. His thrusts were strong, quick, and she knew that if it weren't for his hand on her hip steadying her, she would be shifting in time with his thrusts, her entire form sliding along the bed.
“Mary,” he panted, looking down at her through hooded eyes. “I do not believe I can keep this up for very long...” he moaned in an almost apologetic tone. She knew that he felt guilt that their love making wasn't going to last as long as the foreplay that led up to it, but that didn't matter to her; all she cared about in that moment was feeling him, them, and knowing that they cared for one another.
He let his head drop back down to hers, their lips colliding in a messy kiss. Though they righted it and it became a proper battle of their mouths for dominance, she could feel his desperation in the way that his mouth moved against hers; he was as close as she was. Suddenly, she felt his hand move between them, and his wide thumb began to press down on her clit just hard enough to stimulate it but not hard enough to hurt, almost egging her on to orgasm with him.
His thrusts were becoming erratic, the moans that reverberated against her mouth growing louder, almost turning into growls as he furrowed his brow deeply in concentration. A thin sheen of sweat coated his forehead, as if the effort of holding off his orgasm was almost too strenuous for him. But she had faith that he would do his absolute best to please her before he allowed himself the pleasure; that's just the man that he was.
Feeling her own end nearing, she rocked her hips up against his again, trying to match his rhythm, however disjointed and stuttering it had become now that he was so close, and within a few moments the two of them had managed a back and forth, a give and take of power and speed. Once they had set that rhythm together, it was all over; Ordar thrust a few more times against her hips, and suddenly he let out a growl that almost sounded like her name.
The coils snapped at the same time.
She knew that they had finished at almost the exact same moment by the way that, just as her core erupted, it was filled with the cool, spurting seed that coated her insides as his hips stuttered against hers, his entire body quaking above her. Her hips undulated in time with the throbbing of her core, her orgasm rushing blood to her head at a dizzying rate.
Together, they fell onto the bed, side by side, panting and gulping in the air between them. In place of words being exchanged between them, they relied on touches to convey their thoughts as they caught their breaths. Their hands lightly stroked at one another, lightly touching along their sides, their hips, their chests, their faces, all with fingertips that were tender and exploring.
“You seem tired. You should sleep, Mary,” he said after he caught his breath, his tone soft but distant. “You need your rest.”
“I'm okay,” she lied through a wide yawn. “I just want to be close to you...” She felt her eyelids grow heavy with the need for sleep but still she fought it, drinking in the sight of him at peace beside her. He pressed a kiss to her forehead.
“I will be here when you wake up. Rest.” He murmured. As she began to
drift off, she heard him speak one last time. “I promise you, Mary Ingram, that I will fight for your happiness.”
She couldn't help but wonder what he meant by that.
Chapter 8
Surprisingly, it was the smell of smoke that woke Mary before the alarm.
The blackened stench of the smoke, accompanied by notes of fried electronics filled her lungs, forcing her into the world of the conscious with a coughing fit that left her bereft of air. Scrubbing at her eyes frantically as she felt more than heard the siren blaring in the room, she blearily opened her burning lids to see that the Oracle chambers that she had been assigned showed no sign of anything amiss, save for the flashing red lights that accompanied the wail of the alarm.
The part of her mind that wasn't beginning to panic wondered if she would have to document this later.
The door was forced open, quite literally against its hydraulic slides, by two large, familiar hands. Ordar tumbled into the room shortly after, billows of smoke trailing in behind him ominously. The smell of burning increased tenfold and remained even after the doors slammed shut behind him.
“Ordar!” She scrambled out of bed toward him as he stumbled to his knees, panting but otherwise not looking worse for wear. “What's going on? What's-”
“We need to get to the escape pods,” he ground out, lifting his head an looking at her. It was then that she noticed that he was wearing a gas mask, and had a spare on clutched in his hand. He stood and moved his hands, placing the gas mask on her himself, not wanting to wait for her to fumble with it. “There is no time to explain. We must go, now. You must comply with me, Mary.” He tapped at the gloves on her wrist, changing her into the clothes that she had worn before she had even been captured before she had time to think about changing out of her pajamas.
The urgency in his tone made her swallow what questions she had and nod her head. She figured that, if nothing else, she could just ask him what was going on later, once they were both safe. He breathed a sigh of relief, clearly glad that she hadn't fought him on it, and took her hand in a gentle but urgent way, leaving little room for her to object even if she had wanted to.
He forced the doors open again, using his broad back and chiseled arms to keep the doors open long enough for her to slip through before letting them close behind them, leaving them in the hallway. Even with the gas mask filtering the smoke out and making it easier to breathe, it did little to help the watering of her eyes as the smoke stung at them, the plumes and lazy puffs of it filling the walkways from the ceiling down. She could already not see the ceiling of the hall for how thick the smoke was, and knew that whatever was happening was bad enough that they needed to leave.
“Do you think that I do not know what you have done, Ordar?” The captain's voice, fuzzy and unclear from the smoke and the damage to the speakers, rang out in the halls and echoed in every room from the announcement system. “You are a warrior, not a scholar. You are not clever enough to hide your trace.”
Ordar cursed quietly under his breath and took hold of her wrist with a little more force than before, breaking out into a run that she could only barely match, the adrenaline and fear of what she didn't know pushing her to run faster than she ever had before. Her bare feet slapped against the cool metal of the floor and her heart thundered in her chest but still she ran, still she complied with Ordar even though she didn't understand what was going on.
“Rerouting the ship back toward Earth during the sleep cycle, shutting down access to the controls? Do not think I do not know what you are trying to do, Ordar. It will not work.” She watched him grit his teeth against the words that rang out through the smoke filled halls as they continued to run further away from their sleeping quarters. She felt him tug her a little harder, urging her to go a little faster, and she somehow found it in her to follow the silent request, in spite of the way that her muscles screamed in protest.
“What happened, Ordar?” She asked him, panting in time with the heaving of her chest. He pulled her down the hallway, veering sharply when he heard the thunderous sound of soldiers marching down the hall. He pulled her into an alcove, small even before he had cramped the space up with his imposing figure, and held her tightly to him, silencing her as they waited for the soldiers to pass. With a wave of the hand holding his digital hand held computer, the panel of the wall that had been open for them slid shut, encompassing them in darkness. When it closed, he turned to face her.
“We both wanted to find our happiness, did we not?” He asked, not bothering to whisper, knowing that the wailing alarm overhead would drown out any noise that they could have made.
“Y-yes, but,” she stared up at him with wild and frightened eyes, not understanding what had happened. What Ordar had done, or how it had led to any of this.
“So I am carving out that path for us. For you.” He emphasized, pushing himself a little closer to her as the soldiers neared, their shouts barely audible through the wall's panel and over the siren still blaring. “I destroyed every record of us discovering Earth. The only logs of it were on this ship, and they had not been sent out yet. That was to be your job today. I,” he swallowed thickly. “I could not let that happen. Otherwise, there would be no way for you to ever return home.”
“Ordar...?” She whispered, the pieces starting to fall into place. Or at least, the outlining pieces that gave her an idea of what the finished image was supposed to be. Like an unfinished puzzle, she could guess at what awaited her at its completion, but in this instant wasn't sure if she wanted to know.
This felt too much like goodbye.
“We are going to escape,” he promised her, pressing his forehead to hers in an attempt to comfort her. The footfalls of the soldiers dashing past only sounded like an echo of her own hammering heart in her chest, but she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief at the fact that they weren't caught. “I need only destroy the ship, and we can live on Earth, seeking out our own happiness.”
“Destroy...?” Mary wheezed, her head reeling at the dark turn that Ordar had taken.
“It is the only way,” he emphasized with a nod of his head. “I have already begun to destroy it; all it took was overheating its power supply, and destroying all of the repair modules in the ship. It has nothing that can save it now. There is no stopping it.” He implored her with his eyes to understand. “I could not save the other humans from being killed; they were all confirmed dead at the hands of Seig in some way or another. But I can save you. I have to save you, Mary Ingram.”
Although she only took a second to understand, time seemed to slow as she looked into his eyes. She saw the desperation to save her there, swirling in those other worldly eyes that held no pupils and illuminated the space between them softly. And still, even amidst those chaotic feelings and resolves, she saw the adoration that he felt for her there, in equal measure. The sight of it was enough to reassure her that he had thought it out and saw this as the only way. That he was doing what he believed he could to keep her safe.
It had to be enough.
“Okay.” She whispered. “But only if you make it, too. I don't want to lose you.” She said in as firm a voice as she could. He breathed another sigh of relief.
“Of course.” He pulled her to him and embraced her tightly, deeply, for one brief moment before pulling back and tugging her out of the alcove. “I will not leave you.”
And then they were running again, with him leading her down a smoke filled corridor that she had never been in. She couldn't help but feel grateful for Ordar acting as her guide; without him, she would be lost, in so, so many ways that it made her head spin. Still, she held onto his cool hand tighter, and silently prayed that they would make it out of this alright.
“We are almost there!” Ordar called out to her from over his shoulder, turning down another hallway. She couldn't help but notice that the smoke seemed to lessen in this hallway, as if they were getting further away from the source of it. Vaguely, she wondered if she would even need th
e gas mask here but decided that it wasn't worth taking it off to test out her curiosity.
As they turned down one last corridor, the escape pods came into view. It looked as though none of them had been used yet, as if no one had managed to get there yet. A strange thought, especially knowing how vast the ship had looked from the maps that she had seen and how many personnel that she had spotted on the bridge alone. A horrified part of her wondered if Ordar had anything to do with it, if he had sealed everyone away so that there was a guaranteed escape pod for them to use, but immediately dismissed the thought; he was clearly desperate, but not cruel.
Sparing a glance at him as they came to a stop in front of one of the pods, she saw that he had been confused as well. Clearly, having all of them still there hadn't been something he was prepared for.
“I am not sure why they are all still here,” he said as he walked over to the escape pod on the far right end of the line of them. “But this one was locked down by me personally, so we know that it is safe-”
“I would be glad to tell you why they are still here.” Mary felt more than she saw the blast of blue light that whizzed past the side of her head, only narrowly missing her and instead burning a hole into the wall in front of her. She whirred to face the voice of the intruder, alarmed that it was the captain, standing in front of them with his pistol out, the very same on that she had seen him press into Seig's temple before he was executed.