Call and Response

by Sara Rustan

  She heard the words, but the meaning didn’t quite make it to her brain because all functioning neurons had been drafted into the service of her body, which wanted sex right now. It took all her willpower to keep herself from pressing against him, licking those tender lips, wrapping her arms around him. If only she knew how he would react.

  He repeated, “What are you doing to me?”

  She felt dazed and fuzzyheaded. “Sorry. My brain isn’t working very well.”

  He waved a hand in front of her eyes. “Can you answer the question?”

  “It’s kind of hard to explain…”

  “Try.”

  “Well, I’m not deliberately doing anything to you. But my people… Let’s just say I’m very aroused—and very attracted to you. And I can’t control it well right now.”

  “And why does your arousal make me horny?”

  “I’m an empath and…we have an emotional connection. You’re responding to my need.”

  His body stiffened. “I don’t like being made to feel things against my will.”

  “Well, it’s not my choice either. I don’t even know you.” She pushed against the wall, trying to put a little space between them.

  “Why me? Why not that kid down the street?”

  “You’re especially sensitive to me. There’s a…a link between us.”

  He frowned. “I don’t understand. When did you figure out that I was sensitive to you? How?”

  “I called, and you responded.”

  “Called? That empathic broadcast?”

  She nodded.

  “So the fact that I came to figure out what you were doing means… Hell, it doesn’t make sense. I chose to come to where you were. You didn’t make me.”

  “That’s how it works.”

  He pressed his erection against her. “There’s nothing you can do to stop making me feel like this?”

  She licked her lips and whispered, “We could have sex. That would satisfy the need. For a while.” Her face felt hot with embarrassment.

  He stepped back, and she missed having his body against hers. “Do you do this a lot? Call men to have sex with you?”

  Now it wasn’t only her face that was hot; her whole body warmed with shame. If only she were at home on Lorelly where people understood. “No, never. It usually only happens once. I’ve never done it before.”

  “Once. And I’m just the lucky guy?” He raised an eyebrow.

  She flashed a weak smile. “Yes, I guess so.”

  “Do your people have a name? I’ve never heard of a race like yours.”

  She looked down. “I’m sorry. We like to keep our existence quiet.”

  “So what are you going to do, wipe my mind?”

  “I won’t wipe your mind. I promise.”

  He paced back and forth in front of her. “This is just…too much.”

  He was right. This was getting too complicated. She couldn’t keep up these explanations, couldn’t make the situation plain, couldn’t tell the entire truth. Her body was so eager for him she couldn’t think. Maybe if she were away from him, her mind would clear.

  If she pushed him to have sex with her, she would feel even more responsible for concealing the truth. If he made the move, her guilt would be less. It might be splitting hairs, but the stakes were very high. That ought to count for something.

  “I understand that it’s hard to accept.” She straightened her shoulders. “Let me know if you are willing to help me.” She took a step. “I’ll be in my room, where we met yesterday.”

  “Wait!” He ran both hands through his hair. “I didn’t say I wouldn’t help. Hell, you haven’t even told me what kind of help you need.”

  She edged away from him. “You didn’t say you would help either. I’m sorry, but I have to go.”

  He sighed. “Come here.” He grabbed her arm and pulled her against his body. He ran his hands up her body until he was cupping her face with both of his hands. His rigid cock was between them; her nipples pressed against his broad chest. His hands were hot and strong and sweet against her face. Unexpectedly, tears sprang into her eyes. It felt so good, so right. He was going to kiss her. She couldn’t decide whether to speed the process along or glory in the anticipation, so she just waited, watching his face draw closer to hers, and the heat grow in his eyes.

  His lips brushed hers, and she closed her eyes.

  He licked her lips, delicately, and then swiped his tongue inside. His taste exploded in her mouth, rich and arousing. She slid her arms over his shoulder, and pulled his head toward her. A whimper bubbled in her throat, and she rubbed against him. All barriers dropped and her need swirled into one with his.

  Chapter Three

  Huddled into a dark corner behind the refuse bin belonging to a restaurant, he tried to remember. What was his name? Why was he here? There was a weariness about the questions, which told him he had been wondering for a long time. But when he tried to remember, only disjointed bits and pieces came to him. They fit together so poorly that even he could tell they weren’t the memories of one person. They were colored with such different emotions, such different feelings about self.

  What kind of monster was he?

  A flare of…something, some energy, some emotion, caught his attention. It enticed him. He wanted it; he had to have it. He stood creakily, leaning on the wall until his body adjusted to being upright. Turning his head from side to side, he identified the right direction and started off, setting one foot in front of the other.

  He didn’t want to be noticed. Some primitive sense of self-preservation told him that. So he stayed in the shadows where possible, and where not possible, he waited until the right moment and walked through the cracks of human attention. Once a pedestrian turned and examined him with surprise, but he pushed, and the man’s eyes glazed over and his gaze slid to the side.

  The solid flesh of the people he passed seemed translucent and barely there, mere containers to hold knots of emotion and energy. His faltering footsteps echoed in an oddly empty landscape, the passersby drifting by like ghosts. He approached the source of the emotional energy drawing him, and unaccustomed feelings surged in him. Hope, love, fear…and familiarity. He recognized some part of the energy he perceived, and eagerness caused him to forget his careful invisibility.

  He moved into the open, his eyes fixed on a man and woman on the other side of the park, and stumbled over a curb at the edge of the path.

  A few people turned to look and the attention sent shards of fear through him.

  The woman he had been heading toward stared at him, her hand shielding her eyes. “Darian!” she called.

  Panic flooded him at his exposure. Torn between the seductive attraction of her energy and his fear, he wavered, then turned and fled, this time making no attempt to conceal his passage. He needed cool, dark solitude. The bright sun of her emotions burned him.

  She had called him Darian. Was that his name? Darian. Darian. It felt right. As he scuttled to a quiet hiding place, he repeated it to himself, over and over. He didn’t want to forget it again.

  Janeth felt more than saw her brother’s panicked retreat, and she ran after him. She heard the pounding of Tom’s feet behind her as she sped down the alley, following the scent of Darian’s emotions. To be so close and to lose him!

  She ran until the trail abruptly disappeared. She leaned forward to relieve the pain in her side, breathing heavily and feeling for any sign of him. The streets were narrow and crowded here; the buildings of cheap plascrete were grimy with centuries of wear and neglect.

  Tom reached her, his footsteps slowing when he saw that she had stopped. “That was the missing brother, I take it?”

  She held up a hand to stop Tom from talking, and concentrated. No sign of Darian, none at all. Damn it! She dropped her hand. “Yes, that was my brother.”

  “You’re sure? Did you actually see him?”

  “Just a glimpse in the park. But I felt him very clearly. We’re twins and have a special
connection. It was him.”

  “Why did he run then? Doesn’t he want you to find him?”

  She sighed and rubbed her forehead between her eyes. “He’s confused. Very confused. From the distortions in his energy signature, I suspect he doesn’t even remember who he is.”

  “In other words, he’s nuts.”

  She nodded. “A crude way of putting it, but more or less correct.”

  “I still don’t understand how I can help you find him. I didn’t even see him.”

  Janeth straightened and turned to look down the street. It was safer than looking in his face. “You helped already. He came to us, didn’t he?”

  “You’re saying that kissing you attracted him?” He didn’t sound happy.

  “Yeah.”

  “So I’m acting as bait? No, wait, I’ve figured it out. If we have sex together it brings him out of hiding?”

  She didn’t say anything, just chewed on her lip. What could she say? It wasn’t the whole truth, exactly, but it wasn’t far from it.

  “Aw, hell.” He shook his head back and forth, and paced.

  Now what should she do? The attraction of her transition energy combined with Tom’s kiss had drawn out her brother, but now that he’d been frightened off, maybe he wouldn’t come again. There was nothing left to lead her to Darian. She would have to wait for him to approach her again—leaving her free to deal with Tom and the physical effects of plenerty.

  Aching physical need was rising in her, inspired by Tom’s presence. His emotional energy was louder and brighter every minute, and hers responded enthusiastically. Wrapping her arms around herself, she turned to him and let her gaze drop to the front of his pants to focus on his renewed erection. She could feel the heat of a blush spread over her cheeks.

  His breathing was heavy, his eyes dark and hot, his voice frustrated. “You’re coming home with me now.” He grabbed her hand and hurried down the street so fast she had a hard time keeping up.

  “Why?”

  “My balls are going to turn blue and shrivel up and my dick will fall off if I have to go through another round of this. We’re going to my home and I’m going to do something about it.”

  “Okay.”

  “You did say that having sex will relieve the horniness, right?”

  “That’s what I understand.” They circled around the crowd waiting at the intersection, and wove in and out of the slow-moving electric cars.

  “Good.”

  He flagged down a public vehicle, and they climbed inside. A couple of miles later, it stopped in front of a neat, well-kept home. Tom hurried to the front door, still dragging her behind him. Once they were inside, he slammed it behind him and leaned against it, staring at her.

  The house was small and simply furnished. For rental housing, it wasn’t bad. It was certainly more comfortable than her room, but it hardly mattered. All her attention was focused on Tom. All her thoughts were on what was about to happen. The house was a mere backdrop.

  As they stood there breathing hard and looking at each other, anxiety rose inside her. Until now, the idea that she would bind with this man, this stranger, had been a plan, an abstraction. Now the reality of it overwhelmed her. If she went through with this, so many choices in her life would be gone. How did she end up on this strange planet, with no choices?

  Each decision was the right one at the time. She had to look for her brother—that decision had started everything. Her parents had told her not to come, but she hadn’t listened.

  She would have sex with this stranger and bind him to her for life—though her life might be short. She could read his emotions, see his character, and she believed him to be a good and worthy person. But this fire in her body wouldn’t have cared. He was a body, something to be used. They had no feelings for each other—yet. And tomorrow he might hate her.

  “Having second thoughts?” he drawled.

  Her thoughts made no difference. There were no other choices. She walked toward him, smiling. “No.” She stopped less than an arm’s length from him, and opened herself to him. This act of sex was a betrayal of them both; she would at least make sure she did it well. She wanted this for herself, too. Just a few hours where she could put the future—or lack of it—behind her, and just live.

  She felt his arousal like a blazing fire, but one that didn’t burn. Parts of his body glowed in her perceptions. His cock, of course, was brightest. But all of his skin glowed, with concentrations at more erogenous areas like his nipples and his lips. His breathing stuttered and heaved as her gaze drifted over him. Her examination aroused him. In the state induced by plenerty, just about anything was arousing. She had known that intellectually before this; now she was experiencing it firsthand.

  She touched his face, cupping it in her hand, and his eyes closed. The skin was tender around his eyes, rougher on his chin. She explored his body with the flat of her palms, moving down with firm, deep pressure, massaging his chest, moving down past his hips to his groin. She grasped the rigid shaft of his cock and squeezed firmly, and he moaned.

  He pulled her against his body, and returned the favor by cupping her mound and kneading. Moisture grew underneath his hand, and her legs shook.

  She slid her hand into the waist of his pants, and gripped the hot, smooth skin. Energy crackled between them, and he swelled even more. The touch of her skin on his naked organ was shockingly intimate. Soon they wouldn’t be strangers, but more familiar with each other than he could possibly expect.

  “Come. Bedroom.” He pulled her down a short hall to a room with furniture of a deep red-brown wood, a soft, thick patterned carpet. And a large, comfortable bed.

  He unfastened the clasps of her shirt, and pulled it over her head. His hand skimmed her curves. “Your breasts are beautiful.”

  She blushed, pleased. She wanted him to admire her like she admired him. Her breasts were fuller and more sensitive than last week and it made her feel voluptuous. He leaned over and sucked one of the nipples into the moist heat of his mouth. His tongue teased the tip while his finger tugged on the other nipple, and her pussy throbbed and creamed in response.

  He wanted to please her, she felt it. He was proud of his ability as a thoughtful lover. It would diminish his enjoyment if he thought she hadn’t shared the pleasure. Some part of her didn’t want him to be thoughtful and generous. She wanted to give to him, not let him give to her, as payment for what she was doing. But most of her was pleased. If fate allowed them to stay together…

  He tugged on her pants, and she stepped out of them while he removed his own clothes. Then he pressed his body against hers, and heat flowed into her from every place they touched. She burned for more of him.

  Their lips met, and her mouth sizzled with energy and his rich taste. His kiss was aggressive and sensuous, but sweet. He would have been a wonderful partner even without the demands of plenerty, but she was glad of the extra goad, because she couldn’t imagine more satisfaction in a kiss.

  She pulled back to breathe, and he smiled at her. “Why do you taste so delicious?”

  “I could ask the same thing,” she murmured.

  He edged her back onto the bed, and she stretched out beneath his gaze, flaunting her body. His eyes darkened, and he slid on top of her, rubbing his heated cock against her all the way up, as though marking her with his scent. When his head reached her nipples he dragged his hair back forth over the tight peaks.

  “Sensitive?” he murmured.

  She reached down and rolled his nipples with her finger, and he gasped. “I think so.”

  He settled down to torment her nipples with his lips and tongue. He massaged her mound, but with movements too soft and indirect to provide her any relief. She rolled her pelvis, trying to get pressure on her clit, but his hand just moved along with her.

  He explored her body with his mouth, nuzzling and nipping the sensitive skin of her neck, blowing gently on her ear, thrusting into her mouth, all the while continuing the too-gentle stroking of he
r pussy.

  She was on the verge of coming just from his teasing touches, but she wanted to come with him inside her. It might be necessary for binding, though she wasn’t sure. She just wanted that feeling of fullness inside when her body found release.

  She slid her hand between them and grasped his silky, hot hardness. He groaned and thrust with his hips, distracted from kissing her. His cock pulsed and throbbed in her hand. She stroked up and down, then grasped it at the root, circling it as far as she could reach with her fingers, and pulled firmly toward the tip, circling the velvety head at the top.

  His groan shuddered. “Stop or I’ll come.”

  “Isn’t that the idea?” she murmured.

  “Not yet.” He took her hand and moved it, and slid down her body. Her knees relaxed to the side, and his finger wandered over her labia and creamy entrance and up to circle her clit. It was a relief to be touched directly.

  He bent his head and fluttered her clit with his tongue. Her back arched off the bed as ribbons of hot pleasure steamed up her spine and jerked her tight.

  “I want you in my mouth now, and then I want to come with you inside my sex.”

  “Your wish is my command.”

  He gave her a swift smile, and repositioned himself so that his curved shaft, crowned with a broad, velvety glans, was right in front of her face. She breathed in, savoring the male muskiness, then ran her tongue slowly up the shaft, circling the head and sucking it into her mouth as far as she could. She held his balls gently in her hand, feeling the weight and the tenderness of the skin underneath the covering of rough hair.

  She loved the way his breath hitched and whimpers escaped him as she sucked the meaty length as hard as she could, covering the lower shaft with her hand. He even forgot to keep his tongue moving on her swollen, aching parts.

  “Goddess, Janeth. If you want me to come inside, I’d better fuck you now, or I’ll spill in your mouth.”

  Janeth reluctantly released his cock, and Tom turned around on top of her.

  This was it. The moment of no return. He was poised to thrust into her, the head of his cock positioned at her juicy entrance. She couldn’t stop. She couldn’t. She wanted this too much; she needed Tom too much. She would deal with the consequences. Later.