by Nikki Clarke
Once again, my lehti has managed to conjure the most absurd hypothetical situations to justify her fear of the unknown. I know by now that I must let her worry until she sees that everything will be okay. It is useless to try and placate her with empty promises.
“Amina, yes, any of these things may happen. It is my job as your lehti to keep as many of these misfortunes from befalling you as possible, but you are right. I cannot and will not be everywhere at once. I would not hamper your freedom to protect you, but I also would not trade the love I feel for you to avoid losing you and therefore myself. I hope that one day you will feel the same for me.”
Though it is not my intention, guilt crowds out the panic Amina is feeling. She huffs out a deep breath and leans in to my chest. I hold her close, inhaling the sweet scent of her hair and infusing her with my calm.
“I love you so much it scares me, Kwarq,” she says finally, and her voice is laced with sadness. “I didn’t think it was possible to love anyone as much as I love you. I wouldn’t want you to die because of me.”
“Amina, I am only now fully alive because of you,” I tell her, and it’s the truth.
Chapter 24
Amina
So, apparently, I hold Kwarq’s life in my clumsy, little hands. But according to him, that shouldn’t be any pressure.
It figures his biology would dictate that his very existence be reliant on me not accidentally drowning in the bathtub or tripping into rush hour traffic. It really does.
I can get behind the sentiment of the notion, but this isn’t what worries me. I can’t voice my true fear because I can’t even imagine putting it into words. For once, it feels like the universe is listening, and I don’t want to jinx it.
However, the moment Kwarq tells me about this bit of lehti juju, I feel like anything that could go wrong is going to. I trip along the sidewalk like ten times before we make it home. Kwarq merely chuckles when I point out the providence of my little missteps and assures me that it’s all in my head. I try to listen to him. I keep telling myself that everything will be okay. Nothing is going to happen to me.
When we get home, Kwarq’s brothers shoot me nervous glances all throughout our meal of roasted vegetables and stewed greens. My worry is forgotten as my babies get hungry, and all I can think about is shoveling food into my mouth. The moment I’m full, however, the anxiety hits me full force.
A billion doomsday scenarios flicker through my brain, and they all end up with Kwarq falling to his knees, gripping his chest in agony just like the Lyqa man in the movie we saw earlier. A movie that no longer seems like the sweetest thing in the world to me. Now it just seems tragic. Poor guy. He was just wandering around on one of those ta’ani maul things Kwarq told me about, and he stumbled across some Lyqa chick vacationing with her family. He declared his love, they shacked up and spent an amazing month together on some jungle planet. Then on the way home, the woman’s pod malfunctioned and her whole family died. Cue Lyqa dude’s agonizing death. He didn’t even know that woman. She could have been one of those people with terrible nighttime gas, or she could have belched at the dinner table. She could have gotten her jollies off kicking little scaly, Lyqa puppies. And now Lyqa dude’s dead because of a faulty bit of technology. That’s not romantic. It’s not even tragic. It’s just dumb. I was right the first time. That movie was trash. That ending was the Lyqa equivalent to Rose hogging that damn door. They could have shared.
I want to reason myself around this bit of Lyqa evolution, but I’m having a hard time accepting something so absolute. It doesn’t help that Kwarq seems to be completely fine with it. I get it’s all he’s ever known, but still, isn’t one’s base instinct supposed to be survival? I love love as much as the next Lyqa, but I feel like I’ve had as much as I can take with the perception altering realities of his culture. Why does every cultural difference between us have to completely throw my entire world for a loop?
I’m in my head for the rest of the evening. Kwarq’s father, who has mastered the quality of fatherly distraction, suggests we all move to the living room after dinner. Perhaps in an attempt to lighten the mood, we watch some Lyqa sitcom on their television type device. It’s funny and almost completely centered around the leht, as I expected. Apparently, falling in love with someone in some kind of crazy blood bond is their most compelling topic. I laugh a little bit, but then one of the characters accidentally eats a bad, magic mushroom fruit, causing her and her lehti to fall into a coma, and before I know it, I’m back in doomsday scenario mode.
I know everyone can sense my tension. I’m sure I smell like a thousand nervous grandmas, whatever that smells like. We only watch one episode of the show before everyone agrees that calling it a night is the best thing to do. Before his parents go off to bed, his mother gives me a big, sympathetic hug and kisses both of my cheeks.
“The leht is a beautiful thing. I have never once worried that my life is linked to Quth’s.”
Of course they heard our conversation on the street earlier. If I recall correctly, at one point I was shrieking in alarm like a crazy woman in the middle of the sidewalk. One wouldn’t even have to be Lyqa to have heard me.
“Come, let us go to bed.”
Kwarq has also been quiet, but he doesn’t seem as nervous about my anxiety as everyone else. He’s actually behaving quite normally. The moments when he threw his head back and laughed heartily at the funny parts of the show were like little glimmers of light in the gloom of my thoughts.
I follow him through the house until we get to his apartments. We left the patio doors open, and the room is cool and sweet smelling from the breeze. I expect Kwarq to lead me to the bedroom, but he passes through the sitting room and takes me down the hall to the bathroom.
Since I’ve been on Lyqa, I’ve only used the shower. This is mostly because out of the time I’ve been here, I’ve basically been asleep. For the past week, since I awoke from my last resting period, I’ve only wanted to quickly wash and go on with my day. Still, I’ve eyed the deep, wide tub in the corner of the huge bathroom more than once.
I’m more than a little curious when Kwarq leaves me just inside the bathroom and goes over to turn on the tap in the tub. Immediately, steamy, lavender tinted water spills into the deep recesses of the bowl. A light, herby smell begins scenting the room through the steam, and I move closer to peer into the water.
“I thought it would be nice to have a bath. It may relax you.”
I’m distracted by the movement of Kwarq’s broad, muscular shoulders moving beneath his t-shirt as he swirls his hand back and forth through the water. Everything inside of me flares to life as I watch his gentle, purposeful movements. I’ll admit, I haven’t had too much time to check Kwarq out between sleeping and, well, sleeping, but he really is extremely, ridiculously fine. Even on this planet, where everyone seems to be some strange version of attractive, one look at Kwarq sets my body on fire.
I squeeze my thighs together when my pussy starts to tingle and moisten. Kwarq’s hand pauses in the water before he turns to look at me. His face glistens from the steam rising from the water, but the yellow of his eyes is like ice. There is no mistaking the hunger on his face. The ferocity of his desire echoes my own rising need.
“It has been too long, my lehti.”
His voice is strangled and gruff, but it still flows over me like a song. Breathy and melodic. In this moment, I want him more than I have before. I just want to feel him close to me. To feel the safety of his arms around me.
“Is it safe to do it like we want to? I mean, it won't hurt them?”
“It will not.”
He doesn’t have to tell me twice. The tub is nearly full and Kwarq waves his hand over the tap to stop the water. Plumes of steam float around us, but our gazes stay locked through the milky space between us.
“Help me?”
I barely hear my own voice, but Kwarq rises immediately to stand before me.
“Of course.”
My belly i
s pretty big, and I’m still getting used to it. Waking up one day the equivalent of eight months pregnant is not something that I’ve been able to maneuver easily. Especially when it comes to getting in and out of clingy Lyqa garb.
Kwarq reaches for my shoulder and pulls free the tie that holds the single strap of my day dress up. The light brushes of his fingers along my neck and collarbone send stinging tingles throughout my body. I suck in a breath when he peels down the bodice of my dress and cups my breasts in his large, warm hands. He holds them gently, lifting them in his palms.
“They are bigger,” he comments softly.
“They are.”
I expect him to pull away and continue undress me, so my cry of shocked desire is loud in the room when he leans forward and firmly sucks one of my nipples into his mouth.
“Kwarq!”
“You are so sweet. So full and soft.” He murmurs between fiery flicks of his tongue around my areola. He covers me and draws me into the hot cavern of his mouth, sucking and lapping at all the flesh he can get to.
My legs wobble as he moves to my other breast, lavishing my sensitive skin with the same attention. I need more. I feel it taking over me. A single minded desire, and all I can think is that I want all of him now.
“Patience, Amina.”
Kwarq’s amused murmur breaks through the fog of lust that has taken over my mind.
“I can’t. I’m horny.”
He laughs, but pulls my dress over the bulge of my belly and down my hips until it pools at the floor. I’m naked beneath. Lyqa aren’t a fan of underwear. I was hardly aware of it throughout the day, but now all I can think about is the warm, wet air that wisps over my pussy.
Kwarq pulls one of my straining nipples into his mouth, releasing it with a little pop, then begins a trail down my belly, leaving smacking kisses across my tightly stretched abdomen.
“My beautiful, brown Amina. Creator of my children. I love you.”
“I love you, too, Kwarq.”
Once he’s covered my stomach, he moves down. He’s barely reached the spot between my thighs where I’m already dripping with wetness before he unfurls his tongue and drags it through my slit, flicking up at my clitoris and causing me to nearly jerk out of my skin.
Kwarq
“Oh, god!”
Amina flinches violently and grabs hold of my hair, pressing me further into her pussy as I swirl my tongue through her sweet, juicy folds. Every time I get to the top, I curl the tip of my tongue and catch her tight little bud. I’ve never tasted anything so sweet.
My lehti is so wet for me. Her desire covers my face, and I lap greedily to get as much of her as I can.
My loose pants still don’t have enough room to allow for my straining erection. My first heart has picked up a furious beat, and my cock pushes painfully against the fabric. Reaching down, I yank my pants down my hips, freeing myself, and allowing my cock to lengthen to its full potential. I stroke my hand up the shaft and over the head just as I feel Amina start to tense above me. She’s so close. I am too, and if I want to release when I am inside of her, I will have to calm down.
I let go of myself and focus on bringing my lehti to her orgasm. Her hips roll in time with the movements of my tongue, and her breathy gasps are loud. I nuzzle my face between her slick, swollen pussy lips and press my tongue into her opening, extending it as far as it will go.
“Ah, Kwarq!”
Amina comes with a violent shutter. Her hands tighten against my head. I reach around and hold her soft, round ass to steady her as she jerks and flinches against my mouth.
Her legs collapse against me, signaling the end of her release. She sags down to the floor, and I hold her close, rubbing along her back as her heart slows. She relaxes further in my hands, her body puddling against mine, and she begins to slide down my chest. Perhaps I have put her to sleep. I hate to think her orgasm was so intense that it has triggered another resting period. And if it has, I hope it doesn’t last as long as the last one. The anxiety of waiting for her to awaken nearly drove me mad.
“I want to taste you, too.”
This moaned declaration is the only warning I get before I feel Amina’s warm, wet mouth close over the head of my cock. The sensation is like a solar pulse. Pure magnetic energy surges through me, and I fall back, bracing myself against the cool, stone floor, and inadvertently providing myself with a better view of Amina taking me into her mouth.
“Mm.”
She moans as she draws her little pink tongue in a straight line from the base of my cock all the way to the tip. I tense, too consumed by the feel of the little bumps of her tongue along my skin to move. When she gets to the top, she stretches her mouth wide over the tip and lowers her head down. I watch with bated breath as she works inch after inch of my cock into the hot hollow of her mouth, not stopping until I hit the soft back of her throat. It’s almost too much.
“Ahg! My lehti, please have mercy.”
She doesn’t. She draws me back out, flicking her tongue along my length the entire way and then sinks back down, taking even more, taking me past the soft back of her mouth, until I feel the constricted muscles of her esophagus squeeze me.
“Damn, you taste good,” she murmurs when she releases me again. I want to tell her that nothing could taste as good as she does on my tongue, but I can’t even think. She continues to take me into her mouth, her movements become quicker, the hand holding me at the base squeezes tighter as it jerks up and down to meet her lips. I won't last much longer.
It takes all of my effort to take hold of her soft, fluffy curls and gently pull her away from me.
“Come, get in the water.”
I stand from the hard, stone floor and hold out my hand to her. My cock juts out between us, glistening from her attentions. She stares at my straining length through her lashes and my entire body begins to vibrate from the effort not to come on her beautiful face. Not today. Another day, perhaps, but today I want my seed where it belongs.
Finally, she rises and lets me hand her into the tub. We sink down into the hot water. Immediately, Amina turns to me and presses against me, bending her legs to straddle my hips.
“I want your dick in me now.”
Knowing my lehti wants me as much as I want her is all it takes for the last of my control to slip. I palm her plump ass, lifting her high by the tight globes until the tip of my cock rests at her opening. In one firm movement, I thrust up into her tight pussy and pull her down against me.
“Ahg!”
“Uhn!”
Our strangled cries ring out in unison. Amina’s face pinches the moment I breach her, but then it softens, settling into a languid expression.
“More, Kwarq.” Her gasp is sweet and needy.
I grit my teeth around the desire to come and give her what she wants. I lift her and quickly slam her back down, pushing through the resistance that threatens to strangle my cock.
“More.”
Amina is so needy. I know this is the same need that makes her want to eat everything in sight. Knowing that right now she is hungry for my cock fills me with pleasure. I will do all that I can to fill her and make sure she is satisfied.
I settle into an easy rhythm of lifting and impaling her onto me. She moans out her pleasure, filling the large bathroom with cries that echo off the stone walls and ring in my ears. Still she wants more. She takes over, wrapping her arms around my neck and linking her legs at my back. She uses the leverage to lift her hips and bring them down hard to meet my thrusts. Our bodies slap loudly in the water. The vigor of our movement makes little waves lap at the sides of the tub and slosh over.
“I missed you, my lehti. I missed this warm, tight pussy.”
“Oh god, Kwarq, stretch me, I love it.”
She raises high and drops down, the additional weight of her belly making her fall hard on me. The ache in my balls crests and suddenly, I’m on the edge of release.
“Come for me, my love. Come on my cock.”
&
nbsp; I can’t hold out any longer. My balls are drawn so tightly to my body that it’s painful. Every time her pussy grips me, I have to steel myself against the urge to fill her with my seed.
I angle my hips up just as Amina slams her hips down again and my cock presses against the sensitive underside of her pussy. She jerks and screams, her head falling back as her orgasm rockets through her body. Her hips move frantically against mine, and I continue to work her in short, quick thrusts just as my own release bursts through me. My shout is a sharp bark. I fill her, coating her walls and her womb with my seed. I feel the thickness of it begin to crowd me out, and I try to give her more. I give her all that I have until she starts to overflow into the clear water around us.
It takes me a moment to realize that the ragged breaths sounding out around us are mine. Amina is pressed to my chest. The hard swell of her belly pushes against my firm stomach. I ease my hold on her and lean away. She makes a little sound of protest and tries to nuzzle back in.
“I do not want to crush the babies,” I whisper, but let her lean into my chest, anyway. I pull my own stomach in, giving her’s more room.
“That was amazing,” she sighs out, and I chuckle.
“You always say that.”
“It’s always good.”
“We have only made love three times. Perhaps that is not enough to know if it is, in fact, always amazing.”
She leans away from me and her eyes are half-lidded and sleepy from our sex.
“You’re right. We should do something about that.”
My abating need flares back to life, and I urge it back down.
“We will, my lehti. I plan on making love to you every chance I get.”
“That’s good to know, but I mean, now.”
She punctuates her words by rolling her hips forward, nestling my resurgent cock in the slip of her swollen pussy lips. I let go of my control and my first heart goes to work, pushing blood to my rising erection.