by Calista Skye
I shrug, not wanting to get too close to this. Not yet. “What's the difference between smuggling and running a shipping company? What's forbidden on one planet can be perfectly legal on another.”
She takes a sip of her mug. “But you only transport weapons, it looks to me. It's the only thing I've seen here.”
“We all need our special skills,” I say, not wanting to get into what exactly it is we do. I was going to tell her, but after today I think I'll wait. “I come from a warrior clan, so weapons are not mysterious to me. They're essentially tools.”
“Tools for killing.”
I take a sip, myself, not surprised to find it's just hot water. That drinks machine should be fixed, too. “Tools for waging war, which does not always involve killing. The best war is the war you win without taking a single life. It doesn't even have to look like a war.”
Mila shrugs. “Okay. It's just, space is so different from how I imagined it. Before the invasion, I thought that the day when mankind would go out among the stars would be glorious. Then it turns out that space is already settled, and there's just wars and fighting everywhere.”
“Not everywhere,” I assure her. “Only where there is no strong force to keep the peace. Most races live peaceful lives.”
Mila puts the mug down on the crate, and jumps down to the floor. “Meanwhile, I've had a really long day. Can I still use your room, Xan'tor?”
“Of course,” I say. “As long as you need it.”
“Where do you sleep, anyway?”
“Oh, here and there,” I say vaguely.
“He sleeps curled up on the floor,” Frox says and points to the corner, where indeed I did take a little nap last night. “Like he's practicing being homeless or something.”
“There aren't too many places to sleep,” I explain, sending Frox a frosty glance. “There's too much trash strewn everywhere. If only someone would tidy up once in a while. Say, some kind of alien, maybe one with about fifty tentacles, a lot of time on his hands, and no need for sleep.”
“I'm not the maid,” Frox says with a huff. “Cleaning up in here would be a major project.”
“Okay,” Mila says and sends me a curious glance. “Because I think maybe there's room in your cabin for two. Well, good night.” She turns and sashays out.
“Good night, Mila,” Frox says and lets one eyestalk follow her until she's out of the door. “Let me know if you need a bedtime story,” he adds, so softly she can't possibly hear it. “Or something else entirely.”
I force myself to smile at his shenanigans. He's trying to make me jealous, and to my great annoyance it's working. “I'm not sure you're her type, Frox. I think she prefers men that don't look like unicycles.”
“You never know,” Frox says, continuing his work. “I've had weirder than her. So everything is set for the new job for the Bululg?”
“I discussed it with the underlord,” I sigh, feeling less and less happy about that mission. “We have some time to prepare, but I want to be ready in ten days. We don't need too many with us. The Bululg have a lot of intel about the enemy we'll face. We have to really make a show of it, to dissuade others from trying the same later.”
Frox turns one eyestalk at me. “Of course, you have told Mila nothing about this mission?”
I snort. “Of course.”
“And you're absolutely prepared to carry it out?”
I get up and walk over to another crate, breaking it open and peering inside. “Are these the new cyclotron bearings?”
“Because,” Frox says, rolling closer and ignoring my question, “although I'm not an expert on humanoids, I can't help noticing how she looks at you. That female plainly thinks all the stars in the sky shine because you command them to. And she's not joking about her sister. I wonder, have you told her that you led the invasion of her planet?”
I take out a bearing and hold it up to the light. “Not as such.”
“I didn't think you had.”
“What's your point?” I grunt, although some of his words make my heart sing.
“The point is, we all really need the fee we'll earn for this mission. You know Prash's clan is breathing down his neck. Crirux has large debts. I do, too. The fee for this mission would put all of us a lot closer to being able to retire and get out of this risky profession. But if you're losing enthusiasm for this job because of her, then all that is suddenly in danger.”
“Nothing's in danger,” I grumble. “I know how much all this means to everyone. Now please calculate the most effective way to take out ten percent of the target enemies. As a secondary plan. I'll be in the hallway trying to tidy things up.”
I walk out into the corridor that leads to my cabin, where Mila is now getting ready for bed.
“Don't make her bedtime story too scary,” Frox calls after me.
Plodding through the corridor, I aimlessly pick up various pieces of debris and toss them away again, without making anything look more tidy. Finally, I mysteriously find myself right outside her door.
She did say there was room for two. The thought of what she may have really meant sends heat to my groin.
I knock, hear a bright voice from inside, and then enter.
Mila is there, still in her underwear. She's lounging on the bed, reading something on her little pad. She looks ravishing.
“Hi,” she says and gives me a happy smile. “I wasn't sure if you were coming.”
22
- Mila -
“You really weren't sure?” His smile is as rogueish as anything I've ever seen.
“I was pretty sure,” I admit as the door closes behind him and heat surges to my midsection. “But who can tell with aliens. Especially blue ones.”
He looks out the little porthole to space, as if there's any kind of a view. “Ah. Yes, the blue ones are mysterious.”
I put Ingrid on the floor. I can complete my action report later. There's pretty much no chance anyone in the Resistance will ever read or hear it, but I want to do things by the book. “Some of them, anyway.”
Xan'tor turns and takes me in. “How are you doing in here? Bed soft enough for you?”
“Sure. There's only one problem.” Excitement grows in me. That bulge of his is definitely twitching.
“And what is that?”
“The bed is too big and it makes me feel lonely.” I should be blushing at the shamelessness of my words, but the past few days have changed me. My life could end at any time. It got within a hair's breadth of ending today. But at the same time, it looks like I'll be able to enjoy what little time is left until the inevitable. I don't have time to be coy or hard to get. I want this guy who gave up his bed for me. And his sensational alien body.
He frowns. “I see. Yes, the salesman warned me when I got it. He said it might well make the most attractive females feel lonely. The advice is to never let any such female be alone in it.”
I let one leg fall to the side, opening me up, with only my thin panties between his powerful gaze and all my secrets. “Ah. Only the most attractive ones? I'm not sure I'm qualified.”
He runs his gaze up and down me, and the intensity is like a physical touch, electrifying me. “Oh, but you are. The very fact that you feel lonely is all the evidence I need. Apart from your breathtaking appearance. But let me check.”
I swear the fabric in his former pants, now shorts, creak with the pent-up tension behind it as he gets on the bed, one knee and one hand on either side of me. He bends down and sniffs my hair.
“Yes,” he confirms. “The loneliness is noticeable. But there's only one way to make sure.”
His alien face is right above me, forcing me to keep my attention on him. “What is that?”
He lowers his face and puts his lips on mine.
I receive him with urgent eagerness, putting my arms around his neck and returning his passionate kiss as well as I can.
He runs one hand down me, sliding it under my sports bra and scooping one breast out of it, stroking and ge
ntly squeezing.
“Wait.” I unsnap the garment and toss it to the floor, wanting him to have full access to anything he wants.
He kisses all over my cheeks and forehead and ears, aggressively exploring me and taking possession of it all. His hand works at my chest, caressing and stroking and creating hot little tingles that shoot down me.
“So soft,” he marvels. “So smooth.”
“Take me,” I plead. I'm completely ready, and I need him inside me now.
He leans back and pulls his shorts off, releasing the huge blue hardness that's going inside me. This time he has no need to show me who's in charge – he established that so thoroughly the first time that I will never be in any doubt.
He pulls the panties off me, and I cooperate completely in his efforts to get me naked for him. This is also a first time for me – my first time as a non-virgin, the first time I have some idea of what is coming, so there's no worry to disturb the pure sensation. And even if I get pregnant, I'll probably die before I know about it.
I spread my legs in sincere invitation.
“You are incredible,” he groans before he places the head of his manhood right at my opening and pushes.
There's a wet squelch, and then he's inside, slowly going deeper in me, slowly awakening the nerve endings in there and letting them recall the bliss that rod gave them last time.
My sex is already a hot mush, and he senses it, fucking me both faster and harder than last time, churning my center into pure electric joy. And right when I'm about to cross into the climax, there is soft, perfect movement down there, forcing me even higher before the orgasm comes crashing down on me. I buck and whimper and scream, wanting him to know what he does to me and seeing no reason to put any damper on my natural impulses.
He fucks me right through my climax. Finally he grunts, his thrusts become irregular, and there's a hard, hot spray inside me.
“Yes,” I moan, “come in me. Make me yours.”
I don't even know what I'm saying. I just that right now, I mean it.
He collapses on top of me, without placing weight anywhere unpleasant.
“Still lonely”? he asks into my ear.
“Not right now,” I pant. “But I think I will be again later.”
“We'll see,” he grunts. “I'll do my best to keep the loneliness away from you. I think I know how.”
“Oh, you totally do,” I agree, happy and so satisfied I'm just floating an inch above the mattress. “Sorry I came so fast. It's just, I've been ready for this for a while. Since the first time, pretty much.”
He chuckles and changes his position, lying beside me now. “Never apologize for anything that happens in bed. You're perfect.”
His words make me feel confident and attractive. I stretch comfortably. “So are you.”
“Yes,” he agrees thoughtfully.
I punch him lightly. “Don't get too comfortable. I think I'll get more demanding in time.”
“I look forward to that.”
Reaching across his body, I touch the hard spikes on his arms. “What are these for?”
“For combat.”
“Right. You're from a warrior clan, so of course all of you is built for combat. Is everyone on your planet warriors?”
Xan'tor scratches his thigh. “Most men aspire to be warriors, but few succeed: Most become merchants and builders and explorers and tradesmen and many other things.”
“You succeeded. Was it hard?”
“It was hard. But life is hard for every young man on Caross, my home planet. Many die young.”
The tip of his tail lies across my thighs, and I gently grab it. It’s warm and muscular, and the fur is dense and soft. “Many dangers on your home world?”
“Many.”
“In the oceans? Like the shark?”
“We don't have oceans, only lakes. They're deep and dark and deadly. Huge predators live in them, pulling large nets that stun anyone who comes into contact with them.”
I lift the tip of his tail to my face, studying it. So clean, so blue, so alive. “Should probably stay out of them, then. But you know how to swim. Like, really well.”
He strokes my arm with one finger. “When a male is young, one of his tasks is to dive into lakes and bring up certain shellfish that live on the sides and bottom of the lakes. For the clan, you understand. A great delicacy. But impossible to get without exposing the boys of the clan to great danger. Many never come back up.”
“That's terrible!”
“It's the way things are done. The young are culled, and only the smart and agile and strong survive it to become warriors. It's voluntary. Anyone who's too afraid can opt out, but then he will never be a warrior. Except the first one. Everyone has to do one dive. That first dive is the one that kills the most boys.”
An involuntary shiver goes down my back and I press the tip of his tail to my chest. “And the girls?”
“Not many girls are born on our planet. It's common for most planets. Females are quite rare in most places. Earth is the only planet I know of where there are as many females as males.”
“Do people get married there?”
“They do. Those men who can find wives, that is.”
“You're not married, are you?”
He chuckles and his tail pulls itself out of my hand. “I'm not. You?”
My turn to chuckle. “No. Did you not notice that I was a virgin?”
He runs his tail lightly up my pussy and gently flicks my clit, making me squeal. “Believe me when I say that I absolutely did.”
I grab his still half-erect cock and squeeze it in retaliation, but he doesn't react. “You're a rascal.”
“And your Interspeech is getting better fast.” His cock swells in my hand.
“M-hmm.” I relax there, just enjoying the moment of being this close to a man as sensational as Xan'tor. His slow heartbeat resonates through the mattress, and his slow breath has a strange, calming effect.
“Do you think we will find Emma?”
He thinks about it. “If she hasn't been sold yet, then I suppose there's a chance.”
“Will you help me save her? If there's a chance?”
He sighs, but before he can reply, I go on.
“Xan'tor, you have already done so much for me. And I am more grateful than I can express. I shouldn't be asking you to help me with this, too. It would be dangerous and you would risk making your best client angry. You have every right to not do as I ask you. In fact, you probably shouldn't. It's an unfair question for me to ask. Still, Emma is my sister. And I am asking you.”
He's quiet for a long time. His tail lies immobile across my shins.
Yeah, it's unfair to ask him a question like that right after sex, ruining our intimate moment. I have a strong urge to just say “never mind” and get him off the hook, but I force myself to not speak. Emma is worth this little bit of awkwardness. Infinitely more.
Right when I'm giving up hope, he clears his voice.
“If she's still alive. And if it can be done without blatantly aggravating the Bululg. And if it won't endanger any of the other guys. Then yes, I will help you.”
I slowly turn onto my side and put one arm across his massive chest. Moved tears are burning at the corners of my eyes. “Thank you.”
“There is one condition.”
I tense up. “What?”
“If it succeeds, you stay with me. Here.”
“As a prisoner?”
He thinks about it. “No.”
I let one finger trace the white spots on his chest. “See, I was kind of thinking about staying with you, anyway. I mean, it's not like I have a lot of other places to go.”
He fixes me with his eyes and smiles. “Really? You were?”
His surprised joy is so boyish it makes me laugh. “You didn't know? Fine, a lot of things have happened recently. But yeah, I was thinking about it. Very seriously.”
He leans over and kisses me softly, right on the lips. “Keep thin
king.”
“Okay. I'm thinking of something else now,” I say between our lips.
“What?”
“It's easier if I show you.” I let my hand slide down his front until I can grab his cock. It stiffens immediately until it feels like a whole log in my hand.
“Okay, that's ready. Now you show me what you would do if I did this.” I roll over on my front, crawl up on the bed on all fours until my butt is pointing at him, and then spread my knees and lower my chest. I'm showing him absolutely everything, and it makes the heat surge again. This will also be a first for me. “Is this something you can work with?”
- - -
“The Pyramid is where we usually eat,” Xan'tor says when we leave our room and make our way past all the weird stuff in the various Toblerone corridors. “Especially breakfast. We try to do that together, before we start our day. Just so we all know what the others are doing.”
I sneak past one of the stacks of trash that I pulled down onto him not so long ago. “How do you know when it's breakfast time? Or even morning?” There are very few windows in the base, and as far as I can tell, there's no difference between one hour and the next. The lights are always on.
“We just agree on the time. And I think we'll get pretty close to seeing everyone today.”
He's right. When we get to the pyramid room with all the crates and the holographic star map in the middle, only the suave Crirux is missing.
“Greetings, Mila,” Prash says, his golden skin glinting in the light from above as he assembles something. “I was hoping you were still here. You make this base seems brighter, somehow.”
“The place does need some female energy,” says the green Beloron. His black hair undulates with his smooth moves. “But of course, every place needs that.”
“Not a battlefield,” offers the huge Renerak, his deep bass making every metal object in the room sing. “Imagine if you were up against an army of females. You'd be paralyzed.”
“The perfect army,” Beloron says. “Most males wouldn't attack them. Or would at least need several seconds to consider the problem. Enough time to be killed.”