by Ashley West
"So pleased you like it," she panted back. "Even if you are a tease."
The smile turned a bit wicked, and he dug the fingers of one hand a bit more firmly against her flesh. "I'm not teasing," he said, promise in his voice. "I'm getting warmed up."
That was thrilling, the way he said it coupled with the way he was looking at her, and she bit down on her lip hard, toes curling in anticipation.
Apparently, he hadn't been kidding about that.
Five minutes later found Emma flat on her back, one hand fisted in her own hair, and the other holding onto the sheets for dear life. She didn't even bother trying to hold back her noises of pleasure, knowing that they were alone on the ship, so while Malachi practically devoured her, she let him know how good it was.
His tongue was so good on those sensitive places, licking and swirling, driving her mad with light teases followed by firmer strokes. And as if that wasn't enough, he had slicked up two fingers with her own wetness and pushed them inside of her.
His hands were large, and his fingers weren't small, meaning that she was full like there was another, larger part of his anatomy pushed inside of her.
Her hips seemed to be moving of their own volition as he pumped those fingers in her and kept his tongue working, and Emma knew she wasn't going to last long. It just felt too good, the pleasure building and pooling deep inside her before it spread out to the rest of her body.
She was getting too full of it, and it was going to spill over eventually, something she tried to let him know with her soft gasps and broken moans of his name.
He didn't seem interested in stopping, clearly determined to bring her to that edge and make her spill over.
Emma couldn't be still. She bucked her hips and arched for him, grinding down to get more of that feeling. When he hit that spot inside of her that made her wail, he stayed there, pressing his fingers in and sucking lightly on her clit until she came with a loud cry of his name.
"Oh my god," she panted, the room seeming to swim around her as she lay on her back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. It didn't feel like her heart was ever going to slow from its frantic gallop, and she swallowed hard, trying desperately to catch her breath. "Oh my god," she said again.
"Is that a good thing?" Malachi wanted to know, head tipped to the side as he looked at her.
Emma nodded and swallowed again, mouth dry and limbs feeling like overcooked pasta from how hard she'd come.
And they were only half done. She believed in reciprocity, and she was curious about his cock and what it would look like and what it could do. Even if she was still tingling with the aftershocks of her orgasm, she wanted more, and she reached for Malachi's hand, the one that had been buried to the knuckles inside of her, and pulled it up.
She sat up enough that she could hold his gaze as she leaned in and licked the digits from knuckle to tip before sliding her mouth over them and sucking them clean.
Somehow her orgasm had given her more confidence than usual, because she was very aware that she could be making a fool of herself. But from the further darkening of Malachi's eyes, she could tell that he was affected by it.
A harsh swear dropped from his lips, in that language she didn't understand, and pride welled in her because she liked that she was having an effect on him just like he had on her.
"Now who is being a tease?" he asked, watching her. When she released his hand, he used it to push himself up onto the bed, looming over her once again. There was a smile on his face, and when he dipped his head to kiss her, she could taste herself on his lips.
That was more of a turn on than she had been expecting, and she gasped softly, one arm going around his neck while she brought the other down, hand seeking out his erection.
It wasn't hard to find, thick and rigid as it was in his pants. Her fingers followed the hard line of it, and her eyes widened when he groaned and pushed his hips further down, grinding against her hand.
"Jesus," Emma breathed. "You're huge."
Malachi looked torn between pride and concern, and Emma laughed, rubbing him through his pants to let him know that she wasn't turned off by his size.
She'd never considered size to be something that mattered to her, but she wouldn't deny that she'd seen some things on the internet and had gotten curious.
"I wanna see it," she said, licking her lips and meeting his eyes.
He nodded and sat back, working the fly of his pants open so he could shove them down.
Apparently men didn't bother with underwear where he was from because he was naked as the day he was born (she assumed) under his pants, and his cock sprang free, thick and hard and leaking at the tip already.
Without even really thinking about it, she reached for it, transfixed. Her fingers closed around the girth of it, the tips not even able to meet in the middle. It was long enough that she needed both hands to cover it, and she wondered if it was going to fit inside of her.
Human bodies were made to be flexible, but god. It was big.
"We don't have to," Malachi said, and Emma looked up, giving him a smile.
"Ever the gentleman," she replied. "I want to."
And she did. She wanted to know what it would feel like to be so full of him, stretched open around that cock and feeling every inch of it as it drove into her.
He was clearly able to read that on her face because he eased them both back again, her back flat on the bed as he kept his weight off of her with one hand. With his other hand, he grabbed his cock, rubbing it against the slick wetness that was still present between her legs and then pressing against her entrance.
Emma sucked in a breath when the fleshy head pushed into her, and she arched, legs falling open wider. "More," she moaned, biting her lip and holding onto him for dear life.
He gave it to her, inch by inch, both of them having to take breaks in between because of how overwhelming the sensation was. Malachi babbled a mixture of praises about how tight she was and curses because it felt so good, and by the time he had managed to fully seat himself inside her, they were both breathing hard.
"Oh god," Emma practically sobbed, already close just from him pushing in. "Oh god, please."
"You feel so good," he groaned. "So tight for me. Hold on."
That was all the warning she got before he was pulling back, drawing out, just enough so that when he pushed back in, she really felt it.
Every inch of him dragged against her inner walls, friction sparking with white hot pleasure that she could feel dancing up her spine. She couldn't be quiet, and she couldn't be still, and she ended up with her legs wrapped around him again, crying out with every thrust.
They kissed messily between gasps for breath, their ragged breathing lingering warm on each other's lips. Sweat beaded Malachi's brow, and Emma felt warm all over.
When he began to murmur that he wasn't going to last, Emma stopped trying to hold on. He shoved in deeper and she came in strong spasms that seemed to tear his orgasm from him as well.
It was a back and forth of pleasure, and both of them were helpless to it, breathing hard as they rode each other through it and then collapsed.
Malachi pulled out slowly and Emma winced, knowing she was going to feel that for the next few days. He stroked her hair, hesitating for a moment before he pulled her closer to him. "Are you alright?" he asked, voice soft.
Emma nodded and tucked herself closer to him. She was alright. She really was.
Sleep was always restful here, and there was something about the doors in the rooms that blocked out the noise from the rest of the ship. Three cheers for diplomacy, she guessed. Whatever it was, it made it so that even though she usually woke up hours after everyone else was already up and about (because of their weird two sun thing, even though they were on Earth where there was only one sun and things weren't weird), she slept soundly.
It was even better after a long round of sex, she was discovering. It took her ages to finally wake up after that, and while she'd gone to bed nestled ag
ainst Malachi's side, she woke up alone.
That wasn't that odd, really. She hadn't honestly expected him to stay in bed with her the whole time, even if it was just the middle of the afternoon, but she was a little disappointed because it would have been nice to wake up with him still there.
For a few moments after she'd woken, she allowed herself to think about what it might have been like. Malachi had been all gentleness after the sex, cleaning her up and stroking her hair, murmuring softly to her about how lovely and good she was. She felt like it would have been the same when he was all soft from sleep, too.
Maybe one day she'd get to find out.
Thinking about the future was dangerous, and she knew that. Either or both of them could die in whatever was going to fall out between the Randoran and the Alva, and even if they didn't, Malachi was going to go back to his planet. She was likely just some sort of stress relief or a bit of fun before he went back home, and that was...fine.
Emma could be okay with that. It wasn’t like she was looking for anything serious anyway. She had been trying to figure out who she was in the first place before the Alva had shown up and ruined everything, and she still needed to do that. She wouldn’t have the time for complications once he fixed the world like he’d promised to.
Eventually she got bored of laying in bed in the middle of the day, and she got up and got dressed, humming lightly under her breath. She put on clothes that were more appropriate for wandering around the ship. There were still parts of it that she hadn’t seen yet, and if no one was around yet, maybe she’d go exploring.
As soon as the door slid open, she realized that she was definitely not alone anymore.
The sounds of snarling and yelling could easily be heard, and she frowned, heart pounding. Instinct and a bit of common sense told her to go back into the room, but she swallowed hard and stepped forward instead. If they were under attack, then she wanted to know about it.
“Watch the claws!”
That was Priya’s voice, echoing down the hall, and Emma frowned harder. She didn’t sound distressed, just upset.
“Keep him still!”
Another voice echoed, and when Emma rounded the corner, she had to take a step back. Because they weren’t under attack. That would have actually made more sense than what she was seeing. Instead, no less than ten of the Randoran were wrestling with one Alva, trying to get it onto the ship when it didn’t want to go.
“What are you doing?” she asked before she could think better of it.
One of the Randoran whose name she didn’t know yet turned to look at her. “Getting the advantage,” he said and grinned.
She didn’t see Malachi anywhere, but figured he had to be involved in this. She also decided that she definitely didn’t want to be involved in this. So she went back to the room to wait.
The problem with waiting was that it was boring. Emma didn’t have anything to keep herself occupied with while she was waiting, so she was mostly just sitting around. She didn’t want to poke through Malachi’s things (okay, that was a lie, she did want to poke through them but she refrained out of respect for him), but there was nothing else to do. For hours.
The door slid open twice, once in the late afternoon to reveal Priya, coming through with a plate of food and an annoyed expression on her face.
"Going well?" Emma asked, though she was pretty sure she already knew the answer to that, judging from the look.
"No," Priya said, sighing. "The Alva are...a difficult race to put up with. I do not enjoy it."
"What are you trying to do with him? It? Whatever."
She shook her head. "It's better if you do not know," she said. "Eat your dinner."
And then Emma was left alone again. She tried not to equate it to being like when she was in the cage. It wasn't like that, not really. At least she could move around and had food and Malachi would come back eventually. And she could leave the room if she wanted to. Just because it would probably be unpleasant, didn't mean she was trapped.
Whatever they were doing to the Alva was taking forever, and it was night when the door slid open for the second time, this time revealing Malachi who looked exhausted and worn.
"What happened?" Emma asked, moving to stand up.
Malachi raised a hand and leaned against the door when it closed, rubbing that hand down his face. He didn’t look injured at all, just worn out, and Emma wanted to go to him and see what she could do. "It has been a long evening," he said, words coming out in a slow rumble. "And I hate the Alva."
"No arguments from me," she replied, somewhat relieved. There had been a part of her, a tiny part that she hadn't wanted to acknowledge, that had been worried something bad had happened to him. It wouldn’t be the first time something bad had happened to someone she cared about. Or was coming to care about. Whichever. "I don’t understand why you’d go find one of those things anyway. No one will tell me what the thing was doing here."
"That's for the best," Malachi said.
Emma rolled her eyes. "I just love how you all think you know what's best for me." It reminded her of being a child all over again, in those moments when Daniel would treat her like she was stupid and immature.
"I wish I didn't know what went on with the Alva tonight," Malachi replied sharply, finally looking at her. "And I don't wish to recount it."
"Okay," Emma said back, a little stung. She shrank back a little, wrapping her arms around herself. Sometimes she forgot that Malachi was huge and strong. He was so nice to her all the time, and they’d spent the earlier part of the day having sex, after all. She had never really seen him angry, and she didn't think she wanted to. Especially not angry with her. "I'll drop it."
"Thank you," he said.
For a few long minutes, neither of them spoke. Emma picked at the hem of her tunic, eyes darting around the room aimlessly. There had been many comfortable silences between the two of them since she'd come here, but this was not one of them. She didn't know what to do with herself, and sitting there waiting for him to say something was awkward at best.
"I owe you an apology," Malachi said all of a sudden, and Emma's eyes snapped back to him.
"For what?" she asked, frowning.
"For this afternoon."
A smile bloomed over her face as she recounted their afternoon in her mind. "No, you don't," she said. "I told you that you didn't hurt me."
Malachi shook his head and sighed. "No, I... It should not have happened. I took advantage of you after I swore I wouldn't, and-"
"What?" Emma snapped, cutting him off. "How did you take advantage of me?"
"You were vulnerable, and I-"
"Vulnerable? How was I vulnerable?"
"You've been through an ordeal, Emma."
"I told you I wanted it. Wanted you. I practically begged you for it, in case you've forgotten."
"You don't know what you want."
That hit her like a slap to the face, and her mouth gaped open for a few seconds while she blinked at him, completely stunned that he would say something like that to her. The shock gave way to anger, simmering under her skin as her fingers curled into fists. "And you know what I want, then?" she asked, voice much calmer than she felt.
"No," Malachi admitted. "But I didn't bring you here for this. It isn't right?"
"So I don't get a say in this at all?" Emma demanded. "You just get to sit there and lecture me about how I'm supposed to feel because I've 'been through an ordeal'?" She made the air quotes with her fingers, even though she knew he probably wouldn't understand what they meant. That was beside the point. "You don't know the first thing about humans or how they feel in the first place, so where do you even get off?"
"Emma."
"No! I am so...ugh!" Emma balled her hands into fists and took a deep breath, trying to keep herself from bursting into tears. That would not do much to prove her point. "I wanted you. Not because I thought I owed you something for saving me or because I felt like I didn't have a choice. That's not the po
int of this!"
"It may not be the point," Malachi said, and he really did sound tired. "But you can't ignore that it's there. I did save you, by buying you, no less, and that makes things...strange."
"Strange. That's the word you wanna use? Was it strange when you were kissing me? Or when you had your cock in me?"
"I..."
"Either it was or it wasn't," Emma snapped. "You know what I think? I don't think this is about me being vulnerable or whatever at all. It think it's because I'm human. You and your kind and all those other aliens out there, you don't see us as people. We're always less than, in your eyes. Look at the Alva. They keep us in cages like dogs. They sell us to visiting aliens like livestock. And you look down at them, but you're not any better!"
His eyes darkened at that, and the beginnings of anger were clear to see on his face. "Don't you dare," he said.
"Oh, screw you!" Emma couldn't remember the last time she'd been so riled up. She's spent so much of the last few years of her life being sad and scared and worried that anger hadn't been one of the emotions she was used to. Now she was feeling it, though, and she couldn't stop.
Her face was hot and flushed, and her hands were still curled into fists, her fingernails biting into her palms as she stared Malachi down. "You're not better than me because you're not human," she said. "And you don't get to decide whether or not I wanted you. But it's fine. You don't have to worry about it ever happening again."
And with that, she was done with this. She left the room in a huff, wishing for a real door that she could slam behind herself as she stalked to the room that had been set aside for her.
Emma didn't often sleep there. Usually she was content to share with Malachi, but now she didn't even want to see him.
The bed felt weird and oddly cold, but that was fine. She'd dealt with worse, after all.
Chapter Nine: Aggravation
If asked before he had come to Earth, Malachi would have said that he didn't have any problem with silence. He was a lively person, and he liked being around others and laughing and having a good time, but he'd never seen anything wrong with keeping to yourself in the quiet, either.