By the time she was done fighting back tears, more lines of text had appeared on her techpad.
There’s a few sub-level gods who talk to their followers, BozzMed told her. Oceania, water god. Renaei, tundra goddess. I could go on. Dare I ask what has inspired this line of questioning?
The surveillance vidcam abruptly trained its lens on her. Fei forced a brittle smile. She might be able to hide a less-than-innocent Webchat from a vidcam, but the Creator God had to be sensing her turmoil. Shouldn’t he make it known through some miracle or intervention that she shouldn’t run off to some other god who might actually listen to her?
Fei covered her mouth with her hand. She felt physically ill. When she was able, she tapped out a message that hopefully came across as casual. Oh, I’ve just been watching Webcasts about the historical tension between the two groups. I thought GLEA didn’t believe in the so-called ‘Magic’ that the tribespeople claim to have.
Do you believe the tribespeople have powers? BozzMed asked.
Of course. There have been documented cases.
Another question, CC. BozzMed was evidently on a roll today. Are you thinking of worshipping a new god? Because that’s exactly the sort of thing GLEA is worried about. Do remember — they rely on money, no matter how religious they are. They need to rake in donations from their worshippers to pay their agents. The desert tribes don’t monetise their faith or show up on planets that don’t want them. And I think that’s contributing to GLEA losing some of their support.
Fei’s fingers shivered as she held them over the techpad. Despite her best efforts, the whisper escaped her trembling lips. ‘I can’t be talking about this. I shouldn’t even be thinking about this!’
She powered down her techpad and shoved it back into her pocket, but she couldn’t disconnect her mind quite so easily. GLEA needs money to protect us. That’s how they serve the Creator God, by serving us. Everyone knows that.
So who are they serving when they tell a terraforming company to go against a client’s wishes?
Appalled at herself, Fei scurried back inside to check on the growing list of errors filling the vidscreen in the basement.
• • •
The Enocian Harem was one of the most opulent places Kuja had ever seen in his seven and a half decades of life. The world it was based on, Enoc, had a government that created and passed laws, but its citizens and businesses were beholden to a queen who had the first say on how to spend the planet’s treasury. The Enocians were rich enough that they didn’t mind this arrangement, especially when their taxes were used in such lavish ways as this.
The Harem was so full of silksein that for a moment Kuja thought he had walked onto one of those ancient sea-faring ships his mother used to tell him about when he was young. She had been very old for a human, granted immortality by her marriage to the Ine, but unlike the Desine’s missing wife, she had chosen to become mortal again upon leaving her husband. The memory of his mother’s death felt, even now, like a hot blade passing through Kuja’s ribs, right into his heart.
Kuja sat on one of the many couches inside the Harem’s atrium, using a cylindrical cushion to support his lower back. Finara had already chosen a woman for the evening and had thrown her brother a suggestive wink before being spirited out a side door. Kuja watched the scantily clad bodies pass him by, wondering if he should rise and introduce himself or simply sit there, enjoying the view. Happily, someone else made the decision for him.
A woman bent down in front of the couch, her cleavage peppered with perspiration. It was very hard to focus on her pleasant smile and Kuja felt guilty when he kept looking elsewhere. Thin strips of silver were stretched over her hips, covering her intimate parts, but they did nothing to curtail the sweet smell that seemed to be coming from her. He watched as her fingers crawled up her thigh and briefly vanished. When they withdrew she offered them to him, her skin slick with moisture.
‘Don’t be shy,’ she said. ‘The first taste is free.’
If Kuja hadn’t been able to see into her mind, he would have assumed she was joking. Trembling, he took her hand and held it to his lips. A finger slid its way into his mouth and the taste clinging to it was salty and strange, but somehow compelling. Kuja dug into his pocket, which was heavy with Finara’s coin-chips, and thrust a fistful of the currency at the Harem employee. She rewarded him by smiling and leading him through a slit in the silksein that he had not noticed before.
He found himself in a secluded space that could have been a tent or a room cunningly disguised as one. No couches here, just sumptuous rugs and a small stack of shelves for clothes and shoes. The woman swiftly unwound the strips covering her and lay on one of the rugs, brushing her palms over her body, playing with the nipples rising out of her skin. Kuja unbelted his pants and carefully folded them on one of the shelves. By the time he got to his shirt, he was more impatient so he settled for throwing it aside as he dived onto the rug.
‘First time?’ the woman asked, her gaze wandering to the unsheathed organ between his legs.
Kuja nodded mutely.
‘Don’t worry, I won’t bite — unless you want me to,’ she added with a wink. ‘Now lie back and relax.’
Kuja obeyed, propping himself up with his arms beneath him, his elbows framing his head. An antique style lamp was swinging from the ceiling, brass if its appearance was anything to go by. He was intrigued by the false candle embedded inside the lamp, but was distracted from further study when lips latched onto the hollow of his neck, drawing a startled hiss from him. Her hot, wet kisses then travelled down to one of his nipples, evoking shivers and other pleasant reactions. Kuja nodded approvingly when she moved onto the other nipple.
‘Interesting,’ he said.
She paused, her silver eyebrows jumping up to the widow’s peak that reminded him of the stern village headman back in Bagath.
‘The sensations, they’re interesting,’ Kuja clarified. ‘They’re like…electric tingles. Or just tingles, as there isn’t any electricity involved. I think. No, I am sure it’s just tingles.’
‘I’ll give you more than tingles,’ his companion promised.
‘Cool,’ Kuja said.
Her mouth continued to caress his chest for a time and Kuja found himself wondering when they would get to the good bit, then mentally rebuked himself. He knew that mortals liked to engage in foreplay, even though it delayed their coupling. It was part of the experience.
Just as he’d prepared himself to wait, she cupped his balls and at the same time darted her tongue down the underside of his lengthening shaft. This caused a bolt of pleasure to course through him and Kuja jerked upright, exclaiming something, though he wasn’t sure what. He was well versed in multiple languages and some came naturally to him because of his powers, but this was a word he had never before uttered in his life.
‘Oh, I really ought to have tried this myself,’ Kuja remarked, peering down at her as she continued to fondle her way around his intimate regions, alternating between carefully massaging his balls and gliding her fingers all the way up to his moistened tip. ‘It would have saved my sister some money.’
The woman ceased her ministrations and gave him a pointed look.
‘Um, sorry,’ said Kuja.
‘If you want to touch yourself while I watch, we can do that,’ she suggested.
‘Oh, no, I wouldn’t know what I was doing. Please go on. I won’t say anything else. Well, I’ll try not to…’ Kuja silenced when her lips clamped over his. Her kiss was salty and her tongue wriggled around as if it was searching for something. He refrained from snapping his aching jaw shut — he had a feeling she would not appreciate that.
To his relief, she did eventually stop kissing him, but only so that she could completely engulf his shaft in her mouth. Kuja’s vision blackened for a several long seconds. When he came to himself, he was gasping up at the ceiling, his neck bent at an awkward angle as he thrust his pelvis against her. Her hands found his hips and forced him down.
>
‘More,’ a husky voice begged. It must have been his own.
Kuja gripped the rug beneath his fingers, feeling the soft fabric give and tear the more he stabbed into it with his nails. Potent heat was swelling below his abdomen, building his anticipation to almost painful levels — and then her lips abruptly left him.
Kuja made an indignant sound.
‘You can finish in my mouth if you’d like,’ she told him. ‘But you have paid for the full service. Seems a shame to waste your coin-chips.’
Kuja groaned as she spread her thighs, showing him the moisture that had gathered along her exposed folds. After allowing him to enjoy the sight for a moment, she sank down on him in one go and got to work.
Kuja found himself staring at the ceiling again.
The draperies up there were a coppery colour that complemented the lamp — or was it meant to be the other way around? The woman’s bosom heaved in front of him, sometimes blocking his view. She was attractive. He really should be paying more attention to her, but he couldn’t think of any compelling reason to do so.
She cupped his face. ‘Hello? Are you in there?’
Kuja blinked. ‘Of course I am. I’m inside you.’
‘You’ve gone soft.’
She climbed off him and his member fell limply to the side. Kuja peered down at it. ‘Oh. I thought that once you got going, it built and built and then — well — you know.’
‘Not always,’ his companion said, lying flush against his body.
Kuja sighed. ‘Well, that’s disappointing.’
‘Don’t worry. It happens.’ She began to play with his hair, apparently unbothered. This wasn’t an unusual turn of events, if her thoughts and memories were anything to go by.
Goosebumps were crowding over Kuja’s skin now that his body was no longer running hot with desire. Shivering, he sagged against the rug. ‘I’m sorry. I don’t feel…interested. Do you suppose that means I like men instead?’
‘Did you like being inside me?’ she asked.
‘Oh. Yes. It was wonderful.’
She pursed her lips until they became distinctly button-shaped. ‘I think you found me attractive but got distracted. Any physical problems, I’ve got stims for that — but I can’t do anything about your head. You got a girlfriend or something? Some guys have trouble if they’re feeling guilty.’
Kuja shook his head sharply. ‘No, no girlfriend. Never.’
‘You could play with yourself, like I showed you,’ she said, her lips touching his temple. ‘That might work.’
Kuja skirted his eyes down her form. She was beautiful, she really was. He thought very hard at his extraneous organ, but it crumpled even further. ‘Oh well. I guess I just don’t want to do this.’
She sat up and reached for her clothes. They looked more like ribbons now, out of context as they were in her hands. Kuja laced his fingers across his face and groaned.
‘You alright?’ the woman asked.
Kuja peeked at her. She was still nude. ‘I’m not sure how I’m going to explain this to my sister — she’s the one who gave me the coin-chips I paid you with. I’ve only been in here for a handful of minutes and she…well, she’ll make fun of me.’
His companion’s lips curled into a smile. ‘Lucky for you, I know a few ways to pass the time.’
‘Oh?’ Kuja clambered onto his knees. ‘Do tell.’
‘It’s obvious you want to go all the way one day,’ she told him. ‘I can show you how to touch a woman and how to please her. It’s more fun if you both get something out of it.’
Kuja tapped two fingers to the side of his face, frowning thoughtfully. ‘You mean, women also like being kissed and touched all over their bodies? I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. Does everyone know this?’
She laughed. ‘You’d be surprised how many men don’t.’
‘Teach me,’ Kuja requested.
More than an hour later, he sauntered into the atrium and threw a careless grin at Finara, who had been waiting for him. She actually applauded, much to his embarrassment. He ducked his head and hurried outside, his sister catching up to him there.
She threw an arm over his shoulders as they descended the Harem’s gold trimmed steps. ‘See? We haven’t been struck dead by Father and Fayay hasn’t shown up to berate us for abandoning the grand design. So I’ll see you back here in one Old Earth week?’
‘Oh, I think I might try to find someone on Bagaran,’ Kuja said, averting his eyes from hers and diligently scrubbing his thoughts so that she wouldn’t see the truth in them. ‘I can’t afford to return. I do only get food and board, you know.’
Finara snorted. ‘Suit yourself. Anyway, I’ve got to go tell some stupid mortals their scenic volcano is rumbling for a reason. See ya, bro.’
The weight on his shoulders vanished along with his sister. Kuja sank down onto one of the steps, suddenly feeling very alone. Thanks to his time at the Harem, he knew how to please a woman, but the ache inside him was even more painful than before. It was frustrating, in more ways than one.
He got back onto his feet but did not immediately disappear, instead choosing to walk the streets of Enoc for hours, deep in thought.
CHAPTER FIVE
Fei would have walked straight past the temple on her way home from work had a knot of worshippers not suddenly left, their eyes striking her like lasbolts and making her insides twist with guilt. Unable to remember anyone’s names, she smiled vaguely at the group and began climbing the shallow schist steps. There were countless temples scattered across the galaxy, mostly square-shaped since that was GLEA’s preference for their buildings on Gerasnin. Fei was glad the Enocians had insisted on designing their own places of worship. She found the uneven lines of this temple somehow soothing. Well, she usually did.
The moment Fei stepped inside she was embraced by cool, hushed air that was occasionally punctuated by the distant blast of lasgun fire. She looked down at the floor, as though she could see right through it to the bowels of the temple, where the agents stationed on Enoc were honing their skills. Some of them were probably even using forcefields to deflect the lasbolts.
Not all temples doubled as GLEA outposts, but this was the largest and most visited one on the planet. While the subterranean levels were given over to training, the higher levels were filled with sleeping quarters, eating halls and conference rooms in which the agents could discuss the protection of Enoc and its laws.
Fei wasn’t sure how much GLEA received in donations, but they must be doing well to have funded a temple like this. The Enocian worshippers were certainly grateful for it.
Fei didn’t feel very grateful tonight. Tears seared her eyes as she sank before the altar. ‘I’m sorry. I just can’t feel you.’
‘Are you alright, fellow child of the Creator God?’ a gentle voice asked behind her.
Fei froze in place, wishing she could turn to stone and blend into the speckled grey floor. She waited for her unwanted companion to leave. Unfortunately, they knelt onto the floor, clearly intent on staying.
Fei kept her face hidden behind her curtain of purple hair. ‘No. I mean, yes. I am very okay and I’m here to give thanks to the Creator God because isn’t that we’re supposed to do? Even if we can’t hear him?’
A soft hoot, then another. Was it laughter? Fei turned to get a better look at the woman beside her. The newcomer was blue-skinned and had four thickly muscled arms that could have snapped a steel girder like a twig. Her smile was also inhumanly broad.
‘It’s normal to have doubts, I have them myself — everyone does,’ the Lentarian (Fei thought she had guessed the woman’s species correctly) reassured her.
Fei wrinkled her nose. ‘That doesn’t help. It just makes me feel worse because I can’t get past this the way other people can.’
‘Oh, you’ll come through it, we all do.’
What if I don’t? Fei nearly asked. Mercifully, her thoughts remained buried inside her, where only the Creator God could see them.
‘How do you know that he sent you?’ Fei asked. ‘Can you hear him?’
The Lentarian shrugged. ‘No, but I can feel him.’
‘I can’t,’ Fei whispered. ‘And I’m starting to wonder if I should even bother trying. There are other gods who have a more immediate impact and I’m thinking…’
‘Stop thinking right now!’ her companion admonished.
Fei tried. She really did. But her failure must have shown on her face.
The Lentarian unleashed a tirade, but it was the same argument Fei had used on herself many times. Yes, it was common knowledge that the Creator God had always been shared by different species on worlds light years apart. Yes, she remembered her history lessons, she knew that when the galaxy’s species had developed faster space travel in the days of Old Earth, they had met and realised they shared a god. Since they were brethren, created by the same hand, there had been no ideological wars over planets and planetoids, only peaceful integration. This was long before any sub-level gods had appeared.
Fei knew she should just accept her place in the universe, accept that she couldn’t hear the Creator God and accept that she should trust anyone who said they did.
But if the Creator God told Zareth to leave me, then my own god doesn’t even want me to be happy…
‘Please shut up,’ Fei hissed at the voice inside her head.
The Lentarian woman reared back, offended. Muttering about rude young humans, she took her leave. Fei pressed her forehead to the floor and moaned in despair. She would probably need to find a new temple now.
When she finally managed to get back onto her feet, she noticed a copper-haired man sitting in one of the rear pews of the temple.
‘Don’t bother, this god’s not listening,’ she tossed at him as she marched out.
The Twisted Vine Page 4