“If it will make you feel better about yourself, I’ll claim you.”
She bit her lip for a moment and then smiled.
“I will serve you, my tsulygoi.”
Neither of us said anything for a few moments. I was now painfully aware of the fact that she was kneeling naked in front me.
“Okay. Now what?”
“That is up to you, Will. I am yours.”
I had to calm my nerves. I still wasn’t sure about this, but I had to ask.
“I would like to mate with you. I mean, if you want to.”
She lay beside me, looking up expectantly.
“I am ready.”
Damn. If only the dating apps I’d struggled with were this easy. But I’d also ended up with an alien. A alien girl with a face like a supermodel, yes, but still, an alien.
Assuming this even worked, it would be the first time I had sex in almost 18 months. Not since the night before Jacqueline told me she’d found someone else and wanted a divorce. She had probably felt generous about it. It was the kind of mind-fuck she was very good at, and it was a night I really wanted to forget, for a lot of reasons.
Time to put that behind me, I guess.
But when I slid off my shorts, Ayarala gasped loudly and recoiled against the fabric of the tent. She was staring at my erection in astonishment.
Oh, shit. I thought. I just knew this wasn’t going to happen that easily.
Something seemed to dawn in Ayarala’s eyes.
“You . . you are a makalang,” she gasped.
What I felt from that: Legend, myth, alien, monster, fantasy – honestly, the closest Earth analog to it felt like . . .
Bigfoot.
I looked at her, stunned. I was Bigfoot?
“What does that even mean?” I asked.
“I was unsure. I knew you were something different. Not Taitalan. But the story . . . it is just a myth. A strange being that lives in the forest. People have searched and never found one. So few believe it. It is something females joke about and tease each other with. Or so I thought.”
“But what is it, a makalang?”
“The stories say the makalang is a very large, handsome male. So much larger than males on Taitala. Hairy. Muscles. He seeks to mate with Taitalan females and has . . . an enormous penis.”
She hadn’t taken her eyes off it. I looked down at myself. I mean, I wasn’t small. I felt like I was pretty decent, actually. But enormous?
Then something occurred to me.
“How large are Taitalan males? Their penises, I mean.”
Ayarala slowly held up her little finger.
“Like this. Only thinner.”
I let out a brief laugh, then I realized what that meant. I looked down at her, between her legs. There were folds, labia, like a human woman. But if she was used to dicks the size of a cigarette – a short cigarette – this could be a problem.
“You have claimed me, my tsulygoi. Even if you are a makalang, I am yours to use as you wish. I will do what I must.”
“I don’t want to hurt you. If you don’t really want to do this . . .”
She reached out and squeezed my hand.
“I do. Please.”
Maybe there was a way to make this work, if I took my time. Obviously the females here gave birth, so stretching significantly was not impossible. It just might be really uncomfortable for her.
So I set out to do what I could to ease the way. I lay down next to her and took her small frame in my arms. But when I bent to kiss her, she didn’t seem to know what to do.
“Just do what I do,” I said.
“Yes, my tsulygoi.”
Our tongues came together. I explored her body, cupping her breasts and pulling on her nipples until they stiffened and pushed out. She let me do what I wanted, though I sensed growing confusion in her. But I could also feel the arousal growing in her body, and not just the way I could with a human woman. I could actually feel the energy coming from her.
I explored between her legs. Most of it felt human. She had a clitoris, and a vaginal opening that was growing warm and wet, but I could barely fit the tip of my finger inside it.
“Will?”
I lifted my mouth from her nipple.
“What?”
“I am yours. But what are you doing? Why do you not mate with me?”
I stroked her clit gently.
“How does mating work with your people?”
“The male places his penis inside the female, then leaves his seed.”
“How long does it take?”
“A few breaths. Though I have mated only once.”
“Wait. I thought you meant you’d had only one mate. You’ve mated, like this, only once?”
“Yes.”
Jeez. Not just an alien, but almost an alien virgin.
“Well, it’s different with my people. We, I guess, take more time with it.”
I went back to playing with her. My only hope here seemed to be to get her as turned on as possible. And being able to sense it directly, that wasn’t hard. After a few more minutes of stroking between her legs, I could feel her release coming.
Ayarala was breathing hard beside me, but lay still.
“Will?” she asked again.
“What?”
“What you are doing . . . with my people . . . it is what females do with each other. Males do not . . . give pleasure.”
“You’ve done this with other females?”
“No. I had a tsulygoi, and I mated. No female would be with me after that. I only know what others do.”
“Then hold on.”
I rubbed her faster, and in a few moments, she gripped my arm tightly and shuddered against me. And even with what I had been feeling up to that moment, I was slightly shocked to realize I could feel her orgasm as well, feel the energy of it flowing into me.
I kept at it, and Ayarala let out a gasp, arching her back. I gave her another orgasm, then let her catch her breath.
I rolled between her legs.
“I’ll go as gently as I can.”
She said nothing, only putting her hands on my hips. I probed forward against her wetness.
For a minute or so, I was convinced it wasn’t going to work. I would push at her, but a fleshy wall stopped any progress. Then Ayarala let out a long breath, and I felt her body go limp. A door opened in the wall, and I moved slowly but firmly forward.
She whimpered.
“Does it hurt?”
Again she said nothing, only pulling me forward. Millimeter by millimeter, I slipped inward as her muscles relaxed around me.
She was tight, so incredibly tight. But I was entering her. She let out a guttural moan as the head moved inside and the shaft of my cock spread her out. I withdrew, then moved forward a bit more, then withdrew and thrust in again. Finally, after a minute or two, I was completely inside her.
Ayarala looked up at me, her translucent face flushed in arousal.
“Tsulygoi.”
I kissed her.
“Ayarala.”
“You are very large.” She closed her eyes and moaned. “So very, very large.”
When I began moving in her slowly, just enjoying the heat and tightness, her eyes opened again.
“Your seed?”
“Not yet.”
She moaned again. I could feel, despite the discomfort, that she was still very turned on. I could see what felt good for her and what didn’t. So I worked on the good parts.
Ayarala dug her nails into my back. She was so tight that I knew this wasn’t going to last long for me. But after 18 months, I didn’t want it over so fast.
I gripped her hips and rolled over onto my sleeping bag. Ayarala let out a soft cry of confusion.
“What – ?”
No doubt the Taitalan males never let their females on top.
“My people do things differently.” I pulled her forward on me. “Move like this.”
She followed my instructions. Being able to
feel what she felt, I was able to find the perfect angle for her. In a minute or two, her nails dug into my chest hair, and I felt her shivering around me in release. Then she sighed and fell forward onto me.
I rolled her over again. The energy of her orgasm had pushed me close to the brink, and a few more thrusts were enough to do it.
I held my breath as the pleasure washed over me and I spurted into her. But something strange happened. I felt the release of orgasm, but not the relaxation. Ayarala’s energy was still in me, and it seemed to restore me. My erection didn’t weaken, and frankly I suddenly wanted to keep going.
What the fuck? But Ayarala had either missed my orgasm or didn’t know what to do. I kept thrusting, this time focusing on her.
She seemed weaker than she’d been, though. As I drove her toward another orgasm, her reactions were more spasmodic and instinctive. And when she arched her back and her thighs drummed against my hips, I felt another wave of orgasmic energy flowing into me.
And out of her, I suddenly realized, because she went nearly limp under me. Somehow I was sucking this energy out of her.
But I was close myself, and I couldn’t stop. A few more thrusts, and I came again. Again I lost nothing of my erection. But I could tell Ayarala needed a break.
I withdrew and lay beside her. She lay there panting for breath. I pulled her to me, and she flopped her head on my chest.
I wasn’t too clear on what had just happened, but goddamn, that had been good.
Chapter 5
Ibriefly thought Ayarala had fallen asleep. But in about ten minutes, she stirred and moved closer to me.
“Tsulygoi.”
“Ayarala.”
“This is how mating is for your people?”
“It’s not always that good. But pretty much.”
“How do your females withstand it? I felt near to death at the end. And I will be very sore tomorrow.”
“I’m sorry.”
She laughed softly.
“Makalang.”
I slowly ran my fingers through her long silver-gold hair. I thought about how many times I’d read and heard people use golden to mean blonde. But Ayarala’s hair truly was golden. Even this close, it still looked like pale strands of pure gold.
“I am sad,” she said a few minutes later.
“Why?”
“Because I know it will be sampars before we can mate again.”
I sat up halfway and looked at her.
“What do you mean?”
She had been lounging in post-orgasmic bliss, but the look on her face suddenly changed to fear, and she recoiled from me. I could feel the stress radiating from her.
“My tsulygoi – I am sorry. I am sorry for my presumption. You do not need to mate with me again. I am blessed. I may have con –”
I stopped her.
“No. Wait. That’s not what I meant.”
Her agitation subsided a bit.
“What did you mean?”
“Why do you think it will be . . . how long is a sampar?”
“Ten days.”
“And you think it will be . . . twenty or thirty days before we mate again?”
“It will not?”
“Is that how it works here?”
Her eyes swelled, both in surprise and excitement.
“After mating, Taitalan males must regain their strength. It takes time. Two or three sampars at least. Some, the older ones like my tsulygoi before you, it may be a talon. Or more.”
“How long is a talon?”
“Seventy-two sampars.”
I did the math: 720 days. A year here was about twice that of Earth’s.
“Is it not so for you?” Ayarala asked. I could see the eagerness in her eyes even without feeling it, which I did.
“Uh, not exactly.”
I though to myself in amazement. I’ve landed on a world of needle-dicked males who can have sex once a month at best, and females who are so deprived they chase them down wanting to mate.
“How soon can you mate again?” she asked. “A sampar? Even days?”
I laughed and rolled over against her.
“Baby, if you want to mate again, we can do it right now.”
◆◆◆
I woke with the sunrise. It was cold, and my breath fogged the air. Ayarala and I were cuddled together in my sleeping bag, my chest against her back. We’d figured out a way to combine our sleeping gear to stay together and stay warm.
As alien as she was, as little time as I had known her, I could feel myself falling for her already. The sex had been fucking amazing, even with the size issues. The second time had been easier for her, though I was still somehow sucking energy from her with every orgasm. I’d made her almost faint.
And unlike the women back home, I wasn’t having to guess about what was going on in her head and often being wrong. (I could write a book about that when it came to Jacqueline, unfortunately.) As Ayarala fell asleep in my arms, I could feel warm, happy waves of contentment radiating from her. She wasn’t alone anymore – she was no longer nalasin.
I had to get back to Cassie and Hunter, whether that meant waking up from a coma or escaping back to Earth. And the longer this went on, the less convinced I was that this was a coma. I mean, I’d never been in one, but this was too real, too coherent to be all in my head.
But going back meant leaving Ayarala, and remembering that feeling I’d sensed from her last night sent a twinge through my gut. If I left her, wouldn’t she be nalasin again? It sure seemed like it. For the first time, I hesitated. Maybe I would ride this out a bit longer.
She stirred, rolling back against me. I found a a breast, tweaking the nipple.
Ayarala smiled.
“I am yours, tsulygoi. But I am also very sore.”
I laughed.
“Don’t worry. Not now.”
She reached back and brushed my face affectionately with her fingers.
“Makalang.”
“What do your stories say about the makalang? What it does with your females?”
She stretched and yawned, then rolled over completely to face me. Her purple eyes went a bit distant.
“Understand that it is mainly a legend, a thing people talk and write about. It is in books and dramas. But almost no one believes it is real. So the stories are fantasies. A strong male who captures many females, and mates with great force and vigor. There are many stories like that. They are popular because so few females will ever have a chance to mate, whether they want to or not. So they read stories. About the makalang and other things.”
“There are books like that in my world.”
“Even with so many males?”
“Not every female finds the male she wants, or finds one that makes her happy.”
“I see.”
I thought about what she said, and something she’d mentioned last night.
“What did you mean about not finding a female worthy of mating in your village?”
She looked into my eyes for a few moments.
“With so many females here, would you not choose the most beautiful ones for wives? The most beautiful and obedient? Taitalan males will reject a female for the smallest flaw.”
I looked back at her.
“You mean they’re not all as beautiful as you?”
She smiled.
“No. And the ones who are, most seek out tsulygoi to serve as soon as they are old enough to mate. So you will not find one in my village.”
“Only with a tsulygoi already.”
“If you had a home and were known to them, they would seek you out. But for now, yes, that is the only way.”
I sat up.
“So how far is it to this other tsulygoi?”
“Not far. By mid-day at the latest.” She stretched and yawned again. “I am so tired. Mating with you is so draining. May I rest a bit more, Will?”
I kissed her again and got up.
“We’re good. Go back to sleep.”
◆◆
◆
As I dressed, I noticed that the scratch on my thigh was almost healed already. Whatever Ayarala had put on it definitely worked. Even my head and the bruises from falling into the cave felt better.
I gathered up my gear and hoisted it over Ayarala and out of the tent. Low clouds wreathed the mountain around us, and everything was moist with dew. I looked at the campfire from the previous night. There was no way I was getting that going again unless I found some dry kindling. But I’d gone camping enough to know there could be dry spots even with this mist.
Remembering the busang, I donned my armor and sword before trying to explore. We weren’t far from the canyon we’d been following, and I soon found myself looking out over the gorge and down at the stream below. I was looking for a small cave or overhang, and sure enough, I found a spot that was shielded from the mist.
I’d gathered up a small handful of promising kindling when I heard shouting behind me across the canyon. I looked over and saw a small group of figures moving around.
There were five of them, all of whom looked female, but they were not dwenda. They were taller and stockier than Ayarala and wore identical black clothing. I couldn’t see too many details through the mist, but if I wasn’t seeing things, they had tails.
Tails like cats.
They saw me as well. One of them shouted and pointed at me, and the others scrambled around her. Two of them lifted things that looked a lot like crossbows and pointed them in my direction. A moment later, two bolts came streaking across the canyon.
I jumped behind the overhang where I’d been gathering wood just in time to avoid being hit. Both bolts smacked into the rock wall I’d been standing in front of. The tips shattered, spraying some kind of liquid across the rock. Some of it splashed in my direction, and there was a smell like bitter roses. But I was far enough behind the overhang to avoid it.
Unfortunately, I was now also trapped there. The path back to the campsite was on the other side of the rock wall, and the only way back meant running through their line of fire.
I could hear them yelling to each other. I slowly peeked around the overhang to see what was going on. The leader was pointing again, and the two females who shot at me were scanning the area. They were definitely using something like a crossbow, but they were aiming them through long crystal tubes like a telescopic sight.
The Scarlet Cavern Page 4