Theirs to Share

by Jaye Peaches

  “I own it. I created it out of nothing.” Nieve lowered her head and voice. “Their food leaves a lot to be desired, don’t you think? Ghastly cubes or crunchy uncooked leaves. I had to do something.”

  “You wanted to stay?” Shayla whispered back.

  “Back on Earth my family are scattered, and although I miss some things, the lakes of this world are so beautiful after the deserts of my land. It was supposed to be just a few years,” she laughed, a bubbly kind, “and now I don’t want to go back.”

  Jago cleared his throat. “You don’t mind that humans are scarce? That you are alone?”

  Nieve straightened. “I’m not alone. I have made friends. There are other species that come here to live, Gifts from other planets who have stayed. We have much in common. Then, I met a few other humans. I have two friends who decided to stay on. One designs clothing—”

  “Dresses?” said Shayla.

  “Yes. Beautiful ones. The other is responsible for the music you’re hearing.”

  “It’s lovely.”

  Three women from Earth who’d chosen to make a future on Odesta and not gone back. What drew them to stay? Was there really a possibility to live amongst all these men and not feel threatened by their Hunger?

  Nieve excused herself, leaving them alone.

  “I didn’t think it was possible to work,” Shayla said.

  Jago poured water into their glasses. “There is no law forbidding it. Hezara allows free movement between worlds. There is nothing to stop any human from living here, if they chose.”

  “Really? I assumed differently, you know, because of the gifting. I mean what if more humans came and settled, men and women, wouldn’t that cause difficulties?”

  “Possibly.” Kriss swallowed a mouthful. “But nobody comes. The galaxy is huge. The incentives are small. Only a few have moved around, trading, or making a new life. The Gotti are the most adventurous. They harvest technology wherever they go, and we keep their routes of passage safe from the Violence.”

  “So you would protect Earthlings if we chose to travel, too?”

  Jago pursed his lips. “I suppose. I don’t know of any such request, though.”

  The food arrived on plates. The amber fish was very similar to salmon and dusted with herbs. The rice grains were twice the length of those on Earth, but equally fluffy and delicious. She savored every mouthful, sighing after she swallowed.

  Kriss prodded his fish for a while, sticking the fork here and there, before taking a mouthful. His face lit up, as did Jago’s.

  “Why don’t we eat fish more often?” Kriss smacked his lips. “This is like... I can’t describe it.” He tucked in, quickly demolishing the plateful until only tiny morsels were left. Jago was equally enthusiastic.

  Shayla took her time. She didn’t know if and when they might return to the eatery. Vouchers were hard to come by. The water cleared her palate, but she wanted something more complimentary to go with the fish. Nieve wandered close by and Shayla waved at her.

  “Hi. Don’t you have wine?” she asked.

  Nieve groaned. “Oh, if we did. It’s not that alcohol is forbidden, it’s just here there are no grapes. The soil is nutritious around the lakes, the sunshine plentiful. If we could cultivate grapes, I’m sure investors would help build a winery.”

  Shayla hadn’t thought about the commercial side of life on Odesta. With food being free, how was everything paid for? “There would be interest in such an enterprise?”

  Nieve nodded. “Oh, yes. Hezara are learning about it from other worlds. They don’t have a concept of money as we do on Earth. If they invest, they take a share of the product, and take it somewhere else, like another Hezara world, and swap it for something there. It’s like a barter system. Nothing has an actual value. It keeps basic food plentiful, cheap... and,” Nieve lowered her voice again, “ghastly.”

  Shayla laughed, and to her surprise, Jago and Kriss joined in.

  “Er, do you mind, but where’s the bathroom?” Shayla glanced around the room.

  “Oh, come this way, I’ll show you.”

  Shayla followed Nieve to the back of the eatery.

  “Mostly men here, so I suggest you use this, it’s for me and the Gotti women.” Nieve gestured to an unmarked door.

  Just before Shayla reached it, Nieve caught her sleeve. “I wasn’t being entirely honest with you about why I stayed,” she said.

  “Oh?”

  Nieve stared past Shayla to the tables, to Shayla’s nestors. The hubbub of the room drowned out their conversation, even though nobody would understand them as they spoke in English.

  “Yes, you see, I had three nestors, and I formed a close relationship with one in particular.”

  Shayla’s ears pricked up. “You fell in love?”

  “I suppose I saw it that way. I’m not sure they did. They don’t really get it, do they?”

  Shayla shook her head.

  “But,” Nieve said, her cheeks flushed by the memories, “I became attached to him. Then, they were called to action. Sent off to a distant world to fight the Violence, and sadly, he was killed.”

  A lump formed in Shayla’s throat. It wasn’t the outcome she was expecting. “I’m sorry.”

  “Oh, it was a long time ago. But I didn’t want to forget him, and staying here, where we lived in the city, helped keep him alive for me. Starting the restaurant, offering human-style food, gave me a good way of getting a backer, the investment was paid back through offering free meals. It’s how things are done...” Her sad voice trailed away. “It’s very different, isn’t it?”

  “Yes. And the Hunger?” Shayla tilted forward onto the balls of her feet. Nieve was tall.

  Nieve rolled her eyes. “The Hunger. If only it wasn’t so critical, so lauded by them, then it would be so much easier to encourage cooperation between us and them.”

  “I’m hoping to meet a queen.”

  “You are? That’s impossible.”

  “There are things she knows, I’m sure of it, that the nestors don’t, like why are there no females? Why—”

  Nieve pressed her finger to her lips. “Walls might not have ears, but best not say any more.” She stepped back. “It was nice meeting you, Shayla. Stop by again, when you can.”

  The abrupt ending to the conversation told Shayla only one thing—Nieve might have stayed on, but it wasn’t due to any pressure from Earth. She’d done it for the love of a man.

  Was such a thing possible for Shayla? Could she stay on Odesta with her nestors?

  Chapter Eighteen

  They moved as one. Two men and one woman locked together. This Hunger was like no other. Something had evolved between them and it went beyond the simple need to fulfill their destiny.

  When they fucked in the past, Jago had always used energy to find release, while Kriss sought power. With Shayla, the need had changed. Now, Jago wanted touch, the soothing caresses of her lips on his body, and the kneading massage of fingers on his back and shoulders. The sensual experiences had overridden the demanding vigor of relentless fucking. Every movement of his body was now about the sensory pleasures.

  He drew her tight to his chest and deeper onto his cock. Using her legs, she embraced him, allowing him to move, yet at the same time, she’d managed to keep him captive. As for Kriss, he’d tempered his strength. He remained content to plunder from behind, never too vigorously—he’d learned to savor her. They both had. Shayla moaned. Jago spotted the tell-tale sign of an impending orgasm: her lower lip trembled.

  “Please, please,” she murmured.

  A cry of permission. He indulged her, as he always did, by whispering a ‘yes’ in her ear.

  She clamped hard on his cock, and he experienced each rippling pulse traveling along his shaft. One of his hands was clutching her hair, and it formed a fist, holding her head up and away from his chest so he observed her face. He loved the open expression, which embodied the combination of pleasure and a little pain.

  Kriss’s thrusting

paused, as he too felt her contractions.

  Jago gritted his teeth; he was close, too close to the edge. If she continued to ride him this hard, and with Kriss plugging her, he would explode and empty inside her. The vessel was waiting to be filled, but he couldn’t bring himself to end things, not when the pleasure was so intense.

  Another few minutes...

  “Argh.” Jago shuddered, using all of his self-control to halt the orgasm. However, her clenching pussy had trapped him.

  He tried to ease her off him, but with Kriss pumping merrily away behind her, he’d no means to leverage himself from out of her. Instead, he arched his back and signaled his frustration with a jerk of her hair. Slowing the pace of her bucking hips, she smiled—the wicked creature. She knew he was near, and she was intent on teasing him, he was sure of it.

  Abruptly, Kriss cried out. Jago opened his eyes and looked over Shayla’s head to see his nestor grimacing.

  “Fuck,” he roared. “It’s gone.”

  At first Jago thought he meant the apex, but then when he saw Kriss’s eyes glaze over, the energy sap from his body, he understood. He’d seeded Shayla and not the vessel. He’d spilt too soon.

  “What’s wrong?” Shayla asked, trying to twist around. She lifted her weight off Jago, releasing him from her divine snare.

  Kriss stormed into the bathroom. Shayla started to rise, as if to follow him.

  “No, stay here.” Jago went after Kriss.

  His nestor was beating the wall with his fist. “I failed her.”

  “Who? The queen?” Jago reached out and touched Kriss’s shoulder.

  Kriss jerked. “She made me do it.” He turned, showing Jago the glowing embers of his heart. The illumination of the beating organ was fading, as was the intricate purple pattern on his waning cock. The heat was gone from him. There was no getting it back.

  “Made you?” Jago pushed Kriss against the wall. “Explain.”

  “She... she wanted me, I felt it...” Kriss’s eyes feverishly darted about the room.

  There was no way Jago was letting Kriss back near Shayla in a state of anger. “How? She came, yes, but she’s done that many times before while you fuck her.”

  “It’s different now, though, isn’t it.” Kriss knocked the back of his head against the wall.

  Jago sighed; he understood. “She’s not doing it on purpose.”

  “I came in here because I felt determined to punish her, spank her—”

  “You can’t blame—”

  “I know,” Kriss said curtly. His shoulders drooped, and he swept Jago’s hands off his shoulders. “I know.” His tone softened. “What do you think it means?”

  Jago washed his hands under a flow of water. He had yet to spill. Shayla was waiting for them, probably in a state of confusion. “I guess it means this love thing is working.”

  “I value her more than my queen?” Kriss’s troubled voice was stretched thin.

  Jago couldn’t possibly know the answer to that question. “I will fill the vessel,” Jago reassured him.

  “But only you? This is sacrilege, is it not?”

  “It is... awkward.” Jago’s cock twitched, the balls ached. He wanted to be back inside her, feeling his way to the end. This could have easily happened to him. “I nearly... It’s not just you.”

  “We will have to give her up, won’t we?” The color drained from Kriss’s face.

  “Why?”

  “The sensors.” Kriss pointed to the far wall. On the other side, the panel would have recorded their physical responses, heartrate, and body temperature. It would know he had achieved his orgasm.

  “It knows you spilt, but not where,” Jago said.

  Kriss paced, taking his time to calm down. Jago let him—Kriss had to think things through.

  “Take a shower. I’ve got to...” Jago jabbed his thumb over his shoulder.

  “Sure...” Kriss switched on the shower.

  Jago left the bathroom.

  Shayla was kneeling on a cushion, her skin was pink and glowing, her eyes watery. She’d been crying.

  “It’s my fault, isn’t it,” she said, hurrying to Jago’s side. “I should say something—”

  “No. Don’t. It’s not your fault. He needs to cool down.” Jago tilted her pretty face up and brushed the rogue locks of hair out of her eyes.

  Beautiful, and crushingly so with her pale pupils and long eyelashes. He settled his lips on hers and treated her to a lengthy kiss. She relaxed in his arms, allowing him to walk her back to the cushions.

  “Just your mouth,” he said and nudged her down by his feet.

  If she sucked him, he might be able to control where he delivered it. He grabbed the vessel, making sure it was close by. She toyed with him, licking and tickling his balls. Slowly, she inched her tongue along his erection, following the purple lines, until the tip of his cock touched the back of her throat. She gulped down air and sucked hard.

  His balls tightened. The rush of adrenaline stoked him into action. Stepping back, he aimed for the vessel and a fountain shot out into the base of it. Somehow, he managed to fill it on his own. With luck, nobody would notice it was just his.

  Shayla flopped into the cushions, exhausted by the hours of sex. Placing the vessel to one side, he lay next to her, keeping her in his arms. The bathroom door open and out of it emerged Kriss.

  Jago scrambled to his feet, his eyes wide open with surprise. “How?”

  “I don’t know,” Kriss said, staring down. “It just bounced back up.”

  “Amazing. A miracle.”

  Shayla stirred. “Kriss... I’m sor—” The word ended abruptly. She licked her lips. “That is pretty impressive.”

  Jago laughed. “I think Kriss is wanting more action.”

  His nestor sauntered forward, the confidence back, the eagerness obvious. “Sure. This time, I’m going to make it count.”

  Jago left them to it. He spent a while under the shower, enjoying the temperature of the water as he lowered it incrementally. The coolness helped. Kriss wasn’t alone in discovering something miraculous. Jago was damn sure if he’d had the opportunity, he could have gone again, and maybe a third time.

  What had Shayla done to them?

  If love could make a Hezara overcome the Hunger, perhaps control the timings of the spill, then it meant they could do it when they wanted, as often as they wished, and not have sex dictated to them by a calendar. What Kriss had achieved had to be a benefit to them all. Shayla, and the other Gifts, would not be inundated by hungry nestors all on one day, and the nestors themselves could control their urges. With their appetites spread out, they could enjoy the pleasure of sex without the pressure of performance.

  Jago switched off the stream of water. It was time to present their findings to the queen. There was no reason to be ashamed. What had happened today was going to make a big difference to all Hezara across the galaxy.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “This way.” Kriss took Shayla’s hand.

  She needed his cool grasp. Her fingers were trembling, and nothing, no calm thoughts, seemed to stop them.

  The elevator descended. A long drop into a subterranean world beneath the lake. Finally the queen had sanctioned a visit.

  Jago was waiting for them. He’d gone ahead to ensure formalities were correctly followed. She wore her smartest dress—made by Nieve’s friend.

  “Do I bring a gift?” she’d asked Kriss.

  The question had amused Kriss. “My love angel, you are the gift. Without you, the queen would struggle to fulfill her task. Our seed is plentiful because of you, which isn’t the case when relying on other means.” He carefully avoided references to Tina. The queen’s so-called task lacked something in Kriss’s tactful description. She lived alone and could only imagine what went on with the droids. Her own contribution was clinical and emotionless, hardly the basis for a meaningful relationship with any man.

  Shayla was far from comfortable with her surroundings: the passageways were hewn out of rock and dimly lit. Poor queen, stuck underground, unseen.

  “It’s like a mine,” she said.

  Jago led the way. “This part is the outer construct. It’s designed to take the blast of a bomb. When this planet was colonized, the Violence were closer.”

  A door opened and a beam of light dazzled Shayla. She sheltered her eyes with her hand. Stepping forward, her vision adjusted. They were walking through a vast cavern, but the walls were made from smoothed stone. Above her head, at the apex of the ceiling, was a glass skylight, a circle carved into the rock. Through it, the sun shone, and the beams splashed across the floor.

  There were Gotti, a few huddled together talking, and other Hezara guardians.

  “This is the assembly area,” Jago explained. “Over there, are the labs where the embryos are cultivated.”

  He made them sound like plants lined up in a greenhouse. The language he used was clinical and regrettable. No babies, no happy mothers or fathers.

  “From there, they are transplanted into the incubators, two, three or more, depending on the genetic similarities. Jago and I were born in a place just like this on our home world, Hinom.”

  They skirted the outside wall and came to another imposing door covered in intricate carvings.

  “This is the queen’s domain. Only we, and her Gotti, are allowed in.” Kriss pressed his palm against a console and the door slid aside.

  “Come,” Jago said, offering her his hand.

  Sandwiched between them, she entered a blue lit corridor. The ground was carpeted, softening their footfalls. The silence formidable.

  “I’m so nervous,” she whispered. The walls flickered with tiny lights that followed them. A shiver went down her spine. “The walls are moving.”

  “Sensors are scanning. We’ve cleared your profile, so it won’t set off an alarm.”

  So much security was claustrophobic. Another door, and this time, Kriss opened it with a retinal scan.

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