by Ann Aguirre
The house was dim and cool, and most of the modern conveniences they’d enjoyed in the city were lacking. With walls made of solid rock, they couldn’t be wired for power, at least not the way she understood it, but Zylar started setting up equipment, and soon they had lights and working tech. Well, the message terminal anyway.
“We’re leaving now,” the head of the flight crew said.
Zylar accompanied them back to the landing site, while Beryl tried to figure out how to use the space they’d been allotted. There were three rooms, one of which seemed to be a bathing facility, but it didn’t work like the one in the city. There was a curved stone ledge at one side of the space with three metal handles. She fiddled with the levers and was absolutely elated when warm water trickled into the basin.
Oh my God, it’s a bathtub. Sort of.
Doubtless, Zylar would call these facilities primitive beyond all tolerance, but Beryl was freaking delighted. All told, this wasn’t as bad as she’d feared. It reminded her a little of a hippy desert commune she’d visited once. The main difference was that this place didn’t reek of skunkweed. In the next room, she found what had to be a machine meant for manually preparing food.
By the time Zylar returned, she was assembling the frame for the hammock. If the Council had tried to confiscate it, Beryl would’ve thrown a shit fit of epic proportions. There were no windows, and the front door was a heavy metal slab that recessed into the rock wall, an industrial pocket door. It looked as if it would repel anything but a nuclear blast.
“What do you think of our new home?” he asked, his tone guarded.
He held a basket of fresh ingredients, the alien equivalent of fruits, vegetables, and grains. Her heart went wild. I can cook for him, figure out what suits both our palates. That was what had been missing in Srila, which made their banishment a boon. Even if she had to make different dishes due to divergent nutritional profiles, this was still an awesome development. While Zylar thought the Barrens were a profound punishment, to Beryl, the place felt even more like home.
“You’re here. It’s perfect. And as soon as I put our nest together, I intend to have the best sex of my life to christen the place.”
“Am I invited?”
“That was the plan, unless you prefer to watch.”
His neck ruff responded to her tease, frilling a little. “Not this time, though I don’t disavow that intention for another occasion. Let me help you.”
Yeah, she suspected his eagerness to build furniture had to do with the reward that came after, but they had the thing constructed in record time. The rest of their stuff could wait.
“Is it safe for Snaps to wander?”
“Not at all. I already asked him to guard the dirt dogs for a little while.”
She beamed. “Liking that foresight.”
With a grin that felt wicked, she stripped out of her dress. This time, they didn’t measure their touches or wait to gauge the reactions. His claws scraped her skin as her mouth skimmed his neck ruff, caressing every part of him that she knew provided sensation.
Soon, they were both breathing hard, with Beryl inhaling the unmistakable scent of his excitement, fluids glistening on his sex. Her pussy felt soft and slick as well, and he surprised her by lifting her and carrying her to the nest with an eagerness she fully shared.
First they’d been separated as part of Kurr’s plan, then they were anxious, distracted by the imminent decision, and afterward, there had been so much frantic preparation for the move. Now, desire drowned her in a drenching wave, soul-deep need that left her trembling as he pressed her back into the soft hammock.
“I have a surprise for you. After Helix told me Ryzven had hidden data files on your people, I did some research and I created something special before we left.”
He presented his claw with a flourish, two of them now tipped with a flexible material. She moaned, guessing what he had in mind.
“Oh God,” she whispered. Ryzven must have been watching human porn that featured a bunch of sex toys.
“Would you enjoy this?”
“Only one way to find out.” She fell back and parted her thighs, inviting him to test his invention.
God bless his dirty, inventive mind.
When he slid the first sheathed talon inside her, it felt incredible. Since he was a quick study, he’d already learned how to tantalize her clit, and he used the other tip gently, stroking with easy pressure as he watched her reaction to the movement inside. In response, she lifted her hips, circling them to create even more delicious friction.
“How is it?”
She swallowed hard, working to form words over the rush of sensation. “So good. If you keep going, just like this, I’ll come.”
“I want to see it happen.” There, his voice hit that subharmonic growl that never failed to get her hot, and with him working her body in inexorable strokes, she only burned brighter, her clit tingling with each delicate touch.
Beryl moved her hips faster and faster, eyes locked on Zylar’s face, his strangely beautiful, alien features so familiar and dear to her now. His neck ruff stood up completely, and his plates were wide open, his sex gleaming with wetness.
He likes this as much as I do.
That thought put her over, his longing almost as powerful as his touch, and she came with a hard clench, her body arching. She panted and moaned, mumbled incoherent words of desire and adoration as he coaxed another little orgasm out of her.
“Fuck,” she breathed, when he finally slid his sheathed claws away, now incredibly wet with her juices.
Then he did something completely unexpected. With the sheathed tip of his lower claw, he pressed into his sex. The angle was a bit awkward, but he managed. And he hissed, as if astonished that he could create the same sensation that she invoked with her fingers.
Yeah, I taught my lover how to masturbate. What about it?
If she hadn’t been so fucking shaky, she would’ve gotten up to strut in sheer pride. Instead, she reached for him, wanting to help him get there, and he set her hand on the outside of his sex.
“Touch me here, just like that. I want to see if I can…” He hissed, unable to finish the thought.
But she knew; he was curious if he could get himself off. Truly, everyone should be able to, if they had the desire. So she only stroked and caressed the puffy softness of his sex, letting him learn.
Maybe the catalyst of her fluids helped, mingling with his, but it didn’t take long for him to find a rhythm, rubbing that spot she knew so well, and then he hissed nonstop as his sex overflowed with the force of his release.
“Incredible,” he groaned, when he could speak. “Others might find self-manipulation to be an unspeakable perversion, but I am enthralled.”
“I’m so glad. I would never intentionally withhold pleasure, love, but you shouldn’t be dependent on my mood to have your needs met.”
He tumbled to the side, falling hard against the hammock wall, making it sway, and Beryl snuggled against his side, content as she never had been on Earth. This is exactly where I’m meant to be.
“I love you,” she whispered.
“And I adore you.” Zylar raised his voice, likely to carry it outside the room. “Snaps, you can stop guarding and join us. We should spend our first night in our new home as a family.”
That’s what we are.
And no matter what happened in the Barrens, their love was worth fighting for, and Beryl would never, ever stop, because she was the most fearsome nest-guardian Barath had ever seen. And the luckiest.
Of all the mock battlefields in all the galaxies, in all the universe, Zylar found the one where I was grumpily picking up trash, hating my life.
Clearly, this strange love, orchestrated by a diabolically devoted AI was her destiny, a happy ending written in binary code and shining like the stars.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
If you wonder where I got my ideas for alien junk, check this out—search ‘cave insects with sex-reversed
genitals’. After I read that article, I had to use it and incorporated many of those facts into worldbuilding for the Barathi, though I gave the alien females multiple gynosomes. Nature is fascinating!
If you enjoyed STRANGE LOVE, peruse some of my other work. I’ve written in many genres, including urban fantasy and science fiction. My paranormal romance series that starts with THE LEOPARD KING. Lots of delicious stories to savor.
To keep up with my news, releases, get free content, and be eligible for exclusive giveaways, subscribe to my newsletter at www.annaguirre.com.
Also, please consider leaving a review if you loved this book. Your feedback helps me a lot, and it guides other readers to stories they’ll adore too.
Galactic Love is a three-book series:
STRANGE LOVE
LOVE CODE
RENEGADE LOVE
Thanks so much for your time and support.
