Maybe I’m the first person who ever stood up for him in his life, I don’t know.
H’looder and the techs bid us goodnight and I wait for the lab door to close behind them, leaving us alone, before I speak.
“Would you prefer I turn around to give you privacy?” I ask.
He sits up. “It is not necessary.” He pulls the blanket aside, and I take it from him and fold it while he stands and pulls on his clothes.
This gives me a moment to study him and appreciate how much taller and bigger he is than me. But he’s like a gentle giant. I could be wrong, but I suspect, based on what I feel from him, that he’s not a mean guy. Not the slightest bit violent or aggressive.
Once he’s dressed I lead the way to my cabin. His things, which aren’t many, just two bags, have already been brought there. I order me a midnight snack and add a few Pfahrn-friendly foods to the order.
“That’ll be here in a few minutes,” I tell him, and he nods.
Now I understand why my bed is so freaking large. It needs to be, to accommodate Mohrn.
Also explains the unusually tall shower stall in my bathroom, which I hadn’t really pondered until now.
I walk over to the bed and sit on the edge, then pat the mattress next to me. It’s like he’s trying to figure out if I’m being genuine or not, but after a moment he slowly crosses the cabin and joins me.
I lay my hand over his on his thigh and lace fingers with him. Or, I try to. His hand’s freaking huge. But I look up at him. Sitting next to him, the difference in height isn’t nearly as dramatic because he’s got long, muscled legs, while his torso is a little shorter in proportion.
“Do you understand Standard because you speak it, or because of a translator chip?”
When he answers, I realize he’s speaking Pfahrn, but my translator is taking up the slack. “The translator chip. I would very much like to learn Standard, but no one in my clan speaks it.”
“I’d like to learn to speak Pfahrn,” I tell him. “See? There’s something we have in common.” I take out my com with my free hand and pull up a picture of me and Mom and Hells. “This is my family. That’s my mom, and my sister.”
He looks a little…confused. “Sibling and parent?”
“Yeah. Humans have two genders. I’m her brother, she’s my sister. I’ll warn you ahead of time, I’m probably going to be stupid and call you he instead of them. I’ll try to get better at that.”
Mohrn’s turquoise gaze lingers on me, studying me. “It is all right,” he softly says.
Okay, yeah, in my head, he’s going to be he for a while longer.
Cut me some slack, he was she up until less than an hour ago. I call that progress.
“No, it’s not all right. I need to do better.” I gently squeeze his hand. “H’looder told me we can’t have penetrative sex until after the ceremony. But we can fool around together and do other things before that. Would you like that?”
“I…I do not know if I will like it. I have never done it before.”
That was the wrong way to ask the question. “Would you like to attempt it, I mean?”
He finally nods. “That would be agreeable.” His voice is so damn soft, like he’s afraid to be heard.
“I’m sorry for the situation for you,” I say. “Did you want to talk about it?”
Now his gaze leaves me. He stares down at where our hands are still joined. “There was a vehicle accident and someone died. I accept responsibility for it.”
My bullshit buzzer goes off but I don’t want to press for more right now and risk undoing the little bit of progress I’ve just made. “Accidents can happen to anyone, though. Doesn’t seem fair making you go to jail for it.”
He still won’t look at me. “It is the contract I agreed to.”
Another bullshit buzzer goes off, even louder.
I squeeze his hand again. “What I’m trying to tell you is I don’t hold it against you. I don’t look down on you for it. I don’t think less of you for it. It doesn’t bother me.” I hope some combination of those phrases make sense to him. Mohrn’s gaze slowly returns to my face, and I have to tip my head to look him squarely in the eyes. “Understand?”
He finally nods. “Thank you.”
“Do you have any pictures of your family?”
He shakes his head. “No. Not with me.”
“Tell me about your family…”
And he does, while we await our order. Two older siblings, and a parent, although he is also very close to the neighbor and their two offspring, who are both younger than Mohrn.
“They are close friends,” Mohrn says. “Yyallohrn is Khalden. That is a lawmaker. I grew up wishing I could be like them until I realized I never can.”
“Why can’t you?” I ask.
He scowls. “Because I am ishblane.”
“So?”
I’ve stumped him. “Do you not understand I am…different?”
“Yeah, you’re pink instead of green. So?”
“So?” he asks, but it’s confusion, repeating what I said.
“So what if you’re pink instead of green? Why can’t you be a lawmaker?”
“Because…ishblane do not do that.”
“Why?”
More confusion. “Why?”
“Yeah,” I say. “Why can’t ishblane be lawmakers?”
“Because…they cannot.”
I feel like we’re circling around the issue. I obviously need to refer to the packet of information to see if there’s something about this in there, and it’s frustrating Mohrn that I don’t understand. “Never mind, we can talk about that later.” Then our food arrives, and I get us set up at the table to eat.
He studies my food as I start plowing through it. “I have never seen food like that.”
“I normally don’t eat this much. H’looder says it’s because of the bionanotech. That it’ll settle down and I’ll go back to normal amounts once it’s all leveled out in my system.”
“Oh.” He starts eating his food, which looks like some sort of fruit or vegetables.
I know one of the things I want to learn how to do is cook for him.
Right now, I want to make him feel at home as much as possible.
After we eat, I stand and hold out my hand to him. “Let’s go take a shower. Then I need to sleep. It’s the middle of the night for us here on the ship, and I’m exhausted.”
He looks at my hand for a moment before finally taking it and letting me lead him to the bathroom.
I take the lead, undressing first and then helping him undress before stepping into the shower, although I haven’t turned on the water yet. “Guess you won’t have any trouble washing my hair for me,” I tease, hoping he realizes it’s a joke.
Mohrn touches my hair, his eyes going wide as he realizes what it feels like, letting it slip through his fingers. “It feels very soft.”
I smile, enjoying this. Both the look of wonderment on his face and the feel of his fingers on my scalp. “Feel free to play with it.”
He does, alternately petting me like I’m a cat, and ruffling it, smoothing it, raking his fingers through it. “Do you feel that?” he asks.
“I do. Not all the way to the ends, just around my scalp.” That’s when he seems to notice I have hair elsewhere, like on my chest, my armpits, my arms, my legs.
Around my cock and balls.
I can see him looking, as if he wants to touch but is afraid to.
My cock wants him to touch. Very much so.
I grab his hand and guide him there. “It’s okay, buddy. This is what we’re supposed to do. Fair’s fair.
“How do you protect yourself?”
I snort. “Clothes. I mean, humans, we also have this thing called a cup we can wear over it that’s hard, for extra protection. But we have an outie. I mean, except women, theirs is an innie, but not like yours.”
My cock’s fully hard now and I’m starting to dribble a little, but that’s okay.
Then, it’s like he realiz
es what he’s doing and freezes, meets my gaze. “Is this okay?”
“Oh, buddy, it’s very okay.” He smells sooooo fucking good. I wish I could peg what it reminds me of, but I can’t right now.
Finally, I turn the water on. With my back pressed against his chest, I pull his arms around me and cup my hand around his on my cock. “Like this,” I hoarsely say, beyond worried if this makes me look needy or not.
I help him stroke me off, and holy fuck does it feel good having someone else’s hand around my cock—and I don’t mean a technician.
I stand there leaning against him, feeling shaky and weak for a moment. “That was really good,” I tell him.
“You are very slippery.”
I laugh. “Apparently I get even more slippery.” I turn in his arms and wrap mine around him, looking up at him. “They gave me a little extra ability so we won’t need lube, apparently.” Instead of telling him more, I reach behind me and guide his hand down, two fingers easily pressing in even with his larger size.
I nearly see stars, my cock immediately hard again as I lean against him. “Oh, holy fuck! Yeah!” Before I know it, I’m rocking back and forth and he’s using his hand on me, and I’m suddenly realizing I think I’m going to be completely okay getting plowed by this guy.
Because…damn!
I shoot between the friction of my cock rubbing against his thigh where I’m humping myself against him and the feel of his fingers massaging my prostate. As I’m coming down from that, I have to hold on to him or I’m going to hit the floor, seriously.
“You are right—you did get more slippery.”
I snort. “You ain’t kidding.” I look up. “Want another turn?”
“Turn?”
“Orgasm. Pleasure. Want me to get you off again?”
This is all new to him, obviously, and I’m sensing he’s overwhelmed. “I can wait. You said you are sleepy.”
I cup my hand around the outside of his pouch. “I got energy for this.” I massage him. “Like that?”
A low, rumbling chuffing kind of sound escapes him, and he leans against the back wall of the shower. “Yes!” he gasps.
Turns out I can get him off like that, too. Nice to know. Now satisfied, we both clean up and, not bothering with clothes, we head to bed.
I get comfortable, with him snuggled in my arms this time, and even though he’s bigger than me, it still feels right.
He seems to like it.
“Lights—sleeping,” I say, and they shut off except for a very dim nightlight near the bathroom door.
I think he’s already asleep but he speaks a few minutes later. “Thank you, Simon, for signing the contract. I am glad it is you.”
I nuzzle the top of his head. “You’re welcome, buddy. I’m glad it’s me, too. I promise I’m going to do my best to help you through this.”
Chapter Eighteen
No shit, best sleep ever.
No nightmares, no waking up, or being restless—nothing.
And considering some of the shit I witnessed and nearly died from in the military, that is a huuuuge fucking deal.
When I awaken, though, I find myself alone in bed. I lift my head and look around. Mohrn sits at the table, his back to me, and I don’t know what he’s doing. There’s one dim light on over the table.
“Hey, buddy,” I say as I sit up. “Good morning.”
He looks over his shoulder at me. “I am sorry. Did I wake you?”
“No, I woke myself. I’ll be right back.” I head to the bathroom and use it, don’t bother with clothes—because why?—and return to the bedroom. When I walk over to him, I realize he’s drawing with a pencil on a notepad. I don’t know how long he’s been awake.
Since I’m standing behind him, I take the risk of resting my hands on his shoulders. I realize he’s also naked as he sits there…drawing.
I don’t mean he’s doodling on a napkin, either. I mean, he’s got what looks like a well-used pencil, and he’s drawing on a page in a thin, journal-sized notebook with plain paper.
He’s drawing me.
Drawing might not even be the best word here, because his technique is fucking amazing. I mean, seriously. It’s very realistic, with texture and shading that doesn’t seem possible with just one damn pencil. It’s a profile view of me, shoulders up, and I can tell from my shirt collar and the wall behind me that it’s from when we were talking in H’looder’s office after we first met.
“That’s amazing,” I whisper, awestruck. In the image I’m looking forward, presumably at H’looder, and he’s captured me with a little bit of a smile on my face.
“Thank you. It is something I do in my spare time. It…soothes me.”
I can’t help it—I lean in and bury my face in his hair and inhale. “You smell soooo good,” I mumble. As I do, I realize my cock is fucking hard, man. I mean, painfully hard.
I wish I could identify the scent Mohrn reminds me of. It’s like it’s something I should know, and it’s driving me freaking crazy that I can’t think of what.
“Are you…smelling my head?” he asks.
“Yep,” I mumble, with my nose practically pressed against his scalp. “Because you smell good.”
“I…do?”
“Yeah.” I deeply inhale, feeling slightly heady from the sensation of him wafting through my lungs.
Damn.
“Is this a normal human thing?”
“I don’t know.” I take another deep breath. “But you smell good, dude.” I’m reeeeally struggling not to start humping myself against his back, even as he sits in the chair.
Fuck, man. I am an absolute slut right now. I’ve never felt like this before. I try to tell myself that it’s what H’looder and his technicians did to us making me react like this—and that reacting like this is fine and dandy because of the contract—but it doesn’t feel…contrived.
Orchestrated.
It feels…real.
To me, at least.
Mohrn sits there, still drawing. I’m torn between wanting to watch him create a beautiful piece of artwork and wanting to fuck his brains out.
Except we’re not supposed to actually fuck yet.
“Are you all right, Simon?” he asks.
Another deep inhale. “Yeah. Horny as hell, though.”
Mohrn’s hand pauses. He’s a righty. “I do not know if I have the vocabulary for what I am feeling right now.”
Poor guy. This isn’t just new to him because it’s sex, it’s new to him, period.
I sniff my way down the back of his head to the nape of his neck and kiss him there. His skin feels rough against my lips. “It’s okay not to know what to call it.”
“I have enjoyed what we have done so far.”
“Excellent, because so have I.” I’m about to suggest we return to bed to continue the getting-to-know-each other fun, but then my stomach grumbles.
Mohrn looks back at me. The confused expression on his face makes me laugh. “That was my stomach telling me to feed it,” I joke.
“Your…stomach talks to you?”
That makes me laugh again. “Not literally. Metaphorically. Are you hungry?”
He nods. I call us in an order of food, and of course H’looder calls me almost immediately.
“Hey, Doc.”
“Good morning, Simon. Mohrn.”
Mohrn is head-down over his drawing once more. “Good morning, Dr. H’looder,” he says.
“Did you have a good evening?” H’looder asks.
“Yeah, we did,” I say. “We’re about to have breakfast, and then maybe some fun before we come on over to the lab.”
“We need to leave in three hours for Pfahrn to make it down there in time to file the marriage contract today. Otherwise, we have to wait until tomorrow. Meaning you’ll have to wait an additional day before you can have intercourse.”
“We’ll be there,” I tell him.
Because, you know what?
I don’t want to fucking wait.
&n
bsp; I want to make Mohrn make those faces and noises again. I want to ease the erotic ache deep inside me that I instinctively know will only be sated by that gigantic cock I’ve gotten to play with.
I want to make love to him and see what other kinds of faces my cock can coax out of him.
Them.
Whatever.
“You don’t need to come to the lab this morning,” H’looder tells us. “Meet us at the docking bay in three hours.”
I check the time. “We’ll see you there. How long will we be on the planet?”
“Not long. We’ll handle that matter, then take you by the estate so you can meet Mohrn’s family.”
I’d walked over to stand behind Mohrn again, and my hands are resting on Mohrn’s shoulders. When H’looder says that, I feel Mohrn tense.
“Are we coming back up here after?” I ask, my focus now totally on Mohrn.
“Oh, absolutely. We’ll have a quick chat and discuss the, eh, logistics one more time, take care of a couple of quick tasks, and then you can do what I suspect you’re growing more eager to do.”
Fuck you, Doc.
But I don’t say that.
What I notice is how Mohrn relaxes again upon hearing we’ll be returning here tonight.
“Thanks, Doc. We’ll see you in a few hours.”
“Have fun.” He ends the connection.
Mohrn continues drawing.
I stand there, my hands on his shoulders. I tentatively try massaging them and realize I’ll need to use a lot more pressure than I would for a human but I don’t want to interrupt his drawing.
“Dr. H’looder told me that Pfahrn don’t lie,” I say.
Mohrn slowly nods. “Honesty is first.”
“Why’d you tense up until H’looder said we were coming back here?”
He pauses. I don’t rush him.
Finally, “I…am not sure. Home does not feel nearly as comfortable when I compare it to the little time I have already spent with you.”
Dammit. The big pink bastard’s going to make me cry. “You feel comfortable with me?”
He slowly nods again. “Yes.” I step to his side so he can look up at me. “I have never felt like this with someone. Is this what they did to us?”
I smile as I boop his nose. “Does it matter?”
He’s a Pfahrn of much contemplation, I guess. Takes him a while to answer me. “I do not know what that means for me…after.”
Jailmates Page 14
