by Zara Zenia
She smiled, her lips curved in a gentle smile. "You can't help who you love."
8
Cara knew on her drive home that night that she had fallen for Egrix. She hadn't wanted to admit it even after the dream she'd had, but everything had changed when he told her about himself. She could feel the romantic, warm heart that was buried under the aggression he disguised himself with. After such a short time, she had become completely infatuated with him in every way and the thought made her giddy with delight.
As she lay in bed, her hair still wet from the quick shower she'd taken, she tried to fight the racing thoughts in her head that were keeping her awake. She wanted to go to sleep so she could see Egrix again as soon as possible, but her mind kept playing the events of the day over in her head. The sadness weighing on him as he'd told her about the horrible transgressions he'd had against his boss let her know that his feelings were real even as they were misguided. She could feel the pain that he had felt after losing the woman he loved, escalated by his banishment and the cruel but reasonable anger of his superior.
As she'd held his hand, she'd wanted to make him forget that hurt, knowing that his heart was much more tender than the impression he gave. She wanted to heal him, but she could also now admit just how badly she wanted to be the object of that adoring heart. Cara wished that those sad feelings could be transformed to blissful ones with her.
"I need to sleep," she whispered out loud to herself, commanding her obstinate thoughts and finally letting the darkness take over her vision.
Cara's Christmas dream came back to her again. The house was decorated as it had been the first time, and she sat between her parents as they happily waited for a guest. This time, she knew it would be Egrix, but she was just as excited. When the knock came and the three of them went running, Cara was the one to reach the door first. She opened it excitedly and jumped into Egrix's waiting arms on the other side. He whispered something in her ear that she couldn't understand, then the sky darkened with clouds suddenly. Egrix placed one of his hands against her chest and pushed her through the door and into the house, closing the door behind him. Cara looked around, not surprised to see her parents were no longer there, but she couldn't take her attention off of this Egrix for long, as he pressed her up against the wall.
Outside of the house rain began to pour, with sounds of thunder rumbling darkly. With her back pressed up against the wall, Egrix had her trapped. He leaned in again, his yellow eyes darkened and shining. His lips captured hers, but the kiss was rough. His hand curled in her hair, pressing her face to his as he snaked his tongue into her mouth. Cara was confused, but she was also completely enraptured by the moment, unable and not wanting to fight back. As they kissed, Egrix pulled his jacket off, then his shirt. His hands began to undress Cara as well, but she couldn't stop him. She didn't even try to stop him as he traced his fingers along her skin, leaving chills running through her body.
Egrix pressed her against the wall again, but as she leaned back into it lightning flashed and she suddenly fell into a bed with Egrix now poised over her. Both of them were naked and Egrix's face was a mask of desire. Lightning continued to strike around them as he leaned in to kiss her again, his cock hovering against the lips of her core. Just as he pushed into her, Cara's eyes snapped open to greet the morning sun.
"Not again!" Cara cried out, hiding her burning face in her hands.
Cara decided to leave the house early again the next morning. She was still tired after going to bed later than she had intended to and yawned animatedly as she drove into town. She had managed to process her negatives the day before after getting home and she had them with her. She took some pictures around town for Egrix's research then spent a few hours in her bathroom/ printshop working through her photo negatives to produce some workable photographs. She was proud of what she'd gotten over the course of a few days and couldn't wait to show them to Egrix.
A banging noise startled Egrix awake from a restless sleep. He was exhausted from dealing with the mixed cacophony of emotions he had been avoiding since landing on this planet. When Cara had been there, it was easy for him to take comfort in her and work through the difficult feelings, but after she had left, he spent hours wrestling with his own thoughts. He sat up on his bed, pressing the palms of his hands against his tired eyes, then it suddenly occurred to him that someone had knocked and woken him up. In a flash he jumped from the bed and sprinted across the room. Cara was there, on the other side, waiting for him.
Part of him was alarmed by how attached he had grown to her as his eyes took her in. The fast, anxious beating of his heart was a sure sign of how much power she had over him. Stronger than his worry, however, was his desire to be with Cara. Her sweet, genuine smile, frosty blue gaze, and pure compassion were intoxicating. He motioned for the door to open, an impatient energy building up within him.
"Cara," he said softly, acknowledging her arrival before suddenly, without warning stepping toward her and engulfing her in a hug.
Cara's heartbeat against his chest beat quickly as he held her close to him. She hugged him back, a lilting giggle escaping from her sweet lips.
"Good morning, Egrix." She pulled back from him, looking into his face, which he knew held a familiar golden flush across it.
He made no attempt to hide his satisfaction at seeing her, taking her hand and pulling her through the door of his home with him with the door sliding closed behind them.
"So," Egrix turned around and cocked an eyebrow at her, "Did I make you fall for me just now?"
Cara gasped at his blunt question, and her cheeks turned bright red.
A smile broke out on Egrix's face, and he couldn't help but laugh at how flustered he'd made her. "I'm just kidding, Cara. I'm in a good mood so I teased you, but I won't do it again, I promise." He gently patted her head, while she glared at him and his mischievous smile.
"And to think," she retorted spitefully, "I brought you a present today."
"A present? What could that be?"
Cara returned his playful look, obviously not willing to let him get away with teasing her. "I guess I'll just hold onto it. I couldn't possibly reward your misbehavior with a gift."
They laughed together.
"What is it that you've got for me?" Egrix asked, halting the flirting banter to sit at the kitchen table and wait for Cara's big reveal.
"I printed my negatives today I took some more shots around town again, and I also printed a couple of pictures for you."
Egrix smiled widely at the opportunity to witness the photographs Cara was so passionate about. "Let me see."
Cara spread out the research photos first, explaining that they were just more examples that he could use for his study or send back to headquarters. He nodded but he didn't look at the photos.
"I don't want to work right now. I want to see your pictures," he insisted.
Cara blushed, a happy smile on her lips, before gently reaching into her bag and pulling out an envelope of pictures. She picked out a selection of them, and he figured they were the duplicates she'd mentioned he could have. There were several shots of the crystal blue water front of their beach day. Some of these had ocean life with them and one showed Egrix from a view inside the water, distorting him interestingly.
"I also thought you might like some of the contrast shots of the beach outside the cavern." She pointed to a group of shots.
He took in one of a crab scuttling goofily around near the cave entrance and it made him smile. Finally, there was the image Cara had asked Egrix to take with her. Egrix was surprised to see himself in human form standing beside the woman he now regarded fondly. The water was a deep, sapphire blue accented by the baby blue tones in the sky and the frothy white of the waves.
"I wasn't exactly sure what you'd like, but I tried to pick ones that reminded me of you. If you want any copies of the other ones I can print them later," she slid the stack she'd sorted out for him to his side of the table, "but these are yours."<
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Egrix picked up the picture that Cara had taken of both of them and studied every detail of it. He couldn't get used to his appearance in these photos where he looked like a different man. Despite that, he was impressed with the huge smile that almost didn't fit on his face. Now he turned his attention to the woman in the photo that had brought that out of him. Looking at her small form he felt a tug on his heart. She was warm and sweet, but she was also incredibly attractive. He felt a strange amount of gratitude toward her after only a few days, but, as he looked away from the photo to her now, he also had another urge bubbling inside of him.
"Cara," he called to her, his voice heavy as he admired the gentle curves of her ears, her nose, her lips.
She turned away from the exposure shots in front of her, looking curiously into his yellow eyes. Any words he had planned to say left his mind completely as he was enraptured by her ice blue gaze. He lifted his hand to cup her cheek, surprising her, but she leaned against his palm as he gently caressed her with his thumb.
"Cara," he said again, in a voice so deep it was almost a whisper. He furrowed his brows slightly, then he leaned toward her.
Cara's heart beat ferociously as she realized the event from her dream a few nights before was happening in front of her. Egrix's pale face, his penetrating eyes, his pursed lips, were moving closer to her. Her eyes fluttered closed, urging Egrix on as they both gave in to the desire that had been lingering with them for the past few days. Egrix's kiss captured Cara's soft, warm lips in a moment of pure electric pleasure.
The passionate kiss the two shared lasted several minutes. They were completely absorbed in each other as Egrix laced his fingers into the hair at the top of Cara's long braid, pulling her as close to him as the distance between their two chairs would allow. Cara grasped tightly to the cloth of her leggings, but slowly lost consciousness of what her arms were doing as she felt Egrix's tongue slide along her bottom lip and into her waiting mouth. Their lips and tongues danced together as they leaned into each other. When their senses came back to them, Cara found her arms woven behind Egrix's neck, with her braided hair now loose and messy from Egrix's hands which were tangled within her golden brown locks. The two broke away, staring into each other's eyes and panting heavily. Egrix began to smile, and seemed excited to the point of laughing, as he looked at her.
"Cara." He spoke her name for the third time, his voice heavy with desire, and leaned his forehead against hers, taking a deep breath. "Cara, I like you."
Cara looked into his buttercup eyes. "Really?" she spoke sarcastically.
The two laughed, unable to take their hands off of each other, even as their breathing leveled back to normal.
Egrix pulled his face away from Cara's, lifting both of his hands from her hair to cup her face.
"What is it that you human's say in this situation?" He seemed to think for a moment before asking, abashedly, "Will you go out with me?"
Cara giggled at the awkward expression on Egrix's face as he tried to imitate human romance tropes he'd picked up from cheesy movies.
"What do Daxians do when they like someone?"
Egrix blushed, surprising and interesting Cara. "On Braxis interspecies relationships are normal, and usually they are started with… intersexual relations."
"Oh, so sex first?" Cara's comment was blunt, despite the cultural implications.
Egrix was bright yellow in the face, clearly embarrassed to tell her about the forward behaviors of his people that were so outside of the norm for humans. Despite his concerns, Cara was completely unaffected by his statements. Her obvious acceptance of it and impatience to hear more, pushed him to continue talking about the habits of the people on Braxis.
"On my home planet it is incredibly uncommon for anyone to wear anything, so most people remain entirely nude all the time. When we're interested in someone, we usually judge their sexual prowess first and foremost, then aim to learn more about them from there. Sex is a different experience for us than what I understand it to be for humans, because we can learn a lot about each other emotionally when we connect sexually. That's probably confusing, right?"
Cara shook her head, deeply interested in what Egrix was saying. "No, I think I understand. It sounds kind of romantic compared to what we do," she murmured, giggling, as she hoped to make him feel more comfortable sharing with her.
The two discussed the differences in relationships between their species and their own preferences for hours, completely unaware of the passage of time. A message alert on Cara's phone caused her to notice the progress of the day as it wound down toward night. Her mother had texted her asking when she would arrive home, and her gaze flew to Egrix as she told him how late it was. Both were in shock, laughing at their shared distraction with each other and the conversation. Cara promised to return early the next day and gave Egrix a quick, shy peck before leaving his home.
9
The California stars twinkled above Cara as she drove back to her parents that night. Her head was swimming with thoughts after her eventful day. As she watched the road ahead of her lit up by her headlights, her brain went numb with all of the swirling images of the day.
"I like you." She heard Egrix say, pulling a smile across her face and warming her cheeks. She remembered the kiss she'd shared with Egrix, feeling a deep warmth in the pit of her stomach that made her giddy and hot. The way their lips and tongues mingled together as they both completely lost track of where they were was enough to make her feel crazy with happiness. He'd held her so gently after pulling away, and his eyes were bright and sparkling. When he did sit back away from her she felt colder, and all she wanted to do was fill that void with something, so they started to talk.
She went over the information she had learned from her alien boyfriend about Daxian romance. She recalled him telling her that he didn't have nipples because mammalian creatures were exclusive to Earth. He'd teasingly told her that just because he didn't have them wouldn't mean he couldn't make her feel good and her heart skipped a beat.
"Where are you sensitive then?" she'd asked sparking a conversation about the sexual sensitivity of humans and Daxians.
He'd described his people's hair as being sensitive like nerves since they were used to read chemical changes in the air to help his species stay alert in the darkness of their planet. This made the silken fibers sensitive to touch, but not in a painful way, rather, contact with the hair was pleasurable and was an intense part of their romantic practices. He'd grabbed her hand and moved it into his white locks, inviting her to test out his statement. It was soft like down and warm to the touch. She ran her fingers along his cheek and into his hairline, brushing them from the root of the strands to the ends.
"Like that?" she'd asked, noticing Egrix had closed his eyes. When he looked at her, his gaze had darkened so that his irises turned a cool golden color and his cheeks were flushed yellow.
"Yeah." His husky voice had resonated in her chest. "That felt really good."
He'd gone on to mention that Daxians only had hair on their head, unlike humans who had a layer that covered their whole body, since his race didn't need it for warmth or protection. She realized, as she drove, that this meant he didn't have pubic hair, and the naked polaroid she had taken of him popped into her head, causing her face to turn crimson as she pulled onto her parents' road.
In return for his lesson, Cara had shared truths about human sexual experiences. Despite the nature of the conversation, the tone had been casual as the two made an effort to find compatibility between their species and their individual preferences. Cara finally arrived home, her head still spinning as she thought about Egrix. Sitting in her car as she tried to come to terms with all of the events of the day, but this just turned her face red with desire and embarrassment. Instead, she tried desperately to cool off from her romantic thoughts with no luck as Egrix's face played in her mind.
A knock on her window made her jump almost hitting her head on the roof of her Jeep. She looked throug
h the glass beside her into her dad's confused face, breaking her from her reverie. She rushed to gather her things and get out of her car to greet her dad, not knowing how long he'd been watching her lost in thought.
"Hey, Dad," she said, feeling a bit like she did as a teenager when she was caught sneaking out.
"Welcome back, Cara Bear," he responded, the small grin on his face lit by the lamps hanging outside of the garage, "is everything alright?"
The light had faded by the time she'd arrived home and her dad was perplexed by her late arrival and her absentmindedness as she sat in the car.
"Yeah, just got lost in my own head for a minute." She laughed it off, hoping that would be enough to convince her dad.
He shrugged, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and walking them inside. Her mom stood just inside the door of the living room when they walked in. She heard the front door and turned over her shoulder to see them coming in.
"Cara! You're home. It was a late one tonight, huh?" Her mother's smile pulled the wrinkles next to her eyes together.
"Yeah," Cara responded awkwardly, not liking the feeling of lying to her parents when she realized she hadn't taken any pictures today. "I developed some prints this morning before I went out."
Her parent's faces lit up as usual. She left them to wait in the dining room as she took her equipment to her room before gathering the finished photographs. Despite her calm demeanor in front of them, she fell into a panic in her room as she tried to gather pictures without any incriminating evidence to show her parents. She pulled out the images of Egrix and his home, trying to find all of the ocean and beach shots she could. She put the rest back away haphazardly and hurried back to her parents, hoping they weren't suspicious.
She sat down in front of them without making eye contact, shifting her seat loudly while she tried to pace her heart that pounded against her chest.
