by Ava Castle
Petering laughed and shook his head. “It would take an Earth girl to thaw out your heart, wouldn’t it? Meanwhile, Shaley’s been trying to get you to couple with her for how long?”
“Yeah, but she doesn’t offer me a future. Becca at least carries the promise of a future with her.”
The sun had set and the darkness of night was beginning to settle. Petering stood up from the steps in front of my hut and stretched, getting ready to leave.
“I guess I better get going. You need to go in there and get her to go out with you tonight. It’s going to be a good night to see the stars,” he said, clapping a hand on my back before walking off.
“Hey, Petering. Thanks for the advice. Thanks for opening my eyes finally.”
“Not a problem. Now go win her over. After all, you have our race to save.”
I waved and watched as he walked down the street, back to his own hut. I waited to go inside. It had been long enough that Becca had been hiding in my room. It was time for her to come out and enjoy everything that Valmore had to offer–namely, the surrounding desert, which wasn’t actually hot at night. In fact, it was quite peaceful and cool. Plus, there were no lights in the surrounding desert to keep us from being able to see the sky.
I opened the door and started into the house. I walked into what passed for my kitchen and started rummaging around for something to make dinner out of, so that we would have something to take with us when we left for the desert. Becca had gathered up the shards of broken glass from the other day. She had been determined from the get-go to help me get the place clean.
“I don’t know how you expect a woman to live with you like this,” she’d told me. “Especially an Earth woman.” She’d looked at me with her eyebrows raised and a hand on her hip. So much attitude, even if she was quiet most of the time.
As I looked around my bachelor’s hut, I started to realize that there were already a lot of memories involving her.
“You know, back on Earth, I’d had a dishwasher that did dishes for me. All I had to do was rinse them off after I ate, stick them in there, and it would take care of the rest,” she’d told me, leaning over the sink to wash our plates after dinner one night, before heading back into my room to hide from the rest of the world.
The cushions I’d put on the floor in the living room to make a bed for her friend, Alecia, were still there. I could still remember that first night, when no one really knew what was going on or how it was all going to go down. I figured that night must have been what changed everything. My sense of wanting to protect her–and her friend, despite her loud, rude mouth–hadn’t left, even if she’d been sealing herself away. If anything, it was getting stronger.
I reached for a pan to put on the stove when I heard something banging around in the bedroom. I placed the pan quietly on the stove and waited before I turned on the heat, listening for any other sounds to come out of the room.
“Everything okay in there?” I called.
I was answered with more banging, this time more frantic than before. I hurried from the stove to my bedroom door, but something was holding it shut.
“What the hell? Becca!” I growled.
I heard voices on the other side–hushed, rushed whispers–as the banging continued. Whoever was on the other side didn’t want me getting into the room, and it sounded like they were panicking now that they knew someone was trying to get in.
My scales pointed out as I shoved against the door again. This time, it budged.
“What the hell is behind this damn door?” I yelled as I slammed into it, shoving the door and my dresser across the floor of my room. The black-clad figures in my room stopped and stared at me. They were holding Becca between them. Her wrists and ankles were bound. A small towel was stuffed into her mouth, gagging her, and that was held in place with a piece of cloth wrapped around her head.
“Just get her out of her. I’ve got him,” one of the two intruders hissed, turning their eyes towards me. Those eyes narrowed as the intruder struck an offensive pose.
“I know those eyes,” I thought aloud.
The intruder was covered head to toe in all black. All I could see where the eyes. It was definitely a female, from the contours of her body. Still, those eyes did look familiar, and I even knew the shape of the body as it crouched in front of me, ready to strike.
“Shaley,” I called out to her. She froze. “What are you doing back here?”
“We’re not going to let this abomination continue,” she hissed at me.
“Then why did you bring the third girl to the facility?”
“I did that so I could see how the program was set up, so I could figure out how to infiltrate it.” She didn’t sound like herself. Her voice was raspy. She hissed every time she spoke.
While we talked, though, the other intruder pulled a wiggling Becca through the window, dragging her outside.
“I’m not going to let you do this, Shaley. You know I’m going to have to turn you in this time.”
“Please, what’s my father going to do, ground me?” She took a step back, her getaway almost secured now that her partner had Becca most of the way out of the window.
“I’m sure he’ll do worse than that. These women could save us, Shaley,” I explained.
“You sure picked a fine time to start believing in this program, didn’t you? It’s awfully convenient that you should start supporting my father now that you’ve got your very own Earth woman living with you. You can have her any time you want her. I bet she’s not as good as I am. She can’t please you like a Valmorian woman can.” She ran her hands down over the curves of her voluptuous body.
“That’s none of your business,” I barked at her. “Now, have your accomplice bring her back inside.”
She stepped towards me. “I didn’t expect your answer to be no. I expected you, the monstrous Radon, to have taken that sweet little human to bed already so you could show her how Valmorian men do it. I’m sure she’s dying to know.”
Shaley pressed her full, curvy body against mine. I could feel her breath through the cloth mask she wore over her face with holes cut out for her eyes. I grabbed her by her frail wrists and pushed her back from me. She stumbled onto the floor as I ran to the window to grab Becca and pull her back in before the other girl took her outside.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. One word from me, and she gets it.” She giggled. “She’s going to get it anyway, so why not.”
“Fuck you, Shaley. You had your chance, but there’s no future with you. There’s no future with any of you. What you don’t realize is that Becca and the other two Earth girls offer us at least the promise of a future. You just offer futile, nearly pointless sex.” I hated being so mean to her, but I wanted her to understand what her actions were going to cost us if she continued the way she was going.
“So are you saying the only reason you won’t couple with me is because you don’t see the point in it?” she asked from the floor, her voice utterly defeated.
“Shaley, I don’t know. I’ve never had the opportunity to think about a serious future with someone, so I can’t tell you, but I can tell you now that we can build a real future with these women, for all of us. If they can help us successfully mate and reproduce, maybe we can fix the problem our women are having carrying babies full-term,” I explained to her.
“Fine, then,” she said, sitting in a heap on my floor. “Let her go,” she called out, and Becca fell back through to my side.
“What the fuck are you talking about ‘let her go’?” an angry voice asked from outside my bedroom window.
“Exactly what I said.” She pulled off the mask and stood up next to me. “You owe me, Radon. Remember that.” She pressed her mask against my chest and walked away, slamming my front door again.
“Dammit, be careful,” I said under my breath, closing my eyes. A moment later, I heard Becca mumbling through her gag on the floor.
I reached down and pulled it off.
“You better turn her ass in this time, or else I will. On my next visit to the doctors, I will tell her father what she’s done. Twice now, Radon. Twice. She threatened to kill me at the crash site, and now this. Trying to drag me out of your home? What is wrong with her?”
“I think she’s jealous, but I’m not sure. First thing tomorrow, I will go down to see Morigon and tell him what’s going on,” I assured her.
“Jealous? What does she have to be jealous of, Radon? Was there something going on between the two of you? I’ve noticed how she looks every time she spots us out. She looks like a jealous ex-girlfriend. Trust me, I know the look.” She kept talking as I untied her wrists and ankles.
“I’ll handle it,” I told her as I stood up after untying her. My scales were slowly lying back down. My worry over her well-being was preventing them from just lying back down outright.
“You know, you’ve saved me three times now,” she said, rubbing her wrists. “I feel pretty special.”
“Three times? That’s only the second time Shaley has attacked you.”
“And taking me in as part of this program to help you guys start breeding again,” she reminded me.
“Right, there’s that,” I said absently. I started walking around the room picking up what few possessions I had in there.
“Listen,” Becca said, grabbing me and turning me around to face her, “I owe you, bigtime.” She put her arms around me and pulled me against her in an embrace.
I stood with my arms out at her sides. We rarely embraced on Valmore. It was usually part of sexual intercourse, part of our foreplay. We seldom embraced each other just to embrace. She was willingly giving me casual affection.
“Now is when you’re supposed to put your arms around me,” she whispered in my ear.
I slowly wrapped my arms around her. Something stirred inside of me at the feel of her touch, something that was more than mere physical desire, something that was more than my desire to protect her as well. I held her in my arms. I closed my eyes.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” I admitted, barely listening to myself.
“I’m glad you came in when you did. I’m sorry I’ve been shitty lately, Radon.”
I started to pull back, but she tightened her grip around my neck.
“No, don’t let go yet.”
“You’re fine, Becca. You just needed some time to adjust. That’s all. No one faults you for that,” I assured her, stroking her hair with my hand. She rocked her body against mine and breathed in sharply through her nose.
“You smell so good,” she said dreamily, and before I could say anything in response, she pressed her lips against my neck.
My scales rippled again as a chill ran down my spine. I had been intimate with man Valmorian women, but I had never felt intimate with any of them, not the way I felt with Becca. It was that connection I had tried to explain to her, that connection Morigon had sensed when we had talked.
I slid my hands up her body running them over the thin linen shirt she wore. Her shape was familiar, probably another reason Earth women had been chosen for the program. I felt her sturdy hips, her perfect waist, made for grabbing, her full, ripe breasts. I slowed my hands as they ran over them, taking time to cup them and squeeze them gently.
She kissed the front of my neck, up to my chin. I tilted my head down until our lips met. She moaned as her soft lips pressed against mine. They parted, and her mouth welcomed my tongue. I tasted her again. She was sweet, like some foreign fruit from far away.
“Please, Radon,” she breathed as she pulled away from our embrace. She took my hand and pulled me toward the bed. “Please. I’m yours, if you’ll have me.”
Chapter Thirteen
Becca Cross
“Your skin is so smooth.” His voice was full of admiration as he pushed my linen shirt up over my head, revealing my body to him. His scales literally rippled with desire as he stared at me with hunger in his eyes.
“Can I?” I asked as I reached up to run my hands over the scales covering his body. I’d felt his touch when they were down, but I had yet to feel them raised up.
“Yes, please,” he panted. I touched him and ran my hands down his arms as his scales rippled around me. They were firm, but they weren’t as prickly as I had expected. He arched his back and moaned in pleasure at my touch.
Then, he gripped my pants and pulled them down. Underwear either didn’t exist on Valmore, or women’s underwear wasn’t designed to accommodate the human figure, which wasn’t all that different from that of Valmorian women, but it must have been different enough, because we hadn’t been offered any when we were given our pants and shirts.
“So smooth, so delicate,” he said as he ran his hands down my legs. I expected his touch to tickle as his scales because to stick up more and more, but it didn’t. His hands still felt smooth to me. His touch was firm and confident. Though he was admiring my body, he knew what he wanted.
His lips touched the bare mound of flesh between my legs. He hoisted my legs up with his arms as he kissed up my stomach, spreading me open as his body slid against mine. His lips touched the bottom of my ribs, then the space between my breasts as his hands moved to cup me in them again. He squeezed as he rolled my nipples between his fingers. His lips latched onto one of my nipples, and I arched my back as he sucked the tender flesh into his mouth and flicked his tongue across the hardening peak of my breast.
I put one arm across his shoulder and the other hand on the back of his head, holding him down against my chest as he continued to suck and tease my nipple. I rolled my hips towards him, begging him to enter me.
“Please, Radon. I’m ready, baby. I want you,” I begged, breathlessly panting.
“Are you sure?” he breathed above me, sliding up further, until his face hovered above mine and his manhood pressed against my entrance.
“I am. Please, take me.” My desire ached for him.
He placed his hands on either side of me and pressed himself into me. I held onto his shoulders, gripping his scaly arms. My thin fingers laced themselves between his scales, just as they would have with his fingers if we’d been holding hands. I braced myself against the possibility that every part of him was as scaly as his arms and back.
As he pressed into me, though, I realized he wasn’t scaly all over. He fit me perfectly, as if our bodies had been tailored for each other. He slid deep into me, slowly passing through my entrance into the core of me.
He moaned as he entered me. Then, he pulled back and slid in again, even deeper, filling me. He pumped himself into me faster, building a rhythm with his hips as they pumped against my raised legs.
“Is that good, baby?” he asked above me.
I couldn’t speak. I nodded the best I could and bit my lip. My body was shivering with pleasure as he thrilled me with each thrust. He put an arm underneath me and rolled us over on his narrow bed so that I was on top of him.
“Oh, it’s my turn now,” I said, smiling. I pressed my hands against the rippling scales on his chest as I rolled my hips over him, thrusting him inside of me and controlling how he stroked me.
He ran his hands up and down my arms and pushed his hips up against me, driving himself ever deeper. My legs quivered as the touch of his scales running along my legs added to the pleasure. I squirmed above him, rocking my hips frantically.
He didn’t say anything else. He tilted his head back and grabbed my hips, pulling me against him as he pressed into me. His scales no longer rippled. They stood on end. I could feel him straining against me as my body began to quake.
I closed my eyes and cried out just as he groaned. Our bodies released at the same time. Our ecstasy came together. Our bodies moved to the same rhythm as the pleasure took hold of us. I felt him inside of me, warm, wet, filling me. His hands held my ass and guiding me along the length of his desire. My muscles contracted, squeezing him, emptying him.
I panted as my body jerked and twitched above him, until I collapsed on his chest with his a
rms around me. I kissed the raised scales on his chest and buried my face in them. I listened to his heart pounding rhythmically, forcefully underneath those scales. I felt his chest heave with his breathing. I drew my arms in and let him hold me there.
“Was that how it was supposed to go down?” I asked him, looking up at his face.
“Who cares? It was exactly how it should have happened,” he told me. Then we kissed again, a gentle, lingering kiss.
I rolled over from him, lying next to him on the bed and stared at the ceiling, hovering somewhere above us in the dark. I felt his weight shift next to me on the bed. A moment later, he had my hand in his and was pulling me up.
“Come with me,” he was saying.
“Come with you? Where?”
“Just come with me. I want to show you something. Let’s get dressed.” A light came on, and I could see he was already pulling his linen clothes back on and handing me mine.
“At least your clothes are simple,” I remarked as I pulled them on. “We have so many layers to wear back home, and then certain clothes are only appropriate at certain times.”
“Oh no,” he laughed, “we wear pretty much the same thing unless it’s an official uniform, like the military or for certain offices.”
“I definitely admire the simplicity of your lifestyle here, compared to home.”
“You make it sound like a nightmare. Come on, I’ve got something beautiful to show you, to take your mind off of your home.” He took my hand and led me through the door to his bedroom–correction, our bedroom.
“Where are we going?” I asked again as he took me outside.
Once again it was nighttime, except this time it was different. I wasn’t completely sure what was different about it. Maybe it was because I wasn’t panicking. Maybe it was because everything was no longer strange or foreign to me. I was starting to get used to everything around me, to all the differences I had been spotting. I wasn’t used to being led by the hand by someone who was genuinely caring and protective over me. That was still new, and I hoped it would stay that way.
