A Gray Area

by Amy Sumida

  “Sweet stars, woman, but you have magical hands,” he murmured in my ear.

  “Is this lubricant safe to ingest?” I asked mischievously.

  Malik's eyes shot to mine and widened; their jewel-like color darkening.

  “Yes,” his voice was barely a whisper.

  I smiled sensually as I lowered myself beneath the water and between his legs. Malik's hands went to my head as my lips found him. His thighs spread to give me better access, and his rumbling groans vibrated down through the water hollowly. One of my hands slipped under him to massage his balls as the other rubbed his shaft in tandem with my mouth. So hot and thick and pulsing with need. The slickness coating him was tasteless and clung to his shaft no matter how tightly I clenched my lips around it or how ardently I licked him. I was going to insist he bring some of this home with us.

  Malik's thighs clenched around my shoulders; his hips driving his cock deeper into my mouth. His fingers wove through my hair and pulled lightly. He wanted me to come up. Oh, well, I needed to take a breath anyway.

  I came up gasping, and Malik immediately lifted me further out of the water until I was standing on the ledge, straddling him. He buried his face in my sex and started showing me his appreciation for my effort. My hands went to his shoulders as his hot tongue stroked and licked and thrust until I was screaming. I lifted one hand to thread through his wet hair and press him tighter to me as I ground my sex against his mouth. Pure bliss; that hot, wet, muscle flicking over me as his lips pressed tightly and he sucked like an ungaru feeding. As my orgasm burst over me, Malik pulled me down over him; sliding me right onto his cock. I screamed again as he took hold of my hips and started thrusting up into me.

  My head angled back, and I opened my eyes to see outer space looming above me. It was hazy; seen through the veil of the merging colors of our auras. But I could still make out the stars. I shouted my pleasure to them as Malik roared his and filled me with ecstasy, heat, and so much love.

  Chapter Seven

  After we swam and soaked in the hot tub, Malik showed me around the rest of his ship. I took an avid interest in his bedroom. There weren't a lot of personal touches in Malik's home away from home. The dark walls had no artwork on them. The floor was carpeted in crimson. The bed was covered in sleek ebony blankets and crisp white sheets; no frills. The most impressive thing about the room was the massive window that looked out on the stars. But then I spotted it; the one thing that showed a little of Malik's personality. Ironically, it was a picture of me.

  “Where did you get this?” I picked up the silver frame. It was set on a shiny shelf that was built into the wall beside his big bed.

  “I took this picture myself when I was watching over you.” Malik took the frame from me and put it back on the shelf. “Before we officially met.”

  “When you were spying on me, you mean?” I smirked.

  Malik shrugged and grinned. I looked back at the photo. I was sitting at my dressing table; my expression pensive. My hair was a dark cloud around my shoulders; I'd just brushed it. I know because I remembered that moment. I had heard something outside my second story window. Shortly afterward, I'd gotten up to check but hadn't seen anyone outside. Except someone had been there. Not that I hadn't realized it before. I knew it must have been Malik clinging to my townhouse like a bat as he spied on me. I just hadn't known he'd been photographing me as well.

  “You were taking pictures of me? That's a little creepy, Mal.”

  “I'm a little creepy,” he teased as he pulled me into a kiss. “I needed that picture while I was visiting my father. It kept me from going insane.”

  A picture of me had kept him from going insane? Yes; I'd definitely made the right choice of man. I slid closer and kissed him again. Malik groaned and leaned away.

  “If you keep up with that, we won't be going back to Earth anytime soon,” Malik growled.

  “Who said I wanted to go back to Earth?” I purred. “Take me to Heaven, Demon.”

  And he did. Malik laid me down on his soft bed and filled me with hard flesh. We bit and clawed our way back to Heaven, and we didn't come down to Earth for hours. It was a perfect afternoon. It almost made me grateful to the gray area for giving me an excuse to go up there.

  Malik's transporter was set up in my bedroom so that's where we arrived when we finally went home. Then we walked over to The Wilds from my townhouse. Malik held my hand as I strode on shaky legs; sending me knowing smiles until I finally slapped his arm.

  “Stop looking at me as if you're a god just because you gave me an orgasm. Or perhaps twenty.”

  “How can I not?” Malik dove in to kiss my cheek. “That's how you make me feel every time you scream my name.”

  I blushed. “For someone who's never had a dvarra, you're rather smooth with your lines.”

  “They're not lines.” Malik gave me a chiding look. “And just because I've never had a dvarra, it doesn't mean that I've never had sex.”

  “I know that,” I huffed to hide my unease. The thought of Malik having sex with another woman did awful things to my stomach. “You're obviously not a virgin.”

  He lifted a sexy brow at me, and I blushed hotter.

  “Keep that look on your face,” he whispered in my ear. “I want everyone to see how beautiful you are when you think about having sex with me.”

  “You are scandalous!” I strode away from him; my heels clacking primly on the sidewalk even though I wasn't in the least bit upset. In fact, I was hoping he'd give chase.

  And Malik didn't disappoint. He swept me up and pushed me against the wall beside the Wilds' door.

  “There is nothing scandalous about what we do.” Malik brushed my hair back and nuzzled his cheek against mine. “We are fated lovers; everything between us is sacred.”

  “Sacred?” I asked dubiously. “That thing you did with your tongue?”

  “Absolutely divine.” He smirked.

  “And when I straddled your face?”

  Malik's breath was harsh and hot. “One of the most spiritual experiences of my life.”

  “And when I flicked my tongue over the head of your cock?”

  Malik closed his eyes and groaned as he pressed his hard length against my thigh. “By my horns, Amara, you will make me come in my pants like a Bleiten boy who hasn't passed his first shift.”

  “Or we could go down that alley so you can fuck me against the wall and come inside me,” I whispered in his ear.

  Malik jerked against me. “In public?”

  “It's dark out, and I can conceal us.”

  Malik had me in his arms in seconds; carrying me down the alley between the Wilds and an apartment building. As I altered the color wavelengths around us, he undid his pants. Then my back was against the brick wall, and Malik was lifting me by my hips. I reached between us; slipping my panty aside before guiding him in. Malik started pounding up into me, and I wrapped my legs and arms around him; holding him close. Yes; we'd just made love so many times that I could barely stand, but it seemed as if the more I had Malik, the more I wanted.

  “You shouldn't bother wearing panties around me,” Malik growled in my ear as his hand reached between us.

  I felt one of his fingers transform and the sharp edge of a claw skimmed my skin just before it snapped the side of my underwear. Another snap and the scrap of silk slipped away. I vaguely noticed Mal stuffing it into his pocket. I couldn't have been happier. I angled myself off the wall so I could take him deeper, and Malik started his furious fucking again.

  By the time we were done, we were both sweaty and flushed. Malik eased me down onto my feet slowly and when he was sure I was steady enough to stand, he released me. But it was only to crouch before me as he pulled my panties out of his pocket. Malik rolled his gaze up to mine as he slid the silk up my thigh and then to my sex. He wiped me clean, put the panties back in his pocket, and then leaned forward as he lifted my skirt.

  “Just one more kiss,” he murmured before his mouth covered me.<
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  And what a kiss it was. I wove my fingers through his dark hair and held him against me as people walked by the alley. No one saw past my illusion or investigated the wet sounds Mal's mouth was making. My head rolled against the brick wall and my hands pressed Malik tighter to me. One of his hands was gripping my breast through my top and the other lifted my thigh to his shoulder to give him better access to me. It was so deliciously naughty that I shivered through another orgasm in seconds; biting my lips to keep from crying out. I could hide us visually but not audibly.

  Malik stood and then smoothed my skirts down around my legs.

  “My lady.” He offered me his arm as he licked his wet lips. “I think we could both use a drink.”

  Chapter Eight

  Kyrian had been back from his ship for hours. He'd already reported his findings to the team, and they'd taken off. He was waiting at the bar for us; talking to Landry. We made our way through the packed room and eased around the end of the bar since there were no seats left.

  “There you are,” Landry said as he set down the glass he'd been drying and filled it with coca-cola. “What's the verdict? You healthy?”

  “She's in prime condition,” Malik said with a sexy look my way.

  Kyrian's jaw tensed before he asked, “Do you want to hear about the flower?”

  I leaned against the counter behind the bar and accepted the glass of coke Landry handed me. “Of course, we do, darling. What did you discover?”

  Kyrian relaxed as he looked over at me but then it was as if he remembered what he had to tell me and his face creased again. “That flower is not mutated.”

  “It's not?” Malik asked. “Then what is it?”

  “I don't know,” Kyrian muttered. “It doesn't display any of the markers associated with mutation, but it's not in any of our databases. And you know how many worlds the Triari have been to.”

  “How many they've brutalized, you mean,” Malik growled.

  Malik may be just a tad bitter, but he had every right to be. The Triari had been doing bad things to a lot of people for a long time while they blamed it on the Bleiten. Kyrian believed his king was unaware of most of it, but I wasn't so certain. It was another reason that I wasn't so eager to visit him.

  “I don't want to fight,” Kyrian said wearily.

  “Are you all right, Kyrian?” I put my hand on his shoulder.

  “I'm just frustrated.” Kyrian shook his head. “A fucking flower has me stumped.”

  Landry chuckled, and we all stared at him in surprise.

  “A flower has him stumped,” Landry repeated. “I thought he was trying to be funny.”

  “I'm not.” Kyrian ran a hand over his face. “This flower is perfect; on a cellular level, it is everything a flower should be. I just don't know what it's doing on Earth or where it's from originally.”

  “You think someone planted it here?” I scowled. “They strode into that grayness and planted an alien flower for the hell of it?”

  Kyrian shrugged. “Maybe the seed was already there and it took this strange occurrence to make it sprout. I don't know. We'll have to see if it's a fluke.”

  “If it's not?” Landry asked.

  “Then we may be seeing more flowers blooming in the gray,” Kyrian made those benign words sound threatening. “And possibly other things.”

  No; there was nothing funny about that.

  “Why don't we go have some dinner at Mama's?” I asked Kyrian and Malik. “I'm getting hungry.”

  Kyrian nodded and followed Malik and me out of the Wilds after I took Landry's order for some take-out that I'd bring back to him. We went across the street to Mama's Diner and slipped into the brightly-lit, glass-fronted room with its booths on one side and counter seating on the other. Mama was busy grabbing plates of steaming food and didn't notice us walk in. We slipped into the only booth that was empty.

  Mama eased around the side of the counter and her lower half was revealed. She looked like a normal, middle-aged woman from mid-thighs up; fair skin, strawberry-blonde curls cut into a bob, and the voluptuous curves of a good cook. But from mid-thighs down, her legs turned into a pair of thick tentacles; the sort which you might find on an octopus or a kraken. She walked on a bend in her tentacles while she used the tips to balance plates of food. She set the plates down on a table a few booths down from ours and beamed at the eager sounds her customers made. Then she turned to leave and spotted us.

  Mama's brown eyes widened with delight. She scooped up a couple of menus and hurried over to us; the suction cups on her tentacles making wet clicks on the linoleum as she came.

  “Amara!” Mama exclaimed as she set the menus down. “And her boys.” She smiled warmly at the men; so warmly that they couldn't get upset over her title for them. “How are all of you doing?”

  “We're well, Mama,” I said with a grin. “And hungry. What have you got cooking tonight?”

  “The special is Chicken-Fried Steak with mashed potatoes and gravy,” she said proudly. “It's been selling like mad.”

  “Sounds delicious; you sold me,” Malik said.

  Kyrian and I agreed, and Mama hurried away to tell her chef to start our meals while she grabbed us cups of coffee. As she went, I noticed a man get up from his table and approach us. He was a normal looking guy; not too tall, not too wide. He had dark hair, an olive complexion, and a pair of pale blue eyes that were striking simply because of the darkness of his skin. I knew that he was an Evolved Supe; his ability gave him an affinity for computers. It was a handy skill to have in his profession.

  Deputy Mayor Ted Wilson.

  Ted was far preferable to Mayor Mandy Grundage, but I still wasn't pleased to see him. It didn't help that we'd been on a few dates many years ago; back when he was just a clerk and I was freshly home from college. Nothing had come of it, but there was always that awkwardness I felt around men I'd dated but not been intimate with. Perhaps it was the knowledge that one—or both—of us had found the other unacceptable in some way. So unacceptable that we hadn't even reached the sex stage. It was even worse when it was a one-sided decision on their end; as it had been with Ted. He had simply stopped calling.

  “Amara,” Ted said with hesitant looks at my dinner companions.

  Okay, the awkwardness was far easier to deal with when I had Malik with me.

  I cocked my head at Ted curiously, “Is there something you need, Ted?”

  “Who is this man?” Malik scowled from Ted to me and back.

  “Ted Wilson, Deputy Mayor of the Market.” Ted held his hand out to Malik. “And you're Malik Starsiene of the Bleiten, correct?”

  Malik narrowed his eyes at Ted but shook his hand.

  “Prince Malik, actually,” I took pleasure in correcting Ted. “And this is Arc Kyrian.”

  “Scoot, Ted,” Mama pushed past the Deputy Mayor so she could deposit our coffee cups on the table. Then she looked over at him. “What are you doing over here harassing my girl?”

  Mama knew about Ted and I. I had told her all about it; mainly so I could complain about how rude it had been that he had ended things without a word to me. I wasn't all that interested in him either—we'd been set up by friends—but it would have been nice to not have to wonder if he were going to call or not. Mama had told me that men aren't big on closure. It wasn't that they were cruel; in fact, it was the opposite. Most men didn't know how to let a woman down gently and the thought that they might hurt our feelings made it even worse. It was easier to not say anything at all and let us come to our own conclusions. I understood that—even though I saw it as cowardice, not kindness—and I had accepted that it would be the way most men behaved. And then I had moved on; no biggie. But Mama had been a sort of surrogate mother to me in many ways, and mothers never forget when their children are hurt. Even the small hurts.

  “I'm not trying to harass her,” Ted said in a tone that made me wonder how many times Mama had given him hell on my behalf.

  “It's okay, Mama. I think I'm well-equippe
d to handle anything Ted can throw at me.” I looked pointedly at Malik and Kyrian.

  “All right, my sweet girl. I'll leave you to it,” Mama said and winked at me before she went back to work.