Suddenly, she stilled, her body tensing briefly. “Do all kraken spy on bathing women?”
Vasil’s throat constricted, and his breath hitched. She hadn’t even looked at him; how could she have known he was there? A lucky guess, or were her senses enhanced beyond his comprehension?
Had Kane had something to do with it?
Despite her acknowledgment of his presence, she made no move to cover herself. Her stance — arms up with hands behind her head — forced her back to arch, jutting her chest forward and accentuating her breasts. It was as though she were flaunting her body the same way a female kraken would while seeking a mate.
But human females didn’t behave the same way as kraken…did they?
“Do all humans strut naked through the jungle?” he asked, immediately feeling foolish for his words. He knew they didn’t, and she hadn’t been strutting, she’d been bathing.
She turned her face in his direction, and the corner of her mouth quirked upward. “When we believe we’re alone.”
“You were aware of my presence,” he replied. His mouth felt dry; how was that even possible? He’d come from the sea only minutes ago.
She dropped her arms to her sides, and her wet hair fell around her shoulders. She turned, giving him her back, and bent forward to collect her clothing.
The ache in his pelvis deepened as his gaze dropped to her backside, continued down her shapely thighs and calves, and drifted back up again. The cleft of her sex was visible between her legs; he clenched his jaw and battled the urge to go to her. However much he wanted, he couldn’t forsake all his people’s ways. Females chose. That remained an important truth.
But…was this a show of her interest? Her behavior was at once forward and subtle, and he wasn’t certain how to interpret it. Was it a display of trust, of mutual desire, or simply of confidence and comfort?
She stepped into her underclothing and drew it up her legs. What would her skin feel like beneath his palms, brushed in such a gentle caress?
“Not for too long,” she said, tugging the material over her hips, hiding the flesh of her backside from his view.
Now that he knew what lay beneath her clothing, he found himself only more drawn to the way it fit her form. What would it be like to take her from behind, to slide his hands along her hips, her ass, up her spine? To twine his fingers in her hair as he thrust into her?
The image nearly broke his control.
He moved out of the foliage and closer to the water, forcing his skin to its normal color. “You do seem unconcerned.”
“As big as IDC cruisers are, they don’t designate much space for crew quarters. When you live so close to other soldiers for so long, sharing bunks and showers, privacy just…ceases to exist. And eventually, you stop caring.” She slipped her arms into the straps of her undergarment and looked over her shoulder at him. “Does it bother you?”
Vasil swallowed thickly. The way she looked at him poured fresh heat into his veins. He barely kept his cock restrained behind his slit.
He gestured down at his body. “Modesty is not an issue for my kind. But in my experience, it is for humans.”
Her gaze trekked down his body. There was curiosity in her eyes, but something else sparkled along with it. Interest?
She faced away from him again before he could determine what that gleam was. “Do your women look like me? Like human women?”
“From the waist up, more or less.”
“So half of me is nothing new, huh?” She bent forward again and tugged on her boots one at a time.
He followed the motion of her hands up toward her knee with his gaze, continuing beyond to her thigh. He’d watched the play of muscles in her legs as she walked, but he was equally interested in her soft curves. The thought of warm, yielding flesh held an appeal he’d never considered before and intensified his curiosity.
“Kraken females are not as soft.”
She glared at him. “I seriously hope you’re not saying I’m fat.”
The orb of light at her wrist pulsed as Kane spoke up. “Let me remind you, Theo, of the altercation you had on the—”
“That guy had it coming to him!” She straightened and ran her hands over her midsection. “There’s nothing wrong with having a little in the middle.”
Vasil furrowed his brow and — well aware of the risk to his wellbeing — moved closer to her. His attention shifted from her belly to the black markings on her otherwise pale skin.
“I do not understand what has angered you,” he said as he came to a stop beside her and spread his tentacles to bring his head closer to her eye level.
Her eyes widened infinitesimally, and her body tensed, but she did not retreat. She glanced down at his tentacles and back up. “Umm…”
“Kraken females have slighter builds than males, but they are…solid.” He touched the pads of his fingers to his abdomen, pressing against the hard muscle beneath his soft skin. “There is nothing wrong with human women. Nothing wrong with you.”
Theo’s cheeks reddened, the flush spreading down her neck to her chest. “That’s…kind of…sweet?”
“It’s not exactly a compliment,” Kane said.
Vasil frowned, eyes flicking toward the orb. The humans who used the diving suits said Sam, the suits’ computer, was helpful, and the voice of the Computer in the Facility had been a comforting, familiar part of Vasil’s life for many years, but he couldn’t imagine having one inside him all the time, always speaking.
“Do you ever get tired of hearing him?” he asked.
Theo snickered. “Pretty often.”
“I’ve been taught that it is impolite to speak of someone as though they aren’t present,” said Kane.
“I can correct that,” replied Theo with a smirk. “Since you’ve been so cranky today, maybe you need a nap?”
“Sometimes I wish with all my processing power that I had a face just so I could glare at you.”
Her smirk widened into a grin. “I guess I’ll just have to use my imagination.”
Vasil tilted his head. It would have been easy to assume Theo’s relationship with Kane was adversarial, but his time around humans over the last two years had taught him differently. Though Kane and Theodora seemed to repeatedly insult each other, there was a familiarity and odd good-naturedness to their exchanges that reminded Vasil of Randall, who always seemed to have a quick retort on hand. It had taken time to learn that Randall poked fun at people he was friendly with, and that his joking was usually gentle. That he seemed to leave himself open to the same treatment from those close to him had helped ease Vasil’s realization.
“You are friends with your computer,” Vasil said.
Theo glanced at him, sighed, and raised her left arm. Kane’s orb moved with her wrist, maintaining a constant distance above it. “Kane…is my family.” She smiled sheepishly and shrugged one of her shoulders. “He’s the only thing that kept me sane most days. It’s…scary how quiet things can get when you’re alone a lot of the time.”
Vasil understood how she felt; he’d spent much of his time alone, constantly aware of the vast, merciless sea surrounding him, aware of his own tenuous hold on survival and how fragile life could be. The kraken had never been particularly social beings, not until a human had come into their lives. He couldn’t imagine going back to the old ways after experiencing the companionship, conversation, and laughter that had risen from his people’s integration with the humans of The Watch.
He couldn’t face that silence any longer.
And he wasn’t sure how to express any of that to Theo. For all the words he knew, none seemed adequate.
His eyes shifted from the light at her wrist to the black markings surrounding it. Extending his arm, he gently touched the pad of a finger to one of the thin lines. “What are these?”
She flinched but didn’t pull away. Tiny bumps rose along her arm.
“They’re called tattoos.” She gestured at the stripes on his shoulder with her right hand. “You look like you ha
ve something similar.”
“All kraken have stripes, but I have never seen a human with tattoos.” He slowly traced the black line, following it up her arm. She shivered. “Have you had them since birth?”
“No,” she said breathlessly, staring at his hand, “we choose to get them. They’re not a…a natural thing.”
Her skin was soft, warm, and responsive beneath his touch. His chest tightened, and his blood heated anew. He wanted to do more than touch her arm — he wanted to tear off her undergarment and run his hands over her bared curves. Her scent settled over his consciousness, more feminine now than before.
Vasil attempted to shake off the distraction of his desires, to focus on the conversation. He was curious about her markings, but his curiosity was fast turning toward the rest of her body — how would it feel, how would it respond to his touch? How would she taste?
“I do not understand,” he said, forcing his hand to still when it reached her upper arm.
“We’re not born with them,” Theo said, “but some people choose to have them done. It’s like…decoration, I guess. It’s a way to change how we look. We can’t exactly change our skin at will like you can.”
Vasil brushed his thumb along the underside of her arm. There was no difference in feeling between the tattoos and the rest of her flesh “It is in your skin?”
She nodded.
“How?” he asked.
“They have these big machines. You set up the design you want and step into the chamber, and all these little lasers turn on and basically burn it into your skin.” She lifted her right hand and settled it on her left forearm, slowly sliding her palm down. “It’s like a hundred thousand needles stabbing you all at once, and it hurts like a mother fucker while it’s happening, but the pain mostly stops once it’s done. It itches for a day or two, but you have a brand-new tattoo to show off.”
“Is it worth the pain?”
She looked down at the markings. “Yeah, I guess so. I can’t really remember the pain, but I’ll always have this kick-ass tattoo.” Her eyes met his again, and she smirked. “Anyway, I’m all finished here.”
She stepped away from him, breaking their contact, and bent down to gather her belongings from the ground. Straightening briefly, she fastened her belt around her waist, pistol and knife already in place, and then collected her outer suit — or rather the pieces of her outer suit. He’d thought it a single garment, like the diving suits from the Facility, but she held at least four separate parts now.
He tilted his head as he noticed the frayed edge of one of her sleeves; realization came to him a moment later. She’d cut the suit into pieces.
With the suit tucked under one arm, she turned toward a pair of containers standing on the bank. Vasil hurried forward and grabbed them both. She reeled back at his sudden movement.
“I have plenty of limbs to help you,” he said quickly. “I am here. I might as well share the load.”
Theo smiled. “Thanks.”
He turned and moved through the thick foliage bordering the stream bank, heading toward the beach. Theo’s footsteps — the soft crunching of leaves and branches — sounded immediately behind him.
The liquid in the containers — water, undoubtedly — sloshed as he moved. He forced himself to keep his eyes on his surroundings, to remain vigilant, but the urge to twist around and look at her only strengthened as they traveled. The short journey shouldn’t have been any different from any he’d made with kraken hunting parties in the past, during which he’d always needed to remain observant for everyone’s safety. It wasn’t so long ago that he’d relieved a distracted Kronus — who’d been interested in a woman of his own — from watch duty to ensure the job was adequately done.
Arkon’s word for Vasil’s current behavior would’ve been hypocritical.
Words leapt out of his mouth before he even realized his intention to speak. “Do you have a mate?”
“You mean like a life partner or a fuck buddy?” Theo asked.
Vasil halted and spun around to face her. Eyes wide, she jerked and skidded to a sudden stop, nearly colliding with him.
“A what?” he demanded.
Her brows lowered. “A…fuck buddy?”
“A fuck buddy,” he repeated.
“That’s what she said,” Kane interjected.
Theo cleared her throat. “Um, fucking is when—”
“I know what fucking is,” Vasil said.
She frowned and scratched behind her ear before dropping her hands to her waist and holding them to either side, palms up. “Not sure what answer you’re looking for, then.”
“I do not understand what the term fuck buddy means. It is not used by the humans on this world. Explain.”
“Oh. Well, it’s when you have a friend that you casually have sex with. No strings attached.”
His brow furrowed. “How would you have sex with strings?”
Theo laughed, shaking her head. “Boy, you really are sheltered out here, aren’t you? Not literal strings. It means you have no other obligation or commitment to one another. It’s just about mutual pleasure. You can move on whenever you want to or see someone else.”
In some ways, the concept reminded him of the way kraken pairings had been — females selected males to mate with and kept them as long as they chose. Those relationships ended on a whim. In Vasil’s experience, those pairings had been devoid of love or affection despite the physical attraction and mutual respect they often began with.
But kraken couplings weren’t about pleasure. They had an explicit purpose — reproduction. Kraken came together for the survival of their species, and any male who wanted to keep a female made sure to provide for her as best he could.
“You did not answer my initial question,” Vasil said.
She smirked. “You didn’t answer mine either.”
“Are you fucking anyone?”
Theo’s eyes widened, and she glanced away.
“What a lesson in subtlety,” Kane murmured.
“That is how you defined mating, is it not?” Vasil asked, confused by her reaction. Why would she speak so candidly about it a moment ago only to look horrified now?
“If you were a human, I’d tell you it wasn’t any of your fucking business.” She tilted her head back and looked over his body before meeting his gaze. “But you’re not. It’s just that the way you asked made it sound like you’re interested in…well, you know. Sex. With me.”
“I am.”
Theo took a couple steps backward, shock overcoming her expression. She held her hands up, palms out, as though to keep him at bay. “Whoa! Okay. Umm…”
“I would like to know you better, first,” he said. “That is the way humans usually enter relationships, correct?”
“A…relationship?”
“That’s what he said,” Kane chimed.
“Kane. Sleep mode,” Theo growled. The orb at her wrist blinked out.
Vasil moved forward, closing the distance she’d created between them. Though she didn’t back farther away, her expression remained wary, and she kept her hands up.
“I did not mean to upset you,” said Vasil. “I have been told I sometimes tend toward unnecessary bluntness.”
“That’s an understatement.”
He dipped his chin in acknowledgment; self-awareness hadn’t made it any easier for him to change the habit.
“You are attractive, Theodora. I am drawn to you. But it is your personality that intrigues me and keeps me interested.” Vasil drew in a deep breath, swelling his chest. “I am a skilled hunter, a keen-eyed scout, and a reliable companion. And I am interested in what you humans call a forever relationship. We would complement each other well as mates.”
Theo stared at him for several moments. The corners of her lips twitched, her brows lifted quirked up over the bridge of her nose, and she smiled before bursting into laughter. Vasil tilted his head as she clutched her middle and doubled over with her intensifying laughter.
He frowned. Had he said something unintentionally humorous, or was she laughing at him?
“Are you all right?” he asked.
She held up a hand. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Her laughter finally tapered off, diminishing to a few chuckles before ceasing completely, but her grin remained. “There’s something to be admired in directness, but when it comes to this stuff, you have to slow it down a little, Vasil.”
“Is it not best to state my intentions up front so there are no misunderstandings?”
“Well, yes, but you should start at the beginning and take baby steps from there.”
Still frowning, he gestured to his tentacles.
She followed his gesture with her eyes. “I’m not quite getting—Oh! You don’t take steps. Okay, so maybe that was a poor word choice on my part. What I mean is you need to take things slow. I don’t know how it’s done with your people, but—”
“Males display their suitability as a mate through hunting and physical confrontations with one another until a female chooses one to take to her den and procreate.”
“Well, okay then. That explains your forwardness.”
Vasil released a slow breath, glancing at the jungle floor as he gathered his thoughts. “I know that is not how humans behave. I was attempting to do it the human way. I did not expect to have sex with you today.”
Her eyes flared wide again, her brows rising high above them. “Yeah, okay, about that…”
“Do not worry, Theo. Our pieces will fit.”
Her gaze dropped to his slit. Just having her attention upon it was enough to stir his arousal, but he didn’t think his cock suddenly extruding would be the best way to smooth over this situation. Or would it? Would it put her at ease? He’d been gravely mistaken if he’d ever thought he understood how human minds worked.
“I could show you,” he said, “if it would help—”
Her eyes shot up to meet his, cheeks bright red. “No! No, that’s okay. I um, believe you. How about we keep our genitals…hidden and just head back to the pod? Sound good? Great!” She hurried past him, boots crunching over the jungle floor. “Hey Kane, wake up.”
Vasil turned to watch her moving away, feeling oddly empty and numb. It wasn’t the result of rejection, not exactly — she’d fled without verbally rejecting him — but rather of confusion.
Fallen from the Stars Page 7
