by Ines Johnson
Shanti saw the beam of light that she'd stepped out of. "You said you're my slave. So if I asked you to, you'd let me go?"
"I brought you here to show you why I cannot let you go." Chen pointed to a window bay.
Outside the window was darkness, but it wasn't the night's sky. Shanti peered deeper into the void and she saw a globular shape. And then she realized why Chen couldn't let her get on the beaming down machine.
There was no going back down to Earth. Looking out the window, the planet she saw wasn't the blue planet she'd come from. It wasn't its red neighbor, Mars.
Looking out the window, Shanti saw they were passing the red and white planet of Jupiter, and it didn't look like they were slowing down.
Chapter Thirteen
Hsing stared at the depiction of a woman sitting upright with her legs over a man's shoulders. The woman's hands wrapped around the male caricature's neck. The man cradled the woman's rear in his hands while his torso plunged into her. The depiction showed them gazing into each other's eyes, both of their mouths open in ecstasy.
He pressed the button that advanced the screen on Shanti's device. The sutra he read was not in his father, Chou's, hand. The words were an Earth dialect. The original text was well and truly lost. But many of the ideas remained.
The text began with advice on how to select a virtuous wife -definitely not his father's thinking. His mother would have laughed him off the ship at many of the suggestions. It then went on to detail the many and varied ways two beings fell in love.
Hsing skipped through those parts. Another concept he didn't comprehend; having to put oneself in danger or harm's way for the sake of a fickle emotion. Devotion was a duty not an unseen, unquantifiable, chemical reaction. Hsing skipped over all the fluff and went straight to the sexual position illustrations.
It seemed a tedious business, the myriad of positions. But he understood the necessity. Eloh males needed to keep their women pleased so that they would open themselves to their males and allow themselves to be penetrated. For it was between a woman's thighs that Eloheem reached the sacred space, known as Nirvana.
A moan caught his attention. Hsing looked over to the berth where his woman lay. Shanti was tangled in the sheets of the berth, her thighs pressed together. Her hands roamed her body as she let out a breathy sigh. The sound of his name on her lips had Hsing diving into her head to grasp onto the thread of her dreams. The image came back to him crystal clear.
In Shanti's dream, Hsing's dark blue hands were on her body. His fingers grazed her brown breasts. His mouth encircled a dark nipple. He tasted its sweetness. Shanti's physical body jerked as Hsing's dream-self thrust into her, his petals clasped tightly to the dark pink flesh of her core.
"Hsing," she sighed.
In the dream, Hsing's hands gripped her hips and pulled down, grounding her into him. Back in reality, Hsing gripped the edges of the chair to keep himself in it. He reached further into her dream.
In the dream, Hsing climbed to his knees. He placed Shanti's legs over his shoulders as he'd seen in the illustration. He thrust up. In both the dream and the real world, Shanti cried out in absolute ecstasy.
Her body jerked in the berth until she sat up straight. Her gaze immediately connected with his. Shanti brushed the wayward hairs from her face, chest still heaving. "What are you doing in here?" she demanded, her voice husky.
"I have time now."
The silence stretched between them as she searched for his meaning. Hsing saw the moment it dawned on her. Her eyes widened. Her pupils dilated. Her nostrils flared.
"Get out," she said, her breath quickening.
Hsing rose from the chair. He took a step towards her.
She clutched the sheet to her ample chest. "Did you hear what I said?"
"Your words are meaningless to me, little one." Hsing arrived at the edge of the bed.
Shanti had to tilt her head back to look up at him. She licked her lips as she did.
"Your words belie your thoughts," Hsing continued. "Your body's language is clear."
"Get out of my head and get out of my room.”
The defiant set to her chin sent a thrill down Hsing's loins. He'd thought her weak and helpless during their first two encounters. Now, he saw he was wrong. She might turn out to be a worthy partner in life.
"Why would I vacate either when I find myself so welcome?" Hsing's gaze caught and held on her breasts. He saw her erect nipples poking through her flimsy garb.
"You made me dream that," she said. "Didn't you?"
"I came into the dream late. After my name escaped your lips. Would you like me to do that to you, little one?" Hsing held up the device that held the contents of the sutra. "It is called..." he glanced at the screen, "the Erotic V."
Shanti reached up and snatched the device out of his hands. She tossed it onto a sideboard and then wrapped the blankets more firmly around herself.
Hsing opened his hand and the device flew into it at his command. He flicked through a couple of screens. "Personally, I was hoping to go with the..." he peered at the screen, "Doggie-style. It allows deep penetration of the vaginal canal for the male enjoyment and manipulation of the clitoris for female bliss. It appears the most efficient."
Hsing held up the device so that the screen faced Shanti. Her lips stayed pursed, but her eyes and nostrils flickered at the illustration. The screen depicted a woman on her hands and knees with a man penetrating her from behind. It was the way most low creatures copulated throughout the universe. Hsing saw no reason to buck nature's tradition.
He sent the device sailing back to the sideboard and reached for the sash to his robes. "Shall we begin?"
Shanti's eyes enlarged, her breath picked up. "No!" She scooted to the other side of the bed.
Hsing frowned and then sighed. "I do not understand why you are resisting me when you are clearly both interested and aroused."
"I don't like you, and I don't think you like me."
"I do not see what liking you has to do with mating rituals. You like mating. I felt as much when you were with my brother. With that knowledge, coupled with my readings of the sutra, I will exceed your prior experiences."
Her eyes nearly bulged out of her skull. "You arrogant asshole."
Hsing shrugged. Modesty was not his strong point. "My brother chose you as our bondmate. I am here to do my duty. Part of that duty is to take you to sexual heights high enough to reach Nirvana. That will fuel me."
"Fuel you?"
"When a female orgasms she releases a neuro-chemical that humans know as oxytocin. It is a pure form of energy that allows the males of my kind to reach heights of awareness we cannot reach on our own. We call that higher plane of awareness Nirvana."
"You mean you're using me like I'm some type of drug?"
Hsing undid the knotted loops of his sash and his robes fell from his chest leaving his torso exposed. Shanti eyed his bare chest before blinking and steeling her gaze once more. She placed her hands up, but before she could speak-
"You say the word no to me repeatedly," said Hsing placing one knee on the berth. "But I see the desire in your eyes. Why should I listen to your words when you are lying to yourself?"
She opened her mouth. Then closed it. Her eyes darted to the door. "Where's Chen?"
Hsing placed his other knee on the berth. Kneeling on the large cushion, he towered over her. "Chen is resting. He has been working in the energy mines. Besides, he has already bonded his mind, body, and soul to you."
Hsing advanced closer to her. He expected her to back away, but she didn't. He saw a light dawn in her eyes at those last words.
"Chen said that once you bonded with me, you would be my slave."
Hsing smirked. "I do not think that word translates correctly." He placed his arms on either side of her, boxing her in.
"You'll do what I say once we're mated?" she asked.
Hsing saw her intentions. She wanted to return home. The problem was the place she deemed home wa
s a hazy picture in her head.
Shanti had no home, just like the males on this ship. She was displaced. If she had truly wanted to leave, Hsing might've entertained the idea of returning her after that first meeting. He was compelled to find a mate, but he didn't have time to cajole one into her duty.
Shanti needed no cajoling. Her body wanted him even if her words were resistant, just as her soul knew this was home. Home was more than a planet or parcel of land. Home was the people surrounding you, and Shanti had none. This would be her home. These would be her people.
"We need to get this one important thing straight, little one. Chen and I may look the same, but we are different. Chen will give you the softness you seek. Romance, you call it. Chen will come to you with compromise and options."
"And you?" Shanti tilted that defiant chin up.
Hsing had the urge to bite the angular mandible. "It is not in my nature." He grasped her chin between two fingers and tilted her head back further.
Her lips parted. "What is your nature?"
Their lips were barely an inch from one another. She was no longer backing away from him. It seemed his little woman couldn't resist a challenge.
"I am Yin, while Chen is Yang."
Her eyes crinkled in that way that told him she was thinking, sifting through her primitive knowledge to find meaning. "Like a Taoist?"
"That word is not translating. Yin and Yang are the same essence manifesting in different polarities. Chen and I share the same blood. Blood, like water, is one essence. When drunk by a mammalian it becomes milk for nourishment. When drunk by a reptilian, it becomes venom, a weapon for defense."
Shanti's eyes blazed in triumph, as though some point was proven. "What you're telling me is you're a snake."
“Never forget it, little one." Hsing captured her lips.
She allowed the claiming. Until she bit his bottom lip.
Hsing reared back, laughter rumbling through him. "Thank the Heavens you are not docile."
“Don't you forget it, you big, blue ape."
Hsing smiled at the treasure his brother had brought back home. "I will take you now, Shanti. I will twist and bend your body through all the illustrations in that sutra until I ring every last morsel of pleasure from you."
She had no words for that. Her lips trembled. Her eyes brightened. Her teeth caught her lower lip while she held her breath.
"Tell me no again, Shanti," Hsing taunted.
In response, she let out a shaky breath.
Hsing pounced.
Chapter Fourteen
She was out of her mind.
Oh god, she was out of her mind. Or maybe it was traces of the scorpion's venom still in her veins. Or perhaps remnants of zen from Chen and Niao. Those had to be the reasons she did nothing as Hsing's dark, blue hands roamed her body.
He wasn't gentle like his brother. He didn't fumble and ask for guidance. Hsing's fingers were sure as they ripped the t-shirt from her body. He used his teeth to dislodge her bra. And still Shanti didn't push him away.
Her body was on fire.
Her brain was fried.
Hsing yanked her shorts off along with her panties. Shanti lay beneath him; naked as the day she was born. Hsing gazed down at her for the briefest of seconds before pouncing onto her, into her.
He was inside of her before she knew it. In one deep thrust that had both of them crying out. It should've hurt. She wasn't ready for him.
But she was.
She heard the wet and juicy slaps of their bodies connecting. She'd been dripping for him, hungry for that arrogant tongue to claim her mouth. Almost immediately, an orgasm began to build. She had no choice but to hold on to him as the sensations climbed up her spine.
Up and up it went. Lightning fast. But somehow slow enough for her to clock its progress.
The hum of the pre-orgasm buzz spread first to both of her ass cheeks, which Hsing held firmly grasped in each of his hands. Then it latched onto the base of her spine. From there it went up, like an elevator stopping on each floor.
It stoked the glowing embers of her solar plexus. It spread like wild flowers bursting through her heart. Shanti groaned deep in her throat as the warming sensation reached the crown of her head.
"Oh god," she screamed. She was at the crest of the largest orgasmic wave of her life. But she didn't go over.
Hsing wound his big hand into her hair and gave it a firm tug that jerked her head back. "Speak no other deity’s name but my own. I am your god now."
Shanti didn't even have a moment to be shocked or rattled by his commanding, arrogant tone. Hsing plunged into her, even deeper than before. His eyes stared down at her, daring her to say the offensive name again.
Shanti's pride had the name of Jesus on her tongue, but Hsing plunged ever deeper into her and held her torso to him. He filled her completely, with no inch remaining to her own self. She held onto the cliff by her pinky toe, and soon it gave.
"Hsing," she screamed as her orgasm tore through her.
She felt her muscles clamp around him. The bed shook. The room shook.
When she opened her eyes she saw it was not the bed, not the room. It was Hsing who shook. His large body trembled powerfully above her. His eyes were closed, but his face was open. He looked entirely unguarded, vulnerable, and beautiful.
Shanti reached up and with trembling fingers of her own she ran a hand down the side of his face. She felt her heart open.
In her mind's eye she saw the same yellow mist of the energy mines residing inside Hsing. She saw the mist reach out from him and wrap itself around her heart. No, not her heart. It was some place beyond her heart, deeper in her core.
Hsing opened his eyes. Shanti felt entirely connected to him, safe with him, cocooned within that deep level. Her palm tilted and his cheek followed as though she were a marionette with strings and he was her devoted-
With no notice, Hsing shuttered himself. He flipped Shanti onto her stomach. He drew her knees up into his hands -her legs flying straight behind her- and he plunged deep inside her.
Shanti screamed.
It should've been a scream of pain. She'd just had one deep, muscle-clenching, breath-stealing orgasm barely a moment ago. She shouldn't be ready so soon. But somehow, she was.
Her channel wasn't irritated. It was hungry. When Hsing entered her, she swallowed him whole and cried out for more.
Hsing's pace was relentless. His fingers found her clitoris. It should have felt uncomfortable. Instead, it felt warm.
Next to his fingers, she felt the familiar soft heat of one of his petals. Somehow she knew that it was the petal that allowed the touch to continue. Before long another orgasm rose within her.
"I am bound to you, Shanti."
Those words were not the pillow talk of a man in the throes of passion. Those words were growled in her ear. It wasn't awe or reverence like when Chen made a similar proclamation. Hsing's tone carried a gruff reluctance.
"I will lay down my life for you," he said as he pounded into her. "I will be in service of your needs and your pleasure for the rest of my days. But never forget who is in control."
Shanti wasn't sure how long Hsing stayed inside her. He kept her facing the pillows as he held domination over her torso.
True to his words, he twisted and bent her body until he wrung every bit of pleasure from her that he could. Not allowing her to see his face again when she climaxed. Not allowing her to touch him again as she came down from the highs.
He made her come four more times. By the end, Shanti was dazed, but not dazed enough to realize that just like with Chen, Hsing didn't climax inside her either. And like Chen, Hsing took great pleasure in her climaxes. He'd urged her higher and higher with each orgasm. The convulsions lasting longer and longer, gripping his length harder and harder.
Shanti saw stars. Perhaps this was the Nirvana that Hsing spoke of. On the last orgasm, she felt she'd left her body. She floated in a mist of colors. She could no longer tell what was real
and what was not.
She felt something caress her face, rubbing softly over her lips and eyelids. She felt herself falling, but the impact was pillow soft. And then she was covered in warmth. She couldn't determine if those were arms cuddling her or a blanket swathing her.
Shanti opened her eyes. She had no idea how long she'd been out. It felt as though she'd slept for days. Her body felt alive and energized. She expected to be sore but only felt a mild twinge of use. She looked over to see that Hsing was fast asleep beside her. His face unguarded in sleep.
The orgasms had been mind blowing, but not enough to make her forget her goal. Shanti was thankful for the sex. It would tide her over for months, years maybe. But the facts remained; she was getting off this ship. And now that both Chen and Hsing were asleep and not dipping into her thoughts, she had a moment to herself to plan her escape.
Chapter Fifteen
Chen leaned back against the wall. It wasn't a wall like most structures. The walls of the dwellings Chen had walked through on other inhabited planets were made of arbors, earth, and metals. The Eloheem Mothership was a living, breathing being. Her exterior, a chrysalis, impervious to the harsh elements of the Heavens. Her internal cocoon molded into the shapes and structures of whatever its inhabitants needed.
Right now Chen needed a soft, warm place to fall into. The place at his back molded into the shape of his shoulders, allowing his head to fall back and release pressure on his neck. The temperature of the wall adjusted a few degrees higher than his core body temperature to help relieve some of the tension running throughout his back.
Chen sighed and smiled his thanks to the ship. Motherships were a rare breed of living creatures. Though they were called Motherships they had no actual gender. They were purely asexual, which meant that they had no means of reproduction.
The ship lived through, as well as for, its inhabitants. The Eloheem fed off the energy the ship provided. In turn, the ship cultivated and then recycled what they gave back to her. A perfect symbiotic relationship. Neither party fully a parasite taking stock, nor a host setting up stores.
