“I suppose it must be something to do with the manner in which they mate,” the unit speculated. “I took some footage, if you are curious.”
“Of her mating?” he asked, feeling unaccountably jealous all the sudden.
“No, of course not, sir,” it said. “There were two others of this type inside a dwelling near the place she was found. And the female was seated on top of the male.”
“He didn’t come at her from behind?” Krai asked curiously.
“Not from what I saw,” it insisted. “I will show you sometime.”
“Yes, please do,” he agreed, smirking. “We are out here to study other life forms, aren’t we?”
“Yes, sir,” Nibido agreed. “I will now leave the two of you to eat. I was not finished enacting my outer duties when your female awakened.”
“My female?”
“Well, unless you intend to place a sentient being into the zoo?”
“No. No, I don’t suppose I do,” Krai said, blushing himself now. “Get lost already, so I can eat my food.”
The girl continued to nibble at her meal, though she watched Nibido leave warily. The look of sheer distrust on her face was amusing. Krai sighed, wishing they could communicate. He wanted to tell her everything that had happened, why she was here, and what would be the most likely thing that was going to happen to her. She deserved to know the truth.
When they finished eating, the girl wandered around a bit, looking at things. Krai followed her, staying about a foot behind, as she smoothed her hand over one of the walls, getting a feel for its texture and clearly trying to puzzle out what it was made from. He wondered what her own people used to make their walls.
Moving on, she stopped in front of one of the control panels. When she reached out as if to touch it, Krai caught her tiny hands in his own and said, “Don’t!”
She looked up at him warily, but then she gave a curt nod of acceptance as she moved on. The fact that a nod seemed to be universal left Krai somewhat fascinated. Here was a new species that had developed far, far across the reaches of space, and yet the two of them nodded in agreement almost exactly the same.
They continued on. Learning little things about one another, for a long time before Krai could see the sleep in her eyes. The trouble was, there was only the one acceleration couch. It looked like either they would have to take turns, or they would have to share.
SIX
Krai knew that there was no possibility that either one of them could remain standing once Nibido disengaged the dampening field that had been allowing them to move freely in the cabin. And they simply didn’t have enough power to keep the thing on. He needed to convince the girl to lie down with him, but he had no idea how to explain.
He hated the idea of simply dragging her to bed with him. Such caveman tactics were highly frowned upon where he came from, and he tended to think she was going to feel the same. However, with no communication between them, and a growing need to see to the task, he couldn’t see any other choice.
First, he tried a more subtle approach, taking her by the hand and leading her back to the couch, pointing at both of them and it, then shrugging apologetically at her. As expected, her face became very red as she tried unsuccessfully to move away from him again. Shaking his head at her, he tugged her more fully against him and brought her with him onto the bed.
Kick and squeal and squirm though she might, he engaged the belt just the same. He had to lay her cradled on top of him to give them enough room, and once she settled against him he could feel the rapid beating of her heart. But he also felt her warmth, and smelled the scent of her hair. The scent was rather appealing, and he hoped very much that it would not set off an arousal of his own. He really didn’t want the girl even more frightened than she already was.
However, that thought led him to start wondering if she had gotten past the sexual response she’d had concerning him before, or if being on top of him again might set her off again. After all, Nibido had said that the other woman had been on the top. The idea intrigued him a lot more than he wanted it to at the moment, if his hope was to remain unaffected by the lush, warm body he held.
Sure enough, his cock stirred, then came more fully to life. And he could feel the tips of her breasts hardening under her clothes, too. This was either very bad, or very good, Krai thought. Depending upon how one looked at it. But he knew this girl was frightened and confused, and no matter how attracted they might be to one another, he wasn’t going to take advantage of her in any way. He laid there willing his body to behave.
*****
The guy was so big, he was practically a mattress, Jasmine thought as she laid there contemplating things. His long, white hair cascaded over his chest, very close to her chin, She contemplated it for a long time, speculating that the color had nothing to do with age, as far as she could see, but seemed to be a natural part of him. Surreptitiously, her fingers curled against it, and she found it was even softer than it looked.
She was also uncomfortably aware that her body was going crazy just being in this close proximity to him. No other man had ever held her to him like this before, so she had nothing to compare it to, but she was pretty sure she was wanting something naughty. Which was crazy, considering she didn’t know where she was, or who he was.
Well, she’d always craved something out of the ordinary, hadn’t she? And this was as out of the ordinary as things were ever going to be, as far as she could tell. Still, she shouldn’t be contemplating sex with him when he could very well have abducted her for purposes she was still completely uncertain of. How did she know he wasn’t going to harm her once they got wherever he was taking her, or worse? No, she couldn’t allow herself to trust him, and she should probably be trying to find a way to survive.
Not long after they’d gotten onto the couch thing, she’d heard a loud clank, and then things started going crazy. For a while now, she had been enduring the strange sensations that assailed her without complaint, but now she was noticing that her stomach was rolling like crazy. It felt like they must be going fast, like maybe they were in some kind of a crazy, huge car or something, but going faster than she could even conceive.
Or maybe it was one of those airplanes? She’d always wanted to fly in one, but she had always expected to be able to feel the wind on her face, with her hair flailing in the breeze, and the sight of the ground far below a very definite thing. All she could see in here was a bunch of metallic looking walls and Mr. tall, white, and greenish mattress.
For a while, she’d been hoping she was just having some kind of a crazy dream, but since she was not asleep she knew she couldn’t be. No, it was all very real, and she was beginning to realize maybe some of those crazy science fiction stories she’d been perusing at the book seller might be real. Maybe this guy was some kind of a Martian or something. Maybe he was going to take her to the red planet with him.
It was ridiculous, of course, to think so. That was just a fantasy story, and she was facing reality here. But still, it made a lot more sense to think he was from another planet than to assume he was human. No human she knew of had that slightly greenish skin, and his ears were pointy too. Plus, he had that weird mark on his forehead. So unless he was an elf, he had to be some sort of an alien.
She wished she could figure out how to talk to him. She had a lot of questions milling around in her head she wanted answers to, and the only way she was going to get them was if they could figure out how to exchange words. Sighing softly so as not to disturb him, she shifted slightly onto her back and burrowed into his armpit a bit more. She knew that it would be best to get some rest. She didn’t know when they would be getting out of this chair again.
*****
“Time to exercise, sir,” Nibido said, drawing Krai from the most comfortable sleep he had ever experienced. The girl was still nestled in his arms, and she had apparently drifted off sometime after him. With a gentle nudge, he woke her as well.
She eyed Nibido warily as he f
irst examined Krai with the health reader, and then ran the unit over her as well. She apparently became satisfied that he wasn’t going to transport her to yet another weird reality, and relaxed slightly against Krai instead.
After the exams, Krai released the latch on the couch, setting the two of them free again. He took his new companion’s hand, guiding her toward the exercising pod. Her eyes grew curious as they stepped inside the orb, and when Krai closed the door and disengaged the gravity, she let out a little scream of dismay, grabbing hold of the nearest thing. Which just happened to be him.
Krai’s mirth became contagious as the girl realized she was not endangered in any way. She glanced at him curiously as she let go and pushed herself away. He pointed to an exercise pad next to his own as he bounced into place and the strap engaged. The units adjusted to the mass and ability of whoever used them, so he was not concerned that the girl would be harmed when she began to make use of one.
Watching what he did, she strapped in and attempted to do the same, working her arms, her legs, and her torso accordingly. She seemed to be enjoying herself as she began to gyrate erratically. Curious, Krai tried out some of the moves she was making and decided they were quite nice. He would have to remember to thank her for the ideas sometime.
Thinking about that, he knew that he’d decided he was going to keep her around. He wasn’t quite sure when or how that decision had been made, but he knew it had been. Because really, Nibido was correct. There was no way he would ever give this tiny, beautiful creature to any zoo. Which left only the alternative of keeping her for himself.
As he watched her animated form moving lithely about in the chamber, he realized something else. He didn’t mind. No, he really didn’t mind at all.
SEVEN
Jasmine was a bit tired of the lack of communication thing, so when they came back into their little living space, she decided to try talking with him somehow. When they stepped up to the table, where more food had been placed, she looked hopefully up at him as she set her hand on it, patting it a couple of times. “Table. Table?”
The man seemed to comprehend what she was trying to do immediately. He set his own hand onto the table and said, “Libdo.”
Moving to the chair, she patted it as well. “Chair. Chair?”
“Lisk.”
They grinned at each other wryly. Jasmine said, “Well, that’s great. Now if we wanted to talk about fine dining, we’ve made a pretty good start.”
He watched her talking, but shook his head and shrugged. She wasn’t surprised he didn’t have a clue, of course, so she just shrugged and shook her head right back at him. He cast his eyes around the area in search of another item, grabbing his cup. “Loo?”
“Cup,” she supplied. She could see that this was going to take forever, but she was more than willing to try. Now all she had to do was remember what he was calling everything. She named each of the things he’d identified over again to make sure she had them right.
By the time they’d finished their meal, they each knew how to say the words for a few things in one another’s languages, but that just made Jasmine more frustrated than ever. Then she realized that they’d been naming objects, but they had failed to name each other.
As she rose from her half-crouch on the top of the huge chair and set her feet onto the floor again, she pointed to herself. “Jasmine.”
“Jazz?” he asked, since he hadn’t caught the whole thing.
Smirking at the memory of Jonathan calling her that, and the fact she’d been singing and playing it at the club for a time, she nodded. “Yes, Jazz.”
“Krai,” he said, touching his chest with a happy grin. Then he stepped over and touched the acceleration couch. “Yada?”
Jasmine wasn’t quite sure what to call the thing, but they had been sleeping there and probably were soon to be sleeping there once again, so she said, “Bed.”
Krai nodded with satisfaction. She was pretty sure he liked the idea of having a word to use to tell her when they needed to lay down again. But then, he raised one eyebrow and nodded at that piece of furniture again. “Bed.”
Nodding, she came to his side more willingly than she had the last time. Krai laid down on the platform, and then drew her down on top of him, settling her snugly into his armpit again. Then he smoothed his fingers down the length of her hair. “Lina?”
Shivering at the sudden wave of pleasure the touch sent through her, Jasmine replied, “Hair.” Then she reached up and drew her fingers down his, too. “Long hair.” She held up her fingers with the long width. “Long.” Then she moved them together. “Short.” She wasn’t sure he got what she was trying to say, so she just shrugged and smiled, settling in more comfortable. The strap slid over them, holding them in place, and the world went crazy once again.
“Well, I sure don’t have a word for this,” Jasmine sighed.
*****
Krai was pretty pleased that the little Uglata female wanted to communicate too. He had been surprised, but pleased, when she’d asked him the name for the table, and given her own name for it as well. Since the ship’s computer seemed to be taking forever to figure out any translations at all, he got up while she still slept for a time and plugged in the new words in an attempt to help it along. He also went into the holding unit for Uglata Three and began to sort through some of the samples, trying to determine which of them were living creatures and which of them were not.
He was able to catalogue the fact that most of the world’s plant life used photosynthesis—a process his people used themselves but the Uglata animals seemed to lack. It seemed only the plants had evolved with that skill. In fact, without that trait, the woman in his bed was highly likely to need protection from his planet’s sun. He began to postulate formulas that should help.
Because Jazz was not tied down to the acceleration couch this time, he was not surprised when she wandered in and looked around. He motioned for her to join him with a smile, and she stepped over to his side.
Spotting the little creature he had dubbed the ice cube, she pointed it out and said, “Mouse.”
He pointed to the urtzling, which she called a cow, and to a furry creature about the length of her arm which she dubbed a cat. Then she ran her fingers through the soil sample and called it dirt. Krai enthusiastically reached for a voice recorder and had her repeat the words again, taking pictures of each creature to put the words with them.
When he pointed at her curiously, she shook her head. He pointed to himself and said, “Klibdow,” then the urtzling as he said, “cow.”
“Oh. Human.”
“Ohuman?”
“Human,” she said, chuckling. Krai nodded, grinning broadly. This exchange went on for a time until she reached for the cryo-unit controls. He caught her hand quickly so she wouldn’t do anything foolish like freeze her fingers. He hadn’t expected the little zap of energy that passed between them, and by the gasp she emitted, he didn’t think she’d been expecting it either.
But rather than let her go, Krai found himself drawing her closer to him. Their eyes met and held, and both their heartbeats sped up, making it difficult to properly breathe.
On Krai’s world, he knew precisely what this was that was happening. On his world, it wouldn’t take much more coaxing to bring the girl fully into his arms, to bend down until their lips met, and she’d become all willing, accepting his touches as he picked her up and took her to the couch. But that was what would happen on his world. He didn’t know if she would be willing, and he sure didn’t know if he was supposed to turn her around and take her in the usual way, even if she did want to breed.
Hadn’t Nibido said something about putting her on top? His thoughts were getting too hazy in the midst of his growing need. And he wondered if she would be offended, too. She had moved away from him the last time she’d realized she was becoming aroused. For all he knew, there were social beliefs that would have prompted that response, and if he were to taste her now he might be violating them
irreparably.
The last thing he wanted to do was injure the delicate balance of their current camaraderie. So, he forced himself to look away again. He pointed out another creature in the pen. Jazz sighed heavily, and told him it was called a snake. With a slight flush, Krai found himself thinking the creature reminded him of the current issue with his anatomy. They really needed to come out of the confined space if he wanted to return to some semblance of sanity.
“Sir, we have come to the next designated star in the quadrant,” Nibido reported over the communicator. “I will be slowing the ship to begin the sweep. There appear to be twelve worlds.”
“That’s great, Nibido,” he replied. “And could you try not to acquire any more sentient beings?”
“I’ll try to keep it in mind,” the machine replied. “Are the two of you ready for a meal?”
“Table?” he asked Jazz, and she nodded her agreement.
“Yes, it looks like that would be just the thing.”
Krai took Jazz by the hand as they stepped back out into the main hold. The two of them sat and waited while Nibido served them a meal, and then ate it companionably. Her shy blushes and soft-spoken words did not help his sexual peak, but at least he was able to keep her at arm’s length.
EIGHT
“God, what am I doing?” Jasmine groaned under her breath as she finished eating her meal. She couldn’t believe how close she’d come to yanking the reluctant alien down and kissing him while they were in that little room. Was that really her? True, she had no clue what to do when it came to men, but her instincts seemed to be getting rather strong.
It was obvious the man was attracted to her, but for some reason he had shied away. She wondered why. Maybe because he had a lot more than a kiss in mind? She knew well enough what part of his anatomy would tell her the answer to that, but how was she supposed to look at it? If he caught her looking down there, she would be totally mortified.
A New Reason To Fight: An Intergalactic Romance Page 37
