Bondmate

by J. J. Lore

  They’d been mostly quiet, watching her eat with intent gazes until her pace slowed. Then they’d spoken about their home in the capital city on their planet. The smiling one, Bynton, had described the bath and pool with such pleasure she could almost imagine how all that warm water would feel against her body. She’d never been immersed before. Water was too precious a substance on Earth, costly and meted out. Evidently on Alpha, no such strictures were in effect. He’d also told her they had a garden with trees and flowers. She’d tried to hide her shock. The idea of living with such things boggled her mind. Mateen had rumbled a bit about the security features he’d added to the walls and windows, then subsided to quiet observation. He’d checked her elbow several times during the meal and with a deep scowl had finally allowed her to remove the cold pack. She’d yawned over the array of sweets they’d produced, and somehow she’d been bundled off to the overlarge bed.

  Here she was, her belly comfortably quiet, these strange loose clothes on her clean body, on this soft bed all alone. Weren’t they going to have sex with her as they’d intimated? Would she resist if they tried? All her sexual experience to date had been furtive and without much impact. Would accommodating these strange men be that much of a trial? They seemed convinced some sort of connection bound them together, but they were alien, with strange ways of thinking she couldn’t hope to understand. Granted, when she’d first seen them staring at her as the people had rushed to gather up the heat cubes, her whole body had flared with some strange sort of heat, some awareness of them. But that was due to their alienness, certainly not some sort of physic link. Wasn’t it?

  She sighed and rolled onto her back. It was hard to fathom. This whole episode had been like a dream or some sort of fantasy story told over a fire late at night. The fact that she’d even considered sexual contact with aliens was bizarre enough to count as fiction. Usually such tales ended in the death of the ravished woman, so she hoped to avoid that fate.

  A sound brought her out of her half-dozing reverie, and she sat up awkwardly, so well-rested it was difficult to order her muscles to obey.

  “Calm.” Mateen’s voice rumbled from the dark. Strange that she should know who it was so easily. Equally strange that her heart wasn’t racing as it should be under these circumstances. “Are you well?”

  “Yes. Where is Bynton?”

  “Checking the perimeter. He’ll return soon.” There was a shift in the shadows, and she felt the edge of the bed move. He was getting closer to her, and her heart fluttered. “May I get you something?”

  “Like what?” She truly couldn’t think of anything she needed. She was warm, dry, clean, fed, and against all reason, felt safe. It was so novel in her experience she didn’t quite know what to do.

  “Food, drink, a covering … answers to your questions.”

  “Where are you?” She’d watched them before, trying to interpret the looks they’d given each other and her. It was disconcerting to speak to someone she didn’t know well in the dark.

  A sliding sound and the bed pad moved. She felt his body heat and then the slightly rough pads of his fingers along her hand. “Can’t you see me?”

  “No.” She shook her head and turned towards where she thought he must be.

  “That’s right. Your eyes require slightly more ambient light to be effective.”

  She jumped as he touched her cheek, one finger stroking. A wholly unexpected prickle of heat scattered over her skin. She heard him breathe, and his other hand traced along her hair hanging over her shoulder.

  “What are the women like where you’re from?”

  Why she asked, she wasn’t sure. It just seemed odd to her that these big, healthy males had come all the way to sad and dying Earth to find a woman to inhabit their bed. He was silent for a beat, and she worried he was going to refuse to respond.

  “They are beautiful. Tall and strong. Proud. Rare.” Mateen’s fingers were now tracing along her earlobe and the sensitive skin below it. These Alphan women were everything she was not. A pang of inadequacy pushed aside the tingling sensation his careful exploration of her neck had roused.

  “Do you … have you…?” She couldn’t think how to phrase her question. She simply didn’t know how their society worked.

  “Have we looked for a partner among our own kind? No.” He drew closer. She could feel his hard thigh pressed to hers. She could draw back and impose some distance, but he was touching her hair again, threading his fingers through it in a way that made her want to lean closer and sigh.

  “Why not?”

  “Because we are warriors. Fighters. Part of our code is that we journey to Earth when the time is right, to find our mate. Defend her when we return. Prove our worth.”

  One of his hands brushed up against her hip, and she shook, automatically reaching in the dark to cover it with her own. He was warm, his fingers thick and strong under hers as they stilled.

  “Is this not allowed?” His whisper gusted along her cheek.

  “I … what do you want to do?” She was so used to fending off unwanted clutches and grabs from desperate men that her caution had been automatic. Mateen didn’t seem desperate, but rather curious, almost gentle. As if a golden, horned demon would be gentle with her.

  “To touch you. I like it. Does it bother you?” His frank questions disarmed her. This was so unlike what she’d feared.

  “No, it doesn’t bother me. I just wonder why you want to.”

  “I find you attractive.”

  “Even though I’m human? Not Alphan?” She wasn’t tall, strong, or golden. His hand moved to her waist, his fingers curling towards the small of her back even as she kept hold of his wrist.

  “Do you find me unattractive because I’m not human?”

  Oh.

  “I don’t know. I’ve only just seen you for the first time today.” She didn’t want to insult him and was in fact, quite confused in her thinking. She blamed the ample meal and the ever so slight caresses he was giving her. She was too soft and warm to keep up a barrier between her thoughts and her mouth.

  “Illumination increase twenty percent.” Mateen barked out an order, and she jumped again. Suddenly she could see him, seated on the bed next to her, his face a few centimeters from hers. A handsome face, somehow the golden shade of his skin didn’t strike her as odd anymore, and his bronze eyes were as mesmerizing as a cat’s. At least, as she imagined a cat’s would be. His horns were barely noticeable, and in all honesty, she was now more intrigued by them than repelled. He watched her for a moment.

  “Our anatomy is nearly identical, and our DNA is compatible. I believe both Bynton and I are adequately symmetrical to indicate our vitality and genetic viability.”

  “Yes, you seem healthy,” Avanelle breathed this out, completely confused by his statements. They were quite clearly discussing the potential for fucking, but in the strangest, most clinical way she could imagine. Where was the grabbing and growling she’d anticipated? Men wanted to take and dominate, to pretend they had some control over a chaotic world.

  “Perhaps you worry about physical conformity.” With this, Mateen slid off the bed and pulled at his clothes. In a few quick movements the loose tunic he’d been wearing was tossed on top of a chair. Avanelle’s mouth went dry. Broad chest, ridged abdomen, thick and bulging arms; Mateen looked like an idealized statue of what a man should be. He reached for the fastener on his trousers but stopped when there was a clanging noise from outside the bedroom.

  “Bynton, please come in. Avanelle and I are in the midst of a discussion.”

  Within a moment, Bynton was there, his eyebrows raised as he took in the sight of her crouched on the bed and Mateen standing half-naked in front of her. He was wearing tall boots, the armor she remembered striking to no effect, and a sleek black coat that swept the floor behind him. Without a word he reached for his garment and shrugged out of it, the slippery-looking material stretching over his broad shoulders as he moved. Mateen waited as his companion shed his
armor and tunic. The room felt too warm, and Avanelle tugged at her shirt, making sure it still covered her.

  Bynton was as well-structured as Mateen, if only slightly less heavy. Standing side by side, they seemed as formidable as a wall. As one, they reached for their trousers, unabashedly stepping free of the garments to reveal soft knit shorts distended by sizeable bulges. If she looked closely she could make out the curve of their—

  “Wait!” Avanelle held up her hands, suddenly afraid, this strange discussion taking on a very immediate urgency. She wanted to see and yet wanted to close her eyes.

  “You find us unattractive?” Bynton’s voice conveyed disappointment. Mateen straightened, his hand at the waistband of his shorts.

  “No, not unattractive. Hardly that.” Avanelle wasn’t sure what she was thinking. They were beautiful in a strange way, close to a human ideal, but slightly different, different enough to give her pause and tempt her at the same time.

  “We were discussing physiology before you came in.” Mateen adjusted his protruding cock, and Avanelle knew she was blushing even as she felt her nipples tighten. He was so matter-of-fact. Just looking at the ridges and thick heads outlined underneath the thin material was making her lightheaded.

  “Ah.” Bynton nodded. “Would you like to see us?”

  With a thick swallow, Avanelle gave a quick nod. It was inevitable, and perhaps their very open manner would ease some of her nerves. Apparently at some point she’d decided there was going to be physical contact between them. She wasn’t sure when that page had turned, but somewhere between Mateen’s soft touches and Bynton’s worry that he repelled her, she’d made up her mind. She knew she should be horrified at what was to come, but some pulse of curiosity and desire thrummed through her. She wanted to know, to see, to feel.

  They had to pull the waistbands out to work their undershorts down, and once she saw their cocks spring free, thick and dusky red, her breath rushed out even as her sex swelled. The fine dark hair that covered their chests tapered down and then thickened into a patch framing their erect members and full sacs. So large. Thick thighs, swollen with muscle, only emphasized their masculine form. They had bodies made for battle and conquest. A shaky part of her brain commanded her to lie back and spread her legs apart. Instead, she pressed a hand to her mouth.

  “Are we not as you expected?” Mateen was watching her with those hot eyes that missed nothing.

  “No, you’re fine. Very well made.” She coughed and wondered what else to say. Bynton smiled at her praise. He leaned forward and sat on the bed as Mateen followed suit. She was warm, either from the closeness of their naked bodies or the way her blood was rushing through her body.

  “Would you like to touch us?”

  They were aliens, she reminded herself. But they hadn’t harmed her, hadn’t done anything more objectionable than carry her away from a frightening place. All that gleaming skin, those bunching and flexing golden muscles surrounding her. Why not enjoy it, just as she had enjoyed cleaning her skin in their shower, eating their food until her belly was content?

  She reached out and placed a hand on their flat, firm chests, lightly, but not so lightly she didn’t feel their skin twitch, their breaths catch. Hot and hard were the only sensations she could process as she stroked their skin, one rising swell of muscle after the other.

  Bynton drew nearer, stretching his thighs next to hers as he made a low sound in his throat. His cock bobbed near her hip, and she watched it a second, the broad red head a contrast to her pale skin. Her mouth watered, and she swallowed. Then Mateen placed his hand over hers as she slid it along his shoulder.

  “We aren’t so different from a human male, are we?”

  Oh, he had no idea. The men she’d known, seen naked, had in no way been similar to these beings pressing close to her. “Perhaps not in design, but your execution is … is…”

  She had no words. They were both close enough now she could smell them, a rich musk that filled her nose and nerves with pleasure. Her pussy quivered and tingled.

  “What is different? Show us,” Bynton asked as he rolled onto his back. Her gaze swept from his wide chest down to his erection, then to his slightly parted thighs, everything he had on display for her.

  “Unfamiliarity can increase fear. We want you to be comfortable with us.” Mateen rumbled as he sat up behind her, close enough for her to lean against if she liked. He settled his arm along her hip, his fingers against her upper thigh, and her pussy clenched. It was so wrong to be aroused by this, but she couldn’t help it.

  Bynton waited for his anatomy lesson. Taking a breath, she decided to start even though she had no idea how this encounter was going to end. “You look human, but you’re much bigger and stronger.”

  “Good diet and rigorous exercise,” Mateen said, his fingers gently circling on her thigh even as Avanelle slipped her hand along Bynton’s chest. She encountered one of his taut nipples, and he twitched.

  “We call them dinap. Are yours as sensitive?” Bynton’s soft question prompted her own nipples to tighten.

  “Uh, yes, mine are sensi—” She nearly squeaked when Mateen’s hand slid along her ribcage to cup under her breast. He squeezed gently, as careful as if he held a fragile egg. Bynton’s eyes narrowed.

  “Yes, I can see them through the fabric. Does the friction of the cloth bother you?”

  Avanelle was helpless, only able to shrug as she tried to understand how she’d come to be discussing nipples with them.

  “Mat, help her.” Bynton stretched out his arms and slid his hands under the back of his head, his thick dark hair falling over the white sheets, the small horns on his head more visible. Mateen lifted the hem of her shirt and waited until she unthinkingly raised her arms to slip it off. Before she could cover her breasts, he’d brought his hands back to claim them, her nipples caught between his knuckles. A terrible bolt of burning nerves pulsed from her breasts down to her clit, and she shivered out a sigh.

  Bynton smiled and caught her hand in his, pressing it to the hard ridges of his abdomen. “Our musculature is identical to humans’.”

  “Perhaps, but I’ve never seen anything like this.” As her fingers bumped along his muscles, she felt the trail of hair under her palm. It was smooth and much softer than she’d anticipated. She wondered if the hair around his cock was equally pleasant to touch.

  One of Mateen’s hands left her breast and trailed along her belly. She couldn’t catch her breath, the ache between her legs powerful enough to make her shift her thighs. Avanelle couldn’t believe she was so aroused, was actually longing for sexual contact with these men, had no compunction about touching and being touched by two males at the same time. It was all so different from her life to this point she wondered where her inner voice had gone, the one that warned her not to walk down dark alleys or talk with strangers. Or get naked with aliens.

  “It’s my understanding our sexual organs are identical to human males’.” Bynton’s eyes darkened, and the easy grin left his mouth. It was a challenge to her, very softly made, but still obvious. She’d gone this far. What would hold her back?

  Mateen shifted his hands against her flesh and leaned his chest to her back. She could feel his cock press against her spine. It was warm and throbbed gently against her skin. He pulled her hair from her shoulder and nuzzled her neck. “You can touch him as you like. Bynton can be rough with his staff when he pleasures himself.”

  Hot blood rushed to her face. To hear one of them so matter-of-factly discuss how the other masturbated made her dizzy. Did they watch each other? Touch each other when they…

  Questions fled her mind when she saw Bynton curve his fingers around his shaft, pulling down his foreskin slightly to expose more of the red head for her. With shaking fingers she gently stroked the velvety skin there. Bynton sucked in a deep breath, a soft groan escaping his mouth. He dropped his hold, and unbidden she took him up, gripping his cock as it jumped against her palm.

  “Manual stimulat
ion is pleasurable. Do human men enjoy it as well?”

  “Yes, they do.” Her voice was a breathy whisper. Mateen had trailed his fingers down her belly to curl them between her legs. She was sure the thin fabric of her borrowed pants did nothing to hide the heat and moisture of her swollen lips. Her clit throbbed.

  “Would you like me to…?” She couldn’t believe she was almost asking such a question, but Bynton’s quick nod kept her from taking it back. Mateen seemed to gather her in even closer as she adjusted her position to give her better leverage.

  “We understand human women also appreciate such activities. Would you like it if I touched you, or would you prefer your own hand?” Mateen’s voice was rough, even as the movements of his fingers were hesitant as he worked them between her legs.

  Her heart hammering and everything in her body tensing with desire, Avanelle relaxed into the moment. She hadn’t felt so good in months, years. Why not take this encounter to a pleasurable conclusion?

  “You may touch me,” she managed to whisper. Mateen grunted and stopped caressing her long enough to pull apart the waist of her bottoms and tug them down around her hips. His fingers slid into her curls, easing into her already wet folds.

  “Is she…?” Byn asked, and Avanelle returned her attention to him, realizing she hadn’t left hold of his cock during her previous movements. She gave him a squeeze and a stroke, and he closed his eyes. Thick, hard, hot, she could feel his cock pulse with more blood, a tiny bead of pre-cum gleaming at the tip.

  “She feels … this is good, Byn.” The other man’s voice faded to a whisper, and she felt his breath on her shoulder as he again pressed against her, a warm wall of a chest, the strong support of his legs framing her body, keeping her safe. The light nip of his teeth against her shoulder made her shiver, made her clit swell. “Avanelle, please tell me if I err in pleasing you.”