Distant Desires: Part Two

by Cambria Hebert

  DISTANT DESIRES

  An erotic tale from beyond the stars

  Sophie Perez has never believed the stuff she reads online about possible life in space. Aliens are for the movies, for the weirdoes, and they most definitely are not real.

  One night on the way home from a late shift at work, her car breaks down. Stranded on the side of a country road, with a dead cell phone, doesn’t seem like that big of a deal.

  Until strange neon lights appear in the sky. She thinks it is her imagination.

  When an inexplicable circular ship appears overhead, she can’t deny what’s clearly right in front of her. Especially when moments later, she’s taken onto the ship, a human hostage among those who are most definitely not human.

  About to become a human guinea pig, possibly worse, the last thing she ever expects is to like the things these otherworldly beings subject her to. In fact, it is unlike anything she’s ever experienced.

  Will Sophie find her way back to her planet, or will she beg to stay where her pleasure is literally out of this world?

  DISTANT DESIRES PART TWO

  Copyright © 2014 CAMBRIA HEBERT

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form without written permission except for the use of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Published by: Cambria Hebert Books, LLC

  http://www.cambriahebert.com

  Interior design and typesetting by Sharon Kay

  Cover design by MAE I DESIGN

  Edited by Cassie McCown

  Copyright 2014 by Cambria Hebert

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead,

  business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Other books by Cambria Hebert

  Heven and Hell Series

  Before

  Masquerade

  Between

  Charade

  Bewitched

  Tirade

  Beneath

  Renegade

  Heven & Hell Anthology

  Death Escorts

  Recalled

  Charmed

  Take It Off

  Torch

  Tease

  Tempt

  Text

  Tipsy

  Tricks

  Tattoo

  Tryst

  Distant Desires

  Part Two

  by Cambria Hebert

  Table of Contents

  Contents

  the impossible

  the reason

  the lesson

  the dark

  the normal

  the offer

  the promise

  the confusion

  the summons

  the impossible

  I

  was hallucinating.

  Either that or I was completely bat-shit crazy.

  I stood there for a long time, waiting for him to laugh. For a teasing chuckle to float out from beneath that silver hood he wore.

  But no laugh came.

  My child grows within you.

  I know he only said it once, but I heard those words over and over again. It couldn’t be. Even as I thought the words, my hand fluttered over my flat stomach and settled there. I felt the same. It was impossible to believe there was a baby… this faceless man’s baby inside me.

  “Ummm,” I said, wishing I could look into his eyes. “I don’t know how things happen on your planet, but on Earth, you have to have sex to get pregnant.”

  “And what exactly is sex on Earth?” he asked like he was merely asking about the weather.

  I might be a college student, but in that moment, I was transported back to middle school when all the girls were herded into the gym for a “health” class that detailed exactly how girls would get pregnant if they didn’t practice abstinence.

  It was embarrassing then, and it was embarrassing now.

  Clearly, it didn’t matter how old I got. Talking about inserting part A into part B wasn’t something I would ever be comfortable with.

  Suddenly, I was thankful I couldn’t see his face. And I sort of wished he couldn’t see mine. It was likely beet red.

  He remained silent throughout my trip back to adolescence. I figured that meant he really wanted an answer. Hell, maybe sex meant something else to his people.

  “Sex is when a man puts his penis inside a woman’s vagina.”

  Oh my God, I just said that out loud.

  “And that’s all?”

  “Well, no,” I said, hedging.

  A sound pierced my inner squirming. My eyes flashed up toward him where he stood just feet from me. He was laughing.

  He was laughing at me.

  Goose bumps broke out across my arms and legs. It was only a laugh, but it affected me in ways I didn’t think possible.

  Back when I was fifteen, my mom took me and my best friend to see our first concert. I still remember what it was like to stand there near the stage with the music pounding around me, drowning out even the roar of the crowd. It vibrated my insides and made me feel all shaky. And then the headliner started to sing. It had been incredible. Unforgettable.

  That’s what Tarek’s laugh was like.

  “I know what sex is,” he said, a smile in his voice. His accent made me want to hang on his every word. Even when he was poking fun at me.

  “Then why the hell did you just ask me?” I said, scowling.

  He chuckled lightly and again, goose bumps raced across my flesh. I rubbed at my arms, trying to calm the sensation.

  “Are you cold?” he asked, his light tone disappearing instantly.

  I wasn’t even able to answer because he moved quickly across the room and pulled out a white blanket. Instantly, he was before me, so close the heat from his body warmed my front. He spread his arms out wide, unfolding the blanket.

  He had long, graceful arms—I could tell despite the robe he wore. “That’s some wingspan you’ve got there,” I said.

  “I assume that’s a joke?” he asked, wrapping the blanket around me and pulling it closed at my chest. “Because I do not have wings.”

  “You have long arms,” I explained, unable to come up with anything snazzier because his closeness was affecting me so.

  “They’re actually average among Sapiens,” he remarked and pointed me back to the sofa I’d leapt up from when he announced I was pregnant.

  “Sit down,” he said.

  I did because a knot formed in my stomach as the thought of me actually being pregnant rushed back.

  “If you know what sex is, then you must know I can’t possibly be pregnant.”

  Tarek sat on the couch beside me, spreading his arms out along the backrest, literally draping himself on the leather. I was beginning to get very angry that I was having this conversation with a man whose face I couldn’t see.

  “The last time you were here, while I was pleasuring you, I placed some of my semen inside you.”

  What. The. Fuck?

  “You artificially inseminated me!” I burst out, pissed and grossed out all at once.

  “I told you I wanted to do an experiment.”

  “A baby is not an experiment!” I yelled. Horror struck me. Horror and disbelief. It couldn’t be. There was no way I got pregnant that way. My body wouldn’t betray me like that.

  Oh yes, it would, a little voice sang. Your body desires him and you know it.

  I moved to jump up from the couch. The blanket tangled around my legs, and I pitched sideways. Tarek moved quickly, showing more grace than I could e
ver possess. His arms swept around me, stopping my fall and holding me steady.

  I hung there for long seconds, suspended between the floor and his body, his arms literally my only support. And then he curled them in.

  Like a fisherman reeling in a line, he dragged me closer until we were mere inches apart.

  The heat from his fingers seared through the back of my shirt. I wondered if his handprint would permanently scar my skin. He used his body almost like a shield, guiding me back down onto the couch, this time sitting much closer to me.

  “I know this is a lot, but try not to overreact.”

  I laughed.

  His hand lay between us. I could feel his fingers against my thigh. Without thought, I reached forward, linking our fingers together and drawing his hand into my lap. “Don’t you think I should at least be allowed to see your face?”

  I sensed his hesitation. But instead of trying to convince him, I waited for a reply.

  “I don’t look like you.”

  “No one else looks like me either,” I said.

  “That’s true,” Tarek agreed, but it didn’t sound like he was speaking to me. Then he spoke out, “I mean the people of your planet. I don’t look like your version of humans.”

  “Then what do you look like?” I asked.

  “Like a Sapien.” He shrugged his shoulders as he said the words.

  “Show me,” I said.

  Tarek untangled our fingers and withdrew his hand. Slowly, he reached up and grasped the edges of the hood. Then he paused.

  I groaned out loud.

  This guy was going to kill me!

  “I’m afraid I won’t please you,” he said softly.

  The words pierced my heart. He thought I was going to think he was ugly. He didn’t realize how those words made him so very similar to me and every human I knew.

  He was vulnerable and self-conscious, just like the rest of us.

  The fact he even cared at all what I thought of him took away some of my shock and panic.

  “Try me,” I said equally as soft.

  You could have heard a pin drop through the silence that encompassed the room.

  The silver silky hood fell back, lying against his neck, the folds of the fabric bunched in a way that created a loose frame for everything above his neck.

  He was right. He looked nothing like the human’s here on Earth.

  Tarek was better.

  In those first moments my eyes fully took in his face, I felt as though a violent hurricane ripped through my body, scattering pieces of myself beneath the skin that bound me together. Looking upon him was so intensely shattering I knew even once I was put back together, I would never be the same.

  The oxygen in my lungs evaporated, but if my body missed the air, it gave no indication.

  From the brief view I got of his eye, I knew he was going to be beautiful, gorgeous even. But he was absolutely devastating.

  Like the rest of him, his face was long, but the length of it was balanced by the strong angle of his jaw. His cheekbones were high and narrow, his nose perfectly straight and austere. His skin was absolutely poreless. A creamy pale color, as if it had never seen the sun. There were no wrinkles, no creases, nothing to mar his sleek perfection. I was pretty sure he didn’t grow facial hair because there was just no way a razor would give him that close of a shave.

  His mouth was shaped like a bow, his lips not overly full, but certainly enough there to give definition. The pink undertone of his mouth might have been feminine—on anyone else. On him, it was seductive, captivating… and it created a yearning deep inside me.

  Even in all his facial glory, nothing could compare to his eyes.

  They were wide and almond shaped, fringed with the kind of lashes women would kill for. The perfect frame for a stunning picture. They were still the color of a velvet night sky before it went completely dark. A rich, deep purple with flecks of silver near the center, stars amongst a galaxy. Glitter in the dark.

  One might think the wide stare he bestowed upon me would be childlike and innocent, but it wasn’t. He held the kind of wisdom in his gaze that made me shudder. Maybe it was the silver against the amethyst that afforded him the appearance of unwavering steel at his core. Or maybe it was the way he carried himself, sturdy, strong, and sure.

  When I was able to tear my eyes away from his, I glanced upward. My fingers flexed, wanting to glide through the deep-brown hair that effortlessly crowned his head. It was boy band hair. You know the kind of hair that probably took five hours to make look so natural. The kind that seemed to have a mind of its own, a rebellion to look nothing but enticing. The rich brown should have been too dark for the paleness of his skin, but it wasn’t. It was the perfect contrast.

  I truly couldn’t imagine anyone looking as superior as him. Ever. Yet he seemed to imply he was average-looking for his race. There could never be anything average about him.

  I was unable to speak; I could only stare. After very long moments, he ducked his head and reached for the hood, meaning to conceal his face once more.

  “No,” I said quickly, reaching out to stop him. “Please don’t.”

  He lowered his hands.

  “I’ve never seen anyone like you before,” I whispered.

  “I know,” he said, the corner of his mouth lifting.

  “You’re absolutely beautiful.” My voice was breathless, my lungs still trying to inhale properly.

  Tarek’s lips parted as surprise registered on his face. “I thought—”

  I shook my head, cutting off his words. “Whatever you thought was wrong.”

  Quietness enveloped the room, but neither of us looked away. I studied his face like it was a painting I could stare at for days and still not have explored all the color. He let me gaze at him, openly accepting my stare and not shying away from it at all. He seemed content to say nothing, even though we had so much to talk about.

  Everything inside me felt jittery and fragile. The pieces of me that had yet to shatter threatened to at any moment. I remembered what it was like to have his hands on me. To have him bring pleasure to my body like no one had ever before.

  “Why?” I asked, still looking at his face. “Why did you… touch me?”

  “It’s known that a human female body is more likely to accept a man’s seed when she is pleasured, when she is relaxed. It opens her body more freely.”

  I couldn’t argue. My body had been open. Way open.

  I pushed away the memory of pleasure and stood. “I’m not pregnant.”

  “Yes. You are.”

  I paced the floor like a caged animal and then turned to spear him with a look. “Here on Earth, you can’t just impregnate a woman without her consent. A lot of people would call that rape.”

  He got a sour look on his face. “As you already pointed out, we technically did not have sex. I remained covered the entire time. I did not push myself on you in any way.”

  “No, you just injected me with a baby!” I yelled.

  “Your kind is very emotional,” he said without heat, “especially when your hormones are out of balance.”

  His calm demeanor irritated me. “I don’t believe you.”

  “The exhaustion, the dehydration, lack of appetite—those are all symptoms of a Sapien pregnancy.”

  “I’m not a Sapien,” I growled.

  “No, but I am.”

  the reason

  I

  was speechless, completely unable to speak or feel.

  If what he was saying was true, what was I going to do? How would I work, finish school, and take care of a baby? I drove a Wrangler, for God’s sake. I couldn’t strap a baby in the back of that! My parents were going to be livid. I was going to be unwed, alone and pregnant. What’s worse, I could never tell who the baby’s father really was because everyone would think I was insane.

  People were going to talk. Rumors in my little town would soar.

  Tears filled my eyes, threatening to spill over. “You have n
o idea what you’ve done to me.” The first of the tears leaked from my eye, rolling down my cheek and curving under my jaw. More followed. I didn’t attempt to wipe them away. They weren’t going to stop.

  It was like I was looking through a wet windowpane as I stared at Tarek. His image was slightly blurry, but I could still make out his features. It was so wrong that he did this to me and I still thought he was absolutely gorgeous. It was so wrong that even now my body craved him.

  His eyes widened, alarm filling them as more tears rained down my cheeks. It was clear he had no idea what to do. I was glad he didn’t try to comfort me. He wouldn’t be able to anyway.

  “I didn’t think it would work,” he said after a long time.

  I tilted my head to the side, finally wiping away the wetness on my face. “Then, why?”

  “Our planet is aging. The females on Sapia are not conceiving, and without repopulation, my planet will die.”

  “But I’m not one of you. This baby…” I swallowed past the words. “It’s a hybrid, not fully yours.”

  “I’d rather have half of my planet left than none at all.”

  My shoulders sagged.

  “Some of us were sent out to try and find a way to help repopulate our world. Up until now, no pregnancies have taken. Most of us had lost hope. We were beginning to think perhaps our race was meant to die out.”

  “Then why did it work?” Why me?

  “I’m not certain,” he said, but I heard the hesitation in his tone.

  “But you have an idea.”

  “It is unfounded.”

  Sometimes the way he spoke made me want to giggle. He was formal, or maybe he was just very intelligent. I was so used to slang and texting that it seemed odd to hear words like “unfounded.”

  “Tell me anyway,” I asked, staring at him through drying eyes.

  “I think your body was more accepting of my seed because you felt pleasure at my hands.”

  My cheeks heated and I ducked my eyes. I couldn’t deny that I fiercely enjoyed every second I spent with him touching me.