Rafaroy

by T. J. Quinn

  “I’m sure no one has ever done that,” She stated, with a smirk. “What about a beach, a river, a park? Do you have any of those?”

  “Yes, in fact, there’s all of that, but not here in town. We would have to go to the outskirts.”

  She frowned. She wasn’t that fond of the wild nature as to drive for hours to enjoy it. “What about a mall, or some kind of market?” she asked. “I could use some clothes. These tunics and suits don’t do much for a girl’s good mood.”

  He chuckled. “Yes, we do have a market, but I’m afraid you’ll only find other versions of that.”

  She looked at him surprised. “You have to be kidding me. Your women all dress alike? With this kind of clothes?”

  “Yes, they do. Clothing has never been our priority,” he tried to explain.

  “What has been your priority then?” she asked, amazed.

  One thing was to be pragmatic and use only what would be beneficial for you, and the other thing was to forget all about beauty and feel good about yourself.

  “To protect our people and make this planet a better home for our people.”

  “How long have you been on this planet?”

  “Several thousand rotations,” he replied, not following her point.

  “Then, I’m sure you’ve done all you can to do that. It’s time to make it a nice place as well, colorful, and cheerful,” she said, in a firm tone. “I refuse to believe people are actually happy with such a monochromatic world, especially when nature has so many shades of color you could add to your own life.”

  He shrugged. “I have to admit I’ve never stopped to think of that.”

  “Well… we’ll have to do something about that,” she said in a cheerful tone. “For now you can take me to this market. I need some fabric and for you to take me to the palace.”

  “I told you it wasn’t a good idea…” he started to say, but she interrupted him.

  “I won’t bother Eleanor. I need Gil Ra’s help to get some decent clothes.”

  “Very well. Put on one of the suits you have in your dressing room and your cape. It’s too cold outside to wear a tunic,” he asked her.

  She nodded and quickly disappeared into her room, to come out a few minutes later wearing one of those formless suits she was starting to hate.

  He took her to the market on his vehicle and soon they were walking through the halls of the place. Like he had warned her, there wasn’t much to choose from. Suits, Tunics, and capes were basically the only things on sale.

  “Where can I find some fabric?” she asked him.

  “I have no idea,” he admitted.

  “Can you ask any of the sellers?” She asked him, as she took a closer look to a dark blue tunic in one of the stores.

  “You can do it yourself,” he suggested.

  She looked around, feeling a bit shy. Speaking with strangers had never been a problem to her, but although she was trying to ignore it, she was quite aware of the curious looks and murmurs her presence seemed to conjure.

  She knew Zuvrakians hadn’t had much contact with aliens on the planet so she could understand their curiosity, but it still felt a bit awkward.

  “I would prefer if you did it. This kind of fabric would be perfect,” she said, pointing at the tunic she had been admiring.

  He nodded, realizing how she was feeling. He turned to one of the sellers standing next to them. “Do you have any idea where we could get some of the fabric this tunic is made of?” he asked the man.

  “Yes, Lord Asgar,” Sasha looked surprised with the title but didn’t make any comment. “There’s a factory not far from the market where you can find all kinds of fabrics.” The man explained, having a hard time to keep his eyes off of Sasha.

  “Could you give us the address?”

  “Yes, surely.” He went to his desk and noted down the address on a piece of paper. “This is the place.”

  “Thank you, you have been very helpful. We’ll take the blue tunic,” Asgar added, pressing his thumb into a small square on the seller’s desk.

  The man put the tunic on a small bag and handed it to Sasha, before he cleared his throat and asked, in a shaky tone. “Are you one of the human females the king presented in the video, aren’t you?”

  “Yes, I am. I’m Sasha O’Donnell,” she introduced herself, with a friendly smile.

  “It’s a pleasure knowing you, Víf Sasha. Allow me to welcome you to our planet and wish you a pleasant life.” The man said, with a smile.

  Asgar stepped closer to where she was standing, erasing the man’s smile.

  “Thank you for your help,” he said, once more, and taking Sasha by her elbow, he almost dragged her out of the store.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she protested when they were out of the store.

  “Taking you to the factory. Isn’t that what you wanted?” he asked in an innocent tone.

  “Don’t you pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about? You didn’t have to be so rude to the poor man. After all, he could be my soulmate,” she protested.

  “Believe me, he isn’t,” he grumbled, taking her straight to the vehicle.

  “How can you know that? You didn’t even give him time to talk to me,” she insisted.

  “I didn’t have to. It’s quite obvious for us when someone has found their soulmate,” he assured her.

  She snorted but didn’t say anything else on the matter. “How come I haven’t seen a single woman so far?” she asked him.

  “Like I told you, all of our women are mated, and most of them prefer to dedicate their lives to their families, so they don’t work. There are exceptions, of course, like my own mother that has always worked as a pediatrician at the main hospital,” he explained.

  “Why do you need doctors?” she asked, curious.

  “Because, sometimes, even our bodies need some help in the healing process. We’re not completely isolated here, and some visitors carry their diseases into our environment,” he replied. “Our bodies need a bit more time to identify the problem and attack it. That’s where the doctors intervene, keeping us alive until our immune system kicks up.”

  “It makes sense, I guess. Your mother must be quite a woman to put up with so many of you,” she said, in a teasing tone.

  He chuckled but agreed with her. “She is. I’m sure you two will become great friends.”

  She took his comment in silence, not sure what to answer to that. She doubted she would meet his mother, but there was no point bringing that up.

  At that moment, they arrived at the factory, and another man helped to choose a few fabrics he bought for her.

  She was having a hard time with that part of the shopping, but there wasn’t much she could do since she didn’t even own the clothes she had on. She guessed that was the problem of being abducted and taken to an alien planet.

  With the fabrics in her possession, she insisted on going to the palace. She needed Gil Ra’s help for what she had in mind.

  Asgar wasn’t very pleased with the whole thing, but he took her there after she promised not going to visit Eleanor.

  He knew Brynjar needed time alone with the woman and he didn’t want to be responsible for stopping the king from having it.

  Chapter Eleven

  Once at the palace, Sasha kept her promise and went directly to see Gil Ra. The girl was in a living room with the other women chatting when she joined them.

  “Sasha, we weren’t expecting to see you, so soon,” Patricia said with a naughty grin.

  Heat colored Sasha’s cheeks just a little bit, as she took a seat next to her friends. Asgar had preferred going to see some of his friends while she was there.

  “How are you, girls?” she asked, with a smile.

  “We’re fine. A bit anxious and still trying to believe this isn’t some kind of nightmare,” Anya was the one answering.

  “Yes, I know the feeling. Surely, we could be a lot worse, but being back at home would be much better,” S
asha agreed, but as the words came out of her mouth, she felt she wasn't entirely honest with the girls and herself.

  Yes, she had been abducted by aliens and taken to a strange planet, but she hadn’t felt so alive in a very, very long time. Life back home hadn’t been that great as for her to miss it. In fact, she hadn’t thought about home much. Her life had been so full of new things, new feelings and new experiences she hadn’t been focused on that.

  Certainly, if Eleanor had stayed behind, she wouldn’t be feeling like this. She would be missing her a lot and worrying about her.

  “I’m not so sure about that,” Miranda murmured, saying what she had been thinking. “My life back on earth sucked, and that was the truth,” she admitted.

  Once more, Sasha had to admit the damn lizards knew who they were abducting: women with inexistent social lives, few friends and no family, women that wouldn’t be missed and surely wouldn’t have much to miss either.

  Murmurs of agreement came out of each and every woman present, confirming Sasha’s conclusions.

  “I guess you’re right,” she said, letting out a sigh.

  “Hey, we heard Asgar brought back another human female. Was that Eleanor?” Patricia asked, showing her concern.

  “Yes, it was.” There was no point hiding her anymore. “Eskol did quite a number on her before Asgar was able to take her away from him and she spent the whole trip in the infirmary recovering from the torture he put her through,” she explained.

  “Damn lizard,” Miranda muttered, furious. She had been in the cell next to Eleanor, and she had witnessed all of the pain he had put her through during their journey with them.

  “Yes, but fortunately, she is alright now, but the king has taken her under his protection,” Sasha added.

  “That’s sweet of him,” Anya said, smiling.

  “Yes, I guess,” Sasha let out a deep sigh. “The fact that she can’t walk is a bit of a problem,” she explained the whole situation to the other girls.

  “I refused to believe these people are intolerant. They’ll accept her,” Miranda said, in an optimistic tone.

  “Let’s hope so,” Sasha nodded. “Has any of you been mated by now?” she asked, curious.

  “Nope, but we have been assigned, tutors. We’re supposed to move in with them and allow them to show us around and teach us about their culture,” Anya replied.

  “And help us find our place in their society,” Gil Ra added.

  “That sounds good. When are you moving in with them?” Sasha asked.

  “Tomorrow. At least, that’s what we have been told,” Patricia replied.

  “Well, then we don’t have much time,” She stated.

  “Time for what?” Gil Ra asked.

  “To get some decent clothes. I went to a market this morning, and the clothes are dreadful. Tunics and suits are the only things they sell,” Sasha explained. “So, I went to a factory and got us some fabric,” she turned to look at Gil Ra. Do you think you can do something with this?” she pulled the fabrics from the bag and showed it to the other girls.

  Gil Ra was delighted. “Oh, yes, I could do so many things. This one looks like denim,” she said picking one of the fabrics.

  “Yes, I thought so too.”

  “So, jeans, tops, dresses and cardigans?” she asked, after checking all of the fabrics Sasha had taken her.

  “Yes, please,” they chorused.

  “Just get me your sizes, and I’ll do my best,” Gil Ra promised. “The man that’s going to be my tutor has pledged to help me handle their sewing machines, and for all I’ve heard about them, it won’t take me much to get these done,” she added, with a wide smile.

  “Just let me know if you need more fabric. We could go together to the factory,” Sasha let her know.

  “Yes, that would be perfect. I’ll let you know.”

  “Could you get me some wool? I love knitting so I could knit some cute, cozy sweaters for us, as well as scarves,” Anya asked, excited at the prospect of getting new clothes.

  “I’m sure Asgar can help me get that,” she replied, smiling.

  “Perfect. That will give me something to do.”

  They continued chatting about their projects, for a while longer, until Asgar came looking for Sasha. He wanted to go back home.

  She said goodbye to her friends and left with him, still not very happy with not being able to visit Eleanor.

  But he was probably right about the king: it wouldn’t be a good idea to push him.

  By the time they arrived at Asgar’s place, the night had fallen, and the huge moon lightened the dark skies.

  “Are you hungry? I could order some food,” he asked as they walked in.

  “It’s too early. But you could order the food and have it here. That way we wouldn’t have to worry about the refectory closing time,” she suggested.

  “They don’t close. They have people there working all the time,” he corrected her.

  “Oh… that’s nice.”

  He smiled. “If you don’t want to eat, what would you like to do?”

  “If I were back home I would go to the gym or to the pool. I need to work out. I’ve been unable to do it for quite some time now,” she said, with a sigh.

  “Work out? Would you care to explain that?” he asked, puzzled.

  “To work out is to make vigorous physical exercise or training. I used to go to the gym every day back home,” she explained.

  “Well, I don’t have a gym here, but I do have a pool we could use,” he said with a wide smile.

  “You do? Where? I haven’t seen any,” she replied, surprised. It wasn’t like you could hide a pool, right?

  But apparently, you could. He guided her to the house’s basement and to her astonishment into a huge room, with two stories high ceiling and one of the biggest indoor pools she had ever seen. It was the size of the whole house.

  “This is awesome. Is the water cold?” she asked, as she walked around the place.

  “No, it’s heated. We’re not very fond of cold,” he explained, with a self-deprecating scowl.

  “And being of fire, you feel comfortable in the water?” she asked, curious.

  “Yes, we don’t have any problem with the water,” he replied, smiling, as he got rid of his cape, throwing it over a chair, quite similar to a chaise longue.

  “Do you have any swimming suit I could use?” she asked, watching him pulling out his clothes until he was completely naked in front of her.

  “We don’t need that. There’s no one here, other than us,” he said as he jumped into the water in a perfect jump.

  She considered protesting, but the orange water looked so inviting she decided he was right. After all, he had seen her naked before.

  She took all of her clothes off and jumped into the water as well. It was perfect.

  Delighted she decided to swim a few lengths of the pool before looking for where he was. She really needed to let out some steam and what better way than swimming?

  She was on her tenth lap when she bumped into him under the water. Startled, she came out of the water coughing a bit.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Are you trying to drown me?” she grumbled, taking her long hair out of her face. She should have braided it.

  He chuckled but didn’t apologize. “You keep mentioning ‘hell,' What’s that? We don’t have a translation for that word,” he asked instead.

  It was her time to chuckle. Most of my people are Catholic. That’s religion, and the priests tell you all the time you’ll go to hell if you’re a bad person. Hell is where all of the sinners end up, and it’s supposed to be a very bad place,” she explained as best as she could.

  “Are you a very religious person?” he asked, puzzled.

  “No, not at all. I’m too skeptical for that, but the word hell has become a part of our daily speech,” she replied, laying her head back, to get her mane under control, with the help of the water. “Are your people religious? Do you have a god or
gods?”

  “No, not really. We believe in the powerful magic of our ancestors and respect their wisdom as well as the knowledge they passed on to us, but nothing else,” he explained. “Most wars all over the universe are started in the name of a god or deity. Religions usually blind people to reality and makes them irrational fanatics.”

  “I thought that was an evil of my species. Too many wars were fought in the name of a god,” she said, oozing disdain.

  “It seems to be a universal evil around the universe then,” he concluded.

  “Yes, I guess you’re right,” she let out a sigh.

  She dived and swam another full lap before he stopped her again.

  “What now?” she asked him, with a frown.

  “There’s no need to tire yourself,” he said, tucking a lock of her dark hair behind her ear.

  “Believe me; I’m not even close to getting tired,” she assured him.

  “Good, but I would like you to use all of that energy in something else,” he said, cornering her against the pool’s edge.

  “Like what?” she asked, but there she really didn’t need the answer. She had it poking her stomach.

  He cradled her face and claimed a passionate kiss from her lips. “Like this,” he murmured, against her mouth, when he made a small pause to get some air into their lungs.

  “What if I don’t want to?” she teased him, wrapping her legs around his waist, loving to feel his hard cock pressed against her.

  “I’m sure I would be able to convince you,” he whispered in her ear, as he nibbled her sensitive lobe, sending chills of thrill down her spine.

  It still amazed her how easily he was able to arouse her. “I thought you had said it was dangerous,” she reminded him, with a naughty smile.

  “I’ll control myself,” he promised her, interspersing every word with a dozen tiny kisses.

  “I’m not sure I want you to,” she said, tilting her head back, to give him more access to her neck and chest.

  He smiled and used the tip of his tongue to draw a fire path down her neck, to her chest.

  Despite the warm water, her nipples were hard as rocks, waiting for his attentions, craving for them, as she had craved for nothing else.