“No, it’s just… I guess I wish you could feel me like I can feel you,” she said, almost without thinking.
Zir stopped them and turned her to face him, putting the bag of picnic things down. They were almost at the steps to the DETI building, but would still be out of sight of anyone inside. He held her elbows gently.
“Do not worry,” he said. “We will still be good mates.” He ran his hands down her arms slowly, the rasp of his scales and the light trail of his claws tickling her and making the hair stand up all over her body. His eyes followed the movement, his head bowed.
“I know humans feel things very strongly, but Volin are more visually stimulated. I do not need to feel you to be aroused. I need only to see you.” He met her gaze, his focused eyes like the moon passing in front of the sun, black on yellow. “I will enjoy watching you feel me,” he promised her, her fingers clasped between his claws.
Lois stared at him, suddenly warm, her throat dry. That was probably one of the sexiest things anyone had ever said to her, and of course now she was imagining it.
Before she thought of a reason not to, she stepped up to him and kissed him, pressing her lips against his mouth. He didn’t have lips like a human, but his mouth was flexible enough to talk and smile. He could kiss her back. He didn’t though, staying frozen under her kiss, so she pulled away.
“Sorry,” she said. “Do Volin kiss? I should have asked.”
“I will kiss you,” he replied, shaking off his slightly stunned look.
This time he came to her, cupping her face in one hand. She could feel the pricks of his claw tips, one behind her ear, one on the back of her neck. He bent to kiss her and she met him on the way down. She pressed her lips against his, and this time he kissed her back, nudging her lips with his mouth. She sealed their mouths together, enjoying it as she closed the distance between them, pulling herself close to him.
It was a brief and shallow kiss, but a good one by her count. When they broke apart, he seemed to agree, watching her like he couldn’t take his eyes off her. She gave him another peck for good measure, then untangled them, reaching for the bag.
“Come on, we’re going to get in trouble playing hooky like this,” she said with a smile, leading him the rest of the way to the DETI building.
“What is ‘hooky’?” he asked as he followed her. “Is it kissing?”
Lois laughed but didn’t answer, already thinking about when they could next find time to be alone.
Chapter 17
“You could call IT,” Lois suggested.
Susan gave her a flat look from across the aisle that said she knew exactly what Lois was up to. “It’s not a problem,” she insisted. “It would be a waste of their time.”
Susan’s computer was making a noise: a very faint, breathing sort of noise, like a fan starting up and failing over and over. Other than that, it was working like it always did.
“You never know. It could be a small problem now that’s going to turn into a big problem later. Remember when I let all the little things that were wrong with my computer build up into a crash?” Lois said pointedly.
Susan leant out from behind her computer so Lois could see her. “Yes, I do remember that actually. I kept telling you to call them, but you wouldn’t because you were avoiding Zir.”
Lois ignored Susan’s smug tone. “Well, that’s exactly my point. Sometimes it’s best to just call them, whether you want to or not. They’re the professionals. It’s not for us to judge what’s a problem and what isn’t.”
“Are you hearing yourself? If you want to see Zir so badly, why don’t you just ask him out again?” Susan asked.
Lois hesitated, fiddling with the sweater on the teddy on her desk. “I don’t just want to see Zir,” she lied.
Susan sighed. “It’s because it’s the third date, isn’t it?” she guessed.
Lois glanced at her but didn’t know how to answer. Yes, it was. Lois knew it was stupid, but she had her rule. The next date had to be the last one, unless she was ready for a relationship. She thought she was ready and waiting for a relationship, but this was Zir. They’d been getting on, and she’d seen so many surprising sides of him recently, but the fact remained she’d disliked him for almost two years.
All the same, she wanted to see more of him. She didn’t want the next date to be the last. After their beach picnic date, Lois had spent the weekend waiting for Monday so she could see Zir again. And how bizarre was that? She’d hated him for so long - or rather, he had made her uncomfortable with his cold attitude.
Now she liked him. She liked spending time with him. She found his grouchiness cute and his total seriousness funny. He made her laugh often when he was trying to achieve the opposite. And when he said things about what they would be like in bed together… Well, he was very convincing.
Yeah, she liked him. She could admit that to herself at least. But he wasn’t looking to date, he was looking to mate. That was what he wanted, a life-long commitment. What would their relationship look like after the next date if – though at this point it was looking more like when – she decided she wanted to be with him? Was three dates enough to make that kind of decision?
Her own rule was blowing up in her face. She wanted a third date, and a fourth, and a fifth, but could she tell Zir yes, or even just let him think it, if one day it was going to be no? She didn’t want to string him alone, or break his heart. So she was hesitating, unable to say either yes or no. And as a result, she hadn’t made any more plans with him, and had only seen him in passing over the last few days.
“Lois, that rule is stupid,” Susan said gently. “Just get rid of it.”
“It’s not that,” Lois objected weakly.
“Then what is it? You’re trying to get me to call your boyfriend for you just so you can see him, you don’t think that means there’s a problem somewhere?” Susan said. She was being unusually harsh. “That rule has always been your way of giving up. It lets you say you tried, when really you’ve had your eye on the door the whole time. You like Zir, I know you do. If you throw this away I’m going to be really mad at you! I know you want the fairy tale ending but relationships take work. You only get out what you put in.”
Lois blinked, stunned.
“I’m sorry. That’s just what I think,” Susan hedged, shifting in her seat uncomfortably.
“No, you’re right. I do like Zir. But do I like him as much as he likes me? Am I ready to settle down like he wants me to? What if I just end up hurting him?” Lois said.
“You’re either hurting him now or you’re hurting him later. Or, you know, there’s the option of not hurting him at all, admitting you like him and taking a chance on being with him,” Susan said. Lois had had no idea her friend’s patience with her had been so low. “You don’t need to make this decision now, is my point. Zir doesn’t have a three date rule. Just keep seeing him for as long as you want to keep seeing him.”
Susan made it sound like Lois could have her cake and eat it, keep spending time with Zir without having to accept his proposal, but Susan didn’t know about that part. She didn’t know that Zir wouldn’t be satisfied with casual dating. She was right that Zir would probably keep dating her if she asked, but that was because he thought he was being tested somehow, that it was definitely leading somewhere. The longer she kept seeing him, the worse it would be to break it off if she wanted to.
“Anyway, it’s your decision,” Susan summarised. “Don’t let me tell you what to do. This is just my advice.”
Lois looked at her computer as if she could go back to work, but of course she couldn’t. Because in theory, a long-term commitment was what Lois was looking for too. But what if it didn’t work out? What if they were only together for a few years and it fizzled out?
Rationally, Lois knew that these were fears everyone had, that no one knew for sure if their relationship was going to last. But she really liked Zir, more than she had liked anyone in a really long time. More than she had liked Ri
co. She had liked the idea of Rico more than the man himself, but she had everything in common with Zir.
Susan sighed heavily from the other side of the room. “Alright! I’ll call them! Stop looking so sad! They might not even send Zir anyway, there are other IT technicians, you know. I just can’t stand to listen to you agonise about it anymore,” she said, dialling ITS.
“Hi, sweetie!” she chirped when presumably Aaron picked up. “It’s Susan in Intake. My computer’s making a funny noise and Lois desperately wanted me to call you to get it fixed, so what do you say? Do you think we could put the lovebirds out of their misery and get Zir up here?”
Lois was across the room, ready to wrestle Susan’s earpiece away from her, but Susan planted her foot in her stomach, her high heel a sharp point in Lois’ belly. When Lois reached for her, Susan’s chair wheeled away, keeping her out of reach. Lois could feel her face burning. “None of that is true!” she called out to Aaron, just able to pick up his laugh.
“Oh dear, now I’m being attacked. Better put a rush on it!” Susan continued. “And feel free to tell Zir Lois requested him specifically. I think a little honesty could only do them good. Okay, darling, thanks! You’re the best!”
Susan gave her a look as it became apparent she had ended the call. Lois stared at her.
“I thought we were friends!” she moaned.
“We are friends,” Susan said, taking her foot down and straightening her clothes. “And friends don’t let friends wreck perfectly good relationships. I did it for you. Also, you stole my good clipboard.”
“Oh, I knew it was that stupid clipboard again!” Lois cried, ready to make another go at Susan, and she flinched, ready to defend herself.
Lucia’s door opened and they both froze, turning to watch as she stuck her head out and said pointedly “Ladies! Anything I can resolve for you?”
Lois tugged her jacket down, suitably chastised. “No, we’ve got it, thank you, Lucia,” she said, going back to her desk to sit down.
“Good,” Lucia agreed, eyeing them both before going back into her office.
Lois met Susan’s stare.
“Better get your game face on,” Susan said.
“Traitor,” Lois whispered back, finger-combing her hair anyway.
It was only a few minutes later that Zir pulled the door open, looking a little confused. His eyes went to Lois first, who smiled.
“Hi,” she said, weakly, suddenly feeling like her body didn’t fit properly anymore and she didn’t know what to do with any of it.
He gave her a nod in return, then faced Susan, checking his screen for the job instructions. “Your computer is making ‘a funny noise’?” he read off.
Susan smiled. “That’s right.”
Zir crossed the room, putting his bag down on Susan’s desk. She stood up. “I’m going to grab a coffee, I think. Lois, wasn’t there something you wanted to ask Zir?” She gave Lois a hard stare as she walked past her desk out of the room.
Lois waited until they were alone, well-aware that Zir’s ears would now be pricked for her to talk to him.
“Ummm…” Lois began, not having anything prepared.
Zir moved around Susan’s desk and sat in her chair, tapping the key sensors to begin his diagnostic. He nodded at Lois’s desk. “You kept it,” he said.
Lois looked down. He meant the teddy bear lying on its back between her elbows. “Oh! Er, yes, I did. I suppose that’s something else I should apologise for now. You were trying to make things right and I bit your head off,” she said.
Zir frowned. “You bit me?”
“No, it’s just an expression, never mind,” Lois said.
Zir grunted in acknowledgment and began pulling things out of his bag and opening the casing of Susan’s computer. “You want to ask me something?” he prompted.
It was marginally easier now that he wasn’t looking at her, when she could look at him. She felt attracted to him again in that way that made her want to spend time with him, continue prising that tough shell open, learn more about him.
“Weren’t you going to help me practice my Volin?” she said, the words coming seemingly out of nowhere right when she needed them. Zir grumbled and she cut him off. “I know you can speak English. I’ve heard you. But I need the practice and if you won’t help me, I’ll just have to ask somebody else,” she teased, knowing full well he’d never agree to that.
“I will help you,” he conceded begrudgingly.
She was surprised by how well she understood him sometimes now, his little quirks. It was like a light had been turned on. He must have objected to speaking Volin to her in the past because speaking her language was a way of proving himself as her mate.
With that in mind, she asked her next question. “Are you free on Friday night?”
Chapter 18
It was five past five that Friday, and Lois was waiting by the front doors of the DETI building for Zir. They had agreed to have dinner. She had originally offered to cook for him in her apartment, but he had narrowed his eyes and she had suspected he was reaching his threshold on how much food he would accept from her. So she had asked whether he would prefer having dinner at his house. She still offered to cook, but he’d latched onto that idea with gusto and made it clear he would be the one to ‘provide’.
So there she was, shivering a little with anticipation. They would be alone in his home, and yes, she was wearing matching underwear. New stockings. Perfume and a little extra make up. She’d done what she could without attracting attention at work, but she was ready. She wasn’t going to put pressure on either of them to take it there if that wasn’t where it was going, but if it was going there she would happily meet it.
Just then she was glad Zir lived closer to the DETI building than she did, and she had been there before so she wasn’t walking into an unknown. Granted, she hadn’t seen his bedroom when she had gone there with Taz, and she had only the barest outlines to work with when it came to what to expect from his body. She knew just by looking that from the knees up at least, a Volin male had the same silhouette as a human man, so there couldn’t be that big of a surprise waiting for her.
She knew that, while nobody really talked about it, humans and Teissians of all kinds did sleep together occasionally. She assumed from this that the males had… appendages, and that she wasn’t too different from a Volin female. She was softer, her breasts were bigger, but everything was still in the same place.
She tucked her chin into her collar to hide her smile as she thought about it. Undressing Zir. Running her hands over all of those scales, not just modest hand-holding. She imagined how it would feel to have his hands on her bare breasts, on her hips. Obviously, she was aware that his fingers were mostly bone, and could be sharp, but she had faith that it could still work. If other people could do it, so could they. She forced herself to look calm on the outside at least as she tossed her hair back, scanning the lobby for him.
He was walking towards her, his hands tucked into the sides of his shirt again. Nothing gave him away, but Lois would still have said that he looked stiff, a little nervous maybe. She didn’t say anything when he drew up to her, waiting to hear what he would say, enjoying looking at him too much.
He glanced at her, pupils focusing for a second before separating again as he scanned the lobby. “Ready?” he said.
“I’m ready,” she replied, reaching for his hand which he pulled out for her. Together they walked out of the building and headed for the Teissian village.
It was different this time. People seemed to recognise her, and the fact that she was holding hands with Zir seemed to make her less notable, not more. She’d expected Zir’s neighbours to stare or at least take note, but it seemed like it acted as a stamp of approval, a free pass. At the same time, the people who passed closest to them nodded at her or gave her a welcoming smile. It felt nice, being accepted like that.
When they reached Zir’s apartment, they let go of each other so he could open the door fo
r them. Inside, Lois dropped her bag by the sofa and took off her jacket. She wished she wasn’t wearing her work clothes. Normally she’d be wearing something much nicer in this situation. She wondered what Zir would think if she wore the red dress for him, if he would understand what it meant.
As she looked around, it seemed wrong somehow that Taz wasn’t there. She hadn’t seen much of the boy when he had been there, but she had been acutely aware of him. She missed him for a moment.
She heard Zir move behind her and turned. He was peeling off the neoprene socks he had to wear for work. His feet looked bigger without them somehow, and more powerful. He flexed his toes, his claws clicking against the wood floor, muscles and tendons showing clearly for a moment all the way up to his knees.
He caught her looking and said “Do you mind?”
“Not at all,” she told him, smiling. She wanted to see him relaxed and at home. She wanted to see him take more of his clothes off, so she could watch his body move.
He walked through to the kitchen area and Lois followed. “Do you need help with anything?”
Zir gave her a look that once upon a time would have been a scowl, but was more tempered than that now. The soft chastisement was clear though. He thought she was encroaching on his territory, showing a lack of faith in him, and was gently warning her off. She smiled as he opened the fridge and began pulling things out.
“You know, Zir, letting me help you isn’t a bad thing. Lots of couples cook together. It’s still your food. You’re still providing for me,” she said.
“I will feed you,” he said, shifting past her to wash the vegetables in the sink. Lois tried not to smile at his primal tone. Looked like they’d gone past cooking and providing, and were now at feeding. She hoped he didn’t mean it literally.
“There was a time when cooking was seen as a woman’s job, a couple hundred years ago. The kitchen was the wife’s domain,” she continued.
Zir turned to her, frowning like he thought she was lying.
The E.T. Guy (Office Aliens Book 1) Page 11
