Redeeming Factors (Revised)

by James R. Lane

“Sorry, Dear,” he rumbled with a wry smile, “but when someone as attractive as you is this close I don’t really have much control over—that.” He released her; she continued to cling to him. “I cautioned you and your friends this morning that you may encounter sexually abusive humans,” he warned with a shaky breath, then added, “and while I’m not that kind of person I’d hate it if fear of such a thing poisoned our relationship.”

  “We were required to study your social customs before coming here,” she softly purred. “My understanding is that as long as no one is forced to submit, and that no one suffers permanent injury, your laws permit consenting adults to mostly do whatever they wish with whomever they wish.” She provocatively rubbed herself against him, causing his pulse to pound harder behind his eyes—and elsewhere.

  “S’leen!” he squeaked, gently but forcibly moving her out to arm’s length. “I just realized that I’ve never seen your age listed anywhere. J-just how old are you?”

  “Old enough,” she cooed with a coy smile. When she saw that he would not accept that answer she added, “In my planetary years, ten.” Ross’ tanned Caucasian complexion paled almost to albino. “Remember,” she prompted, “compared to my world, your world is much closer to a cooler star, and our years differ by a factor of two.” When his anxiety blocked his comprehension she patiently explained, “In your years I equate to an approximate age of twenty.”

  Ross closed his eyes, nodded and breathed deeply, then quietly prompted, “Please refresh my memory as to what age you are considered grown, when you—”

  She tilted her head sideways, perplexed. “H’kaah reach adulthood at an age comparable to humans. If you are trying to ask when do we become sexually active—” she said laughing, then teased, “maybe you should look to your own youthful memories, Jack Ross.”

  With that she pushed aside his arms and again snuggled close to him, playfully rubbing her firm, well-formed breasts against his chest while brushing her satiny ears against his face. “This morning you claimed to have visited my homeworld.” She smiled up at him. “If so you must be aware that, except for formal occasions or cold weather, we H’kaah do not wear body coverings within the privacy of our homes.” Rub-rub. “It is certainly warm enough here, Jack.” Rub-rub. “Must I wear these ‘clothes’ within the confines of your property?”

  “Eee, uhh, mmmm NO!” he eventually sputtered. “When we’re here alone you can wear, or NOT wear, anything you want.” Besides her ears tickling his nose S’leen’s cat-like whiskers were doing a number on his neck.

  When she was satisfied that she had sufficiently tormented him she slowly drew away, and he welcomed the respite to get his breathing under control. Unfortunately for him that didn’t last long. She turned her back to him and made a show of trying to reach behind her to the bow that secured her halter-top. “While we were living at Patrons,” she mused, “we helped each other with these silly things.” She didn’t appear to be making much headway untying the bow; considering the mood of the moment, that came as no surprise to Ross. “Jack, would you—?”

  “Oh my,” he muttered, suddenly having breathing problems again.

  “What did you say?” she purred, backing more than close enough for him to “assist” in unfastening the bow, which just happened to be under her long, flowing brown ponytail. While the texture of her cascading hair was different from her soft body fur, human hair was almost coarse compared to S’leen’s silky, angora-like mane. Her tail fur, too, was thicker and longer than the rest of her normal body fur, but Ross tried to avoid touching it as he worked to untie the halter-top bow.

  When the bow fell loose she reveled in the freedom, whisking the light fabric off her curvaceous fur-covered breasts and from around her neck, tossing it onto the table. Yet she didn’t turn around. Instead, she began fumbling with the tiny snap in the back of her shorts, located above the base of her tail. That simple feature allowed the H’kaah to give their tails the comfortable freedom they needed, yet they could don or remove the shorts without a struggle. S’leen, however, appeared unable to unfasten the snap without help, something she didn’t hesitate to ask Ross to provide.

  His hands were shaking and he was having trouble getting a firm grip on the snap without pulling fur or touching her socially off-limits rear appendage. She lithely peered over her left shoulder and reverse-arched her back to thrust her shapely rump hard against his fumbling hands. To further add to his difficulty she fully elevated her fluffy tail, which served to hide the snap from his wide-eyed view. While the upper part of her tail fur was the same rich honey-gold color as her back, the fur on the underside of the tail matched the lighter, creamy blonde fur found on her lower face, chest and stomach. He suspected certain other parts of her body were blonde-furred, too.

  “Is it too complicated for you?” she cooed, bouncing up

  on her toes, which brought his hands into immediate, intimate contact with the taboo appendage.

  “Damn it, S’leen, is this what you really want?” Ross snarled, abruptly spinning her around to face him. The startled look on her alien face wasn’t difficult to read, and he took her by the shoulders in a grip that had the authority of a steel trap. And while his gaze wasn’t heartlessly cold or passionately hot, she still found its intensity frightening as it bore directly into her fear-widened eyes. “You’ve known me a total of maybe six hours, and you’re already coming on to me like…like an animal in heat.” She finally realized that he was simply angry, but in all honesty she didn’t understand why.

  “But I thought—” Apparently she thought wrongly. “You wanted me for—” Wrong again. With recognizable sorrow beginning to settle on her unhuman features she softly asked, “Am…am I not what you wanted?”

  After an eternally long stretch of heartbeats—his pounding like a trip-hammer and hers fluttering like the trapped rabbit she all too closely resembled—Ross sighed, gently released her and said, “Let’s go sit in the other room. We both need to back off and come to a better understanding of exactly what’s going on here.” He held out a hand to her and she embraced it with both hers, bringing it to her face and rubbing it on her wide, fluffy cheeks. They moved to the living room and he led her to one end of a large, overstuffed and linen-upholstered couch near a window; there he proceeded to sit.

  When she started to join him he stopped her and gently turned her to face away from him. Before she could ask what he was doing he deftly popped the snap fastener above her tail and said, “Now, make yourself comfortable, then sit here with me.

  She wasted no time in skinning the dainty shorts off and tossing them on the other end of the couch, then she turned to face Ross. Yep, he thought with a guilty twinge, light blonde all the way down and around. “Feel better?” he asked, and when she solemnly nodded he patted the cushion to his left and she primly sat down. She took another moment to doff her sandals, then grinned with delight as she wiggled her rabbit toes in the lush carpeting. Moving slowly so as not to frighten her he began shifting both their positions and rearranging small pillows for back support.

  “Don’t get excited, S’leen. All we’re going to do is talk, but I learned long before you were born that this is the most pleasant way to do it.” When he was finished he was firmly wedged into the big sofa’s corner, his legs stretched out along the outer edge of the cushion. The H’kaah was nestled into the long “V”-shaped pocket between the backrest and his body, his left arm a cushion for her head, her right shoulder cradled against his chest, her long legs stretched parallel with his.

  “Comfortable?” he asked and was pleased when she swung her head to smile at him.

  “I have never reclined quite like this,” she said, apparently enjoying the secure feeling.

  “When the room temperature’s too high it gets old fast, but under the right conditions it’s one of the best ways for two people to relax.” When he was sure she had settled down he began, “I’m sorry things kind of got out of control in the kitchen.” She tried to comment but he woul
dn’t let her. “Please, just let me talk for a minute. I promise you’ll get your turn.

  “Our societies, cultures and values have many similarities, but there are numerous details that can make the difference between an…an arrangement like ours working,” and he paused to smile and gently squeeze her right hand, “or blowing up in our faces.” She didn’t offer a protest so he took that as an encouraging sign and continued, “When two humans choose to live together it’s often because they are seeking companionship, and that often includes sexual relations. In my society if someone wants only to engage in sexual activity that person can hire a short-term sex partner; it’s emotionally cold since there’s no mutual feelings of love or compassion involved, and when the ‘customer’ is satisfied they part company.”

  He reached his right hand over and gently stroked her cheek. “Dear, whether you knew it or not that’s exactly how you were acting, and I did NOT hire a wh— No, let me rephrase that: I did NOT ask you to be my companion just so I could use you as a…a ‘sex toy’. I’m asking you to share my life and fill the empty spots, to laugh with me and help me cope with a rapidly changing universe that, frankly, nearly scares me to death. For me to try and find another wife at this stage of my life would be, I think, just plain crazy. In our society marriage is mostly for the sake of families, and I’m too old to even think about starting a new family. As for me having a human companion instead of an H’kaah, I’ve found most unattached women near my age either want me to be their ‘sugar daddy’ and devote endless money and attention to them, or they’re too busy with their careers to be bothered with a comfortable, caring relationship.

  “Frankly, my dear,” he drawled in his best classic-movie Groucho style, “if all I’d wanted was a pet I’d have bought a dog.”

  “But you bought me,” she said, her face unreadable.

  “Wrong on all counts,” he countered firmly. “You agreed to be my companion for a limited time, and in exchange for that companionship I agreed to support you in a ‘financially responsible manner’. At NO time did I say or imply, and in NO place is it written in the contract we both signed, that you are my ‘property’, nor are you expected or required to keep me ‘sexually serviced’.”

  She thought for a moment before asking, “You’re saying that you wish for me to stay with you, to live with you, even if we…we never—”

  “That’s correct. ‘Even if we never—’” He smiled warmly at her, adding, “You could ‘never’ wear only your beautiful fur for me, ‘never’ twitch your sexy tail for me, ‘never’ do ANYTHING beyond keeping me company and helping me with the day-to-day things I talked about this morning. Anything else, anything at all, is strictly up to you.”

  He let her digest that without further bodily contact, and after a time she reached for his right hand and brought it to her face. For an instant the screwball thought flashed through Ross’ mind that she might bite the hand that feeds her, and he had to quickly stifle a giggle. She wiped his fingers under her eyes and he was surprised to find the soft fur wet. The old house was angled to keep the hot summertime afternoon sun from baking the living room portion of the interior, and since it was still springtime and late in the day the room had grown too dim for him to see her tears.

  “Dear, are you all right?”

  “I…I was terribly afraid I had disappointed you, and that you were going to send me away. I like you, Jack, and I want so much for you to like me.” He gave her a smile and a gentle squeeze with his left arm, and was surprised when she said, “I never dreamed a person so…so powerful could have such a gentle touch. Jack, I like it when you touch me, and…and you are welcome to touch me wherever you wish and as often as it pleases you.” To illustrate that she took his right hand and pulled one of her silky, translucent ears through his fingers, seeming to find the experience quite stimulating. He noticed that the bare, pink nipples on her breasts quickly stood to attention, accompanied by her deep, pleasant sigh.

  Ross was aware of his own ‘standing’ reaction, too, as it began to push at the fabric of his shorts. He hoped that, for the time being, S’leen hadn’t spied his problem.

  She brushed her velvet lips across the back of his hand, then stroked the hand slowly down her throat and over her right breast. Ross’ growing physical response was becoming more of a discomfort, but still she didn’t appear to notice as she continued the carefully guided tour down her deliciously feminine, fur-covered body.

  That’s when he discovered that she had two more sets of small, undeveloped breasts, complete with nipples, further down on her chest and upper belly, totally hidden beneath her lush fur. While they weren’t noticeable under normal conditions he found that their nipples responded in the same manner as the ones on her primary breasts. Gentle stroking induced them to become erect, and it also brought forth a pleasurable reaction from their owner. As his fingers worked their way down her torso they found that she had a human-style navel under a dimple in her belly fur.

  “Mmmm, an ‘innie’,” he rumbled, smiling. When she made a questioning sound he explained, “There are two kinds of belly buttons, Dear—‘innies’ and ‘outies’. You’ve got the kind I like, an ‘innie’. They’re the most fun to play with,” and he twiddled a finger lightly around the depression’s furry rim, causing her to squeal. It tickled!

  Ross was experiencing something other than a tickle, though, and he suddenly said, “Excuse me, Dear, but I’ve GOTTA make an adjustment.” He withdrew his hand from its pleasurable activity and quickly slipped it down inside his shorts to rescue a cluster of pubic hairs that his straining erection was threatening to rip out by the roots. She seemed genuinely impressed by the towering bulge in his shorts, so he took her right hand and brushed it provocatively over the taut fabric.

  “Many humans have at least seen photos of unclothed H’kaah; can you say the same about us?” She slowly shook her head, her eyes wide. “Unlike your males, our organs aren’t sheathed, and when aroused we grow in both length and diameter. While I’m no ‘giant among men’, I’m also no ‘shorty’, either. I’d uh, hate to see you start something that you couldn’t finish.”

  The last comment was made along with a challenging grin, and after a few seconds of stunned silence she responded with an indignant, outraged, “EEK!” It appeared that sexual humor, along with good-natured insults, easily crossed species as well as cultural barriers.

  S’leen thumped him firmly on his chest with the knuckles of her left hand, catching him totally by surprise, and before he recovered from the blow she had eeled around to crawl over top of him. In doing so she energetically dug hands, elbows and knees (but amazingly, no claws) into various soft parts of his body, invoking correspondingly startled grunts, foul curses and heartfelt screams of pain from Ross. By the time she made it to the floor—on her butt after finally being tossed off him in mid-howl—he was curled up in a fetal position, moaning and groaning.

  “You are RUDE, Jack Ross!” she scolded after bouncing to her feet. “You have no idea of my abilities, and like all males you think with that little piece of flesh instead of your brain!” Ross eventually rolled off the couch to land, still curled up, with a thud on the thickly carpeted floor. “Quit acting like a child,” she challenged, “and perform your male function like the tough human you claim to be!”

  The “tough human” continued to groan, and showed no sign of uncurling. After a few moments she frowned, then stepped closer to see if she’d actually injured him. “Jack? Are you all—YEEK!” *THUD!* He had let her come within reach, then quickly snaked out an arm and swept her legs out from under her, depositing her once again on the well-cushioned floor. While lying stunned, both from the fall and from the shock at being so easily fooled, she was easy prey for Ross as he quickly pounced on her, pinning her flat on her back with his 165 pounds of bone and muscle.

  “‘Tough human’, huh,” he snarled as she frantically struggled in vain to escape. “You have no idea how ‘tough’ we humans can be when the need arises.
” Her instinctive fear of being eaten soon gave way to a nervous giggle, and she quit fighting him. Ross smiled, adding, “However, your bony knee to my bladder a moment ago reminded me that before my ‘need arises’ again I’ve got to do something about all that wine I had with dinner.”

  Ross was still spread-eagle on top of her, with her legs and arms firmly pinned against the floor. He carefully transferred both her captive wrists to his left hand, he then worked his right arm down between their bodies. After carefully positioning his right hand he stated, “I’ve gotta go pee—how about you?” and he firmly pushed down on the area just below her navel. Ross was immediately deafened by a loud, indignant scream. He deftly rolled away to escape her flailing claws and potentially lethal kicks, then climbed grinning to his feet once he was out of range.

  “You can use the toilet behind the stairs, or one of the bathrooms on the second floor if you like; I’m going out to water the flowers.”

  Chittering what he secretly knew to be terrible H’kaah curses at him, she bounced to her feet and almost hopped to the toilet around the corner. As promised, he took care of his problem outside and returned a short while later to find her on the floor in the middle of the room, quietly kneeling and sitting back on the heels of her rabbit-like feet. She had removed the ribbon that held her silky brown hair in a ponytail, and the lush mane made a shimmering dark cape around her shoulders and upper back, perfectly framing her breasts. Her expression was solemn.

  “Seeing you sit like that makes my joints hurt,” he stated, then carefully assumed a similar position next to her. Her solemn expression changed to a recognizable mix of apprehension overlaid with resignation. Without any explanation she slowly rocked forward until her head was lower than her hips, her eartips brushing the carpet and her flowing hair completely obscuring her face. This left her rear suggestively angled with her fluffy, spade-shaped tail elevated to lie in the small of her back. After admiring the blatantly provocative view for a moment he shook his head and said, “Well, you’ve got me there; if you’re praying it must be to a god I’m not acquainted with.” When she didn’t move for a full minute he sighed. “OK, I give up. Mind telling me what you’re doing?”