by Maxi MacNair
“That’s not just what happens every time you have sex?”
“No, I decided the moment I saw you that I wanted to be linked in that way with you. My body had the same idea it seems from the first time we were together.”
“So what about me?”
“I don’t know if your species physically shows the linking, but I have read enough about your culture to know you can love.”
“I need to love you?”
“Two bodies linked and exchanging this energy heals Halpeans.”
Larisa was shocked, she had a while ago resigned herself to the duty that she was presented with on Halpa with the Prince. Love though was such a distant thought up until now. Could she love another so soon after meeting someone? Could she love an alien species?
She walked over to him and kissed him. There wasn’t much life in Kallos’ kiss. Suddenly, Larisa was stricken with fear. She thought of a life without Kallos and started to weep. She wanted nothing more than for the life she knew existed in his kiss to return and to never leave her. Her kissing became more frantic and a faint glow started coming through the slightly pallid cheeks of Kallos, but there was not much else as far as movement from Kallos. Larisa pulled away at the shock of what all this meant. Love, real love, from Kallos.
She walked over to a small oval window that looked out onto a patch of forest. Kallos was silent behind her.
She reminded herself that she had been kidnapped into this. She could be free of the collar that still scratched at her neck when she couldn’t sleep at night. Perhaps, she wondered, she could be free of all of this. Perhaps she could flee and find a way back to Earth. Her and Kallos’ collars, and the syimondium they had just collected, would surely be worth something. She’d already have a ship, and only need a pilot to fly it.
Both her heart and mind felt torn in multiple pieces. He had given her Neiro, they had made love in her chambers, and just a short while ago. They had sat together in a harmonic silence, beside a waterfall and surrounded by dazzling crystals. Kallos had been kind to her, but he had still ordered her kidnapping. He was responsible for all that had happened, both pleasant and otherwise.
She tried to imagine what her life would be like if she returned to Earth, and for some reason, she couldn’t place herself anywhere. Not in her suburban house, not at her job, and not years down the road with a husband and children. As she stared out into the trees beyond the window glass, she realized she couldn’t picture any of it.
Larisa sighed softly, then turned to him. She pulled her hair over one shoulder as she approached him, and leaned in to kiss him again.
“Come, my love,” he said, smiling and holding out a hand to her. At least if this doesn’t work I’ll have my last moments alive be ones where I am looking at you.”
Larisa took his hand, hiked up her skirt, and crawled on top of him. She leaned down and kissed him tenderly on his lips. She pulled her gown off of her body and pulled her undergarment down off her. Gingerly, she removed Kallos clothes and got a cloth and some water to help soothe his wounds. The warm water wiped away the dirt from his skin, and cleaned the dry smears of blood on his chest, but the wound itself was something a simple cloth could do nothing for.
Larisa wiped the blood smear on his forehead and gracefully traced her pinky finger along the length of his ear bringing back the golden glow of his cheeks. As she did this she could sense some life start to stir inside of Kallos that wasn’t there a moment before. She could feel something stirring in herself as well. Suddenly, Kallos stretched his head up to meet her with a kiss. A kiss that was unlike what she had felt before. Larisa had known from her past two experiences with Kallos that there was an obvious sexual attraction there, but this was something more. She could feel the warmth emanating from Kallos now as the kiss deepened and she started to feel herself desire him again like she hadn’t had him in months. The glow of his skin intensified as his own organ started to come back to life. Soon his skin was outshining the natural light of the setting sun coming through the windows. His own body being the golden reddish glow of a sunset now. He slid inside of Larisa and she felt filled with something greater than just the physical sensation of their sex organs. Larisa could feel a strange heat emanating from herself in that moment as she looked down to watch Kallos’ wound start to dry up and turn to golden glowing skin. Kallos sat up and wrapped his arms around her as Larisa started orgasming. It was a feeling that she could feel building inside of her. So faint she could barely tell if it was real until it was too large to ignore, and too strong to hold back. She moaned and pulled at his ear with her lips as Kallos’ warm glow turned into a white heat that seemed to cover Larisa as well right before he launched into his own moan of pure release and pleasure. Larisa lost herself. She felt an emptiness. Things felt dark all around her until a faint circle of white light appeared. She could feel its distant heat and reached out for it. It widened and came closer until the darkness was completely covered by it. She felt herself burned by it, but soon it flashed and became a small beating coal of warmth in her chest. Her eyes blinked and there was Kallos embracing her.
Larisa cupped her hands around his cheeks and stared into his blazing green eyes. Life was behind them again now, but somehow brighter and more charged than ever before. He stared right into her and then suddenly collapsed.
~
“How are you feeling?” Larisa asked, joining Kallos in the cockpit carrying two glasses of water.
“Much better,” Kallos said.
He still moved slowly, but the bleeding had stopped and some of the color had returned to his face. The engines were firing up and he was working on programming the navigational system. Kallos looked up for a moment to take the glass from her. He took a long sip, the water cool and welcome against his lips.
“And how are you feeling?” He planted a soft kiss on her hand.
Larisa smiled. “Still trying to catch my breath, to be honest. I’ve never… done something so intense.”
“You saved my life,” he said, squeezing her hand. “You endured a lot for it, and I will be forever grateful.”
“Let’s not get too carried away,” she said. “We still need to get you back to the palace.”
“Yes,” he said, turning back to the console. “I’ve almost got this set. The user interface is a bit foreign to me—it’s been a while since I’ve last programmed a course myself.”
“Can you make it work?”
“I can. I just need a little more time to double check everything.”
“Well, let me know if I can help—somehow,” Larisa said, taking the copilot’s seat. “Though I’ll probably be more of a hindrance, I’ll do my best.”
“Don’t say that,” Kallos said, turning to her. “You’ll never be a hindrance. Not in my eyes.”
The color rose in Larisa’s cheeks and she smiled.
~
The Silent Night ascended into a dark velvet sky sprinkled with stars and watched over by two large, bright moons. Kallos leaned back in his seat, pleased, and more relieved than he cared to admit to himself.
“How long until we arrive?”
“Five hours and twelve minutes,” Kallos said to Larisa.
“Honestly, I’m a little surprised that it’s so long,” she said.
“Long? We’re across the planet.”
“I know—I mean,” she sucked on her lip and Kallos felt the sudden urge to lean over and kiss her.
“Go on.”
“I mean, you guys have spaceships, so I imagined travel would be much faster.”
“There are speed limits imposed for planetary travel,” he said. “It’s easier to coordinate flight routes if there are regulations in place.”
Larisa nodded.
“Come here,” Kallos said, swivelling his seat to face her and patting his lap.
Larisa stood up, but hesitated.
“You want me to sit on you?”
“Yes, come, let’s relax together,” he said. “You’re driving me
insane right now, being all the way over there.”
“I’m five feet away from you.”
“I know.”
Larisa laughed, and came to stand in front of him. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. Why not?”
“Well, I’m not exactly the smallest or lightest girl around…”
Kallos scoffed. “You’re the perfect girl. In the entire galaxy. Now come, I want you in my arms.”
Larisa obeyed, and Kallos wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her on the cheek and breathed in the aroma of her hair. She smelled of waterfall mist.
“I know our relationship is more than a bit unorthodox,” Kallos said. “But you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I could not imagine nor wish for a better partner to spend the rest of my life with—to rule Halpa with. I love you, Larisa.”
“I love you too, Kallos…” Larisa said, her voice a sweet melody in his ears.
“Do you? Truly?”
She turned to him, dark eyes latching onto his own and tugging at his heart.
“You’re still here aren’t you,” she said.
Kallos pressed his lips against hers and kissed her with all his passion. She kissed him back, her hands running over his hair and to the sensitive tips of his ears. Her tongue slipped into his mouth, and he wrapped his own tongue around hers. She moaned. The taste of her and the caressing of his ears sent his heart pounding against his chest.
“Larisa—” he gasped.
She tilted her face to redirect her kisses along his jawline. She sucked on his earlobes for a second, then traveled farther to nibble on the pointed ends of his ears. Larisa liked how she could drive him wild with just a few simple touches. He squirmed beneath her, the breath forced from his lungs. He pressed a hand against her chest and pushed himself back.
“Larisa—you’re going to make me desire more,” he said through bated breath.
“Do you want more?”
“Are you being dirty with me?”
“You didn’t answer the question,” she said, laughing and kissing him on the neck.
“You are too irresistible,” he groaned. “That question is unfair.”
Larisa laughed. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t really meaning to tease you. I just couldn’t help myself for a moment.”
She snuggled into him and he squeezed her as tight as he could without sending unbearable pain pulsing through the tender spot where his wound was in his side.
“I promise we can make love day and night when we return,” he said. “Once we’ve both rested.”
“You make a good point… In hindsight, I’m not sure I could last long right now.”
Kallos smiled and kissed her forehead.
Larisa laced her fingered between his. “I…”
“Yes?” Kallos prompted after she fell into silence.
“I… I’m actually looking forward to getting back. For the wedding… I mean.”
Kallos’ grin spread the entire width of his face.
“As am I,” he said. “And I never was one for ceremony before.”
“Really?”
“Formalities—especially long processions—tend to bore me. But now I can’t wait to see you in your wedding dress. Nillana has been busy finding various styles for you to choose from.”
“Is there a party after the ceremony?”
“There’s a massive banquet,” he said, growing enlivened at the thought. “Food, drinks, and dancing. Royal weddings are extravagant, but I hope it won’t be too overwhelming for you.”
“And afterwards?”
“Afterwards, we retire to our new suite.”
“I’d like that,” Larisa said. She kissed him once more, then rested her head against him.
“I’d like that as well,” Kallos said. “I’d like that as well.”
~
The warm morning sunlight danced across Larisa’s bare shoulders and soaked deep into the skin of her naked neck. The color of the silver gown wrapping around her body and trailing behind her, was an identical match to the elaborate robes Kallos wore. They stood facing each other, smiling like young lovers, atop an altar painted with the stylized image of a star. Behind them, in the open air courtyard, were rows of seated guests, banners of the royal family’s colors hanging from balconies and decorative posts, and white flower petals scattered along the the aisle. In front of them stood an old official garbed in black, who recited a traditional text from memory and held an engraved, wooden box.
“And Larisa of Earth, do you vow to love and cherish each other for as long as you both shall live? To uphold the link you have forged and never think of leaving it, but only to nurture and build upon it?”
“I vow,” Larisa said, her heart radiating joy at how immediate Kallos’ response to the same question had been.
“Then, Lord Kallos,” continued the official. “Take from this box that which will forever bind you, and claim your partner.”
Kallos opened the box and removed from it Larisa’s collar, now embedded with a ring of syimondium gems—their syimondium.
Larisa hadn’t seen the collar since it was taken from her days ago, and the sight of it now took her breath away. Her eyes began to tear and she stifled a cry. Everything they had gone through, each moment leading up to now, could be seen in the metal gleam, the circular shape, and the sparkling gems.
Kallos held it up to her, and following the guidance Larisa had been given in preparation for the ceremony, she turned around for him. One of his fingers brushed aside a strand of baby hair that couldn’t be pulled into her braided up-do. Her eyes fluttered closed as the metal clasped around her neck. She turned back around to see Kallos’ sea green eyes a little watery around the edges. In her heart, she felt certain that it wasn’t just a trick of the light.
“Now, Lady Larisa,” the minister said. “Take from this box that which will forever bind you, and claim your partner.”
Larisa took a steadying breath and removed Kallos’ collar from the box. Kallos turned for her, and bent down so she could reach without standing on tiptoes. She looked from the collar to his neck, then back again.
“Claim your partner,” she repeated to herself, and she slipped the collar around his neck. Her fingers lingered for a moment, half on the smooth metal, and half on his nape. She stepped back and Kallos returned to face her. His expression was brighter than all the stars combined, and Larisa found herself willing the minister to hurry to the next part.
“Before us stands two being who have vowed to share a life as one,” the minister announced to the crowd. “And with this marriage, we also welcome the new king and queen of Halpa.” He addressed Larisa and Kallos once more. “King Kallos Nhy’jas, Queen Larisa Nhy’jas, you may seal your vows.”
With those words, Larisa leapt into Kallos’ arm and threw her lips into his. He kissed her back as he swung her around, the trail of her dress swirling in the air. Larisa was so lost in her love that she didn’t even notice the crowd cheering behind them or the downpour of petals softly raining down upon them.
The End
Outlaw Bear King
Chapter One
It felt bittersweet to move back home. On the one hand, Zoey was glad to be back in her old hometown. She had good memories from here. More good than bad anyways, but that didn’t have anything to do with the bitter part of coming back home. It seemed like she was giving up on her dreams, or maybe that her dreams were giving up on her. She dreaded that moment of walking into her old home to see her mom. Seeing that look on her face that would be a mix of joy from seeing her daughter again, but also guilt and regret that she wasn’t able to help her more.
Zoey went to Massachusetts in hopes of becoming a vet. Her first step was to study animal biology. But now, due to financial reasons, she was barred from continuing her education. Zoey did everything she could. Worked three jobs and even that wasn’t enough. Her friends just asked why she didn’t go to her mom for help financially, but she knew there was nothing her mom could do.
It’s not like she was rich or anything, and any money she would send her would come from Ted, her husband. Zoey couldn’t bring herself to take money from him even if he would lend her some. He would hold it over her until she would be able to pay every last cent back. He was one of the reasons Zoey moved away in the first place to go to school. He wasn’t abusive or anything, but Zoey and him just didn’t get along, and it was better for her mom that she didn’t have to live through that stress. Zoey felt that at least one good thing that Ted gave her was the inspiration to do well in school so she could get into a good school and get away.
But here she was, back home, in some forgotten town in rural Maine. She sighed as she waited at the local bus stop outside the greyhound terminal for the only bus that ran through the town, waiting for her ride back home. She hadn’t told her mom yet that she was coming home. Zoey just couldn’t do it. She kept on believing that there was some other way, but with no way of paying rent as well as classes Zoey had to make the decision to drop out. Her first plan was to find a more inexpensive apartment to live in, take a fourth job, and start saving for classes. Her landlord though cheated her out of the damage deposit and left Zoey with nothing to put down on the new apartment she found. So standing out on the street with no-where to go she made the decision to head back home. It was literally the last place she wanted to be, but there was no-where else to go.
Finally, she heard the tell-tale sounds of the old bus making its way toward her. It rattled with the effort of going more than 20 miles per hour. Things like this stirred the nostalgia she felt for the small town she grew up in, but also reminded her of the home she was going back to. She climbed aboard the bus to find it nearly deserted, which it normally was at that time of night. There was an old man who looked half asleep in the back. She sat in the front seat, near the gruff driver who paid her no mind. She just wanted to get home now and get that conversation with her mom over with. It had already been a long and shameful greyhound ride from the city that day.
