by Dinah McLeod
She yelped, apparently not expecting that. But when he did it again, she moaned. A third time met with her most passionate response yet as she threw her head back and cried out, “Oh, yes!”
“I’d like you to lie down now.”
“On the ground?” she asked, sounding confused.
“Yes, unless you think you can wait for us to walk back to the house.”
She didn’t need telling twice. Sarai stood up, walked a few feet and then laid down on the carpet of grass.
Binnix stood where he was, gazing at her lovely form splayed on the ground. She was truly lovely. A bit short, perhaps, her hips a little wider than the females of his species, but somehow perfect all the same. He never would have guessed it, the thought never would have crossed his mind, but he believed that he was becoming quite taken with the alien Sarai. Perhaps it wasn’t such a horrible thing that the shuttle she’d been on had crashed into his planet, after all.
“Are you coming?” she asked in the sweetest voice he’d ever heard from her, threaded full of desire.
Without a word, he moved toward her, then he took his position, bending his body over hers, holding himself up with a single hand planted on the ground. With the other, he began to caress her sex once more. He ran his finger along the slit, making her groan, then he slid a finger inside. Her groans quickly turned to mewls of pleasure as he pumped the single digit up and down. Apparently, despite their many differences, the art of mating was much the same. Though their females were much more silent during the act. He found that he didn’t mind the distinction.
He added a second finger to the first and they worked together to bring his alien female to pleasure. He seemed to be doing his job quite well, at least judging from the way she writhed and groaned beneath him.
“Oh…oh…Binnix…”
He had to admit that he liked the sound of his name on her lips. Actually, there wasn’t much about her in this moment that he found fault with. He loved the way her red-gold hair was streamed across the ground like rays of sunlight, the way her face glowed as she delighted in the feeling of his fingers inside her. Her nipples were stiff peaks of arousal—he could see them pressing against the garment she wore. Briefly, he thought of ripping the ill-fitting clothes sack off her, but he stayed himself. There would be time for that later.
“Oh, yes. Don’t stop, don’t stop,” she kept saying, even though he hadn’t.
He pumped his fingers in and out faster, with urgency, enjoying the way her breath came in short, fast puffs as she lifted her hips, encouraging him to go deeper still. He would have happily continued for the rest of the day, but she didn’t have the stamina. As soon as he began to wonder if she could take a third finger, he could feel her sex tightening, gripping greedily at his digits. And in a moment, it was over. She was throwing her head back and yelling his name. Had it not been for the look of pure ecstasy on her face he would have thought that he’d hurt her.
Having completed his mission, he pulled his fingers away, sniffed at them curiously, and sat down on the ground while Sarai continued to gasp for breath. After a few minutes, she seemed to have mostly recovered, and strangely, she pulled her garment back down, giving him a shy look. That seemed most odd to him, considering that he’d just seen her naughty parts, but he let it slide without comment. Most things she did seemed odd to him, after all.
Binnix stood and helped Sarai to her feet and they began, in silence, to walk back to the house.
“Can I…um, can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“You didn’t…I mean…you didn’t…come.”
“I don’t understand what you mean,” he informed her.
“Ah, I mean…you didn’t…orgasm.”
“I’m sorry, I’m having difficulty understanding you today.”
“You didn’t have sex with me.”
“Oh, you mean we didn’t mate.”
“I guess, if that’s what you call it here.”
“I wanted to bring you pleasure. Did I not succeed?” The blush that came across her cheeks at the question was answer enough for him.
“Yes, but…I mean, I just thought…I wouldn’t have minded if you wanted to…you know. Mate.”
“Well, I am delighted that you feel that way. I’ll bear it in mind.” Binnix glanced at her and could see by the expression on her face that something was still troubling her. “I don’t understand. I brought you pleasure. Why are you unhappy?”
“I’m not. It’s just that I’m surprised, is all.”
“Why? Do the males on your planet not pleasure the females?”
“Well, yes, they do. But I’ve never known one to pleasure his ‘female’ at the expense of his own pleasure.”
Binnix shook his head. “What selfish creatures your males are.”
“I guess that’s sort of true,” she said with a giggle. “At least the ones I’ve dated.”
His ears perked up. She’d never spoken of being with a male before, and while it made sense that she had, he found that he wanted to know more about it. “You had a mate on your home planet?”
“Well, we were going to get married. But…”
He could sense pain in her words. To both of their surprise, he reached out and took her by the hand in an attempt to comfort her. “Was he on the craft that brought you here? Did he get killed in the crash?”
“Oh, no, nothing like that. He’s most likely still alive, being the pig that he is.”
His brow furrowed. “Your mate was an animal? How strange. We consider animals to be food, not life companions.”
Sarai laughed again. He found that he was growing quite fond of the sound. “No, I just mean that he wasn’t a nice person. Right before I came here, I found that he was cheating on me. He was mating with another woman, after promising to be mine,” she added before he had the chance to ask what “cheating” meant.
“No male here would ever dare such a thing,” he told her, his tone grave. “Or, indeed, any female. If caught, the punishment is death.”
“How very Old Testament of you.”
“I’m sorry? What is this ‘Old Testament’?”
“Never mind. It would take too long to explain.”
“We will have many years together,” Binnix remained her.
“I guess you’re right. Well, we’ll save that topic for another day. I’m getting hungry.”
“Good. I am, too. I’m making beakrat stew.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her open her mouth and then close it again.
“What?” he queried. “What is it?”
“Oh, nothing. I was going to ask you what a beakrat is, but I think I’m better off without knowing.”
He nodded once. She was probably right about that.
Chapter 6
It had taken several days, but with the help of a tablet that Binnix had lent her which had a program for teaching children to read, she'd picked up their written language. And as if that hadn't been exciting enough, Binnix had praised her for being able to pick it up so quickly—in his non-nonsense manner, of course. Afterward, he'd given her free reign over his library and she'd immediately begun to fly through books. He hadn't asked her what she was reading, and she hadn't offered the information, either.
As had become her ritual, that morning when she’d awoken Sarai had gone to get a tall, cool glass of water to drink, she’d nibbled on leftovers—the beakrat stew hat been quite delicious, actually, though she still didn’t want to know what was in it—and she’d prepared her mind for another day in the books. She was making good progress through his library, and becoming excited as much as she was frustrated. The more she read, the more she learned about their planet, the more questions she had. She was trying to work them into categories with the most important ones being the ones that pertained to actually building the shuttle. It was an enormous project, yes, but she was beginning to see the faint rays of light at the end of a very,
very long tunnel.
Binnix was right—she would be here for years. Somehow, with each passing day that thought seemed less unbearable. She knew very well that he was the reason why.
He was also the reason that her research was going slow this morning. She’d found another book on astronomy, this one much more detailed than the first, but she just couldn’t get into it. Her mind kept wandering, causing her to read the same sentence over and over again.
With a sigh, she set down the book in resignation. Clearly she wasn’t going to be getting any work done today. Maybe stretching her legs would help clear her mind. Besides, she was a bit curious about Binnix’s house. She’d been so busy trapping herself upstairs with the books, she hadn’t given much thought to the rest of the place.
There really wasn’t much more to see, as it turned out. She’d seen the kitchen, of course, and her own room. Binnix’s was almost identical, judging by the peek she dared. She wandered the living room, noting again the complete absence of any personal items. She wondered if his kind simply weren’t the decorative sort, of if it were for lack of opportunity. Maybe she’d stay after all and open a Bed, Bath and Beyond.
Feeling no more refreshed than she had when she’d begun to wander the house, Sarai headed up the stairs once more to go back to the bookcase. Still not in the mood to go back to reading astronomy, Sarai ran her hand along the spines of the books, savoring the feel of the fine tooled leather. Binnix had quite the collection—each book had a thick leather cover with beautiful images on the front. She used to dream of owning such a library before she’d decided that such fine displays must only exist in libraries. That was the case on Earth, unless you were extraordinarily wealthy. But maybe on this planet, everyone had such a bookcase. Maybe that was their idea of decorating, because many of the volumes looked like they’d never been opened before.
As her eyes were roving over them Sarai’s gaze stopped on one that seemed to be out of place. The spine was thin, and made of a thin paper material. It stuck out so much like a sore thumb that she was surprised she’d never noticed it before. The thin volume was wedged between two beautifully bound books, almost like it’d been put there and forgotten. It didn’t have anything written on the spine to indicate what it might be about, so she reached for it. Pulling it out and examining the cover did nothing to satisfy her curiosity, either, as it did not have a title or an author name on it.
Sarai opened it and was intrigued to see drawings on the inside cover that took up the entire space. Her eyes widened as she took in the intricate detail of what appeared to be the stars. Someone had drawn constellations! She knew that was what they had to be! They weren’t ones familiar to her, but they must be the ones from this planet!
Feeling invigorated from her discovery, she was turning the page when she heard the front door open. She dropped the book in surprise and immediately dove after it, somehow feeling like she’d seen something that she shouldn’t. She didn’t know why she should feel that way—Binnix knew she was reading his books and he’d never made any objection, but some reason she felt like he’d object to her reading this one. And reasoning that he couldn’t object to something that he didn’t know was happening, she shoved the book on the bottom shelf, right beside an enormous tome that overshadowed it, making it nearly invisible.
She was taking the stairs two at a time, trying to calm her nerves and at least appear normal. It was hard, because as soon as the feelings of secrecy about the book dissipated she was nervous to see him. It was an excited kind of nervousness, though, which was the best kind.
“There you are,” Binnix greeted her when he saw her.
“Here I am. What are you doing home so early?”
“I thought I’d come home for lunch.”
“You took lunch with you this morning,” she reminded him.
“Yes, but I desired your company.”
“So you came for a quickie.”
Binnix’s brow furrowed. “Is that meat, or a vegetable?”
“Never mind. I can reheat you some stew. Would you like that?”
“That would be fine.”
“I made some for myself this morning,” she said as she led the way to the kitchen, as though she’d been doing it for years.
“Oh. Well, if you’d rather I could make something else.”
“That’s okay. I like it.”
“If you had arrived on the planet you’d been aiming for, would you be eating better food?” he asked curiously.”
“I doubt it,” Sarai said, then launched into an explanation about why she’d been going, and what they had expected to find—a group of Americans who’d been barely making it as they tried to cultivate a new planet for the past decade.
“It sounds awful.”
“What?” she exclaimed as she warmed the soup over the cooking machine the oddly resembled an old-fashioned stove. “That’s what you take away from what I said?”
“You’re talking about a brand-new planet without proper homes, without cooking equipment,” he gestured to the one she was using, “without a police department or…anything.”
“Well, of course it sounds awful when you put it like that,” she grumbled.
“That’s what I took out of what you said. So I just don’t understand. Why leave everything behind to take such a risk? I know your mate left much to be desired, but surely you had loved ones.”
“I love my family very much. I miss them.”
“Then why did you come?”
She turned to him, frowning. “Really, do you have no sense of adventure? It’s scary going to a new place, but it’s also thrilling!”
“I would think the fear would win out when you consider that you can never leave.”
“Despite your gorgeous appearance, you really are an old fuddy-duddy at heart, aren’t you, Binnix?”
“What is this ‘fuddy duddy’?”
“You’re an old man!”
“I am seventy-one. Is this considered old on your planet?”
She did a double-take and even took a step back, her mouth gaping open. “You’re what?”
“What? How old did you think I was?”
“Thirty-five, at the most,” she answered without a moment’s hesitation. Not that she’d thought about it, or anything.
“I was still in school and living with my parents when I was thirty-five. Don’t be ridiculous.”
“How long do people typically live on your planet?”
“My father was one-hundred and sixty-two. My mother outlived him by three years.”
Woah. It seemed that any time she stopped thinking of them as two different species something cropped up to remind her how very different they truly were.
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-eight.”
“I see. I take it that people of twenty-eight years do not wear diapers on your planet?”
She couldn’t help but smile. “Most do, but I potty trained faster than most.”
Binnix stared at her for a moment, unblinking. “You are doing the thing where you lie to be funny again, aren’t you?”
“Back home, we call it a joke.”
“Ah. Sarai?”
“Yes?”
“You’re burning the soup.”
With a screech, she spun around, and sure enough, it was bubbling. She took the pot off the stove and set it down, but a stream of liquid leapt up and hit her wrist. “Ouch!”
Binnix, with his super-fast reflexes, quickly poured a cup of cool, soothing water over her wrist. Then he was holding it and examining it. “I don’t think we need to call the doctor.”
“No.” She pulled it away from him, embarrassed. “I’ll be just fine.”
“You have to be more careful, Sarai.”
“I’m such a klutz,” she admitted ruefully.
“Well, I don’t know what that is, but I suggest you stop it.”
“I’ll do my best.”
B
innix, seeming mollified, dished them up bowls of soup and carried it to the table with her following closely behind.
“How was work?” she asked.
“So far it’s going well. I’ve captured two criminals.”
“Oh? Did someone steal his neighbor’s goat again?”
“Sarai,” his tone grew stern as he said her name, “You know that we take goat stealing very seriously.”
Yes, she did. But they took everything seriously here, though she knew that was a thought better kept to herself.
“And what have you been doing?”
“Just some more reading.”
“At the rate you’re going, you’ll be running out of books soon.”
“Oh, I doubt it. You have a pretty large collection. Have you read them all?”
“No.”
Was it just her imagination, or did he suddenly look uncomfortable?
“Is there something in particular you’re looking for? I could try to get it for you.”
Deciding that she was probably seeing things, she nodded eagerly. “I’d love anything that you have on geology, astronomy, botany. That should be enough, to start.”
“To start?” he echoed, arching a blond brow.
“I’m a big reader.”
“I see.”
“Besides,” she added, feeling the need to defend herself, “it’s not like I have much else to do.”
“All right. I’d be happy to get you anything I can find.”
She found herself smiling shyly across the table at him. “Thanks. I really appreciate it.”
He nodded, and they fell into a companionable silence looking at each other.
As eager as Sarai was to get back to the book she’d discovered, she was content to wait if they could spend a few more moments together.
***
As soon as Binnix returned to work, she cleared the dishes. He’d begun to do it, but she’d offered to take over the task and received one of his rare smiles. She put them in water to soak and went back upstairs. She’d gotten distracted by the growing relationship between her and the handsome alien, so much so that she’d pushed the newly discovered book to the back of her mind. But as soon as she picked it up again, all other thoughts fled.
