by Ramona Gray
“Whoa, whoa, don’t be pointing at me. I’ve been gonorrhea free since 2003.” He held up his fist to Davis who rolled his eyes but fist-bumped it.
“Sex diseases?” Randy took off his glasses and polished them. “You can’t get a disease from sex.”
“STD stands for sexually transmitted disease.” Doc glanced at Brody. “Brody said he’d never heard of them on his world.”
“We haven’t.” Randy was sitting next to Duncan and he nudged him. “Do you have those sex diseases on your world?”
Duncan was sharpening his sword and he shook his head. “No.”
“On our world, you can get diseases from having unprotected sex with multiple partners. Some of them are quite deadly and can kill you.” Doc said. “They’re passed from person to person through sex.”
“Holy shit,” Daryl said. “For real?”
“Yes.” Doc glanced at Vida. “Do they have STDs on your world or the Amazon woman world?”
Vida shook his head. “No, they do not exist on my world or the other.”
“You sure?” Doc said.
Vida just shrugged. “Why does it matter?”
“Good old-fashioned curiosity,” Doc replied.
“Hey, you got a dick like a human or a fish?” Wallace suddenly asked.
“Wallace!” Rose frowned at him and Wallace shrugged.
“What? It’s a legit question. The guy’s basically a merman and -”
“Enough.” Patrick’s voice was a low growl. “Have you run into any of the pinkies yet, Vida?”
“I have seen them from a distance when I explored the north side of the island.”
“Shit, you went to the north side? You’re either the stupidest or the bravest motherfucker I’ve ever met.” Wallace said.
“Open your fucking mouth again and I’ll shove my foot into it. Understand?” Patrick suddenly snarled.
Wallace studied him silently before nodding. “Yes, Sir.”
Patrick turned back to Vida. “Have you met the locals?”
“I have seen them,” Vida said. “They do not care for strangers.”
Patrick barked harsh laughter. “That’s for fucking sure. You see where they live?”
“Behind the wall of flowers.”
“That’s right. Those flowers are keeping them safe from those fucking pink bastards, while we’re barely hanging on. Do you think that’s fair?”
Vida didn’t reply, and Patrick squeezed Talla’s thigh until she gasped. “Do you, you big Smurf?”
Vida cocked his head at him. “Another called me Smurf once. I did not like it then and I do not like it now.”
“Patrick,” Teagan said, “give it a rest.”
“Are you in charge, Teagan?” A flush was rising up Patrick’s neck.
“Patrick -”
“Are…you…in…charge?”
“No.”
“Then shut your fucking mouth.” Patrick sneered. “Do you think it’s fair, Vida?”
“What do you want from me, human?” Vida said.
Patrick stared at him, breathing so heavily that he reminded Rose of a bull about to charge. He relaxed suddenly, his hand returned to stroking Talla’s thigh and he smiled at Vida. “I think we could help each other, Vida. You survived almost two weeks alone in the jungle, but I wonder how much of that has to do with luck? In this world – on this island – you need others to survive. You need us. You help me convince the locals that they should share their resources with us and I’ll let you stay here with us.”
“Convince?” Rose said. “What do you mean by convince?”
Patrick ignored her. “What do you say, Vida?”
Vida stayed silent and Solomon cleared his throat. “He shouldn’t get to stay with us.”
Patrick turned his gaze to him. “What did you say?”
Solomon glanced at Daryl and Peter and Randy who were sitting together. “He and Rose are the reason we’re even on this damn island. They’re the reason that Leslie and John are dead. I think they both should be kicked out of camp.”
“I agree.” Daryl said.
“Me too.” Marissa took Solomon’s hand and squeezed it.
“Peter and Randy? What about you?” Solomon said. “Do you vote yes or no to kicking them out of the camp?”
“Vote?” Patrick stood and stretched lazily before moving to the table and pouring himself a cup of water. He drank it and then leaned one hip against the table. “What gave you the idea that you get a vote on anything that happens here?”
Solomon flushed before straightening his back. “I just think that since they were the ones responsible for -”
“Don’t think.” Patrick’s voice was soft. “Don’t think, don’t speak, hell, from this moment on you don’t even piss without my permission. Is that clear?”
Solomon stared at him and after a moment, seemed to crumple into himself. “Yes.”
“Yes, what?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Good.” Patrick chewed on a piece of dried meat. “It’s getting late. The Smurf, excuse me, Vida, will stay with us tonight, eat our food and enjoy our protection. It will give him a taste of what he can gain from partnering with us.”
He winked at Vida. “We’ll pick up this discussion in the morning.”
“I do not wish to stay the night.” Vida stood, and Rose jumped up when Patrick glanced at Teagan and Wallace. The two men stood and placed their hands on the guns sitting in the holsters around their waists.
“It’s awful rude to turn down a man’s hospitality,” Patrick said.
Rose glanced at Duncan. He was holding his sword loosely in one hand, but his entire body was tense. She couldn’t tell if he would back Patrick up or not, but she knew for certain that the rest of the men would. They might think Patrick was a couple of screws loose, but they would do what he told them to.
“You are not my leader,” Vida said. “I will not follow your rule.”
That red flush was creeping up Patrick’s neck again and feeling sick with fear, Rose grabbed Vida’s hand and squeezed it. “Vida, please. Will you stay for me?”
He stared down at her and she tried to smile at him. “Please? It’s going to be dark soon and I would feel much better if you spent the night with us.”
Vida touched her hair and nodded. “I will stay for you, flower.”
“Thank you.” She was weak with relief.
“Then it’s settled. Vida stays.” Patrick grinned broadly at them. “Who’s on cooking duty tonight?”
* * *
What are you doing, Rose?
She ignored her inner voice as she picked her way across the clearing toward Vida’s hut. She almost screamed when she passed Teagan’s hut and he appeared in the doorway. He took her arm and pulled her to a stop.
“No leaving the camp again, Rose.”
She smiled at him. “I’m not. I just wanted to speak with Vida for a moment.”
“You trust him, don’t you?”
“I do. You should too. He’s a good man, Teagan.”
“Man?” He gave her a wry smile.
“You know what I mean.”
“You haven’t known him very long.”
“No, I haven’t,” Rose said. “But I know he’s good and honourable. Just like I know that Patrick is batshit insane.”
“Keep your voice down.” Teagan glanced at Patrick and Talla’s hut before staring up and into the trees. Duncan was on watch and he nodded to Teagan before turning his gaze back to the jungle.
“You should be leading this group, not him.” Rose lowered her voice. “You know he’s crazy, right?”
Teagan released her arm. “Good night, Rose.”
He stepped back into his hut and she hesitated before continuing toward Vida’s. She was just going to say good night and see if he needed anything. Some water or a blanket maybe. It got cold at night and he was used to being in the cave. He might be too cold in the hut.
You gonna offer to warm him up with body heat?
Except for the fact that he won’t fuck you. Or have you forgotten that part?
She hadn’t forgotten. She wanted to forget it, but it was kind of impossible. She stopped in front of Vida’s hut. She could change his mind. He wanted her, that was obvious. It would be easy to seduce him into having sex.
Do you think maybe you should be a little freaked out by his sudden weird possessiveness? The guy gives you one orgasm and now he’s acting like you belong to him. That’s not normal, Rose.
Maybe it was normal on Vida’s world. Maybe they just didn’t like other men touching the women they were having sex with.
You’re not having sex!
She shoved her inner voice out of her head and ducked into Vida’s hut. The hut was lit with only two candles and the light was dim, but she could clearly see Talla and Vida standing near the pile of furs. Could clearly see when the gorgeous woman pulled off her shirt and dropped it to the floor. She was naked beneath it and Rose’s mouth dropped open when Talla cupped her breasts.
“Well, what do you say? Is this what you want?”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Rose said.
Talla made a soft shriek and grabbed for her shirt, struggling into it as Vida said, “Flower, what are you doing here?”
“Making a fool of myself, again.” Her throat burning and hot tears pricking at her eyes, Rose backed out of the hut. She turned and ran across the clearing to her own hut. Her stomach hurt, and her chest felt tight, and she was stupidly disappointed.
She dropped onto the furs and buried her face in them. She was an idiot. Of course, Vida would sleep with Talla. She was tall and gorgeous and probably had a vagina as big as a house. She’d have no problems taking Vida’s cock. Hell, he was probably sticking his dick in her right now. Probably –
“Flower?”
She shrieked into the furs and sat up, staring wildly at Vida as he entered her hut. “Go away, Vida.”
“We need to speak.”
“There’s nothing to say. You can go back to your hut and bang stupid beautiful Talla with your dick until it’s bleeding for all I care. But you’d better hope Patrick doesn’t find out or he’ll kill you.”
“Why would I bang my dick on her until it bleeds?”
He sat down next to her on the furs and she gaped at him. “What?”
“You said bang her with my dick until it is bleeding. That is not pleasurable.”
She scooted away from him when he tried to put his arm around her. “Banging is another word for fucking.”
“Strange.” He studied her for a moment. “I do not wish to fuck Talla.”
“Right. She was just in your hut and naked because it’s a warm night.”
He sighed and scratched at the skin around his horns. “Her mate Patrick sent her to my hut to fuck me.”
Rose’s mouth dropped open. “What? She told you that?”
“Yes.”
“Why would Patrick do that?”
“Patrick’s female -”
“Talla.”
“Patrick’s female Talla said that Patrick told her it was to sweeten the pot. I did not know what that meant, and she did not either.”
Rose rubbed at her temples. “It means he offered sex with Talla as another incentive to try and convince you to help him with the locals.”
“I have no wish to sleep with Patrick’s female.”
She stared up at him. “You-you don’t?”
“No, flower, I do not. I sent her back to Patrick.”
“Because I showed up.”
“No. I would have sent her away anyway.”
This time when he reached for her, she didn’t pull away. He lifted her into his lap and stroked her long hair. “It is not her that I am attracted to.”
“But you won’t have sex with me.”
He nuzzled her neck. “I cannot, little human. I will hurt you.”
“You don’t know that,” she argued. “We can try.”
He shook his head. “No. But I would like to make you come again. Will you allow me to do so?”
She should say no. It wasn’t fair to Vida that she kept having orgasms and he didn’t. After faking her orgasms so much with Solomon, she knew a little something about the frustration of watching your partner come while you didn’t.
You don’t have to have sex to make Vida come, you twit.
Shit, she was a twit.
* * *
Vida studied the small human sitting in his lap. He’d been feeling anxious and unsettled since the moment they’d entered the humans’ camp. He’d had to fight his urge all evening to simply pick up his flower and carry her back to his den.
Being close to Rose, having her soft body touching his, gave him his first measure of relief since they had joined her friends. He stroked her thigh, resisting his desire to cup her pussy and push her into accepting his offer to bring her to orgasm.
When she stayed silent, he couldn’t stop from asking her again. In fact, he was afraid he was very close to begging her to let him touch her. “Flower? Will you allow me to make you come?”
“Yes,” she said. “I want that, Vida.”
Relief flooded through him and he smiled at her. “Good.”
He reached for her shirt and she squeezed his arms. “Does your kind – I mean, your people – do they kiss?”
He stared blankly at her for a moment before giving her an apologetic look. “Forgive me, little human. I have forgotten that humans enjoy mouth kissing when they mate.”
“So, your kind doesn’t like to kiss?”
He didn’t want to tell her the truth. His kind occasionally kissed, but never during mating and never with tongue the way the humans seemed to enjoy. Kissing for his kind was seen as more of a sign of affection rather than desire. Truthfully, he had always been a bit baffled by the human’s desire to kiss so intimately while they mated. The warrior women on the previous world had quickly taught him how to kiss, but he’d kissed them only when they asked or reminded him to do so.
“Vida?”
He sighed. He couldn’t and wouldn’t lie to her. “We kiss on occasion, but not when we are mating.”
“Oh. Okay. I, um, won’t kiss you then.”
He stroked her blonde hair again. “The women who held me captive enjoyed kissing during mating. They taught me to kiss them while we mated. I will do so now, with you.”
She shook her head immediately. “No, absolutely not. You were forced to do things you didn’t want to for twenty-five years. I’m not going to do that to you now.”
“I do not mind.”
She made a sound that was almost a laugh. “Kissing me because you don’t mind, would be worse than kissing me because I forced you to kiss.”
“I do not understand.”
“I know,” she said. “I’m fine without kissing.”
“Are you certain?” He studied her face and she looked away before nodding.
“I am.”
He believed she was lying, but she pulled her shirt over her head and he was immediately distracted by her soft pale skin. He ran his fingers over her upper chest before tugging on the strap of the undergarment she was wearing. “What is this?”
“It’s called a bra.”
“Why do you wear it?”
“Well, women wear it for different reasons. It’s mostly worn to support your breasts.”
“Do all women on your world wear one?”
She shrugged. “Just depends on the woman I guess. My breasts aren’t very big so I could go without one, but for women who have larger breasts, a bra supports them when they’re running, that sort of thing.”
“I do not like it.” He tugged at the strap again and she laughed.
“Most men don’t.”
“How do you remove it.” He pulled at the front of it and she tugged his hands away.
>
“It has hooks in the back.” She reached behind her and after a few seconds, the bra loosened. She took it off and he stared at her breasts.
“You have beautiful breasts, little flower.”
“Thank you.” She gave him a shy smile. “You said your females look similar to us, right?”
He nodded. “Mostly. They have horns and fangs like we do and as I said before, their skin is purple. They are larger than most human women. They are warriors like us and excellent fighters.”
“Oh. So, I’m the exact opposite of what you’re used to.”
“Yes.” He traced his finger between her breasts and she shivered delicately. “But I like your pale skin, little flower.” He circled her nipple with his finger, smiling when it hardened. “I like your pink nipples.”
“Vida, please,” she whispered.
He bent his head and licked her collarbone before cupping her small breast. It fit perfectly in his hand and he squeezed it gently. He kissed her neck and nipped at her soft skin. She gasped and arched into his hand before running her hands over his naked chest. He groaned when she slipped her hand beneath the waistband of his pants and grasped his cock.
“Lie back, Vida” she whispered.
“We cannot mate.”
“I know.” She pushed on his chest with her free hand and after a moment he relaxed on the furs. The little human leaned over him and he cupped her head when she kissed a slow path across his chest. God, her lips were so soft and her hand rubbing his dick felt amazing.
She pulled her hand free and unbuttoned his pants, pulling the strange metal teeth apart with an ease he hadn’t mastered yet. “What is that called?”
“What? This?” She tugged on the metal.
He nodded, and she grinned at him. “It’s a zipper. You don’t have them on your world, huh?”
“No.”
“Hips up, big guy.”
He lifted his hips and she pulled his pants down his legs and off his feet. She tossed them into the pile with her shirt and bra, and he sucked in his breath when she pressed a kiss against his knee.
“I know you don’t want to have sex with me, but that doesn’t mean I can’t use my mouth, right?” She said before kissing his thick thighs.
His cock swelled, and his pulse thudded erratically. “You wish to suck my cock, flower?”
