by Hana Starr
I can’t be doing this, he thought, but his will was broken. There was nothing he could do but try to hang on as she broke away, grabbed his hand, and led him over to the bed.
The touch of silk on his skin distracted him. He looked down, reaching for the blanket which bunched up against his leg. Never before had he ever had a blanket, or even a pillow.
Then, Mariella lay her hand on his thigh. He snapped his gaze up, looking into her face. “Just let me do this,” she whispered, and placed his hand right over where his member was. A surge of warmth from his base to his tip shot through him. He groaned, tossing his head back and clenching his muscles tight to try and control it.
I can’t…
He was on his back on the bed, with Mariella’s mouth on his. She kissed him again, and he finally lost himself.
Grabbing her rear in his hands and whimpering at how soft she was all over, Dante shoved his lips against hers, crushing them together. Their mouth met savagely, tongues flicking out to ravage the other now.
As they kissed, she slid her sweet body up on top of his and spread her legs, straddling him. Very slowly, she reached up under the hem of her shirt and started to slide the garment up and over her head. His breath caught as he watched, the hem clearing her bra and bunching up around her shoulders.
She took his hands and set them on her breasts, letting him feel the softest part of her yet. Her nipples were velvety and peaked, and he delighted in running his thumb over the turgid tips. His stroking wrenched shocked, delighted purrs from her throat. And where her most secret, feminine of places was, she started to get wet…
Dante looked down, trying to see. “What is this?” he asked faintly.
Mariella swallowed hard, and then closed her eyes. “It means I’m ready. It means I want you.”
As one, they shifted onto their knees. Mariella let him slowly help peel the rest of her clothes off and he gasped to see his first womanhood. It was pink and lightly, cutely furred just above a long, deeply-colored slit between her legs. She was slick with moisture, and there was a small nub of needy flesh throbbing just at the top of that slender, swollen parting.
That’s where I go, he thought.
Mariella reached for his clothing now.
At the same time, he reached for her pussy. Curiosity drove his need, and he slid one finger down deep through her womanhood. She was slick as she looked, moist and burning. Her pussy started to tighten around his finger at the same time as she grabbed his manhood again.
With a start, he came back to himself and realized who he was, and what this was.
“No!” He cried out again, leaping off the bed and collapsing on his back. The trip and the fall stung, but nothing hurt more than his pride right then. His self-image was shattered. He was a disgrace, led by temptation.
This woman deserved better than his fallacy.
“I’m sorry,” he said, turning his head away. She just sat there on her bed, naked and despondent. Her breathing was labored. Excitement, disappointment, the general lack of air? “I am so sorry, Mariella. I will do anything to make this right. I will do anything you ask of me at anytime but please, do not force this upon me.”
She looked alarmed. “Wait a minute, you thought I was trying to punish you?”
“You weren’t?” he asked, sounding accusing and not meaning to. Had he thought wrong all this time? He knew her customs were different, but…
“No!” she protested, and then shoved some of her hair out of her face. “Dante, I’m not that experienced either! If you wanted, we can try again and go slower. I didn’t mean to scare you away.”
“You weren’t trying to punish me?”
“Didn’t you want to?” she asked, confused.
“Yes, but…”
“Then come here,” she begged him. “Please?” Her arms rose, beckoning to him.
The dilemma dragged out before him, the want to go to her so ferocious that he almost gave in; however, he just knew he couldn’t. When he tried to take a step forward, she was suddenly further away. Another step, and he was out in the hallway.
Mariella called after him, starting to get out of bed.
Dante turned and ran.
His member wilted so rapidly, so suddenly that he went numb. How had he ever dared feel anything for that woman? Had he gone mad?
I must have, he thought, gasping breathlessly. I must be completely insane to have done something like that. And it does not matter if she was serious or not. She will hate me for falling for her trap, or she will hate me for rejecting her.
Either way, it was best to just have done nothing.
She wasn’t following, but he kept running. He stumbled constantly, suddenly so depressed and tired that he would have collapsed to the floor right where he stood, but the downward slope of the tunnels propelled him on and on, lower and lower. His room, which he shared with two other such worthless men as himself, was nearly at ground level.
Either way, he would have to get there eventually, so he just kept running. But as he did, he couldn’t help but to wonder why, if this was the right choice…
Why did it hurt so much?
Chapter Ten
She cried herself to sleep like a teenage girl instead of an adult nuclear scientist. She couldn’t help it though, everything was much too confusing and she just felt so sorry that such a brave man should feel so inadequate about his own self-worth. Just because he was a lower class, that meant he should never have access to a basic human need?
But, she really hadn’t known how inexperienced he was. Stranger romances had happened before than of a secret bout of love between upper and lower classes, so she simply assumed he had at least kissed. Apparently not, with his lips so still and confused against hers.
I’ve made such a horrible mistake, she thought miserably, her face buried in one of the many pillows on her bed. Despite being made of rock and having only thin sheets, she never wanted to get out of it again.
Sadness dragged the corners of her mouth down, and she pressed herself deeper in amongst the pillows. Something was so dreadfully wrong here, and she was powerless to fix it.
She wanted to get up and go to him, to explain that she knew she was in the wrong, and beg for another chance, but it was too soon. He wouldn’t have had a chance yet to spread the word to his people that if they saw her, to take her to him; and there was just no way she could find her way around on her own, stumbling around in the dark like this.
No, there was nothing at all she could do but cry it out and go to sleep for a few hours. If she did that, she would wake up and be prepared to face him again.
It didn’t happen like that, however.
Holding her sobs in until they quelled into low whimpers, exhaustion crashed down on her like a suffocating blanket. It wasn’t a restful sleep, but a turmoil of whirling thoughts and images. She relived flashed of the crash over and over again, the impact puncturing through the darkness every time she started to drift away.
And there wasn’t really a way to measure the time passing while she slept, but judging by the state of her bladder it had been considerably longer than she planned. Still, as she crouched to relieve herself, she marveled at how little she ached. After all that climbing and then her rocky sleep, only her thighs were worse for wear.
I must be in better shape than I thought. It’s hard to tell sometimes, just sitting inside in a lab all day.
And that would be exactly what she was doing here, if Dante had kept his word. Although, she wouldn’t blame him if he hadn’t. She couldn’t blame him for that. Not after…
Her thoughts shied away again, and she let them. No, she couldn’t concern herself with that. Not today. The only way to do this was to consider it part of a completely different day, and to completely start over. No more schoolgirl crushes. No more flirting or putting herself into awkward situations. This was silence, and the day she started her mission.
Actually, had her lungs stopped aching a little overnight? The human body w
as so remarkably complex that she wouldn’t be surprised if she was already adapting –or if her brain was adjusting to the stimulus and just blocking it out. Either way, she felt like she breathed a little better and was glad for it. Without that extra bit of distraction, she might be able to do better.
As she walked through the tunnels, quickly finding a guide who immediately gestured for her to follow and started to lead, she took notice of how different the activity was today. All fanfare and standing around was over as the Drones readjusted to their daily lives. Work had to go on and so she frequently passed men carrying pick axes or other devices which resembled thick drills. Then men spared her only a glance before lowering their heads and shoulders until she was out of sight.
She saw less women than before, and practically no children. Maybe today they had all been ushered back into that nursery he spoke of. Or, was today a school day?
Did they even have school?
As she walked, she pondered. For such an advanced people capable of space travel and these invisible wall-doors, she saw very little sign of that in their day-to-day life. There were no machines and no screens here, and the lights were really the only sign of a high-functioning society that she could determine.
It's due to the Mites, she realized. Dante said everything was changing. Maybe this is what he meant.
If the enemy’s siege had forced a darkening of the technological level of this society, it was an even worse situation than merely running out fuel. She would need to build this Hive up from the ground again.
For a moment, she thanked herself for her African village experience with the Zenith Grid, but her thoughts were broken by her guide wandering away. She turned, poised to ask him where he thought he was going, when soft footfalls from the other direction caught her attention.
Dante approached, his face impassive. “Greetings,” he said dully. “Are you ready to be taken to your work station? I can assist you.”
“You sound like a robot,” she murmured. He just blinked with confusion. “Dante…”
He interrupted her, waving one broad hand. “I have had quite enough of this for now,” he said. His eyes darkened a little. “I do not want to speak of what transpired. I am here to be your assistant. Nothing more.”
“Of course,” she said quietly, and he relaxed a little. “Where is it?”
He gestured her further down the tunnel, and they started off. The silence between them was very near awkward, though not entirely. It was more like both of them just didn’t know what they were going to say.
“Science is considered not very subtle of a skill,” Dante said finally. “It is often time-consuming and laborious, so it is a man’s job.”
Time-consuming and laborious yes, but not like mining, surely? “What are some examples of women’s jobs?”
“Childbirth,” he said simply, and that was all.
Honestly, in her opinion, it didn’t seem like either males or females were having a particularly nice time here. Was that how things had always been?
There was still more time as they walked, so Mariella asked him to explain their current methods of energy production.
Eight minutes later, she still had no idea what he was talking about. The whole process was ludicrous and absurd, involving methods and materials which she couldn’t even begin to fathom. And from what Dante was telling her, the daily mining operations only brought back a tiny fraction of the necessary material each day. Their supplies here were depleted, but they very well couldn’t move on to a different one without being blasted to pieces.
Just as they were about to enter her new lab, she asked, “What about the miners do all day, then? If there’s nothing of value down there…’
“We continue to mine for the diamonds and such,” he answered absentmindedly.
All this considered, she would have to keep in mind where their priorities lay.
The lab was actually rather nice, showing true signs of a scientist’s playground. There was a cabinet made of stone, and any number of prepared microscopes and other pieces of equipment lined up on the plentiful counter space. In addition to even that, the walls were covered in scientific-looking inscriptions she could make neither heads nor tails of. Those would be useful if she could ever figure that out, but as she stepped into the room she finally decided something: adapting onto their current fuel wouldn’t work. Neither would solar power, at least for now. However, Venus did have one thing in abundance that most places on Earth were rather lacking in.
“Dante?” she asked.
The alien man looked up with a dutiful buzz.
She spoke slowly, forming the idea even as she talked. “These tunnels started out as lava tubes, right?”
“Yes,” he nodded cautiously, examining her face. She saw that calculating look and knew that he was trying to follow her train of thought. “They were formed during extensive activity during the childhood of our planet. Venus is covered in them.”
Lava rose to the surface, not the other way around. “So that means, thee tunnels have to still connect to the source, right?”
“Yes, but do not fret. We have safety measures in place to ensure that sudden activity will not cost us our lives.”
Probably in the way of a ton more doors, she thought absently. Or, perhaps the Drones had created run-off tunnels of their own that would redirect the flow outwards instead of upwards. She had no idea. But what this meant as that somewhere beneath her feet, the solid rock grew very treacherous and liquidy –and burning hot. And heat was very nearly the same as solar energy, practically identical but for the source in a situation like this.
Mariella turned to him, placing her hands flat on a tabletop and leaning over them in her excitement. The alien backed away, but only took a single step when he realized that she wasn’t trying to invade his space like he feared. “Look,” she said. “I know that you knew all about my projects on Earth, or else you wouldn’t have picked me out. My Zenith Grid won’t work here. The sun isn’t going to be consistent enough for you. I mean, I can make you some if you get me some of the right materials. It’ll be a start so you guys can start protecting yourself again, but it’s not a long-term solution.”
“Then what do you suggest?” he asked icily.
“Heat.”
And she watched with pride and bubbling hope as realization dawned on his face. “Of course! That very well might work. Our mines lead straight down to the source, though we have completely drained that area of materials. But, what do you suggest that you will build for such a thing as that?”
“I have no idea,” she admitted. “Is it okay if I make you some lists? And a couple other people? We can get them started on building the solar panels for the Grid while I try to figure out how to adapt them for heat.”
“Of course. Let me find…”
The alien turned and wandered over to the countertop, and bent over to open and study a drawer beneath it. Mariella tried very hard not to stare at his butt but wasn’t entirely successful. It was not round but it looked like a firm handful of succulent flesh…
“Mariella?”
She dragged her gaze back up to him, not having realized that she was daydreaming. Her loins trembled a little but she quelled it as best she could while scribbling on what appeared to be a pad of leather leaflets. The writing utensil he handed her was an odd thing, pure solid material which bled thin, inklike tendrils of liquid behind it. “Do you have some sort of silicon here, or something similar?”
“Yes.”
“Solar panels are made of various kinds, so I’ll work with whatever you’ve got. Let’s see…I need…” She started mumbling to herself, listing various common elements which she desperately hoped Venus might have –or at least some sort of workable equivalent. Her mind raced ahead of her hand, making her writing grow jagged and confused, but she hoped he would still be able to read it. This was her element, this stage of figuring. It was more difficult to figure out what she might need for a heat-powered Grid, but she t
hrew down some suggestions and thought that she would make sense of it all when everything was physically within her grasp. Of course, the heat would need to be converted in a different manner than she was used to, so she wrote down a small selection of various catalytic compounds, and then offered him the list.
Dante took it, squinting a little. “You have impeccable writing,” he said blandly.
She laughed a little, watching him take stock of the entire list. Finally, he said, “Very well. We do not have some of this but I will bring replacements, if I can find them. We are quite low on everything, so securing the supplies would ordinarily be difficult. Hopefully, word has spread to our supply keepers.”
