Shalia's Diary #8

by Tracy St. John

  “A few more days and I will be able to get rid of the exo-brace,” he said in that same noncommittal tone. He turned his attention to Oses, and I was sure his voice warmed. “So you’ve found your way to my home village. How are you liking it?”

  Oses looked around with appreciation, though I didn’t see much to get excited about. “It’s been a most interesting stop on our tour. The guided expedition of the plains was particularly enjoyable.”

  “Did you see any senilows? I heard their numbers have increased lately. The hunters are getting ready to do a cull.”

  Oses’ eyes brightened. “A hunt? That would be exciting.”

  “It usually is. I’m sorry I won’t get to participate this time. I’ve always gone out when it was time to decrease their numbers.” Old Resan was a regular Chatty Cathy, wasn’t he?

  “I didn’t realize you were from this area.”

  “Yes. My grandparents and parents live here. I am staying with them during my leave.”

  It was on the tip of my tongue to ask if I’d get to see his grandmother, may the great lady live forever, jogging around town in her best gown. I somehow managed to keep my mouth shut.

  Resan turned to Betra again. “I don’t suppose you hunt, Imdiko?” The assessing look was on his face again, as if he was trying to find some evidence of Betra’s rampant heterosexuality. I fussed over Anrel to hide the smirk that crept out. Resan was going to keep barking up the wrong tree until Oses was forced to kick his ass.

  After a few more minutes of Resan chatting them up and ignoring me, he excused himself. “I’m due at my grandparents’ for lunch. Enjoy the rest of your leave.” He hesitated as if wanting to say more. Then he gave me a quick nod before moving on.

  Once I was sure he was out of earshot, I let myself snicker. “Could he have been any more obvious?”

  The men glanced at me quizzically. “Obvious about what?” Betra asked.

  I couldn’t help my grin. “Resan finds Oses interesting. Very interesting.”

  They exchanged startled looks. “He does?” they chorused.

  I laughed. Men can be so clueless.

  October 3

  Every time I think I have a new favorite spot on Kalquor, I find something new to fall head over heels for. The tropical island of Erem is my latest infatuation.

  At high tide, it’s not even an island. It ceases to exist as the ocean covers it for several hours. But since the water isn’t very deep and the buildings are made for this situation, it’s perfectly okay. However, it can only be accessed by boat since you can’t very well have a shuttle landing pad under the sea.

  This is one of the few places on Kalquor where free-standing structures are allowed. Most of them are tiny homes and tourist suites, lined up like a string of pearls along this itty-bitty stretch of sometimes-an-island. Shops and things like medical facilities are on the larger nearby island of Arethu.

  The place we’re staying in is typical for Erem, but I find it too exotic to be believed. The bottom floor is the main sleeping room, its walls made up of transparent glass-like material. At high tide, this room is completely underwater, surrounding the occupants with clear green water and fantastic aquatic creatures who tend to be attracted when the lights are on. At night, it is the fish – or whatever you call the things swimming around – that light up. They glow in the dark, and it is the most amazing display anyone can imagine. The first night I could hardly sleep for wanting to watch them swim around us. I know there were such creatures in the deepest parts of Earth’s oceans, but I never got to see them.

  Most of the upper floor is open to the air. There is a floor and a roof, but beyond support columns, no walls for the living area and kitchen. I suppose I wouldn’t want to be here during a storm, but right now the skies are a perfect blue, the water is clear, and the spit of powdery sand around the suite is almost as white as snow.

  Anrel has all the makings of a beach baby. She squeals with delight at the fish swimming about her when she’s in the sleeping room. She adores picking up handfuls of sand and throwing them at us. She loves splashing in the water even more. She even moves her arms and legs as if trying to swim when we take her deeper. She yells at us when we make her come into the living area for meals and diaper changes, as if to protest taking her out of her preferred habitat.

  She sleeps soundly and all night here though. For that matter, so do I once I’m too tired to stare at the glowing fish. Hearing the ocean all around me is soothing.

  Not so soothing are the gorgeous men I’m with. Watching those nearly-naked bodies swim around with their wet muscles gleaming has me at a constant state of arousal. Betra and Oses are ridiculously sexy, their already brown skin taking on a deeper hue from being in the sun so much. I guess they like what they see too. Under the water, their hands are all over me, reaching inside my swimsuit. When Betra is holding Anrel, letting her practice her kicks and strokes, Oses clutches me tight to his body, his fingers seeking my pussy and anus, as if to keep me ready to be taken at any moment. The reverse is true when Oses plays with the baby; Betra plays with me. They love driving me out of my skull that way.

  I’m all too happy to show them how much I enjoy seeing so much of them. Last night after Anrel fell asleep, we relaxed with drinks on the upper part of the suite. The three of us lounged on a monstrous hammock. It was stretched out where a wall would have been if the room had them, with Betra on one side, me in the middle, and Oses on the indoor side. He had one foot on the floor, making us swing from side to side. I lay looking up at the thatched ceiling one moment, and then the star-splattered sky the next. Back and forth, back and forth. The breeze played over my nude body, still damp from the quick dip I’d taken minutes before. It cooled me except for where Betra and Oses’s warm bodies touched me on either side. Their fingers stroked my inner thighs, and I knew I was growing wetter in one place rather than drier.

  Heaven.

  Oses switched his glass of bohut from one hand to the other. He brought the fingers that had clutched his icy drink to my breast, rubbing the cold over a nipple. I squealed but didn’t fight the profound sensation that made the peak go taut. He chuckled at the reaction.

  “There is only one way to finish off this perfect day,” he rumbled.

  With that, he pushed the hammock so it swung far out over the edge of the room. At the same time, he reached over me and shoved Betra off. The Imdiko’s startled yell was broken by the splash of him hitting the water.

  “He’s not going to be too happy with you for that,” I laughed as Oses jumped off his side of the hammock and made it go still.

  His teeth flashed white in the night. “I’ll make it up to him. Maybe.”

  As he took my half-finished drink away, more splashes told us Betra had surfaced. “What the hell, you asshole?” his indignant voice demanded.

  Oses just laughed and pulled me roughly off the hammock. He set me on my feet and then turned me towards the suspended stretch of fabric. “Bend,” he ordered. When I didn’t move fast enough to suit him, his hand gripped the back of my neck and bore me down.

  A few adjustments, and I was facedown on the hammock, my rear end hanging off the edge. He pushed my legs apart with ruthless demand. His fingers searched through my pussy folds. “Mmm, good and wet for me,” he said. “And since the day has been one long stretch of foreplay, I will be taking you without further preparation.”

  I was delighted to hear him say that. I’d been debating on whether or not to insist on quick and dirty when Oses had gotten rid of Betra.

  He pressed against my ass and pussy. He shoved in with strength, driving the air out of my lungs. I fisted the hammock in my hands, my mouth gaping wide from the force of his abrupt taking. I wasn’t quite over the surprise when he started a hard, demanding rhythm.

  He used the hammock to his advantage, making it swing back towards him as his hips thrust forward. I grunted with each pounding shove, my feet kicking weakly as they hovered over the floor. The friction was relentless, i
t was harsh, and it was wonderful. A raging fire broke out inside me. I couldn’t do anything about being taken the way he wanted. It was delicious to be handled that way.

  Sensation rolled through me, just like a wave in the vast ocean surrounding us. I clenched around his lengths, feeling my sleeves engorging, tightening. My whole body quivered in reaction.

  One hand gripped my hip. The other slipped beneath me, going straight to my mound. His fingers brushed my clit, sending a tidal wave of need through me. I made a choking sound, my legs kicking straight out behind me. It was too much. The feeling was overwhelming, more than I could handle. I struggled to move, but he settled his weight on me, holding me in place. His fingers kept stroking over my clit, sending stomach-clenching sensation to drive me right out of my skull. I couldn’t get away.

  He moved again, taking his weight off me and pushing the hammock away so that he very nearly emptied me of himself. Then he yanked the hammock back, jerking his hips forward to impale me onto his full length. His fingers worked my clit hard, bringing me right up to the cusp of release, only to pull back again. He speared me again and stimulated my clit, to the brink once more. Another brutal thrust. Another. Another. And in between, toying with my clit until my every breath came out in little screams.

  Then he took me hard and fast, his fingers rubbing my clit hard to force me over. I blew apart in monumental climax, my senses shattered. My pussy milked him as he continued to take me until he spent himself in hard jerks.

  When he was done, he muttered something in a low voice. I couldn’t hear him over the continued wild pounding of my pulse in my ears. I didn’t have the strength to ask him to repeat it.

  He pulled free, leaving my ass and still flexing pussy empty. I wanted to complain, but I was abruptly filled again.

  I knew without looking that it was Betra, and not because he was still dripping from his impromptu swim. I was too well acquainted with his body – particularly his cocks – to not tell him from Oses.

  Being tossed into the ocean hadn’t dampened his ardor any. His thrusts were as powerful as the Nobek’s, shoving into my engorged sheaths. A new surge of desire stampeded through me as my body responded to the invasion. I was on the verge of coming again.

  He reached for and found my clit, just as Oses had. He pinched hard and held the sensitive nub in a vise-like grip. Again, I had no escape. Again, climax roared through me, throttling me from within. Betra kept slamming against me, his hold on my clit not relenting. Another orgasm swelled up and broke over me. I wailed.

  He released my clit, and circulation returned in a blinding rush, bringing violent sensation. He shoved his cocks in deep, and I was off again. My body jerked as if struck by lightning.

  On and on, he fucked me. He positioned me where he wanted, took my body as it bucked helplessly beneath him. Orgasms brutalized me until he’d taken everything I could give. Only when I lay completely spent, unable to even twitch did he let go, his seed joining Oses’s within me.

  After a while, we lay on the hammock again, drinks in hand, our pulses gentling as Oses rocked us once more. A perfect end to a perfect day.

  October 7

  We are at the end of our tour. Tomorrow we return to the capital. It has been a wonderful trip, and I’m sorry to see it end.

  We are on a river cruise right now, the third day of it. Each day we stop off in a city and sightsee. Then we’re back on board by dinner time and heading to the next port. The ship is nice, though our cabin is a tad cramped. That’s okay. There’s plenty of room on the deck, and the scenery is spectacular. We’ve seen everything imaginable: old ruins from when the earliest Kalquorians lived and were not so worried about keeping things in their natural state, rolling hills of crops, temporary bazaars where merchants set up for arriving tourists like us, colorful fishing boats, and endless beaches.

  I’m curious to see how Cifa’s ocean liners stack up against the river cruisers. That will make an interesting comparison I’m sure.

  I got a little excited during breakfast today. We were enjoying local fare from the last port, prepared by one of the chefs that works on board the cruiser. Anrel was in my lap, having a bottle as I ate. She finished it off and right after she burped for me she started yelling out, “Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma.”

  I gasped. “She said ‘mama’!” I was beside myself with delight.

  The look on his face told me Betra hated to burst my bubble. He ventured, “I think she’s just babbling, Shalia.”

  “It sounded like ‘mama’ to me,” Oses said grumpily, as if Betra was putting her down. “Anrel is very smart.”

  “She’s smart, but most Earther babies don’t say their first words until they’ve reached a year. If I remember correctly, Kalquorian babies don’t speak until ten months.”

  As if to prove his point, Anrel unleashed a stream of “Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba.” Oh look. Her first attempt at imitating sheep. I deflated.

  I gave her precious little cheek a kiss. “Don’t worry about it, sweetheart. You’re still smart.” She burbled happily, not worried about her inability to hold a conversation.

  I have to say, I didn’t know how well she’d travel for this tour. I thought for sure we wouldn’t be able to do much with her along, and that was fine. As long as I got to spend time with Betra and Oses before they left, I was counting it as a win.

  But Anrel has been a terrific traveler. Her sunny disposition has rarely flagged. Oses and Betra have done anything and everything needed, caring for her nearly as much as I have. I don’t think we’ve missed out on anything we truly wanted to do just because she was with us.

  And she’s a hit wherever she goes. Kalquorians are always excited to see her, to ask me about her. She seems universally adored. The only troubling reactions I’ve seen have been the occasional Kalquorian woman turning away with a sad look on her face. Anrel is often a reminder of the daughters they can’t have. Seeing them always dims my joy for a little while. I feel for them.

  Overall, this has been a vacation for the books. I can’t believe it’s over. I can’t believe Oses and Betra leave in a few days.

  No. I’m not going to think about that, not until I have to. I insist on enjoying myself and them until the last possible second. I will be happy in the here and now.

  October 9

  We’re back at the Matara Complex, having gotten in late last night. We’re all just laying around right now, relaxing after our tour. Betra and Oses are watching some violent game called kurble on the vid. They’ve set a wager since they’re fans of opposing teams. The winner gets to do rude things to the loser in the transport’s pleasure club when they’re under way again. Right now Betra’s team is ahead by two scores. He’s grinning ear to ear and Oses is growling.

  Anrel is playing on her cushioned floor mat, chewing her colorful toys in turn. Every now and then Betra, who is also laying on the floor, picks her up and has her swoop through the air the way she loves. Her giggles make us all smile.

  I’m doing my best not to dwell on how fast the time is flying past. I’m hanging out on the lounger, editing vid of our trip for the guys to keep and enjoy. A few minutes ago I tried to com Candy, completely forgetting she’s off with Nobek Stud Man. I wonder how that’s going.

  Two more days. Damn it. I hate that they’re leaving so soon.

  Betra’s com just went off. It was his mother. We’re all to get together for a farewell dinner tomorrow. Anrel and I are to be there or else, she says. Or else what? Betra gave me a frightened look that may or may not have been a joke and said, “You don’t want to know.”

  “Just tell me we’re coming back here for goodbye sex,” I said. I can be a demanding woman too.

  Oses grinned from his seating cushion. “I will even if Baby Boy over there has to stay with his mother.”

  “I’m coming back here.” Betra made a rude gesture at the Nobek and then groaned as Oses’s team scored. He made Anrel fly again to make himself feel better.

  Another chapter is ending. I hate sayi
ng goodbye. I hate it, hate it, hate it. This has to be the last time I get attached to men I can’t have. My heart can’t keep breaking like this.

  For all the pain, I wouldn’t have traded a second of it … well, except the parts that included Little Creep and the It. But even then, I had Betra and Oses. Wow, the things they saw me through. Those two men were worth all of it.

  As I look at them now, I think of how grateful I am to have known them. To get to continue to have their friendship even if we aren’t destined to remain lovers. It hurts for them to go, but I am a lucky woman to have been with them for any length of time. I may be the luckiest woman to have ever been born.

  No, I wouldn’t have traded the last nine months for all the gold of Kalquor. They are worth every tear I’ve cried and will cry.

  October 10