“Peace at that price—” he said.
“I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
She leaned away, frowning, then shook her head.
“How do you do it?” she asked.
“Do what?”
“Manage all of these emotions and still function? How do you have sex when there’s so much conflict? So many thoughts competing for your attention?”
“You’re right. This isn’t the best topic during sex.”
They had plenty of time to talk later. She looked lost. He wanted to help her feel safe and at home, both in his cabin and in her own body.
“We do it by listening,” he said.
That caught her attention. After being on a listening station, he thought it might make the most sense.
He ran his hands along the outside of her thighs. “We listen to what our bodies tell us.”
Her smile returned—the shy yet confident look he loved.
“I am a good listener,” she said.
“Then let me change the topic to something more central to our current interests.”
He slid his hands under her shirt, massaging her hips. She took in a deep breath, then let it out slowly.
“That’s really nice,” she said.
“I’m glad to hear it. What about this?” He brushed the backs of his fingers along her stomach and she jumped, then laughed.
“That tickles.”
“Good to know.”
He increased the pressure of his fingers, gripping her sides and running his hands up along her ribs till they were just below her breasts. Her smile faded and her eyes drifted shut as he cupped her breasts and gently massaged them.
“Um… I don’t…”
“Do you not like it?”
“Oh no. I like it.”
He ran his thumbs over her nipples. She gasped and her eyes flicked open.
Brendan smiled at her. “Do you like that too?”
She nodded. “Quite a bit.”
He rose on his knees and slid his arms behind her back to pull her closer. She bent down and kissed him, running her tongue across his lips. He opened his mouth to her, meeting her thrusts with his tongue, relishing the feel of her, the taste.
Trailing his lips down along her neck, he spent a little time there before moving farther down. He nuzzled her breasts through her shirt and she gasped. He grinned, then closed his mouth over her nipple. He ran his tongue around it, flicking it through the fabric. She let out a moan. Nuzzling her chest, he moved to her other breast to do the same.
“Brendan, I feel…”
He paused and shifted back, intending to ask her if something was wrong, but she grabbed his face again and kissed him. Her tongue delved into his mouth and she scooted closer to him. When she let him go, they were both panting.
“I feel…need,” she said.
He leaned forward, cupping her quim with one hand. Her eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open. He pressed his fingers against the wetness at her core, swirling them around her clitoris.
“Moons! What are you…? That’s…”
“That’s me talking to your body with mine.”
“Yes.” She braced herself on her arms, leaning back and letting her eyes close again.
Cautiously, he slid a finger deep into her. Her breath hitched. He circled her clit with his thumb, slowly moving his hand. When he thought she was ready, he added another.
“Oh… That’s…”
“Only a beginning,” he said.
She opened her eyes, bright with curiosity. He smiled at her, then leaned forward.
Chapter Eight
Kira’s body hummed with pleasure. Her arms tingled, her legs burned, and an ache was building between her legs that she didn’t quite understand. She wanted to throw herself on Brendan, to slide her body against his until she found how they most perfectly fit together.
He had other ideas.
His fingers were moving inside her. She wouldn’t have believed how good it would feel if someone told her people could do this sort of thing. And the external stimulation was even better.
He shifted his thumb aside and leaned forward. She felt her body tense at the uncertainty of not knowing what he would do next, but reminded herself that she trusted him. She trusted him like she’d never trusted anyone before. So when he bowed his head to her, she didn’t pull away.
The first kiss was…remarkable. The tingling she had been experiencing seemed intense to her until the shockwave of his lips on her clitoris rippled out through her, exponentially increasing her pleasure.
Her arms trembled, but she forced herself to stay upright. She wanted to see what he was doing to her, to learn as much as she could.
Her skin was heating, almost like when she used her nanites in unorthodox ways, except there was no pain. Only pleasure. It built as his tongue made quick flicks and slow circles over her clitoris. His fingers kept moving within her, sliding in and out, over and over and—
Something deep within her broke loose. Like a dam that had been holding her back from fully experiencing her body. It vaporized in the heat of the thrumming ecstasy that tore through her.
Her head snapped back as she cried out. Still, he kept going. The stimulus threatened to overwhelm her. How much pleasure could one body take?
And yet, part of her wanted more. She wanted him inside of her, to join their bodies the way nature intended rather than the Coalition.
“Brendan,” she gasped. She was practically panting.
He didn’t pause, but looked up at her. Another wave of pleasure wracked her body. At this rate, she was going to pass out.
Or climax again.
His lips became gentler, pulling on her clitoris as he slid a third finger deep into her core. There was no build the second time. The climax hit her in every cell simultaneously. Her blood was alive, her molecules radiating energy. Everything was light and fire.
Moons, she wanted to wrap her legs around his neck and pull him closer.
“Enough!”
He finally stopped, leaning back at her outburst.
She was going to push him to the ground and jump on top of him. But he was still wearing his boxer-briefs.
“Take those off.”
He smiled and said, “Yes, ma’am.”
She pulled her shirt over her head and threw it away as he complied. The air was cold to her heated skin, so she pulled back the covers and crawled to the center of the bed. When she turned back around, Brendan was standing next to the bed completely naked.
Cygnus-X, that cock…
Her mouth went dry and she licked her lips. After what he’d done to her—for her—ideas cascaded through her mind of how she might reciprocate. Even those thoughts made her core clench, surprising her. If thinking about it could cause such a response, what would it be like to actually take him in her mouth?
“I can guess what you’re thinking, but I wouldn’t last thirty seconds right now,” he said. “We have plenty of time.”
He opened a drawer in the table next to his bed and pulled out a shining square packet. For a moment, dread shot through her. Did Earthlings use something like Coupling after all?
The change from the near-euphoria of the pleasure he had given her made her dizzy. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly to steady her nerves.
He opened the packet and pulled out a small circle of flexible material. As she watched, increasingly fascinated, he held his gorgeous cock in one hand, then put the circle on his tip. He unrolled the material over himself till his cock was covered in a transparent sheath.
“What’s that?”
“A condom. It helps prevent pregnancy and the spread of disease. We seem pretty compatible, so I figured it would be a good idea.”
“That’s a very good idea.” And one that would n
ever have occurred to her otherwise.
When she was assigned to observe Earth, her system had been prepared to handle the native pathogens, but she had never given any thought to preventing pregnancy. Coupling took care of birth control for both parties. But now that she was thinking about it…
Moons, she could get pregnant. She could carry another life within her body.
“Are you okay?” Brendan asked. “You look like you’re about to hyperventilate.”
“I’ll be fine. Those things work, though, right?”
“Nothing is foolproof, but I’ve trusted them so far. If this is too much for you, we can stop.”
“I don’t want to stop,” she said.
She wanted more. And even if his systems weren’t one-hundred percent effective… The thought of a life she made with Brendan did a lot to ease her fears. She wouldn’t be in it alone.
She had a feeling she would never really be alone again after this.
“Kiss me?”
He smiled and crawled toward her on the bed. “Gladly.”
Then his lips were on hers and he was pressing her back against the sheets. Bliss.
He pulled the covers over them as his body covered hers. The hair on his thighs prickled against her legs as he nestled between them. She felt his cock resting just outside her core, waiting, ready to enter her.
Lifting himself up on his elbows, he brushed her hair away from her face. “Are you sure about this?”
“Absolutely.”
“Thank God,” he murmured, as he pressed himself deep.
The experience was revelatory.
Without the drug, she felt every millimeter of contact, even with how quickly it happened. She felt her body expand, her muscles contract around him. Her nerve-endings were already on full alert after everything he had done, and her sheath was relaxed enough to welcome him.
When he was in as deep as he could get, there was no space between their bodies. His stomach pressed against hers, their chests touched so that their hearts rested against each other. He brushed his cheek against hers, then kissed her neck, giving her a moment of stillness, a moment to just feel everything.
It was almost more than she could bear. She managed to whisper, “I never knew anything could be like this.”
He kissed her again, and there was so much tenderness and meaning in it. What had he said about handling the conflicting emotions? Listen to her body. She could sense that there was more waiting for them and she wanted to experience it.
He lifted himself on his elbows again as he started to move within her. The entire time, he held her gaze.
She gasped as he pulled himself almost from her, feeling a spike of anxiety at the thought that maybe he was ending their union already, but then he slid back in. She moaned as he filled her again. Nothing had ever felt so good or so right.
She wrapped her legs around his and rested her hands on his back, feeling his muscles flex with his movements. She explored him, letting her fingers trace the valley of his spine and the ridges of his shoulders, watching his expression, catching every hitch in his breath that let her know when she had reached a spot he particularly liked.
It was the very best kind of listening.
Her own body was uncoiling, relaxing with each thrust. At the same time, energy was building in her again. She could feel it pooling in her belly, radiating like starlight from where they were joined.
He closed his eyes and bit his lips, his pace increasing. She sensed the build within him, echoing her own. Running her hands down along his back till she could cup his ass, she focused on the feel of the strong muscles pulling him out, pushing him deep, faster and harder until a sonic boom sounded through her body.
It thrummed and vibrated, shaking loose every tense nerve, relaxing her on what must be a cellular level. She felt his cock pulse within her, echoing the throbbing of her muscles as her body held him within her, keeping him deep.
Brendan let out a huge sigh and lowered his head next to hers. He nuzzled her hair, then moved to her mouth for a lingering kiss.
She hoped it was the first of many more to come.
Chapter Nine
It was the end for him. Brendan was sure of it. He had found his “one and only” and she was from another planet.
The reality of it hit him as he took in the wonder on her face, as he felt the ease in his heart. He’d found what he had been looking for, but on his homeworld after all.
“That was incredible,” she said.
“You aren’t kidding.” He felt his cock slide from her body and shifted his weight so he could lie next to her.
Kira rose on her elbow so that they were nose-to-nose. She grinned broadly. “Do you think we could do it again?”
Laughing, he said, “Are you trying to kill me?”
“What? Of course not. It can’t really hurt you, can it?”
She was so distressed, but it only made him laugh harder. “I’m fine. I just need to rest for a little while. And then you can have your way with me all you want.”
Her smile returned. “I like the sound of that. I had a few ideas…”
Time couldn’t pass quickly enough. Damn biological limitations. He grabbed a tissue to clean himself up and tossed everything in the trashcan under the bedside table.
“Do you mind if I ask you some of my questions now? Might help us fill the time while we wait.”
“Okay.”
She pulled the pillow under her chin and wrapped her arms around it, lying on her stomach. Her body was putting off so much heat. He snuggled next to her, propping himself up on one elbow while he draped his other arm over her back.
“The most obvious one is, where are you from?”
“Sadr-4.”
“Really? That’s close.”
“The galaxy is much more heavily populated than you might think.”
“How come you’re the only one who responded to my signal then?”
Her smile faded and she looked away. “Because I was intercepting it. That’s part of my job. Well, was part of my job.”
“That was going to be my next question. I want to know more about that listening station and what you were doing on it.”
“Mostly screening broadcasts for evidence that Earthlings might be figuring out ways to prove that alien intelligence is real. The Coalition doesn’t think that Earth is ready for that knowledge.”
“Why do they get to decide?”
“Because they’re the ones with the fleets of starships.”
His stomach started to ache again. He did not like the idea of powerful aliens making decisions for his homeworld without even letting them know a question had been asked.
Was Earth ready? Okay, probably not. But the Coalition still should have asked…somebody.
“You’re upset,” she said.
“Disturbed is a better word for it. And disappointed. I thought aliens intelligent enough to be capable of interstellar travel would be a little more advanced when it came to politics.”
He moved on to his next question, hoping to lighten the mood.
“How is it that we’re so alike? You said your people are genetically engineered. Did they design you to fit in on Earth in case you had to interact with us?”
She laughed and shook her head. “No, everyone from Sadr-4 is like me—like you. Earth was populated by a colony ship that crashed here millennia ago. They took over from the evolving hominids, but lost touch with their history when their ship was destroyed.”
What the hell? He was an alien?
“That’s…going to take me a while to wrap my head around.” He searched for another question while that knowledge sank in. “You say you’re all genetically engineered, though. Why haven’t you made more changes to…the design, for lack of a better word?”
She looked away, her mouth t
ightening into a line.
Way to flatter her, Brendan.
“I mean, you are amazing, but—”
She snorted and rolled her eyes. And not in a, “Oh, go on then,” manner. She really didn’t believe him.
“Seriously, you’re the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.”
“You don’t have to say that.” Her voice was angry and a little hurt.
“I mean it.”
She glanced back at him, expression guarded, but a bit of hope seeping in. “We didn’t change the design because it works for us. What’s been changing is our technology and the level of control we have over the expression of our DNA.”
“That explains why you’re so—”
“Stop,” she said, sitting up and pulling the quilt around her body tightly. “Just stop, okay?”
He sat up next to her, wondering what had offended her so badly. Maybe the Coalition had a different view of what was beautiful. He had seen something like that on an episode of The Twilight Zone.
“I’m sorry I upset you,” he said. “But I won’t take back what I said. I do think you’re beautiful.”
She let out a deep sigh and rested her head against her hand. “I’m not used to hearing that sort of thing.”
“Maybe you should get used to it. Because I think you’re pretty great.”
She let out a little laugh and shook her head. “I don’t know how to take compliments. I’ve never been anything but average.”
“If you’re average, I don’t want to see what passes for gorgeous among your people. My head might explode.”
All that earned him was a tiny laugh. She closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh, leaning her head against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her.
After a long pause, she said, “It isn’t just that I’m average.”
He waited for her to continue. He could feel the tension in her body and didn’t want to push.
“Sometimes the engineering goes wrong. The system glitches. That’s what happened to me—what I am. A glitch.”
She turned her head away. He shifted so that he could reach up and cup her chin, making them face again. Her eyes were glassy. It made him want to punch someone.
Resident Alien: Department of Homeworld Security, Book 2 Page 5
