by Opal Carew
“Wow. The sun and sky look so real.”
He smiled. “The river isn’t huge, but it’s pleasant to relax on a floater while the water carries you around, or you can swim against the current to get a good workout.”
Crystal glanced at the river, which was about eight feet wide, surrounded by sandy beach. She took off her sandals, then stepped from the solid floor, which extended a few feet into the room, onto the soft, fine sand. It was warm and squished between her toes. She laughed at the sensual feel of it.
Terrien took her hand and led her toward a couple of lounge chairs a few feet from the water’s edge. She unfastened the sarong and pushed it into the beach bag Terrien had brought with them, then grabbed a towel from inside and draped it over the chair.
Several other couples lounged around on chairs. One couple held each other and kissed, another had removed their swim suits and explored each other’s bodies, a third just relaxed, stretched out on their chairs holding hands.
“Your people certainly seem to be comfortable with their sexuality. Unless this is a ship of perverts.”
He laughed. “No, this is pretty typical. There are appropriate and inappropriate places for sexual activity, but we’re not as restrictive as on your world. Public sexuality is fine in appropriate places.”
“Like beaches and swimming pools?”
“We also have lounges and clubs for such things. We have a special recreation room on the ship, called the red room, where people can enjoy each other sexually or watch others. Voyeurism is an accepted activity.”
“Hmm.” Her nipples puckered as she watched the couple five chairs away stroking each other.
The man’s hand slipped under the woman’s swimsuit bottoms, and she moaned, her hands stroking over his tight, naked buttocks, his cock swelling against her thighs.
“I’m going in the water,” Crystal announced.
She stepped into the river, Terrien right behind her. The water was a lovely temperature, eighty-five or so, she guessed, and about three feet deep at the edge, but dropped away as she walked toward the center until it was over her head. A current swooshed past her. She started to swim, finding it very invigorating swimming against the current. After fifteen minutes of strong swimming, she dragged herself from the water, then shook her hair and pushed it off her face.
She slumped on the lounge chair, ignoring the other couple still enjoying foreplay. The woman’s head bobbed up and down on the man’s ample cock as she crouched beside him, and he fingered her now naked pussy.
Crystal lay back on the chair and closed her eyes, enjoying the warm feel of the simulated sunshine on her body. At the gentle brush of lips on her stomach, she opened her eyes.
“What are you doing?” she asked Terrien.
He tugged on the tie on one side of her bikini bottom, releasing the bow. She clamped her hand down on it.
“I don’t think so.”
He tugged free the other bow.
“Well, as long as you’re not sure.”
Chapter Seven
Crystal whisked his hands away and refastened the ties.
“Oh, I’m quite sure.”
He kissed the swell of her breast. “Why not? Wouldn’t it be exciting to know people were watching you?”
A shiver of excitement rushed through her, and she glanced around. The closest couple was in full swing, the man thrusting into the attractive brunette beneath him. The other active couple was in a passionate embrace, also fully naked. Her gaze returned to the nearer couple, and she watched them, her heart pounding as the man pounded into the woman.
Crystal’s groin clenched. She wanted Terrien again. Right now.
“I…” She shook her head, unsure why she hesitated. Watching the other couples around them sent an erotic charge through her, and the thought of people watching her as she indulged in sexual play was a turn on.
But not with Terrien. When she was with him, she wanted it to be…private. Intimate.
He watched her face and smiled as if reading her thoughts. He leaned forward and kissed her, his lips moving on hers with a gentle pressure. Her arms slid around his neck, and she pulled him closer, deepening the kiss. Her heart thundered and her insides melted with need.
He drew her to her feet, their lips never parting. Her breasts, crushed against his hard, muscular chest, swelled with need, her nipples pushing into him. He drew back and smiled.
“You said you like to run in the mornings. How fast can you make it back to the cabin?” he asked with a grin.
She picked up the towel she’d been lying on, then tossed it at his face.
“Faster than you.” She turned and dodged to the door, laughing.
He swept up her sandals and the beach bag, then raced after her, the towel fluttering behind him as he ran. She dodged past the few people she encountered in the corridor, laughing and running until she reached his door only seconds before him. The door slid open, and they practically tumbled inside. He grabbed her and pulled her into his arms while the door slid closed behind them. His lips caressed hers in a gentle, passionate kiss.
God, but the man could kiss. She stroked down his hard chest, then over his rippled abs until she reached the top of his swim trunks, her fingers itching to feel his big, solid cock in her hand. He stripped away the trunks, pushing them down and kicking them away as she grabbed on to his shaft and stroked. She dropped to her knees and wrapped her lips around his thick member, the mushroom head gliding into her mouth. She licked around, then nuzzled her tongue under the corona and teased as he groaned.
She stroked the kid-leather-soft flesh stretched over his iron shaft and sucked on him. Her insides ached with yearning to have him inside her, pumping deep and hard, driving her to scintillating joy. But more, she wanted to bring him pleasure and to experience that pleasure in a direct and primal way.
“Oh, come for me, baby,” she said, then licked the tiny hole oozing clear liquid, her hands wrapped firmly around him while she continued stroking. “I want you to come in my mouth.”
She took him deep again, and his fingers forked through her hair. He held her head within his big, warm hands.
“Gattra, woman. How can I resist?”
She stroked his tightening balls and sucked deeply, satisfaction spiking through her as he groaned again. She glided farther on his long shaft, taking him deep into her throat. Still he didn’t climax.
She drew him from her mouth and licked his length. Glancing up, she saw his tight features. Damn it, he was holding back.
“If you aren’t resisting, why aren’t you coming?” She wanted him to come. She wanted to know she could give him as much pleasure as he gave her.
“Because I love what you’re doing. I love that you want me.” He stroked her hair tenderly. “I don’t want it to end.”
She grinned at him. “I’m going to give you exactly ten seconds. Come, or I walk away.”
Without waiting for a response, she swallowed his cockhead and sucked—hard—then dove deep on him again. She spiraled her hands around the exposed part of his shaft while she bobbed up and down. Within a couple of heartbeats, his fingers tightened around her head, and he groaned. Hot liquid spurted into her mouth, spilling out her lips before she could swallow it all. Still he kept erupting, as she gulped to keep up with him.
Finally, he relaxed. His shrunken cock slipped from her mouth.
She licked her lips and smiled up at him. He took her hand and drew her to her feet, then kissed her. His tongue dove between her lips, and his mouth consumed hers, his arms tightening around her to crush her tight to his body. Their hearts thumped together in unison.
“Gattra, woman. You are so fakkreh hot!”
“Mmm. You’re pretty fakray hot yourself.” She nuzzled under his chin as she wrapped her hand around his rising cock, but he swept her up and carried her into his bedroom.
He tossed her onto the bed and prowled over her. He stroked her thighs, pressing them wide. She felt her bikini bottoms slip away
and his mouth burrow into her pussy with a vengeance. His tongue drove into her, then swept up to her clit as his fingers glided along her wet opening. Several pushed inside her. Before she could catch her breath, pleasure launched through her. She gasped, then released the air from her lungs as his fingers stretched her. He sucked her clit, and she arched against his mouth.
“Oh, honey, that is gattra fucking sexy.” She moaned.
He chuckled. “You’ve got the mouth of a sailor.”
“And you have the mouth of a fucking saint.” She grabbed his head and pushed it back to her wet flesh.
He dove in again with gusto, his tongue sweeping across her clit. His fingers moved inside her, stroking and twirling, then pulsing deep. The orgasm catapulted through her in a sudden spike. She gasped, then moaned as the pleasure blazed through her, singeing every nerve ending.
Finally, she flopped back against the pillows, totally spent.
“I think you enjoyed that.” Terrien stretched out beside her, a satisfied smile on his face.
She rolled on top of him and grabbed his shoulders, then devoured his mouth, tasting herself on his lips.
“You think?” She squeezed his thick thighs between hers, feeling his bulge pressing against her. She shifted until it was in the ideal position to stimulate her clit. “If you know me as well as you seem to, I would think you’d know.”
He grabbed her shoulders and flipped her onto her back, then rolled her over again, until she was on the bed on her stomach. He climbed on top of her, nudged her legs apart with his knees, then glided his cock over her moist opening and pushed the shaft tight against her clit.
She groaned, echoes of her recent orgasm vibrating along her nerve endings. He drew her hips upward, then pressed his cockhead against her slit and slid inside. She sucked in air as his big cock filled her.
“There’s something I know you’d like that we haven’t done yet.” He pushed in and out a couple of times, then withdrew, to her disappointed whimper.
When she felt his big cock nudge against her back opening, she stiffened.
“Oh, wait. I’ve certainly taken some serious cock back there, but, honey, I’m afraid you might just be too much for me.”
He kissed the back of her neck. “Don’t worry. Remember, I’m not like the men you’ve been with before. I have different abilities.”
His cockhead pushed against her and…it seemed to shrink. He pushed forward, and her opening stretched around him, but he slipped inside easily.
“What’s happening?”
“I can change the size of my penis. I’ve made it smaller so I won’t hurt you.”
He glided deeper, lubricated by the moisture from her vagina.
“Really? Not a direction you’d think a woman would want, but…”
He barely stretched her as he slid inside.
“Oh, God, that feels so good.”
He pushed deep inside her, then paused. His hand stroked around her hip, then down her belly until his fingers stroked over her curls. He found her clit, and she sighed. As he plucked at her sensitive nub, she shifted back, pushing his cock a little deeper.
“Are you ready for a little more?” he asked.
She nodded, not quite sure what he was suggesting but ready for whatever this talented man had in mind. Then his shaft grew…slowly…stretching her back passage.
“Oh, yes.” Wild pangs of sensation darted through her, and her insides felt so full, she thought she’d burst. But not too full. He stopped before he reached his full breadth; then he began to pump into her.
She gasped, her heart thundering as every cell in her body tingled in delight. He stroked her clit with his thumb as his fingers pushed into her slick vagina.
“Oh, yes.” She threw her head back against his shoulder. “Oh, God.”
His lips nuzzled the side of her neck as ecstasy catapulted through her and she wailed in delight. He pumped and stroked. His cock grew wider, and her joy intensified. She gasped, then nearly fainted as the pleasure washed her away to a primal sea of pure bliss.
When the orgasm finally waned, he held her tight to his body as she gasped for air.
They both slumped on the pillow. He kissed her neck and rolled them both sideways, still holding her tight to him.
“Crystal, laiya, I love you,” he murmured in her ear.
Crystal stiffened in his arms. Oh, God, she did not want him to love her.
Chapter Eight
Terrien ached inside as Crystal pulled away from him.
“Look, honey, the sex is great and all, but let’s get one thing straight right now. I don’t believe in soul-mates, and I don’t want you to love me. I am definitely not the one-man woman type.”
“Crystal, how can you not believe in soul-mates now that you have experienced what we have together?”
Her beautiful, full lips turned down in a frown. “Look, I admit the sex is sensational.” She shrugged. “But that’s all it is. Sex.” She paced. “I mean, I like you. And we have fun together, but I’m not going to give up my freedom because you and I are great in the sack.”
Terrien’s heart ached. All his life he’d known he would eventually find his soul-mate, the one woman who would love him forever. Completely and unconditionally. That thought had carried him through many difficult times. Especially after his parents’ deaths when he was nine years old. His uncle and aunt raised him, but they had their own children, and as much as they clearly loved him, it was not the same as it had been with his own mother and father. To them he had been special. He had been their son.
When he’d first felt the gnawing awareness of his soul-mate, he’d rejoiced. He’d felt like he would truly belong to someone again. Someone meant specifically for him.
And if it had been a woman from Sa’oul then everything would have been fine. She would have understood about tanash’aei. She would have loved him without question. But he’d been connected to an Earth woman. Someone who resisted the whole concept of linked souls.
Not that he wished his tanash’ae was someone different. How could he? He loved her with all his being. But it hurt more than anyone could fathom that she rejected him.
“Terrien, I’m sorry. It’s just…the way I am. I live my own life. Not depending on anyone else. No one else depending on me. I don’t even have a cat.”
She’d rather be alone than be with him? His heart shuddered in agony.
But he drew in a deep breath, reminding himself she had been dragged into this whole situation a matter of days ago. She needed time to get used to the idea. Right now, she was justifying her fear of what she didn’t understand.
He would not give up hope. He needed to be patient while she adapted to the situation.
Maybe if he learned more about her life and her culture, it would help. Reading about it and viewing their entertainment could take him only so far.
“What do you mean, you don’t have a cat?” He knew a cat was a small furry animal with a tail and pointed ears. The creatures spent time with humans, but he didn’t know what she meant by having a cat.
“A cat. You know, it’s a pet.”
“Pet? You mean animals that cohabit a community with humans?”
“Um, yeah, I guess. But it’s more that a cat cohabits a house with someone. A pet belongs to someone.”
Belongs? “You mean, people own animals?”
“Yeah, sure. Don’t you have pets on your planet?”
“We have animals that are friendly and affectionate with humans. Often they will attach to an individual or family, but they roam free, and we never think of them as owned by anyone.”
“Oh, well. It’s different on Earth. At least, where I’m from. When someone gets a pet, they keep it in their house and feed and care for it. People get pretty attached to their pets.”
“But not you.”
She shook her head. “No. I don’t want to depend on anyone, and I don’t want anyone depending on me.”
At her words, his chest clenched. How co
uld she not understand that tanash’aei did depend on each other? For pleasure. For happiness. For love.
But that was the problem. She did understand.
And she rejected the whole concept.
Terrien sat across from Larson as they ate their lunch. He and Larson had been friends for several years, even before Larson had been promoted to the rank of commander. They both had a duty shift today and were taking their break together.
“You know, I learned something new about the Earth women’s culture yesterday,” Terrien said. “Crystal told me about pets. It seems that people own animals like cats as companions, and they become quite attached to them.”
“Really?”
“They keep them in their houses rather than allowing them to roam free.”
Larson frowned. “So I assume these pets rely on their owners.” He tapped on the table with his fingertips. “I wonder if any of the women we brought here has a pet.”
“I know Crystal doesn’t, but I don’t know about the others.”
“I didn’t see anything in Eva’s file, either, but I’ll check the other women’s. We wouldn’t want to cause a problem because of separating someone from their pet.”
It was a valid point. Although some of the women had family left behind on Earth, the family were all grown people who had lives of their own. A pet, on the other hand, was a dependent of sorts, and the tie would be different.
Terrien took a bite of food, although he wasn’t really hungry. He still ached inside at Crystal’s rejection.
“So how is Eva adapting to the idea of being here?” Terrien asked.
Larson put down his fork and stared at Terrien. He could see his own pain mirrored in Larson’s eyes.
Larson shook his head. “Not well.” His hand tightened into a fist, and his jaw clenched. “I don’t understand it. How can she feel the intense craving we have for each other and not know the truth of our connection?”
Terrien shook his head at his friend’s words, echoing his own dilemma. Although he didn’t wish this difficulty on his friend, it helped Terrien to know he wasn’t the only one experiencing a problem with his tanash’ae. That made him feel less alone.
