Experiment

by Simcoe, Marina

  One striking difference was a complete lack of children.

  The Kealans pictured might be of different ages, but they were all clearly adults, with some possibly in their teens.

  “What happened there, Gran? How did the birth rate drop so drastically?”

  “The cause was the significant drop in fertility, both male and female, which has been linked to the use of the Xaute chemical in the cities. When sucked into the filtration system, Xaute did not get fully absorbed by the filters or cleaned from the air supply bio-chemically, which resulted in its re-release into the breathable atmosphere of the tunnels. After several years of continued exposure to it, the people of Keala started experiencing severe infertility issues. Male sperm has weakened to the point that it is unable to survive in any artificial environment outside of the body. Women have much fewer viable eggs, too. The last Kealan born is ten years old now. Unless the experiment is successful, he will be the last of his race.”

  “How did that chemical get into the cities in the first place?”

  “Xaute was invented after decades of extensive and expensive research as the only chemical weapon capable of effectively immobilizing ure worms.”

  “What?” I blinked in astonishment. “Are you saying that Kealans created the cause of their demise?”

  “Yes.”

  “So, they basically chemically . . . castrated themselves?”

  “Little was known about the full extent of the harmful, long-term effects of the chemical when it was approved for use in the tunnels.”

  “Well, if it paralyzes a giant worm . . .”

  “As non-indigenous species to the planet, Kealans were believed to have vastly different biology to that of ure worms, with a completely different reaction to drugs or chemicals.”

  “Didn’t prove to be the case, though, did it?”

  “All preliminary tests appeared harmless to Kealans, and Xaute was approved for use against ure.”

  “And here we are now . . .” I flipped the picture to another peaceful scene of city life. It was hard to imagine that the silent tragedy of extinction was now hanging over the entire population of this planet.

  “The last Kealan was born ten years ago. Before him, there was a period of five years of complete infertility on Keala, and there have been no live births since.”

  Chapter 8

  AS MUCH AS I TRIED to stay awake that afternoon, my body did not want to obey. I had but a few hours of sleep last night and, really, should have had a nap earlier. But I remembered Valran’s words about seeing Tairan again tonight. Since I wasn’t sure when ‘tonight’ would start, I struggled to stay awake, expecting him to enter any minute.

  I had mixed feelings when I thought about Tairan. Although something warm and sweet flickered inside me at the memories of our night together, his abrupt distancing from me afterwards was confusing and upsetting.

  Whatever little I’d learned about him only bred more questions. He had clearly evaded revealing his true motives for participating in Ricread’s studies. Still, I hoped he might have some information for me. As a Kealan and someone who had held a position of authority at some point, surely Tairan would have a higher level of the damn clearance here. I hoped if I spent more time with him, I might be able to persuade him to give me some answers—he was a man after all, not a robot.

  His groans of pain during the testing and the way the medical team promptly whisked him away that morning had me puzzled and concerned too.

  To distract myself from all the thoughts roaming in my head, breeding worry and apprehension, I explored my suite a little. Pressing buttons and sliding panels aside, I found a pair of shoes for myself—flat, white sandals with wide, soft straps. Gran promptly informed me that was the only type of footwear I was allowed to wear from now on—breathable with no heels.

  After a dinner of yet another plateful of bland food and insipid tea, I could no longer keep my eyes open and figured I would just lie down on the couch for a minute.

  I must have fallen asleep then.

  Slight tickling on my forehead woke me up. Swatting at a lock of hair that had fallen over my eyes, I glanced up to find Tairan staring at me with those mesmerizing eyes of his.

  “Hi.” I blinked, sitting up, as he crouched in front of me.

  “How did you do this to your hair?” he asked, with undisguised curiosity, then pulled the curl hanging in front of my face down, only to release it and watch it bounce up into a wide spiral again.

  “What do you mean?” I smiled, confused but glad to see him. “I just washed it, nothing more.”

  “It was straight yesterday, wasn’t it?”

  “Oh, yeah.” I rubbed my eyes. “They straightened it, sprayed it a lot to hold the whole thing in place . . .” I waved my hand over my head. “You know, for the wedding.”

  “Why? This feels so much better.” He brushed the strand off my face then leaned in with an audible inhale of the air near my neck. “Smells lovely, too. Definitely better than last night.”

  “You didn’t like the smell of the hairspray, did you?” I wondered if that was one of the repulsive things about humans on his list I hadn’t let him recite to me.

  “No,” he confessed. “I did not. It was too strong. Pungent.” He circled my waist with his arms, drawing me closer. “I like your smell,” he said softly, burying his face in my hair.

  I blinked in bewilderment, unsure how to take his sudden display of affection. It definitely felt enjoyable to be held by him, though.

  “How have you been?” I asked, tentatively lifting my hands to his shoulders.

  “Fine.” He nuzzled my ear in an intimate way.

  “Did they hurt you during those tests this morning?” I felt his arms stiffen around me. “You seemed to be in pain, and it made me worried—”

  “Don’t.” He leaned back abruptly, finding my gaze with his. “You can’t worry about anyone here but yourself, Isabella.”

  “Compassion is a natural human emotion,” I argued, ignoring his stern tone. “It’s not like one can switch it off.”

  “Nothing good would come out of it,” he insisted. His voice remained firm, but his eyes flickered between mine anxiously. “Caring about anyone or anything would be giving them another tool to control you.”

  I stared at him, trying to read the true meaning behind his words.

  “Tell me what you know about the research team and what they do here.”

  He shook his head, an expression of regret clearly visible on his face.

  “I have no information that would be helpful or useful to you in any way. The findings aren’t shared with me—I hold no official position.”

  Drawing him closer between my legs, I cupped his face.

  “Tairan, are you no more than a subject of their experiments, too? Just like me?” Oddly, having confirmed this left me feeling less alone, even giving me a sense of camaraderie with him.

  He stroked my hair with the tips of his fingers, pausing for a long moment.

  “Last night, being with you felt like a reprieve from it all,” he finally said, his expression contemplative but warm. “I did not expect that. Will you help me forget again? Just for a little while?” He lifted me into his arms, getting up. “Will you let me have you right now, Isabella?”

  He was asking my permission for what I had no control over and what was already his to take.

  Still, he asked.

  I wrapped my legs around his hips, tucking my face into his shoulder.

  “I liked being with you, too,” I whispered as he easily carried me into the bedroom. “I like your company,” I added, having my own list of things I was beginning to enjoy about him. “And your strength.”

  I gazed up at him as he kicked his boots off and climbed on the bed with me in his arms.

  “I like your hair.” He put me down on my back then raked his fingers through my curls. A smile ghosted his lips. “And your shade.” He stroked the side of my face.

  “My shade?” I
lifted an eyebrow in question, and he traced it with the tip of his finger.

  “Your skin is darker,” he explained. “And your features are vivid.”

  I tried to look at myself through his eyes, to imagine how he saw me.

  Having been surrounded by his people all his life, Tairan must find my dark hair, olive skin, and brown eyes unusual. The contrast of my almost black eyelashes and eyebrows against my skin must be stark for him.

  Different.

  Vivid.

  “It must be weird for you to see any colour whatsoever in a person.” I thought back to my initial reaction to him. Anyone on Earth, regardless of their race, had more pigment in their skin and hair than the snow-white Kealans who lacked even the hint of pink that Albino humans had.

  “I don’t know what ‘colour’ means,” Tairan said, playing with my hair. His tugging at the strands was like a soothing scalp massage, pleasant and calming. “There is no word for it in Kealan.”

  “What do you mean?” I frowned in concentration, recalling the monochrome interior of the facility and the clothes worn by everyone here. The pictures of the underground cities had some colours, but when I thought about it now, the use of them might have been unintentional, simply the natural hues of the materials used. “You can’t see colours?”

  “No. Just shades, tints, and the intensity of light. I know, though, that colour is important for humans. I heard this word many times when I watched your life videos, just could never fully grasp the meaning of it.”

  “What videos did you see? Television?”

  “I believe that’s what you call that wave stream.” He nodded. “I wanted to learn more about your world when they told me you had been identified.”

  “Why?”

  “I . . .” He paused before continuing. “I knew what I’d have to do. They gave me lessons on human biology, which is not that much different from ours, by the way. But I wanted to learn more about human interactions and customs, to make sure I didn’t end up inadvertently harming you more than you already would be—physically or emotionally—after having been acquired by Ricread and his team.”

  He didn’t want to care about me, but he did care enough to try not to damage me further.

  Simply having him here now warmed me from the inside, melting away the feeling of loneliness, and I wanted him closer.

  “You must have watched the right shows.” I smiled, sliding my hand up his chest. The hexagonal pattern lit up on the material of his suit under my fingers. “I enjoyed what you did to me last night.” I traced a line in the middle of his chest, mimicking the gesture he had made to open his suit yesterday, but it wouldn’t open for me. “How does it work?”

  “It’s programed for my finger prints.” He lifted his hand, but I intercepted it before he touched his chest.

  “Let me.” I took his finger between mine and pressed its pad to the beginning of the invisible line at the hollow between his collarbones. Sliding his finger down between his pectorals then along the hard ridges of his abs, I watched the hexagonal mesh light up again, parting the material this time.

  Sitting up, I kissed the pale skin revealed by the opening. His chest rose with a sharp inhale as he cupped the back of my head, tangling his fingers in the thick, curly mass of my hair.

  I slid my hands under his clothing. His muscles rippled under my palms as he shrugged the top part of his suit off, then unclicked his belt, dropping both to the floor beside the bed.

  Carefully, he lowered me down, his dark pupils dilated wide now, almost reaching the iridescent violet rims of his irises.

  “I like this dress on you.” He glided his hands down my front, cupping my breasts. My nipples pebbled under his caress, pushing against the soft, thin material. “It’s much easier to unwrap you from it than that thing you wore yesterday,” he murmured, sliding a hand under the neckline to fondle my naked breast underneath.

  Easy access. I remembered what Gran said about my wardrobe but quickly chased the bitterness brought on by the thought away, focusing on the wonderful sensation of Tairan’s warm skin against mine, instead.

  Apparently, feelings weren’t necessary to go ahead with ‘copulation.’ So, my having any sympathy or attraction for Tairan couldn’t be in the plans of the research team. This closeness and true intimacy I felt towards him right now was for him and me only.

  Despite being forced into each other’s arms, Tairan and I had managed to carve out something for ourselves in this situation. I loved his hands on me, and he obviously was enjoying touching me.

  Kneading my breast, Tairan leaned in and brushed his lips along my cheekbone, down the side of my neck, then over to my mouth. The light caresses heated me from inside, making me crave more.

  Arching my back, I lifted my face to his, urging him to deepen the kiss, but he only responded with another light brush of his lips on mine.

  I cupped his neck, keeping him close. “Kiss me,” I murmured against his mouth, his warm breath fanning across my lips like a caress.

  “Show me how to do it.”

  “Kealans don’t kiss?” I asked surprised, not having considered this possibility.

  “We do. Like this.” His mouth closed, Tairan lightly touched his lips to mine, the side of his nose brushed by mine again in something between kissing and nuzzling, sweet and tender, but not enough for me at that moment. “I’ve seen humans do it differently on the videos I watched.” He nibbled at my bottom lip, grazing it lightly with his teeth. “Is this right?”

  “There is no wrong way,” I assured him.

  There didn’t appear to be one with him—Tairan seemed to put care in his every move, making anything he did to me feel extremely sensual.

  “More?” I begged, lifting my head to him.

  He took my bottom lip between his again, and I kissed him back, tantalizingly slow.

  With a soft groan, he yanked the dress off my shoulder, finding my breast with his hand again. A light pinch on my nipple shot a hot charge down my belly, making my hips buck. A moan vibrated deep in my throat.

  “You like that,” he whispered, breaking our kiss for an instance.

  Swept into the moment with him, I slid my hands down his back, my fingers trailing the edge of his pants. The smooth material fit tight, with hardly any give for my hand to slide under.

  As if sensing my intention, Tairan brushed along both sides of his hips, parting the fabric of his pants.

  “That’s better,” I panted, shoving them off his hard backside with my hands then kicking them further down with the heel of my foot, freeing his straining hard-on.

  My stomach flipped with anticipation as I wrapped my fingers around the hard length. Surprised, I felt a number of unusual raised ridges along it.

  “It’s . . . bumpy,” I mumbled, confused. “Ribbed?”

  “Is it bad?” He paused trailing kisses down to my breast.

  “Bad?” I smiled. “No, definitely not.”

  “Good.” He sucked the tip of my breast in then nibbled at my nipple.

  Writhing under the onslaught of pleasure brought by his hands and his mouth, I didn’t realize I had been squeezing him hard in my hand.

  “Isabella,” he growled against my chest, rocking his hips into my hand. “I shouldn’t come yet.”

  “Right.” I let go of him.

  Hands now over my head, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, struggling to keep my arousal burning when reality threatened to move in with that sudden reminder of the ultimate purpose of what we were doing here.

  His chest heaved against my belly before he slowly slid down my body, peppering my skin with light, tender kisses that felt apologetic, somehow. I didn’t want to blame Tairan for anything. He actually made it all better for me, making me feel wanted, cherished even.

  I lowered my hands to his head as he moved down my body. Hiking the long skirt up to my waist, he kissed my belly and slid my underwear down my legs. I lifted my knees, opening up for him.

  Sinking my fingers
into his braids, I arched my back with a moan when he eased his tongue between my folds, already hot and slick.

  This was for me, I realized suddenly.

  What Tairan was doing right now had no relevance to the plan of the research team. The only purpose of his tongue darting in and out of me, swirling in tight circles with every thrust, was to make me feel good.

  Waves of hot shivers ran through my body, and my thighs trembled as I panted with need, forgetting about the world around us, if just for a few moments.

  “Yes.” I raised my hips up for him, surrendering to his every move, as the spring of pleasure inside me coiled tight to the limit. With another firm glide of his tongue, Tairan set it free, ecstasy erupting from me in bursts of shudders.

  “Oh, Tairan.” I struggled to catch my breath, still fisting his braids as I was coming down from my orgasm. “Don’t tell me you learned this by watching TV, too.”

  Moving up to me, he exhaled a small laugh.

  “No, the biology of Kealan women is very much the same.”

  His words caused thoughts to swarm in my head, raising more questions.

  “Have you been married before, Tairan?” I asked when he lay on his side next to me.

  “No.” He stroked my arm.

  “Engaged?”

  It took him longer to reply this time, I noted.

  “No.” He untied my belt, my dress all bunched up around my waist.

  “Have you . . . made love to a woman, before me?”

  He had basically admitted already he was intimately familiar with female biology, but I hoped my question would prompt him to share more about his past.

  This time, the pause stretched even longer.

  “Yes,” he finally said, drawing me to him.

  “As part of this experiment?”

  “No,” he replied quickly.

  I held my breath, waiting for more, but he didn’t elaborate.

  Who was she?