I regard Leelee carefully. Her face is flushed, and she is determinedly averting her gaze from mine. I tilt my head quizzically. I think she might be embarrassed. As I step into the washing stall while Leelee hovers near, I think about the fact that I’ve never seen any nudity among the humans. Perhaps my casual attitude with my nakedness is causing her distress?
I peel off my bandages and inspect the wounds. They are healed enough to be safe to get wet. Leelee winces at my action but doesn’t try to argue. I think she realizes I am hard to sway when my mind is made up.
I step into the cubicle, sliding the rubber curtain closed. I can see Leelee through the partially transparent material. She lowers the lid on the toilet and sits, waiting nearby in case I need help. Leelee is such a sweet, caring creature. It’s hard to imagine that she is the same species as those pieces of excrement that tortured me in the military facility.
When I step under the hot spray, I groan in pleasure as the water hits me.
A low chuckle comes from Leelee. “Ez gud, ya?”
“Ez gud, Leelee,” I rumble back, groaning as I dip my head under the spray, letting it run over my body. When her responding laugh reaches me, I grin widely. The water is almost too hot. It’s perfect.
I soak up the heat for a few minutes before inspecting the couple of bottles on a ledge. I open each one, testing the contents on my fingers. Each one scents strongly of flowers but I’m just glad to get fully clean. I scrub myself vigorously. Once I finish washing, I turn off the water since, historically, water is precious to the poverty-stricken, and I don’t want to use more than Leelee can afford to give me.
When I turn off the taps and open the hanging plastic barrier, Leelee is waiting for me with a fluffy drying cloth. I try to take it from Leelee’s fingers, but she grips it tightly. I huff but hold out my arms so that she can dry me. I feel like a Cryzorian Legion Commander being waited on by a devoted attendee. It’s a heady experience.
As Leelee finishes drying my torso and the cloth begins to head below my navel, I snatch the cloth from her hands with a growl. If she tries to handle my cock, there aren’t enough nanites in the universe, much less my body, to keep me from getting an erection. Leelee raises her hands, and I can’t tell if the look on her face is fear, embarrassment, or mild disappointment.
Leelee helps me back into my pants and we head back to the main seating area of her house.
Once she gets me back onto the seat, she offers a blanket that I gratefully accept.
Leelee looks around as if a little lost. When she asks, “Mor sportz?” I dip my chin. I believe I will be healed enough to trek out to my ship tomorrow if my healing continues at its current rate. I wish I could figure out how to explain this to Leelee, but I decide to deal with that issue when it arises. Navigating that conversation is a problem for tomorrow; tonight, I will enjoy sportz with Leelee.
Leelee grabs her viewing device and pulls up another video for us. I settle back in the chair as she nestles close to my side. It is an almost intimate feeling. On the screen, I see another grassy field centered inside a stadium.
“Wemenz sokker,” Leelee explains, pointing at the lean figures on the screen. They dart around the field, their coordinated attack is mesmerizing to watch. When the camera zooms in on one of the players, I see it is a lean, athletic figure in white. Beads of sweat dribble down the competitor’s face, their hair is tied up in a long tail. I realize with a jolt that the player is female. As the focus is panned to another player, I realize they all are. I lean forward to the screen, drawn in by the spectacle. “Leelee, they are all female.”
My eyebrows raise in shock. Leelee’s gaze flits to me, her wide eyes blinking in confusion. She crinkles her nose, trying to understand my reaction. It’s surprisingly endearing. “Females?” I question, pointing at one of the players. “Leelee is a female,” I point at her. “Ravok is male,” I turn my finger to my chest, then I point again at the screen, “Females.”
“Yez, wemen pley sokker,” she responds, soft laughter slipping from her lips, rolling her eyes at me. She pats my cheek like she finds my surprise amusing. “Lewk at yu so skanduh-liezd.”
I watch the sokker competition for a few minutes longer, before my gaze drops to my hands, callused and scarred, then travels over to Leelee. I feel a thrill at the challenge mirrored back at me from her warm eyes. “Leelee, have you competed in sokker?” I ask.
Cryzorian females, especially ones of breeding age, are sequestered when they come of age on my planet. They are rarely seen in public and never without assigned protectors and guardians. So, to see a group of females battling in what is clearly a physically taxing, and possibly dangerous, activity is so shocking that I’m not sure how I feel about it.
Leelee gives me another mischievous grin and nods. “Leelee luvz sokker.”
That seems like a pretty solid yes from her. I don’t know what else to say so I sit back to watch the sokker competition. I have much to think about.
I’ve never had a day of leisure and pleasure. Every day of my existence has been filled with long, lonely flights in the cold dark of outer space with the occasional battle, if I’m lucky. Ensuring our species’ complete domination of the universe, and my place within it, felt predestined. But now I am beginning to feel unsure, my thoughts feel like they’re swimming against a torrent without end. And tomorrow, once I locate my ship, it is very likely that I will be leaving this planet, and Leelee, behind. With that thought putting a heavy weight in my gut, I decide to push it away and enjoy this small break.
Leelee gets us each a large bowl of the ‘beef stu’.
The first mouthful stuns me into silence. It’s delightful, the texture unfamiliar, yet the warmth spreading in my belly feels undeniably comforting. I indulge in another helping, guilt gnawing at my insides as she offers up more of her rations with a wide, beaming smile. But the simple pleasure etched on her face reassures me, making me want to grasp onto this alien experience a bit longer.
As night falls, Leelee tugs on the edge of the blanket until I share it with her. Images flicker on the screen of two human males engaged in fierce combat. Leelee is observant because she’s already figured out that I enjoy the bokzing the most out of all the sportz she’s shown me so far.
As the fight continues, I feel a gentle pressure against my side. I force myself not to stiffen as she leans against me, resting her head on my shoulder with an ease that leaves me dumbfounded. I’ve been in close contact with her before, of course, but this is different. All the other times, Leelee had been trying to help me, but this is just closeness for no purpose. Her eyes are starting to droop, and I don’t think she realizes that she’s resting against me so intimately. Propriety would have me making space between us, but instead, I savor the sensation of her soft breaths on my skin. Since I am most likely leaving tomorrow, I tell myself there is no harm in enjoying this moment.
Her trust strikes a chord within me, a sensation far more powerful than I have words to explain. For the first time, I allow myself to relax, to embrace the warmth of her body against my side. Leaning back against the couch, I find myself treasuring this simple, peaceful moment with my sweet Leelee.
CHAPTER 29
Lily
Iblink awake, my confused gaze darting around as I try to orient myself. It’s dark, much darker than I’m used to in my apartment. Marcus often complains about the location of our downtown apartment because of all the lights. With a jolt, I remember that I’m not in my tiny apartment anymore, and Marcus and all his complaints are no longer my problem. Lublin Harbor, the woods, the quiet… I’m in the cabin.
I close my eyes to go back to sleep when the warmth beneath my cheek registers. Lifting my head, a ripple of surprise washes through me when my chin brushes against a surprisingly warm, solid surface. Where’s my pillow?
I place my hands on the surface beneath me. I think I’m touching hard muscles, but that can’t be right. I think I’m touching Marcus for a millisecond, but I know his body, and this isn’t it. A foreign, masculine scent fills my nose. I blink repeatedly until my vision adjusts to the dark.
Ravok. Holy shit. I’m lying across Ravok’s chest. A throbbing embarrassment swamps me – I am sleeping on top of my patient. My heart does a double take, but I freeze, not wanting to wake him. I’m half mortified and half thankful that he appears to be deeply asleep, oblivious to the woman splayed across him. How the hell did we end up here?
His steady heartbeat is a soothing rhythm against my cheek. I hesitate to move, worried to wake Ravok. As I slowly and carefully sit up halfway, I tuck the blanket around his torso so he doesn’t lose heat. I study the cabin’s furnishings as they become more discernible in the darkness. We have somehow turned lengthwise on the couch, and I’m lying almost entirely on top of my alien patient.
Absentmindedly, I gaze at the laptop, the only light source in the room. Its glossed screen casts a bluish hue around the room. It illuminates Ravok’s face, the harsh lines of his visage softened by slumber. My breath hitches in my throat as my eyes roam his face – the rugged jawline, the faint creases on his forehead, and the angular, high cheekbones. I admire the shade of his charcoal-gray skin.
I’m glad Ravok’s not awake to catch me staring, so I take a moment to admire him. He’s so damn hot he should come with a warning label. I’ve been trying to frame him as only a patient in need. But, alone in the quiet of the night, I can finally admit to my attraction. He’s so fucking sexy it should be illegal.
I allow myself a moment longer to look at him. I get lost in the mesmerizing sight of this otherworldly male. My computer’s soft, ambient glow highlights his peaceful, sleeping face. I want to touch him, but I refrain.
It had been such a lovely lazy day with him, watching sports, eating, and playing chess. I hadn’t had such a nice day in a very long time. Even though we don’t speak the same language, when he watched me for every tiny response, I felt like he was ‘listening’ to me better than any man had before. And even though I talked his ear off all day, Ravok never seemed annoyed with my inane chatter.
I’m unable to tear my gaze away. A moment of weakness, perhaps, but I’m only human after all, and he’s just so damn pretty. My breath catches in my throat when his glowing, intensely white eyes suddenly snap open. I’m caught mid-transfixed stare, my heart seizing at the unexpected attention.
“I… I…” I stumble over my words, heat pooling in my cheeks as embarrassment wrenches me back to reality. Instinctively, I start to scramble to my feet. Only to freeze in place as Ravok wraps his arms around my middle. My name rolls out of him in a rumbling, sleepy purr. “Leelee.”