Ferun's Mate: Alien Breeding Romance (Celoch Breeders Book 1) Read online

Her grip on him loosened and he allowed her to slide down to her feet. Along the way, her body brushed against his erection, causing him to grunt. He didn’t think it was possible for her not to notice his arousal, but she didn’t comment on it.

  “I’m guessing this isn’t the whole house?” she asked, looking around the vestibule.

  “I’ll take you inside,” he said, going up to the keypad. He placed his hand against it. The door instantly registered his chip signature and slid open. He wondered if Zoe had been given a chip and how she would come and go if she didn’t have one. Though he’d trained extensively on how to keep a female, there were many finer points that he’d overlooked.

  “I want you to feel comfortable here,” he said as they stepped inside. “Don’t think of it as my home. It was built for us to share.”

  The design was a mix of Celoch architecture and human sensibilities. Typical of his own kind were the curving, seamless walls and the high, sloping ceilings. For humans, there was a unique living space, an area with soft seating where one could lounge and read or take in works of art. For his kind, such things would have been done in a workplace or lab.

  The kitchen area had always been stout for his tastes, but now that he could see how small female was, he thought it was the perfect size. Sunlight came in from the windowed western walls, bathing the lower level in natural light.

  Zoe gravitated toward the windows, placing her hands against the cool silicia.

  “Is this some sort of hologram?”

  “No,” he said as he came up behind her. “Would you like to go out? It’s climate-controlled.”

  Without waiting for an answer he reached over and touched his hand to the keypad. The transparent door slid open and Zoe bolted for the exit.

  “All of the flora is non-toxic,” he called out.

  She was sniffing the flowers before the words had even left his mouth. Her head bobbed from blossom to blossom. Occasionally, she would make a low sound of pleasure that had Ferun working to steady his breath. He had never known that a sound could be arousing.

  “This is amazing,” she gushed. “And it’s so warm out here. It looks like one of those Martian terrariums. I’ve never seen so much green in my life. Can I eat those?”

  She was pointing at a tree with green fruit sagging from its branches.

  “They aren’t ripe yet. In a week, perhaps.” He didn’t know much about plants, though he now knew he had to learn. “Those, however, are quite delicious and can be plucked any time.”

  He gestured toward the pond, which rippled with fat fish. Zoe gave the pond a contemplative look, then nodded.

  “Can’t beat free food,” she said. “This place is awesome. How does it work?”

  She looked upward, tilting her head from side to side as if still looking for signs that it was an illusion.

  “The roof is transparent,” he told her. “It’s made of a special form of silica that traps heat from the sun. It keeps the garden warm, even during the long nights.”

  It was a while before he could lure her from the garden. He’d never seen someone so captivated by plants. For his kind, greenery was ubiquitous. They surrounded themselves with plants, blending them into their architecture and obscuring their buildings with them. Plants helped to keep the atmosphere stable and hospitable, while also shielding their presence from undesirable entities.

  After a brief tour of the lower level, Ferun led her up the lift. He guided her down the hall, her base-issued boots squeaking on the marble floor. They stopped at the first door, though it pained him to do so. He wanted to take her to his room at the end of the hall, but that wasn’t protocol.

  “I’ve prepared a room for you, if you want it.”

  He tapped the keypad by the door. It was not yet programed for any code or chip signature, so it opened at his light touch.

  The light that came through the windows was artificial, though it was difficult to tell when masked by the sheer linen shields hung over them. They were human conventions, a novelty imported from a civilization whose windows weren’t designed to automatically adjust to light levels.

  The floor was covered in a synthetic material was soft beneath the feet. It made the room seem warmer and more inviting, though Ferun still thought it was wildly impractical. Not only would dirt and dust settle into its fibers, but also the flooring required a special tool and manual cleaning.

  The rest of the room was not unlike his, except that the storage space was contained in furnishings rather than conveniently integrated into the wall. The bed was the same, except that it was smaller than his and the coverings were heavier and plush.

  “I read that females typically share a room with their partners,” Ferun said carefully. “If you wish to do so, you are—”

  “Nope!” she exclaimed as she performed a running jump onto her bed. Pillows went flying. She seized one and squeezed it to her chest. “This is fantastical. I’ve never had my own room before.”

  Briefly, he was confused. Then, a series of unsettling thoughts came over him.

  Did Zoe have a partner back on Earth? Was that who she’d shared a room with? Had she been so moved by the plight of his kind that she’d abandoned her partner to come to Jedth?

  Ferun swallowed and pushed down his discomfort. “It’s modeled primarily after Martian room styles. You and those you came with, you’re the first we’ve had from Earth.”

  “That explains the bidet,” she said, already up from the bed and exploring her sanitation room. “Where’s the—oh, cool.” She’d moved on to the washroom and had begun touching the buttons on her shower.

  Ferun hadn’t known humans could move as fast as Zoe did. She was like a small package of compressed energy, moving from place to place with little regard for her safety. He had to grab her by the shoulder and pull her back just as scalding hot water shot from the shower port.

  “Oops.”

  She gave him another toothy smile and this time her eyes crinkled along with it. If Ferun had been annoyed, he could hardly see why. He wanted to hold her again. Take her to his room and show her his bed. Maybe she would even let him put himself inside of her.

  “Can you show me how to get this to a temperature that won’t melt my skin off?” she asked. “I kind of want to wash the smell of the lab off me.”

  Ferun showed her how to adjust the temperature of the water, making yet another mental note to set limitations on how high the water temperature could go. He didn’t think it could actually get hot enough to melt her skin off, but he didn’t want to chance it.

  Zoe seemed thoroughly impressed by the shower, particularly the fact that the water changed temperatures instantaneously. Ferun had not known it was possible to take such delight in showers, which for his kind were an inconvenience, found only on cramped exploratory vessels. He was accustomed to the bathing pools and he knew Zoe would love them as he did, once he showed her the ones attached to his room.

  “Is there a towel?” she asked.

  The word registered in his mind as English, one of the first human words she’d said that actually registered with his repository. Several translations sprung into his mind. Toalla. Polotentse. Handtuch. None of them brought any meaning, which he found aggravating.

  “For what purpose?” he asked.

  “To dry myself. When I’m done showering.”

  The word clicked into place, connecting with something he’d learned in training.

  He explained to Zoe that the shower would dry her via forced air once she turned off the water. He thought she’d find it an impressive innovation, certainly a step of above drying herself with a moldering rag. Her frown told him that he’d miscalculated.

  “They had towels in base.”

  “I’ll have some delivered for you by tomorrow.”

  Ferun didn’t know if such a thing were permitted. Surely, the towels must have come directly from her ship and the logistics of obtaining anything from it were likely to be convoluted. But she was smiling again, a differe
nt sort of smile that made him feel capable and proud. He wouldn’t disappoint her.

  Zoe looked from the shower to him and arched a brow. “Are you going to join me?”

  He blinked at her. His throat felt thick again and it made his voice deeper. “Do you need me to?”

  Her smiled widened. “That was a joke. You’re standing here like you’re waiting for an invitation.”

  Now, it was Ferun who felt disappointed. It hadn’t occurred to him that he would shower with her, but after thinking he might even for a second, it was difficult to let go of the excitement.

  “I’ll go.”

  He started toward the door, but halted at the sound of her call.

  “Wait.”

  He turned to find that she was no longer smiling at him. She eyed him almost warily, or was she considering him? Perhaps both. Her face was so expressive that it was difficult to pin down precisely how she felt.

  “I’m one of the only women you’ve ever met, right?”

  Ferun nodded. The room was filling with steam.

  “So, I’m going to go out on a limb and say you’ve never seen a naked woman before?”

  “I’ve seen depictions,” he said, too caught up in parsing out her idiom that he didn’t fully catch the implication in what she was asking.

  After a moment, she prodded, “Would you like to see me?”

  Ferun could only stare at her. His body went perfectly still as she slowly pulled her jumpsuit down around her shoulders. She plucked the support tie free and the suit fell in a pool at her feet.

  He didn’t know which aspect of her he wanted to take in first, but his eyes went straight to her chest. It was covered with a linen support contraption. A bra. He remembered how, when he’d first seen her, he’d thought that she didn’t have an ample chest. Now he could see that the bagginess of her jumpsuit had obscured a pair of rather generous breasts.

  The proportions of her body were so unnatural to him. Her torso was narrow and looked even more delicate than he’d imagined. There truly weren’t any muscles on her abdomen at all, the space was smooth and fleshy. Her hips swelled wide, and then sloped down into a set of curvy legs that were just as lacking in muscle tone as the rest of her.

  His eyes were drawn back to her chest, captivated by the way it raised and fell with her breathing. Her breaths came too quickly for his liking and when he looked up at her face he saw that the heat of the washroom had reddened her cheeks.

  “You can touch,” she said, though she sounded somewhat uncertain. “If you want. I mean, we’ll be having sex later, so I guess it’s not that weird.”

  Her words might have stoked his arousal if he weren’t already harder than he’d ever been in his life. Zoe’s body may have looked strange to his eyes, but it appealed to every aspect of his long-dormant sexual instincts.

  He approached her, his gait made awkward by the hard mass between his legs. Zoe must have noticed his erection, but she still didn’t remark upon it. The hard, demanding organ would have commanded all of his attention, if not for her body being in front of him. Perhaps it was the sort of thing she was accustomed to seeing, having been raised on a planet full of males. Likely, an erection held little novelty for her, as it did for him.

  Standing in front of her, he couldn’t bring himself to lift his hand. He wanted to touch her, but he didn’t know where to begin.

  “What’s that?” he asked, surprised he could even articulate a thought. His eyes had settled on a pale, white mark below her collar.

  Zoe looked down and her mouth rounded. “Oh, that’s a scar. It’s from when I was a kid. I fell out of a tree. And down here,” her finger moved to her abdomen, directing him to a pale mark he hadn’t noticed before. “That’s where I had my appendix taken out.”

  “Appendix?” he repeated.

  “It’s an organ.” She gave him a conspiratorial look and lowered her voice. “I wasn’t supposed to come if I’d ever had major surgery, but don’t worry, the appendix basically does nothing. It’s one of those organs that evolution hasn’t quite done away with.”

  He brought his hand to her abdomen and ran his thumb along the pale mark. She would never have worn a scar, had she been raised among his kind.

  “You’ll still be able to conceive?” he asked, aware of the scar’s proximity to her womb.

  Zoe wrapped her hand around his wrist, or at least she tried to. Her hand was so small. Would he ever grow accustomed to her proportions?

  “Don’t worry. I’m as likely to be able to have kids as anyone else on that ship.”

  She pulled his hand up and settled it onto her breast. Her hand moved up, closing around his fingers and encouraging him to squeeze.

  Ferun forgot to breathe. He could now better understand the warning not to force himself on his female. He wanted to push her against the wall, remove the scrap of cloth that shielded her sex, and plunge himself into her until he climaxed. Never in his life had he felt such an all-encompassing urge.

  “Do you…” Her soft voice cut through the haze of his lust. “Are you, um…” She licked her lips. “Are you happy with the way I look?”

  She began to fidget again. “Not that it matters, because you’re stuck with me now, no take backs. But, it would be good if you liked me, I guess.”

  Ferun was confused by the sudden shift in her demeanor, but answered frankly.

  “You are more than I could have ever wanted. To say that I like you, that I am happy with you, these are insufficient terms. But if it pleases you to hear so, then yes, I am happy with you and I like you.”

  He’d said something wrong. Now she was fidgeting even more and her eyes were watering. That was a very, very bad sign. Human crying sprang either from pain or emotional distress.

  Before he could think of how to remedy the situation, she said, “I like you, too, I think.” Her words came out in a rushed jumble. “I mean, you’re terrifying and also attractive, but not in a good way. I mean, you’re like, so attractive that I feel like this is a trap, you know? I keep expecting you to peel off your skin so I can see the lizard person underneath.”

  “Peel off my skin?”

  Ferun didn’t know whether to feel flattered or offended. She was throwing so much at him so quickly and she didn’t talk like anyone he’d ever met. And, he was still touching her breast.

  “It’s a…never mind.” She reached up to place a hand on the side of his face. “This is really what you look like?”

  “It is.”

  She swallowed. “And you’re attracted to me?”

  Did she really have to ask that when the evidence of his attraction was jutting out between them? If this wasn’t attraction, he wasn’t sure what was.

  “Yes.”

  She let out a breath and dropped her hand. “Cool. Okay. Right. I’m going to shower now, so… You’ll be…”

  “I can wait for you on the lower level.”

  “Sounds great.” She gestured toward the door. “See you in a bit.”

  It felt like a dismissal, which he didn’t like. His insides clenched as she pulled away. Part of him had still been hoping she’d invite him into the shower. He gave her another lingering glance and found her body no less captivating than he had a few moments ago. Then, he reluctantly left.

  On his way out he heard her muttering to herself.

  “…all a figment of your imagination. You’re either dying in a stasis pod and having one last insanely elaborate dream, or you’re going to wake surrounded by lizard men and they’re going to…”

  He didn’t linger to listen to her. It seemed invasive and he also didn’t understand much of what she was saying. He wondered if all humans spoke aloud to themselves or if his was exceptionally eccentric. Not that he much cared. She was his. He was, as she said, stuck with her. That suited Ferun just fine.

  4

  Alone on the lower level, Ferun had no idea what to do with himself. It was a rare experience, as he always seemed to be moving from one task to the next with little
time in between. Even the leisure activities, which he seldom indulged in, held no interest to him.

  For a while he paced, trying to quell his raging hormones. He even considered turning his inhibitor back on so that he could think clearly, but he didn’t know how that would impact his reproductive capabilities. Also, there was the chance that if he turned it on and then back off, he’d go through another period of sexual psychosis.

  When his inhibitor had first been turned off two months earlier, he’d handled it better than most males, which wasn’t saying much. For three days he’d been on the precipice of insanity as his body adapted to normal levels of male sex hormones for the first time in centuries.

  Although he’d obviously gotten past the worst of it, he still didn’t consider himself to be at optimum functionality. He thought about intercourse constantly. Erections came and went with no discernible provocations. In that state, thinking clearly was next to impossible.

  The whole ordeal would be worth it once he began having regular intercourse, or so he hoped. The few males that were partnered with females claimed that they’d achieved some of their best work once they’d turned off their inhibitors. Behind their backs, others doubted this, noting the marked instability that came along with the male hormones. Ferun had been among the critics, yet he’d still leapt at the opportunity to have one of the new females for himself.

  He would rest easily with the hypocrisy after slaking himself on his female and filling her with his offspring. Children that would bear his name, not the name of some distant forebear.

  As he waited, Ferun tried listening to music. It only annoyed him. He attempted to read on his tablet, skimming through repositories of information on Earth culture. He could scarcely get through a passage without his mind going back to Zoe, in her shower, warm water cascading down her naked body.

  Casting his tablet aside, he pulled out his sentry and inspected the parameters of the house. He had already stayed up the night before, fine-tuning the interior so that the parameters closely matched the human biome. The air was warmer and more humid than he would like, but he knew it was perfect. Still, he found himself tweaking certain aspects and repeatedly checking the air quality as he did so.