Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.
This is the final part of this series. Promise. Thank you for reading!
***
When Y'Dryth's gravity finally lets go of us entirely and we're slingshotted back into empty space, the last of the shaking abates. Neither Bane nor Rune answers my questions about our attackers/pursuers - no surprise there - but from the small line of blood seeping from Rune's right ear, I'm guessing there was some heavy-duty Princess Leia-ing involved.
For the first time since I've met him, Rune lays down next to me on the tatami floor below the shade sail and really, truly falls asleep. (If I didn't have a standing connection with him, I might be a little freaked out by the sight... dude doesn't visibly breathe and is even colder to the touch than when awake.) (And I know that because I have poked him several times to
really
make sure he's not entering Rigor mortis.) (Also, I wanted to just touch him. I'm a handsy person.) When I wake up from my own stress-and-fear-and-orgasms-induced deep sleep, he's still out like a light, curled up in a fetal position with his tail wrapped around his own right wrist. I sigh and make a mental note to somehow avoid future situations in which Rune overexerts himself like this.
Looking around, I spot Bane sitting on his rock watching both of us, while Kay has somehow made it up onto the sail above and is looking down at everyone like a cat on a roof.
The ship's movement is as smooth and noiseless as it ever was. The lights are on like they always were. The air still has a tinge of Y'Dryth in it, but the filters will probably soon change that. Hopefully. I don't fancy any souvenirs from that place.
I get up on somewhat shaky legs and pad over to Bane, then plonk down in his lap.
And then I just breathe for a bit with my head on his shoulder. His scent - male, alien, sweat, smoke - masks the smell of the planet in the most soothing way.
I recapitulate our brief and meaningful stay on their collective home planet... and sigh again.
It appears I need to say a couple of words.
To Bane, specifically.
"Sorry for being such a bossy pain in your ass." The words come surprisingly easy. "I seem to keep doing that. First with Kay's location, then with the language chip, then after she bit me... and now with this."
I remember saying something along the same lines to an ex-boyfriend once, and it felt like pulling out my own toenails. I guess I knew back then, subconsciously, that that ex hadn't really earned them, and that I didn't really deserve my own accusation.
Everything is different in space. The colors. The food. The service industry. The penises. The healing of wounds. The relationships.
And me. I'm also wildly different.
"I know you value your mores and all that. I really do. I know you will always live by your code of honor. It just..." I shrug my shoulders. "It pisses me off something fierce when it's in your way, you know? When it causes discord. I don't want you to hold on to toxic rules. I don't think they serve you well, and I think you deserve to be served well, always."
There's a moist nudge against my butt from below. I chuckle. Perv.
I rub my cheek against his strong chest, appreciating the way it feels so very alien with its texture and shape. "Seriously. I'm sorry. I hope you don't think I'm disrespecting you."
He doesn't say or do anything, and the acquiescence comes through in the softening set of his shoulders and the way his tail loops around my knee. Oh, I will get another good hiding from him one of these days, just to let me know that my actions have left a mark on him, that nothing I said or did was irrelevant to him. But for right now, he gets me.
"Bane, what do you wish for?" I ask him quietly.
He glances down and sideways at me, then at the sleeping Rune, then up at Kay, and slightly tightens the grip of his arm cradling me. To the point where my ribcage creaks a little with the pressure of it.
Wheezing a bit, I nod. "Alright."
And then I snooze with my nose against his neck and dream of serving him well.
***
They allow me three full days (or sleep-wake-sleep-cycles) of decompression. While I was asleep, they apparently made a silent agreement that there wouldn't be any undue touching in those three days.
Some petting under the shower, yes. Kissing, yep. Massages, oh yes. And Kay uses the time I spend expanding her English - during which her feelers are attached to me - to send me naughty visuals that make for very interesting dreams. I'm starting to get used to the pressure of her thoughts against mine. I barely even get headaches from them anymore.
But no sex. For three full days.
I was actually getting antsy by day two. There was a certain tension in the air. Glances were passing back and forth between people. It was clear that everyone was waiting for... something. Eagerly, hungrily waiting.
I'm not a very patient person.
So when I woke up during the sleep cycle that might have been 'night three' and the swollen, itchy throbbing between my legs got too much, I slid a finger down there and tried to take the edge off.
I knew it wouldn't take long at all. My nerves and muscles were already twitching, my clit and nipples pebbled up and feeling heavy with blood, my pussy lips already plump, and memories, desires, and Kay's telepathically transmitted visions all mixed together swirled around my head in a big bowl of Sexy, Sexy Porridge.
Speaking of food, I had seen Rune eat fruit off a tree yesterday, and the noises alone... good
gods
in heaven. The way the muscles in his forearms flexed under his skin when he held the peach-like food to his mouth...? And how his teeth sank into the squishy rind, and then the juice was dripping down his chin...? Ungh.