24 Saleuk
Sam’s little whimpers were the sweetest music to my ears. She was so starved for me and the feeling was addicting. It was heaven. I lifted the silky material of her dress up over her hips, kissing my way over her stomach and down to the small patch of hair between her legs. She’d just bathed and I could smell the subtle sweetness of the water on her skin and the even sweeter scent of her arousal.
Gently, I pushed Sam’s legs apart, kissing the inside of her thigh. I could savor the taste of her for hours, but I wanted more than a taste. I wanted to feast on her essence. I wanted to claim her. Watch her writhe with pleasure with my tongue inside her
Groaning, I licked my way up the seam of her sex and felt Sam’s body jolt. The moment my tongue flicked over that little bud of nerves, she gasped, her hips bucking.
“Saleuk,” she gasped.
I pushed her thighs further apart, one hand flattening on her stomach as I licked her again. Every stroke made her body quiver and the sweet torture I imagined I was inflicting made my cock swell. I licked again and then closed my mouth over her sex, sucking on that little bud. She let out a breathy moan, her back arching off the bed.
I loved it. I loved the way her body moved when she was feeling pleasure. When she hungered for me. I sucked, flicking my tongue over her again and again until her breaths became short, clipped gasps. Then I slid my tongue inside as deep as I could manage. She was muttering to herself in words I couldn’t understand. I licked over her again and then circled her entrance with my fingers. She lifted her hips toward me, eager to be filled, and I slid two fingers deep inside.
“Yes,” she sighed.
I was obsessed with how much she enjoyed me being inside her. I loved that she yearned for it and begged for it with her body. I moved my fingers in and out of her, slowly at first as I assaulted her bud with my tongue. Her body began to squirm more desperately, searching for release.
I pressed my fingers upward inside her and felt her jolt again, a shuddering breath escaping her. I did it again, stroking her over and over until every breath was a desperate whimper. Lightly, I pressed my palm to her stomach again and kept stroking her there. She began to shake, her hands curling into fists against the fabric of the bed. Her legs tried to close over my head and I forced them apart, unyielding.
“Oh, God,” she whimpered. “Saleuk. I’m—”
Her voice was lost on a strained cry, her body tensing. Every muscle inside her clenched and squeezed me as she trembled, seized by her climax. I twisted my fingers inside her, reveling in how she felt while she was coming. Finally, her body melted into the bed and she reached down, grabbing my head. I surged over her as she pulled me into a kiss, careless that she was all over my lips. Her tongue was in my mouth, aggressive and hungry as ever like I’d barely satisfied her appetite. I kissed her back, my fangs grazing her bottom lip.
“I want you so bad,” she panted.
“That was meant to tide you over.”
She shook her head. “I want you even more now.”
“Sam,” I shook my head. “It’s too risky. You need to know everything.”
“Ok, then tell me everything.”
I sat up and scooted up the bed until my back was against the wall. Sam straightened her dress and sat up to face me, waiting and still in a bit of a daze.
“Valerian children develop fast. As a human, we don’t know if that could kill you. It would drain your energy. Your health. Even valerian women lose weight during pregnancy and they’re built to conceive. And with no research done on humans giving birth to valerian children, no one really knows what would happen.”
“And, if they find out I’m already pregnant? What would happen?”
“You’d be monitored very closely. You’d be fed a hefty diet as a precaution. You’d be on vitamin supplements. IVs. If needed, they’d take the fetus and nurture it artificially.”
“That’s what you guys do anyways, right?”
“Most of the time. The Thinning affected females differently. The hormones they need to support a fetus aren’t there so it’s dangerous for them to conceive, too. Or at least carry a child to term.”
“Ok, so if I’m pregnant, they take the baby and grow it in a lab. That’s what you’re saying.”
“It’s still risky. None of this has ever been done on a human.”
Sam sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Yeah. I get it. I really do. And I appreciate you having the self-control that I clearly don’t have.”
“This is very real to me. Perhaps it isn’t real to you in the same way.”
“Part of it seems real. The other part is overwhelmed. I’ve never thought of kids. Hell, I’ve never thought of settling down with a guy,” she laughed, catching herself immediately. Her eyes darted toward mine like she’d said something wrong. “Not that I’m saying we should settle down. I’m just… hypothetically… right?”
“Right,” I said quickly, regretting the flatness of the word as soon as it left my tongue.
There was a moment of silence between us and an uncomfortable aura filled the space. I hated that. Finally, Sam spoke up boldly. Her boldness was one of the many things I liked about her.
“If I was pregnant, what would you do?” she asked. “What would you think?”
If she could ask something so straightforward, then I owed her a straightforward answer.
I stared her right in the eyes and said, “I would do everything in my power to make sure you were alright.”
“And if I had a baby and it was ok. And I was ok. What would you do?”
“Successful births usually end up being turned over to the mothers to be raised in a nurturing colony.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Because of our circumstances, we have breeders who specialize in donating their bodies to create offspring. But because they are constantly attempting pregnancy, they cannot care for the children, so they are cared for by elders.”
“Right. I think Innifer might have mentioned that in our messages.” Her eyes wandered with thought. “I don’t like that.”
I shrugged. “It’s how things have been done for a while now.”
“What if I wanted to raise it?”
I narrowed my eyes at her, something deep inside me lighting up with interest. “You?”
“Well, yes. If I somehow gave birth to an alien child, I’d want to raise it.”
“Where?”
“You tell me. What would be best?”
“Valer would be best. It has the most opportunities. The best housing. And I own property there.”
“So you’d put me in your house with our child?”
It was beginning to sound like a job interview. “No, I’d be there,” I blurted, surprising myself.
Sam’s face went blank, but I could see her eyes light up. She withheld a smile, but I knew she wanted to let one free and the thought of her being happy that I’d stay with her and our child made my hearts swell. We regarded each other for a while until I could finally speak.
“Sam, these are plans we’re discussing here. Plans for a life. If you had my child, you’d want that? You’d be ok never going back to Earth? With being a mother of a valerian child?”
“Half valerian,” she said softly. “A half valerian child.” She paused, shaking her head as if coming out of a dream. “And I’m just asking because they’re all possibilities. I want the best thing if I did find out there’s a little Saleuk growing in my underqualified womb.”
She stood, walking to the table to take a few sips of water right out of a glass pitcher. I stood up behind her, flashes of our possible future sifting through my mind. It got me thinking of the prospect of settling down. Was that the life I wanted? I was a pilot. I was in the military. I was someone who’d dedicated my life to fighting for my people.
But I also wanted a family. A mate. I wanted the life I might have had if the Thinning never happened. I wanted to go back to the days when reproduction was an act of love and not a cold, methodical science experiment.
Realizing that future was something I longed for made what I thought was my purpose crumble to pieces inside me. I felt something shatter and let out a breath to steady myself, heading for the door.
“Where are you going?” Sam asked.
I stopped, back turned to her. Where was I going? Slowly, I turned to face her again, a single question burning inside me. But I couldn’t ask it. I looked at Sam and I saw our future. I saw a future neither of us predicted. One that looked beautiful and full of things I didn’t think I’d get. I’d wanted to surge for a long time and I had. I wanted all the things that came with it, too, but I felt guilty for wanting them.
“Sam,” I whispered, finding that part of me that wasn’t afraid to tell the truth. The part of me that had nothing to lose. “You’re an irritating, sometimes loud, bickering, tiny woman.”
Her mouth fell agape and she blinked like I’d just struck her in the face.
“But stars above, you’re also the most beautiful, determined, brave woman I’ve ever met. You dragged me through the wilderness unconscious with barely an ounce of muscle on you. You left Earth to study plants of all things when you knew space scared you. You say you’ve never had anyone—that no one has ever chosen you—but you have me. I’ve chosen you. I didn’t just surge. I surged with you. You hold my heart in a way I didn’t think anyone ever could.”
Her eyes grew red with unshed tears and I wasn’t sure if I’d hurt her with my words or if she was happy. I didn’t want to know. Not yet. I’d said my piece and I needed to think. I needed to plan. Make preparations. Cowardly as it felt, I had to leave that room and her scent and the sight of her body so I could focus because all I wanted to do was claim her again and ensure there was a baby in her womb.