Chapter 23 #4
The upstairs had three bedrooms, two of them smaller and both currently empty that he told her were intended for an expanding family. He gave her such a heated look when he said that, despite his words being completely innocent, her entire body heated.
It was so easy to forget that knocking up their partner was the goal of any domini pairing since it was so hard to accomplish successfully. But she was reminded of it fiercely when he showed her the closed doors of those empty rooms.
Right before taking her to his room.
She was expecting more monochromatic décor and furniture complimented by the mosaic that had run ever present through the house and the stained glass he promised her was new. She was not expecting just how beautiful it would actually be.
The mosaic was there, and it centered around and seemed to burst forth from the headboard of his massive bed.
Overhead, the roof was entirely made of triangular glass panels set in black metal beams, but they were stained in a constellation of colors that was a clear continuation of the mosaic that wound through the home.
The barely visible full moons overhead shined through, casting a light glow of color on everything below.
Almost all of the furniture was white with just a few black accents here or there, allowing the full beauty of the colored light to shine through.
When the sun peeked through the glass, she imagined it was absolutely stunning.
With the pale moon and starlight obscured by light cloud cover tonight, it made her think of a magical grotto.
“Romi,” she breathed, turning around, admiring it from every angle.
The bed, the seating area in the corner, the glass doors with wrought iron designs matching the glowing patterns of the mosaic leading to a balcony, the closed doors that she knew must lead to the privy and the closet, and the shattered glass chandelier that hung over the bed.
“Who is your designer, because this is incredible!”
“I am,” he said, following calmly after her.
She whipped around. “You? You designed all this?”
He cocked his head curiously. “Color theory, engineering, and art appreciation were all required topics for me to master.”
Holly just blinked at him, startled.
“Is that so odd?”
“I mean, I guess? Academics and the arts don’t really mix on Earth.”
“Why not?”
She shrugged. “They’ve just always been separate. I mean, you can learn both at a university, but the arts aren’t really considered on the same level as the hard stuff like math or science.”
“Colors are part of physics,” he said, gesturing over her head. “The way they hit the eye and the way they please the brain is all biology. Music is waves through the air. Painting is chemistry that you let dry. Arts and academics aren’t separate. Like everything, they are all interlinked.”
Holly smiled. “Yeah. I guess they are, when you think about it.”
He nodded once, as though it was only natural that she agree with him.
She opened her mouth to ask how he had designed the room when something behind him caught her eye.
She hadn’t looked at the wall immediately beside the door when she came in, distracted by everything else.
But as she saw it now. Saw the stacks of sealed pillows and blankets in multiple colors that looked fresh from a factory alongside carefully folded furs in various colors and thickness.
“Are you changing from the white bedding?” She asked, staring at them.
Romival didn’t need to turn around to know what she was looking at. “Those are for you.”
“Me?” She focused back on him, surprised.
“Your nesting material,” he said, making her heart jump in her chest. “I didn’t know what you would like, and I’m sure it will change if you begin carrying my pup.
And probably multiple times afterwards. Gravid females are very picky about their nest. I wanted to give you multiple options so you can be completely comfortable. If you need more, simply tell me.”
He said it so easily. Like it was already a done deal.
And to him, she guessed, it was.
He had already declared that he intended to take her as his adassi. And if she was his adassi, then he had even more reason to get her pregnant.
She wasn’t sure what to say about that. He wasn’t claiming her right now. She had just agreed to see his den and, by consequence, to have sex with him.
Turning her back on the nesting material, she walked deeper into the room. Towards the wide, square bed and its perfectly straightened sheets. She wasn’t surprised when she turned back to see that Romival had followed her.
“Erm, do you know… I mean, is pulling out a thing for the domini?”
“Pulling out?” He repeated, his mind obviously not in the same place as hers. Or, it was, but he had no idea what she was talking about.
“It’s a birth control method. Er, not a very effective one, but it’s probably the oldest one and it is slightly effective. When you’re having sex, when you’re getting ready to, erm, you know… come? You just don’t do it inside. You pull out.”
Romival looked thoughtful for a moment, but his brow was furrowed. It was the same look that Atem had given her when she had told him that she didn’t want to let him know that Romi, or any male, was courting her.
“Romi, what did I say?” She asked carefully. “Tell me what you heard and what you’re thinking, because I don’t think we’re thinking the same thing.”
He hummed thoughtfully before asking. “This… pull out. Is this a common thing on your planet?”
“I mean, it’s not the preferred method of birth control.” She shrugged. “It’s not super reliable and there are mistakes and why rely on it when we have the pill and condoms and everything? But, yeah, it’s pretty common.”
“And this is not considered insulting at all?”
Holly started, surprised. “No. There are people who get off on coming on someone’s body or face or something. It’s… Wait, is it an insult among your people?”
“It’s an insult in the greater universe at large,” he said, making her eyes widen.
“It is already difficult for more sapient species to breed. So much so that, for almost all of them, they actively attempt to breed whenever they can even if the person is not their mate. Refusing to give a female your seed, refusing to plant it inside, is equivalent to saying that even in the very low possibility of it, you still aren’t willing to give her your progeny.
Either because you find her to be a bad person, a bad potential mother, or you simply think her unworthy. It’s insulting to the female.”
“Oh, wow.” Holly took a second to digest that information. “I mean, no. Not at all. Not among humans, anyway. Asking a guy to come on your tits is usually a big turn on.”
She probably should have seen it coming, but she was still surprised when, immediately, Romival’s eyes darted down to her chest. As though he was imagining that very thing. And judging by the immediate sexy growl he released, he rather liked the mental image.
“Later,” he said, responding to the offer like it was genuine. “After I have filled your womb.”
“No, that’s…” Holly shifted her weight nervously.
“You don’t want to get pregnant,” he finished for her, stepping in close and grabbing her by the hips, rocking her pelvis against him almost like they were dancing. But he didn't consider movements like this dancing. This was just a prelude to sex. “How about I don’t knot you instead?”
“Er, isn’t that the same thing?”
Romival grunted in the negative. “Semen for my species is rather thick. Viscous. It needs the pressure of the knot plugging your channel to propel its way forward into your womb. And sperm is very short lived. A mark or two at the most. If I don’t knot you, I will barely release anything, my seed will seep right back out and what little remains behind will die fast in your sheath instead of your womb. Will that suffice?”
Holly did some quick mental math. She wasn’t ovulating and if his sperm only lived a couple hours instead of a couple days like humans, then-
“Yeah, that should be fine,” she said slowly. “You’d really do that for me?”
“You are mine regardless of if you breed for me or not,” he said, tightening his arms around her, forcing her to grab onto his shoulders as he practically bent her backward. “Comfort is your love language, yes? You may get comfortable with me first before I plant my offspring inside you.”
She laughed, but the sound was breathless and weak. “You sound so sure that it’s going to happen. What if I never accept you for my mate?”
“I won’t stop trying until you tell me no,” he said, looking at her seriously, his eyes flashing in the dim, half concealed moonlight. “So? Are you going to tell me no?”
Holly opened her mouth, but no words came out.
She was still nervous about the whole inhuman sex thing, the knot, the lack of birth control options, the idea of being away from Earth forever, and the possibility, no matter how small, that she could end up pregnant with an alien baby and only have Peony as an example of what might happen.
It was terrifying and unusual and a sample size of one was no sample size at all.
But this was also Romival. The same male who put her pleasure above his own so many times.
The same male that understood without her needing to tell him that she needed comfort and reassurance and to feel safe.
Romival who did yoga and listened when she talked and shared any random fun fact just because they made him happy, and he wanted her to experience that happiness too.
How could she possibly be uneasy around him?
“May I scan you?” Romival asked when she did not say no.
“Scan me?” She repeated, head cocking curiously.
“When I’ve got you aroused. Before I have sex with you.
I want to scan you to see the differences in your body chemistry and physiology.
I want to know your arousal patterns. I want to see exactly what you’re feeling and how.
” The words he spoke were clinical and dry, but the way he spoke them was like he was having incredibly hot phone sex.
She could actually feel his dick jerking through his pants as he became excited at the idea.
Her sexy wizard nerd was turned on by the science of her being turned on. It was weird, but how could she deny him that?
“You may,” she said, running her fingers down his arms.
A surprised expression flashed over his face, and she realized that he hadn’t truly expected her to agree to the, admittedly, unusual request. Nothing said unsexy quite like dry academia.
But she had both a hot teacher kink and an alien probing kink and she actually loved the idea of seeing how excited Romival would get when he had her trembling and horny and begging him for more all the while he was running his scanner over her body.
Like edging, but with science.
His growl ramped up in intensity as he shoved her back onto the bed, immediately crawling over her body, kissing quickly up her belly, over the curve of one breast, up her neck, then to her lips.
He captured them in an eager, consuming kiss that told her more than words just how happy he was to have her consent. He really wanted those scans.
“I want to scan you while you’re aroused. I want to scan you when you come. I want to put you in my big scanner and scan you while I’m fucking you.” He described his intentions with all the heated promise of a man listing all the dirty positions he wanted to explore.
But instead of doggy or cowgirl or something basic like that, her alien wizard wanted her to satisfy his mind as well as his body.
“Like, all at the same time?” She gasped, running her hands down his back as he began sucking on her neck, definitely giving her more hickeys.
“One at a time,” he growled, running his fangs over the freshly marked skin. “Too much data at a time can be overwhelming. And why do it all at once when I can do it slowly? Learning more about you each time. Discovering everything that makes you function, one thing at a time.”
“And what are you going to do when you’ve seen it all?” She asked, now wondering if he was just into her for the exotic experience of having sex with an alien.
“All good science should be repeated,” he said lazily, much more focused on pulling her skirt up so he could run his hands down her thighs to cup her ass, tilting her hips up and grinding against her.
“You keep teasing me,” she whimpered, searching desperately for the seal she knew his tunic top would have somewhere on the back of his neck.
“I’m not teasing. I’m waiting for you to ask me for more.”
“Give me more!” She cried back immediately. She wanted more than dry humping or his fingers. She wanted to actually see and investigate his dick. She wanted to return some of the pleasure that he had been assaulting her with.
How was she going to get comfortable with his dick if she never saw it, after all?
She finally succeeded in finding the button and pressed it, ripping the shirt away before it had finished unsealing down his chest. He chuckled at her eagerness as he obligingly moved his arms so she could yank them through the sleeves.