Chapter Ten
Alex
I barely slept.
Every time I closed my eyes, I was back on that dock, Vel'aan's cool lips against mine, his bioluminescence painting us both in impossible colors. The spark of connection we'd both felt—like electricity, like recognition, like something clicking into place that had been waiting to align.
I touched myself three times during the night. Once in the shower immediately after getting back. Once in bed, trying to find release so I could sleep. Once more around dawn when dreams of purple-gold skin and careful kisses woke me aching.
Now, swimming toward the zhik'ra fields, I'm wondering if he did the same.
That spark between us had pulsed with something when I came the third time—an echo of pleasure that wasn't entirely my own.
The thought that maybe he was touching himself at the exact same moment, thinking of me the way I was thinking of him. ..
I surface near the work platform to find him already there, sorting through yesterday's salvage. The morning sun makes his wet skin gleam, and when he turns at the sound of my approach, his bioluminescence immediately flares with gold spirals.
"You came," he says, and there's something soft in his voice.
"Said I would." I pull myself onto the platform, very aware that we're both already wet, half-naked, and alone. "How long have you been working?"
"Since dawn." He doesn't quite meet my eyes. "I couldn't sleep."
"Yeah?" I move closer, careful not to crowd him. "Me neither."
His colors shift, purple threading through the gold. "The storm damage is extensive in Section E. We should focus there today."
"All business, huh?" I grin, reaching past him for a cutting tool, letting my arm brush his. "Not even going to mention that you kissed me last night?"
His skin erupts in that pale green of embarrassment mixed with deeper purple. "I thought perhaps you wouldn't want to discuss it."
"Vel'aan." I wait until he looks at me. "I jerked off three times last night thinking about that kiss. I definitely want to discuss it."
He makes a strangled sound, his whole body lighting up. "Three times?"
"Would've been four but I ran out of time." I slide into the water, the cool embrace doing nothing to calm my heated thoughts. "Come on, show me Section E. We can work and talk."
He follows me into the water, his natural grace making my clumsy strokes look even worse. But I catch him watching me, his gaze lingering on my chest, my arms, the way my shorts cling when wet.
"You're staring," I say, treading water beside him.
"You stared first. On the platform."
"Fair." I swim closer, until we're just a foot apart. "I like your colors when you look at me like that."
"Like what?"
"Like you're thinking about last night too."
We work for the next hour, but it's charged with new energy.
Every time we surface together, we end up closer than necessary.
When I get confused about which growth to cut, he guides my hand with his, the touch lingering.
When we pass tools between us, our fingers brush and his skin lights up every single time.
"This cluster's completely tangled," I call out during one surface break. "I can't tell what's salvageable."
He swims over, assessing the damage. "You have to feel for the healthy growth underneath. Like this." He takes my hand, guiding it beneath the surface to the base of the plants. "Feel the difference? The dying parts are softer, brittle."
His chest is pressed against my back as he guides my movements, and I can feel his breath on my neck. My cock is already half-hard just from this proximity, from his innocent touch that feels anything but innocent.
"Yeah," I manage, my voice rough. "I feel it."
"Good." But he doesn't move away. If anything, he presses closer. "You're improving."
"I have a good teacher." I turn my head slightly, bringing our faces close. "A very distracting teacher."
"I'm distracting?" His hand is still over mine under the water. "You're the one who keeps... flexing."
"Flexing?"
"When you cut the thick stalks. Your arms and shoulders..." He trails off, colors shifting to deep purple.
"My arms and shoulders what?"
"They move in ways that make me want to stop working."
Heat floods through me. I turn fully in the water, facing him, our bodies almost touching. "Just my arms and shoulders?"
His gaze drops to my chest, my abs, lower. "No."
"Vel'aan." My voice comes out rougher than intended. "If you keep looking at me like that, I'm going to kiss you again."
"We're supposed to be working." But he doesn't move away.
"We've been working for an hour." I drift closer, until our legs brush underwater. "Don't you think we deserve a break?"
"A break," he repeats, like he's testing the word. "What would we do on this break?"
"Well," I say, reaching out to trace a finger along his jaw, "I could show you what I was thinking about last night. When I was touching myself. Thinking about you."
His bioluminescence pulses rapidly. "Show me how?"
Instead of answering, I pull him in for a kiss. It's different from last night—no hesitation, no careful exploration. He opens for me immediately, his tongue meeting mine, his hands coming up to grip my shoulders.
I back us up until he's against the platform's support post, the wood warm from the sun against his back. He makes a small sound when I press against him, and I can feel he's hard too, even through both our shorts.
"Is this okay?" I ask against his mouth.
"Yes." His hands slide down my chest, making me shiver. "More than okay."
I kiss him deeper, one hand tangling in his dark hair while the other stays at his waist. He tastes like salt and something sweet, uniquely him. When I nip at his lower lip, his whole body lights up, bioluminescence bright enough to see even in daylight.
"You're so responsive," I murmur, kissing along his jaw. "Do you know what you look like when you're turned on? All these colors racing across your skin?"
"Alex..." His hips push forward, seeking friction.
"I thought about this last night," I tell him, my hand sliding from his waist to his hip, thumb tracing the waistband of his shorts. "Thought about touching you. Making you fall apart. Watching your colors go wild."
"We shouldn't—" He gasps when my hand moves lower, palming him through the wet fabric. "Oh."
"Shouldn't what?" I squeeze gently, feeling the shape of him, compatible and perfect and already so hard. "This isn't sex. This is just me touching you while we kiss. That's not too fast, is it?"
He shakes his head, eyes wide, colors pulsing erratically.
"Good." I kiss him again while my hand slips inside his shorts, finding him hot and hard and slightly different texture than human—smoother, with interesting ridges that make him gasp when I explore them. "God, you feel good."
"Someone could see," he breathes, but his hips push into my touch.
"No one's around." I stroke him slowly, learning what makes him light up, what makes him bite his lip. "And we're underwater. Just looks like we're taking a break. Talking."
"This isn't—oh—talking."
"Sure it is." I twist my wrist the way that always works, and his head falls back against the post. "I'm telling you how gorgeous you are. How perfect you feel in my hand."
He bites his lip, clearly fighting back louder sounds as I find a rhythm that makes his colors pulse in waves. The water around us literally glows from his bioluminescence, like we're in our own private light show.
"That's it," I murmur, kissing his throat above his gills. "Want to see you let go. Want to feel what you feel like when you come. Been imagining it all night."
"Alex, I—" His hands grip my shoulders tighter.
"I know, baby. I can see it." His colors are getting more intense, more chaotic. "You're close, aren't you? Your colors give you away. All that purple and gold, getting brighter and brighter."
I speed up my hand, adding a twist at the end that makes him gasp. "Come on, Vel. Let me see. Wanted this so bad last night I had to take care of myself three times. Thinking about you. About this. About making you feel good."
"Can't—someone might—"
"Shh, I've got you." I kiss him to muffle any sounds, my hand working faster. "Just feel. Stop thinking and just feel."
He breaks with a muffled cry against my mouth, his whole body going supernova bright, colors I don't even have names for racing across his skin. I stroke him through it, gentle now, watching in awe as the lights slowly calm to gentle pulses.
And in that moment, I feel it again—stronger this time. That spark of connection flaring bright, his pleasure echoing through me like a feedback loop, making me groan against his neck.
"Did you—" he starts, eyes wide.
"Feel that? Yeah." I carefully remove my hand, holding him steady as he recovers. "That's new."
He looks at me with something like wonder. "Is that... is that normal? For humans?"
"No." I brush wet hair back from his face. "That's definitely not normal. That's something else. Something just us."
He kisses me then, soft and sweet, and I can taste his amazement, his satisfaction, maybe a little bit of fear at this thing building between us.
"Your turn?" he asks when we part, hand drifting toward my obvious arousal.
"Nope." I catch his wrist gently. "Today was about you. About showing you that physical can be fun, not scary. Not too fast if we take it at your pace."
"But you're—"
"Very hard and will definitely be taking care of it later while thinking about the gorgeous lights you just made." I grin at his embarrassed flush. "Unless you want to watch?"
His colors pulse with interest even as he looks scandalized. "Watch?"
"Tonight, maybe? If you're feeling brave?" I kiss him once more, quick and light. "But right now, we should actually work before someone does come by and wonder why the water's glowing."