Chapter Eleven
Vel'aan
I change my clothing three times before Alex arrives.
First, my usual casual shirt and pants—but they seem too conservative, too closed off.
Then a sleeping garment that's essentially translucent when wet—but that feels too presumptuous, too eager.
Finally, I settle on loose pants that tie at the waist and nothing else, leaving my chest bare.
Easy to remove, as he suggested, but not assumptive.
My dwelling glows softly in the evening darkness, bioluminescent panels casting blue-green light across the curved walls. I've dimmed them lower than usual, letting my own nervous illumination provide most of the light. Gold spirals chase purple waves across my skin in patterns I can't control.
The pool is ready, warmed to perfect temperature. I've even set out refreshments, though I'm not sure either of us will be interested in food.
A splash outside announces his arrival before the soft knock at my entrance. When I open it, my breath catches.
Alex stands there dripping from his swim, wearing only thin sleep shorts that cling to everything.
His chest is bare, showing off the hair I admitted to finding intriguing, the trail down his abdomen that disappears beneath his waistband.
He looks comfortable, confident, like being half-naked in my doorway is the most natural thing in the world.
"Hi," he says, and his smile is warm, knowing. "You're glowing."
I look down at myself, seeing the nervous patterns of light racing across my skin. "I can't control it when I'm... anticipating."
"Good. I like seeing what I do to you." He steps inside, close enough that I can feel the heat radiating from his skin. "Been thinking about this all evening. About you watching me."
"Just watching?" My voice comes out rougher than intended.
"To start." He reaches out, fingers tracing one of the gold spirals on my chest. "We go at your pace, remember? Whatever you're comfortable with."
I catch his hand, holding it against my chest where my heart races. "What if I want more than just watching?"
"Then we do more." He steps closer, until our bodies are almost touching. "But first, I want to show you. Want you to see what you do to me. How many times I've touched myself thinking about you since yesterday."
My bioluminescence flares brighter. "Show me."
He grins and moves toward the pool, settling into the warm water with a satisfied sigh. The pool is shallow enough that he can recline comfortably, water lapping at his waist. I join him, sitting close but not touching, my whole body humming with nervous energy.
"You know what I thought about last night?" he asks, one hand already trailing down his chest. "After our kiss?"
I shake my head, unable to form words.
"I thought about your mouth. How you kissed me like you were starving for it." His hand moves lower, over his abdomen. "Thought about those little sounds you made when I deepened it. The way your whole body lit up."
His hand slips beneath his waistband, and I can see the outline of him gripping himself through the wet fabric. My own arousal pulses in response.
"Then I thought about today," he continues, his voice getting rougher. "How you felt in my hand. The way you bit your lip to keep quiet. The way your colors went wild when you came."
He pushes his pants down enough to free himself, and I can't help but stare. He's fully hard, larger than I expected, comfortable with being exposed. His hand moves slowly, teasingly, and he watches my face the entire time.
"This is what you do to me," he says. "Make me so hard I can't think straight. Had to stop myself from touching you a dozen times today."
"Why did you stop?" I manage to ask.
"Because when we finally do this properly, I want you desperate for it." His hand speeds up slightly. "Want you thinking about it constantly. Want you to choose it, not just fall into it."
I shift closer, my own arousal straining against my pants. "I already think about it constantly."
"Yeah? What do you think about?"
The question catches me off guard. But his openness, his comfort with his own desire, makes me brave.
"I think about your hands," I admit. "How you knew exactly how to touch me. How you'd know where else to touch, how to take me apart completely."
"Fuck, Vel." His hand moves faster. "What else?"
"I think about your experience. All the things you've learned, the people you've been with." My bioluminescence pulses with purple-gold. "I wonder what you could teach me."
"Everything," he says immediately. "Want to teach you everything. Want to learn everything about you. What makes you light up gold, what makes you moan, what makes you beg."
I make a sound I've never made before—needy and desperate. Without thinking, my hand moves to my own cock, palming myself through my pants.
"That's it," Alex encourages. "Touch yourself. Let me see you."
I untie my pants with shaking fingers, pushing them down just enough. The cool air makes me gasp, but then my hand is wrapped around myself and all I can focus on is the heat in Alex's eyes as he watches me.
"You're beautiful," he says, his own hand moving in steady strokes. "The way you glow when you're turned on. Like your own private light show."
We find a rhythm, watching each other, and that spark between us pulses stronger with each stroke. I can feel echoes of his pleasure mixing with mine, creating a feedback loop that makes everything more intense.
"I can feel you," I gasp. "Through the connection."
"Me too. It's incredible." He shifts closer, our legs touching under the water. "Can feel how good this is for you. How new. How much you want."
"I want everything," I admit, the words spilling out. "Want to know what it feels like when you're inside me. Want to know what sounds you make when you come. Want to learn how to make you feel as good as you made me feel today."
"Vel'aan." His voice is wrecked. "You can't just say things like that."
"Why not? You do."
"Because I'm about to—" He groans, his hand moving faster. "Fuck, the way you're looking at me."
"How am I looking at you?"
"Like you want to devour me. Like you're memorizing everything for later." His hips push up into his hand. "Like you're imagining all the things we could do."
"I am." I match his pace, feeling the pleasure build. "I'm imagining you teaching me how humans do this. How you like to be touched. What you taste like."
That breaks his control. He comes with a low groan, spilling over his hand and stomach, and through our connection I feel it—the white-hot pleasure, the relief, the satisfaction. It triggers my own release, my bioluminescence exploding in waves of color that light up the entire room.
We float there afterward, breathing hard, the water around us literally glowing from my residual light. Alex moves first, sliding through the water until he's pressed against my side.
He turns to kiss me soft and deep. "We have so much more to explore."
"When?" The question comes out more desperate than I intended.
He laughs, warm and kind. "Eager now?"
"You said you wanted me desperate for it. Congratulations, you've succeeded."
"Tomorrow," he promises. "After work, we'll do this properly."
"Properly?"
"In a bed. Where I can spread you out and worship every inch of you." He kisses me again. "Where you can be as loud as you want. Where we can take hours learning each other."
My spent body somehow manages to pulse with renewed interest. "Hours?"
"At minimum." He grins against my mouth. "I told you, I want to teach you everything. That takes time."
"I'm a quick learner."
"We'll see." He pulls back, looking at me with dark eyes. "But tonight, I should go."
"Why?"
"Because if I stay, we'll end up doing more than you're ready for."
I grab his arm before he can move away. "How do you know what I'm ready for?"
He touches my face gently. "Because two days ago you panicked when I suggested we have sex."
"That was two days ago." I pull him back down into the water. "I've been thinking about nothing but you since then. Touching myself thinking about you. Feeling our connection grow stronger. I know what I want, Alex."
"Vel'aan—"
"You said you wanted me desperate for it. I am." My bioluminescence pulses with purple-gold determination. "You said you wanted me to choose it, not fall into it. I'm choosing. I'm choosing you. Tonight. Now."
He searches my face, and whatever he sees there must convince him. "You're sure?"
"Stay." I pull him closer, until our bodies are pressed together in the warm water. "Stay and show me everything you promised."
"Fuck," he breathes, and then he's kissing me hard, all that careful control finally breaking. "You have no idea how much I want you."
"Show me," I challenge against his mouth. "You're so good with words. Show me with actions."
He groans and pulls me toward the edge of the pool. "Come on then. Let me teach you everything."
We climb out together, water streaming off our bodies. The cool air makes my skin pebble, my bioluminescence flickering with sensitivity. Alex's hands slide over my wet skin, leaving trails of heat that make me shiver.
"Cold?" he asks, but his knowing smile says he knows exactly what's affecting me.
"No." I catch his hand, that spark between us flaring bright at the contact. "Just... sensitive."
"Good." He leads me toward my sleeping area, both of us dripping, leaving wet footprints on the smooth floor. "I want you sensitive. Want you feeling everything."
My sleeping area suddenly seems smaller with him in it, more intimate. My bioluminescence casts moving shadows on the walls, betraying my excitement, my nerves, my desperate want.
"You're shaking," he observes, pulling me close once we're beside my bed.
"Anticipation," I admit. "I've imagined this so many times in the last two days."
"Just two days of imagination?" He grins, hands sliding down my sides. "I've got ten years of fantasies stored up."