21. Kaelus
KAELUS
Kaelus watched through the privacy screen as their host poured a generous dollop of massage oil into one palm and rubbed his hands together briskly to warm it.
He did the same, picking up a bottle of oil that had a faintly spicy fragrance and rubbing some between his hands. He hoped that Clair was comfortable with him touching her this way. She’d said she didn’t mind, but he was worried that things might go too far.
You mean the way they almost went too far last night? whispered a voice in his head.
Kaelus pushed it aside. He would never do anything to hurt Clair—she was his to protect and cherish—at least while they were here on Titus Four. As much as he wanted to run his hands all over her luscious, curvy, bare body, he wanted to make her feel safe and protected even more.
“Now then,” Varell said, from the other side of the privacy curtain. “The first mistake many young husbands make is thinking that strength is everything.” As he spoke, he placed his hands on Maera’s shoulders. “It is not. Attention is everything.”
Kaelus watched as he began kneading the muscles along his wife’s neck and shoulders, adjusting the pressure whenever she moved or sighed.
“Do you see?” Varell asked him.
“I see,” Kaelus said.
“Then what am I doing?” his host challenged him.
“You are applying pressure to the upper trapezius and cervical musculature,” Kaelus said.
Clair snorted and from the other side of the screen, he could hear Maera laughing into her cushion.
Kaelus frowned.
“What is amusing? Have I said something wrong?”
“You are touching her like a physician,” Varell said.
“I am a physician,” Kaelus protested. “I have a degree in medicine as well as Xenopharmacology.”
“Tonight you are her husband,” Varell emphasized. “You must stop thinking about anatomy and begin thinking about her. Watch her breathing. Listen to the sounds she makes. Feel when her muscles relax beneath your hands. Your goddess will tell you what she needs even when she says nothing.”
Kaelus watched, his mind a whirlwind of conflicting protocols.
Varell’s hands moved over Maera’s back with a confident, worshipful rhythm, kneading the muscles of her shoulders, tracing the line of her spine with oil-slick thumbs, working down to the dip of her lower back and the generous swell of her hips.
“Follow,” Varell commanded softly from the other side of the screen. “Do as I do—massage your goddess.”
Kaelus took a deep breath.
Stop being a physician or a scientist—be her husband, he told himself. Gods, if only he could be! But as a Hybrid, the pleasure of calling a bride was forever denied him. Still, he could pretend.
He placed his palms on Clair’s shoulders. Her skin was warm, soft, and he felt the fine tremor that ran through her at his touch. He began to mimic Varell’s motions, his large hands encompassing the delicate slope of her neck and the tight muscles of her upper back.
He applied pressure, listening for her response. A soft sigh escaped her, and her head lolled forward slightly on the cushion. Good—she was relaxing. He adjusted his grip, finding a knot near her scapula and working it with a focused, circular pressure.
“Ohhh!” Clair sighed. “Your hands are like magic.”
“Good,” Varell murmured approvingly from the other side of the screen. “She is enjoying your touch—you are learning to listen.”
Encouraged, Kaelus continued. He poured more of the spicy-sweet oil into his palms, warming it before smoothing it down the length of Clair’s spine. He paid careful attention to the small of her back—an area he knew often carried stress in human females.
His touch must have been working, because Clair made a low, humming sound of pure pleasure, her body sinking deeper into the adaptive massage table.
Kaelus loved the fact that he was giving her pleasure. He continued, falling into a rhythm. Shoulders, spine, hips, then the luscious curves of her full ass. His hands—trained for precision in science and chemical analysis—were learning a new language.
They learned to map Clair’s body—the slight dimple at the base of her spine…
the fascinating softness of her outer thighs…
the delicate bones of her ankles and feet.
With each pass of his hands over her body, her breathing grew deeper, and more even.
To Kaelus’s delight, her initial tension bled away, leaving her pliant and warm beneath his hands.
He was so focused on his task, so soothed by the simple act of caring for her, that Varell’s next instruction caught him completely off guard.
“And now it is time to massage the front,” their host announced.
On the other side of the privacy screen, the silhouettes shifted. Maera’s shadow rolled gracefully onto her back.
“A goddess deserves pleasure from every angle,” Varell said. “We begin with the peaks of her sacred mounds.”
Kaelus’s hands froze on Clair’s calves. He stared at the screen. Varell’s shadowy hands were cupping his wife’s breasts, his thumbs stroking over the dark peaks of her nipples.
“You’re falling behind—flip your wife over, Kaelus,” their host instructed, his voice calm, as if asking him to pass the seasoning at Last Meal. “Support her neck. Be gentle.”
A cold dread, mixed with a sudden, volcanic heat, pooled in Kaelus’s gut. He looked down at Clair. Her eyes were closed, her face serene from the back massage—clearly, she hadn’t heard the instruction yet.
“Clair,” he said, his voice coming out hoarse.
Her eyelids fluttered open.
“Hmm?”
“Varell… wishes you to turn over.”
Her serenity vanished, replaced by wide-eyed comprehension. She swallowed, looking from him to the suggestive shadows playing on the white fabric. The instruction was unmistakable.
“Really?” she asked, her voice coming out high. “I mean, do I have to?”
“If you don’t want to, then don’t,” Kaelus said firmly, keeping his voice low, for her ears only. “We can stop now if you feel uncomfortable.”
“No, I…I don’t want to stop.” She swallowed. “We have to play our parts.”
“I’ll be gentle with you,” Kaelus promised. His words seemed to reassure her because her brown eyes looked less worried.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Slowly Kaelus helped her roll onto her back. The table reconfigured instantly, offering support. And there she lay, utterly exposed to him.
The soft glow of the room caressed her full, beautiful curves. Her breasts were lush and heavy, the pink areolas and nipples tightened into peaks, not just from the cool air, he realized, but from arousal.
“Begin with broad, worshipful strokes,” Varell directed, resuming the lesson.
His shadow hands were sweeping in wide circles over Maera’s chest. “Honor the shape. Then focus on the peaks. A goddess’s nipples are conduits of pleasure.
Tease them. Roll them between your fingers.
Vary the pressure. Listen to her breaths. ”
Kaelus’s hands hovered over Clair. This was a massive breach of their professional agreement—of every boundary they’d established. It was one thing for a mission to require a kiss, another to require, well…this.
“Kaelus?” Varell’s voice held a note of puzzled concern. “Is there a difficulty? Have you never touched your wife’s breasts before to give her pleasure?”
The question hung in the scented air, a direct challenge to their cover. Through the thin screen, Varell’s silhouette had paused. He was waiting. It was obvious he could see Kaelus’s shadow, still and hesitant. Their entire performance was crumbling at the most critical moment.
Panic sliced through Kaelus. He met Clair’s gaze and saw that her brown eyes were huge, filled with a mixture of embarrassment, fear, and something else… a dark, willing curiosity. She gave the tiniest nod. Her lips parted, and she breathed words so faint only he could hear them.
“Go on,” she whispered. “I trust you.”
Those three words shattered his resistance and ignited something primal in Kaelus.
He had been longing for this since he first saw her bent over a microscope, the soft swell of her breasts pressing against her lab coat.
He craved her curves with a hunger that had nothing to do with scientific inquiry and everything to do with pure, animal lust.
Kaelus poured more oil into his palms and warmed it by rubbing his hands together as he held Clair’s eyes with his own. Finally, he leaned down to touch her.
He began as instructed, with broad, sweeping strokes over the mounds of her breasts, slicking the oil into her skin, feeling their incredible weight and softness fill his palms.
A sharp gasp escaped from Clair’s lips and her back arched slightly, pushing her flesh more firmly into his hands.
“Gods, Lissa’ra,” he heard himself murmur, the word a rough growl. “So beautiful!”
She moaned softly in reply and her eyes fluttered closed in pleasure.
Emboldened by her reaction and the delicious feel of her soft mounds in his hands, Kaelus let his thumbs find her nipples.
He circled them slowly, feeling them tighten into even harder points beneath his touch.
He rolled them gently between his thumb and forefinger, experimenting with pressure to see what she liked.
Clair’s breath hitched and a soft, broken moan slipped from her lips. The sound went straight to his cock, which was already rigid and straining painfully against the fabric of his trousers.
“A good husband knows his goddess’s body intimately,” Varell lectured, his own shadow movements becoming more deliberate…more sensual. “He knows how she wants to be touched… knows how to make her shiver. He knows how to use his hands, his fingers, and his tongue to bring her pleasure.”
His tongue. The mental image of sucking Clair’s tight peaks into his mouth flashed in Kaelus’s mind with such vivid intensity he nearly groaned aloud. He glanced down at her and saw that her eyes were wide and her lips were parted. Clearly, she’d heard what Varell had said too.
“Is this all right?” he whispered hoarsely, his thumbs still circling…teasing.
“Y-yes,” she whispered. She was trembling, but not with fear now. He could scent it in the air, cutting through the spice of the oil—the sweet, feminine fragrance of her arousal.
Her scent was intoxicating—it made his shaft ache with a need so fierce it was a physical pain, but he kept working, following the lesson as Varell continued to speak.
“Now, we move lower,” he said, his tone shifting to one of grave importance. “To the inner thighs and the gateway of female pleasure. Maera prefers a firm pressure here, but your goddess may feel differently. Experiment and see what she likes.”
Gently, Kaelus nudged Clair’s knees apart. She resisted at first but then their eyes met.
“Can you trust me again, Lissa’ra?” he murmured. “Can you open for me?”
“All…all right,” she whispered and she slowly parted her thighs. The intimacy of the gesture and the trust she showed him made his heart fist in his chest.
“Good girl,” he growled softly. “Now just relax for me—I’m going to make you feel good.”
Clair bit her lip and arched her back and though she didn’t speak again, he understood what she was saying—touch me.
Kaelus was more than willing to give her what she wanted. He smoothed his oiled hands down her abdomen, over the gentle curve of her belly, and onto the soft skin of her inner thighs. He applied pressure—first firm, then softer—stroking upwards towards the apex of her legs.
As Kaelus worked on the tension in her muscles, her body opened further. Nestled in the shadow between her thighs, her pussy was glistening, swollen, and beautifully bare. Her folds were slick with her own honey, the little bud of her clit peeking out all flushed and eager.
The sight was the most potent stimulation Kaelus had ever encountered. A possessive groan rose in his chest. Gods, she was so fucking wet for him!
“Now, the heart of the temple,” Varell intoned. His shadow was positioned between Maera’s legs. “Start with the outer lips. Use your thumbs and massage carefully to bring gentle pleasure.”
Kaelus obeyed. He used his oil-slick thumbs to stroke the outer folds of Clair’s sex, spreading the moisture and feeling her heat.
“Oh, God!” Clair moaned, her hips lifting off the table in a silent plea. “Oh, Kaelus, that feels so good!”
“Mmm, I’m glad you’re enjoying it, Lissa’ra,” he growled. Gods, she was so soft under his hands—he loved touching her here, in her most vulnerable and intimate place. He only wished he could taste her as well.
“Now part them,” Varell said. “Gently. Tease around her sacred jewel, but do not touch it directly yet. Circle it. Let the anticipation build.”
Gently, Kaelus did just that. He opened her fully, revealing her glistening depths and circled his thumb around her clit, a hair’s breadth away from contact.
Clair cried out—a sharp, needy sound and her hands fisted in the silver fabric beneath her. Her hips began to move in tiny, desperate circles, chasing his touch.
“Please, Kaelus,” she moaned. “Oh, please…”
She was close. He could feel it in the tightness of her body…could hear it in her ragged breathing…could see it in the flutter of her inner muscles.
Fuck, he was close to breaking, himself! The urge to replace his thumb with his mouth—to taste her soft little pussy—was a screaming imperative in his blood.
Then Varell spoke again, his voice cutting through the haze of passion with the precision of a scalpel.
“Now, stop,” he commanded.
Kaelus froze, his thumb halting its torturous circle. Clair whined in protest, her body straining upwards.
“Do not let her come yet,” Varell instructed, calmly.
“A proper husband never lets his goddess come on his hand. On the screen, his shadow lowered its head between Maera’s splayed thighs.
“This is the best way,” Varell said, his voice slightly muffled but no less clear, “To truly give your goddess pleasure…” He paused, and the sound of a deep, satisfied lick echoed softly in the quiet room.
“…you must let her come on your tongue.”
Silence descended, thick and electric.
Kaelus looked down at Clair, her body poised on the precipice, her pupils dilated with desire, her lips swollen from where she’d bitten them trying not to cry out too loudly. He looked at the beautiful, feast laid out before him—her soft, wet pussy begging for his tongue.
Gods, he wanted to taste her—his mouth was watering to drink her honey right from the source.
But would she want to let him?
Kaelus wasn’t sure. This might be a step too far—they were pretending to be Joined but in reality, they were just coworkers. Would Clair let him take this step…or would she want to end their charade right now?
He had no idea.