Halley #2
Whereas the second her bedroom door slides closed behind me and I’m left in the sandy corridor alone and in silence, I’m already craving people. I’ve always been like this, but it’s definitely gotten more intense after spending a month with only Xile for company.
I step forward, and the door opposite Rin’s room slides automatically open. This bedroom is a mess, with clothes fallen out of cubbyholes and pieces of machinery I don’t recognize covering most of the rest of the floor.
Eot gestures for me to join him in his hammock, and I step over his discarded boots to reach him.
“Akh…we’re not usually so messy,” he says, rubbing the back of his head and glancing around the room.
I shrug. “It’s a small space for two big guys.” They’re sharing because they gave Rin one of their rooms, and I’m never going to be mad about that.
Eot smells faintly of soap. Evidently the water pressure on board this ship is powerful enough that more than one person can shower at a time.
Standing on my toes, I hitch a leg up and over the hammock’s soft side, sending the whole thing rocking and nearly sending me to the floor on my ass. I scramble to get in, and my entrance could’ve been more graceful, I’m not going to lie. But with Eot’s help I get comfortable.
“Mmm,” I mumble happily, pressed against his barrel chest with my head tucked under his chin.
The way the hammock’s designed means there’s not an inch of space between us.
And I’ve got no intention of going anywhere.
In fact, I can’t think of anything I’d like better than falling asleep in Eot’s arms—well, except maybe falling asleep in Eot and Keelo’s arms.
There’s something calming about Eot. He’s always so sure of himself, even when he’s messing around.
“Where’s your better half?” I ask, lightly prodding Eot’s in the ribs so he knows I’m joking.
“Running a systems check of the ship.” Eot catches my finger and presses my whole hand to his chest until I can feel his heart beating. It’s strong and steady and slow.
When Eot and Keelo transform into their monstrous form, do they share a single heart, or do their two hearts beat in unison?
“Is everything alright? With the spaceship, I mean.”
“Yes. It’s basic protocol for when a ship’s been stationary for any length of time.”
I giggle, easily imagining Keelo hunched over the control panel in the cockpit, pressing important-looking buttons and flicking switches. “You guys are outlaws, but of course Keelo’s still following protocol.”
Eot laughs too. It rumbles up his chest, reminding me of a cat’s purr.
I kiss one muscular pec, loving the heat radiating off him as much as I loved my hot shower.
Which reminds me—I flick my hair so the majority of my sopping braids are dangling over the edge of the hammock and dripping to the floor.
It’s going to take a long time for them to dry, but Eot doesn’t seem to mind.
If the way he’s got his neck uncovered and is watching me through hooded eyes is anything to judge by, he very much doesn’t mind.
I breathe deep, and there is it: the scent of fresh apples, crisp and clean and oh-so juicy.
The smell goes straight to my head, my own personal stimulant.
The feeling is euphoric. Everything I’ve been worried about fades into the background of my thoughts.
I take another deep breath and another, letting it seep through me. Relishing how quickly my body responds.
“Rin’s asleep.”
“That so?”
“Yeah.” I’m grinning as I press a kiss to the base of his neck, the easiest part of him I can reach at this angle. He wraps his arms around me, holding me tight, hitching up the hem of my tunic and stroking the bare skin of my back. “Where are we going next?”
“Nowhere. We won’t be doing anyone harm if we stay parked here for another night.”
“So you’re not going to be needed in the cockpit anytime soon?” I ask, dancing my hand down his stomach towards the closure of his trousers.
“Not for hours and hours,” Eot agrees, sliding my tunic higher until he’s pulled it over my head.
I stretch, loving the feeling of naked skin against naked skin.
If yesterday I’d been a cyclone, today I’m a warm summer breeze.
Which is surprising, considering Eot’s pheromones fill the air with an intensity I haven’t experienced since the first time I’d found out about them.
Maybe I’m adapting, or maybe my body’s reaction to smelling sex is closely linked to my other feelings.
And right now I’m feeling drowsy and comfortable and oh-so safe.
I snuggle closer, learning the trick of unclasping his pants so I can free his dick.
It’s hard already, and it bobs against his bare stomach.
I swipe the drop of pre-cum from the tip to taste.
The apple flavor is there, but it’s muted when compared to the full strength of his pheromones.
And there’s the hint of another flavor too—something sweet, almost like caramel.
“Toffee apple!”
“What?” Eot blinks down at me.
I’m guessing that doesn’t translate. “That’s what you taste like. Toffee apple, which is a dessert food back on Earth. Mom used to buy them for me at Easter. It was kind of a family tradition.”
“The taste of my cock reminds you of your mother?”
“No!” I splutter. “It reminds me of happiness.” I kiss him, hoping his sense of taste is as strong as his sense of smell so he can experience toffee apples for himself.
He moans, holding me tighter, but I’m not sure if that’s got anything to do with him being able to taste himself on my lips or because he’s found one of my nipples and is gently rolling it between two fingers.
I gasp his name, right as the door slides open and Keelo steps inside.
“Keelo.” Eot watches him over the top of my head. “Coming to join us?”
Keelo clears his throat.
I study him over my shoulder. There’s a definite bulge in his pants, and his fists are clutched—because he’s angry? Or because he’s holding himself back from moving deeper into the room.
“You must have come in here for a reason,” Eot says.
“Akh—” Keelo thumps himself on the chest, as if to kick-start his voice.
“Wanted to tell you, system checks are complete.” He runs a hand over his head and down the back of his neck, tugging at the edge of a clean neckerchief.
His nostrils flare as he breathes deep, no doubt able to scent Eot’s pheromones and exactly how turned on I am.
If only I could so easily know what he’s thinking.
There’s a muscle twitching in his cheek, and he’s clearly affected by what he’s seeing. So why won’t he step forward to join us? Surely he’s not still worried about his welcome, not while I’ve got Eot’s dick in my hand, and it’s leaking more pre-cum out in the open, on full display for us all.
“The farmer said…akh. There’s more work for us.” Keelo swallows, his hand gripping the thick base of his dick through his pants. “A few hours’ flight from here, at another farm.”
When he catches me studying him, his scowl doesn’t ease up. “What do you know of herding livestock?”
“A lot.” The lie rolls off my tongue.
I’m absolutely trying to impress him, so I commit to the bit and sit up, turning more fully to face him.
Keelo’s gaze goes straight onto my breasts, and he gives his dick another squeeze. Maybe he likes being tortured? It’s the only explanation I can think of for why he hasn’t got his trousers stripped down to his knees and his erection out.
Experimentally, I crook a finger. “Step forward, Keelo.” I give my voice as much steel as I can manage, aiming for the tone of a dominatrix—a role I’ve got absolutely no experience with except for having watched the odd sex documentary on YouTube.
I am a scientist, after all. Make a porn video and call it a documentary and I’ll be the first in the queue to view it.
For a second, nothing happens, and I worry I’ve made a grave miscalculation.
I’m opening my mouth to apologize when Keelo takes a step forward.
It’s the smallest step I’ve ever seen a man over seven feet tall take.
He moves like there’s a string running between me and him, with one end tied around his dick and the other end tied to my finger.
I spare Eot a quiet glance, noticing the way he’s studying Keelo—with an intensity that belies how well he knows his other half.
Then again…of the two of them, Keelo is the one better able to keep a secret.
It wouldn’t surprise me if Eot failed to notice this facet of Keelo’s personality before now.
No wonder Keelo’s perpetually scowling. I bet he loathes the fact that he actually rather enjoys being bossed around by Eot and me.
Excitedly, I crook my finger again, and Keelo takes another faltering step closer.