Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Shathar
It is tedious to be left home alone, wondering what Khesan and Fiona are doing without me.
I fiddle with my communicator, then watch some television, then consider making dinner as Khesan did.
I make a log of ingredients in the refrigerator and look them up, searching the “internet” for recipes that might make good use of them.
Eventually, I find something that looks manageable and gather all the ingredients on the countertop. I will both make up for my disastrous breakfast attempt and outshine Khesan’s dinner from last night.
Luckily, Fiona has many of the things I need in her pantry, and the chicken is already in the refrigerator. I watch a video showing me how to cut and cook it properly. Once the chicken is prepared, I put it into the cooking unit.
That’s when I hear the front door open. I had hoped to make more progress than this before they came home, but hopefully, Fiona will still be pleased.
“What smells so good in here?” she asks as she enters the kitchen, Khesan hot on her heels. He has a hand resting on her hip possessively, and it takes all my willpower to keep my fans from rising on my head.
“It is a meal called ‘chicken parmesan,’” I explain as I stir the sauce. “I discovered you had ‘bread crumbs’ in the pantry. I thought it would be a nutritious meal.”
Fiona’s mouth falls open. “Chicken parmesan! I love chicken parmesan!” She hurries to my side, peering down into the pan. “Wow, Shathar. This is awesome.”
I preen at her praise, and only hope that I have executed it correctly according to the recipe.
Khesan’s irritated gaze burns into my back as I cook, but I ignore him. Then, I withdraw the chicken from the oven, and it looks just like the picture on the internet. Pleased, I serve one breaded breast to each of the three plates, then top them with my sauce and the cheese.
“I should have you make this again with real parmesan instead of the stuff in a can,” Fiona says as I put it on the table in front of her. “This smells amazing. Can’t wait.”
She dives in right away, and I sit watching her, enormously happy that I could give her something she likes. Khesan eats, too, and I catch his eyes going wide from the corner of my eye. He is clearly enjoying it, but keeps his mouth closed.
That’s fine. I only need Fiona’s approval.
After dinner, I try to clean up, but she insists on doing it herself. I wait idly by while she finishes, hoping that I can spend some time with her afterward, as she was with Khesan all afternoon. He smirks as he passes me into the living room.
“I kissed her today,” he whispers to me, arching an eyebrow suggestively. “She was very receptive.”
I grit my teeth and try not to look at him, so he doesn’t have the gratification of knowing he is getting under my skin.
“I kissed her first,” I hiss back. “Yesterday. You are in second place.”
His fans go up, but I keep myself calm, not wanting to start a fight after doing such a good job of making Fiona happy.
“It doesn’t matter,” Khesan says, turning his head away. “She will see my nalopo and know that you are the liar.”
I scowl. “Stop making up stories.”
Khesan simply shrugs and picks up the television remote to turn it on.
But I find myself somewhat disturbed. Does he truly have nalopo, too?
That could be disastrous for my chances of remaining on Earth. This new life I’ve already begun forging with Fiona…
I shake my head. There’s no possibility of that.
Buoyed by this knowledge, I step out into the cool night air to bring myself back to center.
It is much colder on Earth than on Arshur, but Fiona has assured me that is simply because it’s winter.
I am surprised when a tiny white dot drifts down through the air, and I hold out a hand to catch it.
It is cold and immediately melts on my warm skin.
What could this be? Now there are more white bits falling every which way and sticking to the grass. Is this natural?
I rush back inside just as Fiona is drying a pan.
“Fiona!” I call out. “There is white coming down from the sky. I am concerned.”
She blinks, then lets out a giggle. “It must be snowing!” With a surprising amount of energy, she rushes to the back door and peers out the glass. “Sure enough! Wow. I wonder if it’ll stick.”
“What is it?” I ask. Khesan has heard the commotion and come to look, too, standing on the other side of Fiona as we all gaze out into the backyard.
“Snow is frozen water that falls from clouds,” Fiona explains. “If it’s cold enough, it will accumulate, and we’ll have snow on the ground.” She turns to me and grins. “It’s fun to play in. Well, for children, anyway. I haven’t played in the snow in years.”
Snow. Frozen water falling from the sky. What an odd world I’ve come to.
We all watch for some time as the flakes drift down to the ground. It is strangely magical the way it makes the night sky brighter, the light of the Earth’s single moon turning the clouds silver.
“There are three moons on Arshur,” Khesan says after some silence. “None nearly so large as yours, Fiona. It is beautiful.”
I say nothing because I agree, and I don’t want to give him the satisfaction.
“It’ll be Christmas soon,” Fiona says, backing away from the window. “Do you guys know about that?”
We both shake our heads.
“It’s a holiday that’s a really big deal here. Maybe we should hang up some lights soon.”
“Lights?” Khesan asks.
“Oooh, it’s so fun! And beautiful. Lots of people decorate with lights, and it looks so cool when there’s snow on the ground.” She drums a finger on her chin. “You know what, let me go look and see if I’ve still got some. Mom loved decorating.”
With that, Fiona disappears up the stairs, leaving the two of us at the sliding glass door. But I have nothing to say to Khesan, so I turn around to leave.
“Do you miss Arshur?”
His question startles me. I didn’t expect him to even speak to me without Fiona around.
“No.” I cross my arms over my chest. “This is my future, so I am not thinking about Arshur.”
“Hmm.”
I expected this declaration would get more of a rise out of him, but his fans have not so much as moved.
“I do,” Khesan says, still looking out onto the yard. “And I think I always will, because it was home once upon a time, and my family remains there.”
I cross my arms firmly. “I don’t have family, so it doesn’t matter to me.” That was just one of the many reasons I left Arshur.
Khesan just nods as I walk away to follow Fiona. At the top of the stairs, a strange door in the ceiling is open, a ladder heading up to it. I peer up into the doorway just as Fiona reappears.
“Oh, perfect. Take this, will you?” She feeds down a big mass of cables, and I reach up to bring them into my arms, trying to wind them into some semblance of order. Then Fiona comes down the ladder. “Guess we gotta sort through all this. What a mess.”
But she laughs cheerily as we head down the stairs.
We spend a good portion of the evening sorting through the lights and trying to untangle them, and by the time we’re finished, all three of us have yawned at least once.
Eventually, Khesan rises and says he’s going to bed, shooting Fiona a look before he departs. I think he had hoped she’d go with him.
“Guess I’d better hit the hay, too,” Fiona says.
I puzzle through this phrase. “A food for farm animals?”
She giggles. “Just means going to sleep. Thank you for dinner tonight.”
I close the distance between us and scoop up her hand in mine, twining our fingers together. Now it’s just the two of us, and I plan on taking advantage of that.
“Of course. I enjoyed pleasing you.” I bring her hand up to my lips as I saw in a movie and kiss her knuckles. Her face immediately turns pink, and I can’t help grinning. I like how easily she responds to me.
I wonder if there are other ways I could please her.
I’m enjoying the kissing, but my body is yearning for more of her touches.
Feeling bold, I kiss along her arm all the way to her shoulder, and Fiona shivers as I reach her neck.
I pause before continuing so she can stop me if she likes, but she doesn’t, so I continue with my kisses up her throat, to her soft jawline, until I am nearly at her lips.
“Shathar,” she murmurs, and I love the way my name sounds on her tongue. “That feels so good. How did you learn that?”
“I have simply learned that you like kisses, so why not apply them everywhere?”
She giggles happily. “Clever.”
Finally, I let my lips settle on hers, and I bring her in close to me as we kiss.
I could just die like this, my mate wrapped up in my arms, performing such an intimate act.
Though there are other, far more intimate acts I would like to perform with her, I know it will take some time before she’s comfortable enough with me.
This time, our tongues come out to play, and it is marvelously erotic to tease her with it. Perhaps I understand the reason behind this whole kissing thing, as my tongue finding its way inside her mouth hints at what else I might put inside her, and my whole body lights up.
Hopefully she can’t feel how my cock has awoken.
After some time, we separate, both of us breathing harder than before. Fiona’s cheeks are flushed and I wonder how much deeper that flush would go in even closer situations.
“I suppose I should go to bed, too,” she says breathlessly.
I nod in agreement. “I will, as well. Goodnight, Fiona.”
We exchange one last embrace before she disappears up the stairs, and I watch her go.
There will be more chances, I remind myself.
But when I’m alone in my room in the basement once more, I can’t help pulling down my leggings as my heavy cock emerges from its slit.
It’s still hungry from our kisses, so I close my eyes and lean back as I stroke from root to tip, my fingers traveling over my nalopo, which exist only for Fiona.
I grunt as my climax creeps closer, as I picture my mate without her clothes on. I wonder what she looks like, if she will resemble the diagrams I’ve seen on my communicator.
Finally, my finish jumps on me, and I shoot out everything I have to give. Then I clean it up with some toilet paper from the bathroom and climb into bed, hoping someday I won’t sleep alone anymore.