Chapter 18 #2
“On Earth, people traditionally marry to give children stability. There are societies where divorce was only allowed if one partner was infertile.”
Khar’s shoulders relaxed, as if a crushing weight had lifted. She had not even realized how tense he had been.
“You want descendants?” he asked gently. “I can give them to you.”
He rubbed his face against her palm like a giant cat. “My body has adapted to yours. Do not worry about that. We had not discussed it, so I did not press. But if you decide you want it, I am ready. If you decide you do not, I remain at your side. Only you matter.”
She froze, thoughts spinning until a few coherent ones surfaced.
“That is why you did not finish inside me?” she asked. “I thought it was a Divani custom.”
“No. I took precautions on my end. It is courtesy, since I do not know human norms. And an additional safety layer. There is no manual for Divani-human pairings.”
“Damn right,” Lily snapped. “It would be assault to get me pregnant without my consent.”
He did not retreat. He stepped closer. “I told you I would never force you. The option exists if you want it. Are there other expectations?”
“I need time to process this,” she said. “And if we did have children… how would that even be possible?”
Pride straightened him. “A Divani trait. It is how we rose to leadership on our homeworld and how we expand in the wider universe. When a Divani finds a true partner, we adapt. The offspring is viable and fertile, though it leans toward Divani biology. It can later pair with other Divani without further adaptation. Other species have similar phenomena. We are not unique.”
She nodded slowly. “When I accepted I might never return to Earth, I let go of the future I assumed, including children. So even the possibility feels like something to be grateful for.”
“Most species face declining births over time,” he said. “Resources remain, but societies falter. There is no true solution. it is one of the reasons Divani became powerful across the universe. But you do not need to decide now. What matters to you besides reproduction?”
“For most people…”
“Not most people,” he interrupted softly. “For Lily, a Sun-loving female from Earth.”
She swallowed. “Trust, I think. Caring for each other. Sharing what you have and achieving more together than alone. Staying when things get hard. And exclusivity. I do not think I could compromise on that.”
He looked at her as if she had spoken a revelation. Absolute attention, no judgment. It made her squirm.
“Something like that,” she finished. “It is hard to transplant an Earth definition wholesale.”
“I disagree,” he said calmly. “All of that I can fulfill.”
She giggled at his earnestness. “If you insist on a label, husband feels too early. On Earth, people usually get engaged first. Fiancé and fiancée. It is not as final, but it declares intent.”
Khar nodded solemnly. “Understood. If you remain satisfied with me for a long time, I will be your husband.”
She laughed, flustered. “Something like that. There is no fixed timeline. It is a trial period for both of us.”
“I require no trial,” he said. “But I accept our terms. We will revisit later.”
Then he pivoted.
He sprang up, reached into the bag he had brought from home, and produced a leather line. With a single leap he clipped the carabiner into one of Helios’s ceiling safety loops. The maneuver was impressive. The most impressive part was the towel staying in place.
Lily barely processed the shift from romance to motion before he caught her wrists, wrapped them, and tugged the line to pull her upright. The leather was soft enough not to hurt, but firm enough to hold.
“What are you doing?” she gasped.
“You are a human field researcher who crash-landed on an uncharted world. You were captured by a local savage. That is me. The translator only speaks modern tongues, and I speak Old Divani. Very authentic.”
She struggled, but did not use the safeword. Seeing he had won, Khar issued a command.
“Helios, set quarters to Garrum Reserve. Jungle.”
The lights sank into red hues. Distant, unfamiliar animal calls echoed. Modern, safe Helios transformed into something primal and unsettling.
Lily loved it.
He took her from behind first, unseen, murmuring threats at her ear while weapon-worthy claws mapped her body. Then he flipped her, holding her wide by the thighs.
Face to face in the crimson glow, she thought for a heartbeat she truly faced a demon. Red light across obsidian skin made it feel like they danced in purgatory’s flames and she was the sinner, surrendered to her tormentor.
In that position he was almost too big, but with every thrust the small horn-like spurs stroked her clit. The wild, unrestrained sex, the lights tuned to her subconscious, and Khar’s devotion drove an orgasm through her so fierce her vision blurred and tears slipped down her cheeks.
Even as the aftershocks trembled on, he supported her with one arm, loosened the leather, and kissed the flushed marks on her wrists.
“Satisfied, my human fiancée?”
She could only nod before curling against his chest.
“Good,” he said, pure contentment in his voice. “If you are happy, I am happy.”
Lily had never been happier.
* * *
Later that chrono-cycle, while Khar slept with his head in her lap, Lily scrolled through old files on her abandoned phone backup. Most of it was useless now. Expired banking apps. Dead social media accounts. Photos of meals she no longer remembered eating.
Then she froze.
“Oh my God.”
Khar cracked one eye open, his glowing gaze casting soft light over her features.
“Is there cause for alarm?”
“Maybe.” Lily sat upright so abruptly his head slid off her thigh.
He glared up at her and was promptly ignored.
“I found something.” She stared at the screen in disbelief. “I completely forgot this existed.”
“What is it?”
Lily’s expression softened.
“The last thing my sister downloaded onto my phone before…” She trailed off. “Before everything.”
Khar immediately pushed himself upright, all traces of irritation gone.
“Do you wish to stop?”
“No.” She shook her head quickly. “No, this is good. It’s… actually kind of amazing.”
She turned the screen toward him.
Khar narrowed his eyes at the title.
Games of Thorns and Roses
He looked back at her slowly.
“This is a historical record of human agriculture?”
Lily barked out a laugh. “What? No.”
“Then why is there a garden?”
“There is barely any gardening.”
“Then your species names things dishonestly.”
“It’s a television show.”
He looked deeply unimpressed.
“The title suggests flowers.”
“It has dragons.”
He paused.
“…continue.”
Lily grinned triumphantly and tucked herself against his side as she started the episode.
“My sister and I were obsessed with this. We used to watch new episodes together and scream at the characters.”
“Why would you scream?”
“Because they make terrible choices.”
“That sounds avoidable.”
“That’s because you solve all your problems with violence.”
“That is inaccurate.” He considered. “Sometimes intimidation is sufficient.”
The opening theme began.
Khar sighed dramatically.
“I want it noted that I am enduring this purely for your enjoyment. This does not appear worthy of a Divani’s valuable time.”
“Sure.”
Twenty micro-cycles later, Lily glanced sideways.
Khar had not moved.
He sat rigidly focused on the screen, eyes narrowed in absolute concentration.
When a beloved character appeared, he leaned forward.
“That one is clearly plotting betrayal.”
“He isn’t.”
“He has betrayal eyes.”
“That is not a real thing.”
“It is now.”
By the end of the first episode, Khar was visibly agitated.
“That incompetent ruler should have executed his rivals immediately.”
“That would end the story.”
“It would improve efficiency.”
When the episode ended, the screen automatically returned to Lily’s file menu.
Silence.
Then—
“Lily.”
She bit back a smile. “Yes?”
“It is deeply unfortunate that you possess only two episodes of this program.”
Her grin widened.
“Told you.”
Khar glanced at her, looking like the admission physically pained him.
“This is difficult for me to say, but I may have judged human entertainment prematurely.”
Lily snorted.
“May have?”
He ignored her.
“You will now explain everything that happens after this point.” He gestured sharply at the frozen screen. “Beginning with the dragon-beasts.”
Lily burst into laughter.
“Well,” she said, settling deeper against him, “this is going to take a while.”
* * *
As the end of their sabbatical crept closer, Lily wanted it to stretch on forever. She feared that once they fell back into work, the perfect bubble they had built would crack.
So on the final morning she broke their routine.
Instead of waking to Khar’s erection or his tongue tracing her most sensitive places, she decided to surprise him.
She had also noticed that mornings made him more vulnerable, more easily undone.
If she ever wanted to see him lose control completely, this was her chance.
She knelt between his legs and took the head of him into her mouth.
Slowly. Intentionally.
Her lips and tongue worked him with patient sensuality until he hardened fully, a low groan tearing from him even as he slept. She knew the exact moment he woke when his hand closed in her hair and his voice dropped into a rough, half-sleep snarl.
“This is torture, you devious female.”
She dragged her own far less threatening teeth along his skin in warning, mimicking the way he teased her.
Message received.
Khar escalated instantly.
He lifted her, turned her with effortless strength until her thighs framed his face, yet she could still reach him. The sudden shift stole her breath.
“Let’s wager,” he said calmly. “Since you are so confident. If I finish first, you get to tyrannize me all of this cycle. Every small command obeyed. But if you finish first, then from this morning until nightfall, I will be inside one of your openings. Do you accept?”
Lily could not imagine how he planned to turn this around. The angle was strange, but after seven chrono-cycles of near-constant nakedness, embarrassment had long since burned away.
“Deal.”
She shuddered when his tongue swept softly over her, unhurried and precise. She was already slick, but she could handle it. She worked him harder, faster, determined not to lose momentum.
Then he slapped her throbbing center.
Not hard, but sharp enough to send pleasure screaming through her entire body. He acted as if nothing had happened and returned to slow, expert attention. Just as she steadied herself, another strike landed.
After that, there was no mercy.
His fingers joined his mouth, and Lily tried to focus on her own task, on her tongue and lips and his reactions, but under that kind of assault it was impossible.
“Khar, no… stop…”
“I cannot,” he said calmly. “The stakes are serious.”
She could only whimper as the inevitable claimed her. Her orgasm tore through her long and trembling, spilling over his face as she cried out.
He barely gave her a moment to recover.
Handling her as though she were something precious, he lifted her down, sat on the edge of the bed, and positioned her between his knees.
“Now,” he said, “finish what you started.”
She glared at him, defiant even as her pulse raced, then took him into her mouth.
To her surprise, it took almost nothing. His thighs tightened, his breath broke, and he came with a deep, guttural moan, heat flooding her mouth.
Lily usually hated swallowing. Taste was tolerable. Texture was not. She braced herself for the awkward moment, ready to pull back and wipe her mouth.
Of course, Khar shattered that expectation too.
The taste was salty and musky, not unpleasant. The texture slid silk-smooth across her tongue. Lily swallowed.
Then, deliberately, she licked him again, slow over shaft and head, just to see what he would do.
Khar stared at her as though she were something miraculous, his focus never wavering.
“Did you like it, Khar?”
“Yes,” he said hoarsely. “You know I fucking liked it.”
She smiled and traced the corner of her mouth with the tip of her tongue. Khar scooped her up, leaned back, and settled her against his chest.
“I think that was one of the greatest challenges of my life,” he admitted. “Holding myself back.”
She smacked his chest lightly. “I knew you were close.”
“Ah-ah,” he murmured. “A wager is a wager. And now we begin repayment.”
Khar, it turned out, was a very strict collector.