Finding the Jewel

  “Plus, I’m not a one-night-stand kind of girl—I never have been. I can’t help it, Tark, I feel like sex ought to mean something. It ought to be saved for someone you love. I mean, when I was a kid and my mom taught me the facts of life she told me, ‘Chloe, sex is like a gift. And if you go giving that gift to just anybody, it cheapens it…it doesn’t mean anything anymore.’”

  “Chloe—”

  “And I try to be a liberated, sex-positive woman but there’s a part of me that still really believes that. That’s probably why I was twenty-two before I finally lost my virginity. I just…”

  She trailed off, realizing she was basically just spewing words at him. The big Kindred was staring down at her in complete silence, his golden eyes unreadable.

  He probably thinks I’m crazy now, Chloe thought unhappily. Just completely nuts. Well, at least the hem of her robe had turned white again, so he knew she wasn’t lying—not that it helped much.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, trying to keep the tremor out of her voice. “I’m just…really freaking nervous.”

  “I-I am t-too,” he rumbled. Cupping her hot cheek in his big hand, he leaned closer. “But I p-promise you, Chloe—I w-won’t hurt you. I’d r-rather die than do that.”

  His soft words and the sincerity on his face made a knot that had formed somewhere in her stomach somehow relax.

  “All…all right,” she whispered, nodding.

  “W-we’re in this together,” Tark told her. I g-got you into it and I’ll g-get you out.”

  “Okay.” Chloe nodded again. “Sorry for the freak-out.” She took a deep breath. “Uh-oh—I think it’s starting.”

  “When you first came here,” Monk Aaroni was saying, from his place on the raised podium. “We told you that we would heal your sexual dysfunction through touch, tone, talk and taste. All of you have experienced the tones of the resonite which makes up your robes and keeps you truthful. And all of you have been encouraged to touch and taste each other as much as possible, to rekindle the fire in your relationship or, in some cases, to heal the Skin Hunger that has grown in you as you neglected each other.”

  Chloe thought again, with some shame, of how Tark was still hungry even after their earlier encounter. But then the monk continued and she felt like she had to pay attention again.

  “Now, we will practice talking to each other as we put some of these other techniques to use,” he said. “If you would, please sit on your gellas together and face each other.”

  Since the old monk had stated that he could see into their cubbies, Chloe didn’t think they had much of a choice. And she assumed that the gellas he was referring to was the Jell-O filled mattress in the center of the cubby. She looked up at Tark who shrugged and lifted his eyebrows.

  After you, the look said.

  Chloe nodded and took a deep breath. Well, they would just have to get through this somehow. And knowing that Tark was in it with her and wouldn’t hurt her, helped to ease her nerves.

  She stepped to the strange mattress and sat gingerly on the edge of it. Immediately the gella rippled and she found herself moving closer to the center—she was being carried there by the motion of the mattress itself.

  “Whoa—hey!” she exclaimed but when she reached down to grab at the surface of the mattress, she found it was too slick and smooth to get a hold of. Once she got to the center, the mattress stopped moving but it had been an extremely strange sensation, being glided over its surface and not being able to stop herself.

  “Chloe?” Tark looked at her, obviously concerned.

  “Be careful,” she told him, a bit breathlessly. “It…it has a mind of its own.”

  Frowning, he nodded and sat down himself. At once, the mattress rippled under him. Despite his size and muscular bulk, the gella moved him every bit as smoothly as it had moved Chloe, until he was sitting right across from her in the center.

  “Whoa…” He looked down at it.

  “Freaky, isn’t it?” Chloe said softly. “I wonder what it’s made of or if it’s some kind of living being?”

  Before Tark could answer her, Monk Aaroni was talking again.

  “Now that I can see all of you are settled as I asked, I want you to take each other's hands. Those of you with two or more partners man need to take turns,” he added.

  Holding hands—well, that didn’t seem too hard. Chloe breathed an inward sigh of relief as she reached for Tark and felt him take her much smaller hands in his larger ones. It was funny but his hand with the metal glove felt as smooth and warm as the other one—whatever technology he had, it was really natural-seeming.

  “Now, while looking into your partner’s eyes, tell him, her, or it, what you find most beautiful or attractive about them,” Monk Aaroni intoned.

  This is just like some kind of marriage counseling session back on Earth! Chloe thought. And she had been so worried. But this was going to be a piece of cake! Well…kind of embarrassing, actually—but still, easier than having freaking sex on the self-moving Jell-O mattress. The point was, she could do this.

  “Do you want me to start?” she asked Tark.

  “O-okay.” He nodded.

  Chloe wasn’t exactly sure what she intended to say. But looking into those molten gold eyes of his, she found herself telling the truth.

  “Tark,” she said softly. “At first when I saw you at the Commercian’s station, I was scared to death of you. You were so big and muscular and scary and I thought you had come to buy me and carry me off like some kind of trophy.” She smiled and shook her head at her own misapprehension. “Then you turned out to be a nice guy instead and I was kind of in awe of you. I mean, you’re so attractive…” She shrugged. “You could be some kind of movie star if you were on my home planet.”

  He frowned. “M-movie star?”

  “A really famous and beloved actor,” Chloe explained. “Like, I could definitely see you starring in some kind of Conan the Barbarian remake or something if you lived on Earth.” She shook her head. “Never mind about that—what I’m trying to say is: when I started to get to know you, I realized that you were more than just a big, scary muscular guy or a pretty face.”

  Tark snorted laughter at this. Clearly he didn’t think of his face as pretty. Maybe he was thinking of the scar that ran through his eyebrow and gave him that rakish, pirate look. Chloe wondered if he realized it only added to his appeal. True, with his long, wild hair and his beard he wasn’t exactly the smooth-faced preppy kind of guy she’d gone for in college but there was something real about the big Beast Kindred—something she couldn’t put her finger on but couldn’t ignore either.

  “Listen, though,” Chloe told him earnestly. “I’m trying to say this, but I’m making a mess of it. You have so many admirable qualities, Tark. You’re brave and kind and gentle and sweet and strong…and…and when you touch me it seems to set me on fire inside,” she finished breathlessly.

  She hadn’t meant to say that last part—it had kind of just slipped out. But when it was said, she knew it was the truth. Even now, just holding hands with him made her heart pound and her heart race. Her whole body felt like it was blushing.

  Also, sitting across from each other and leaning in close, as they were, she could smell that warm, smoky, spicy scent again—the smell of his skin—and feel the heat radiating from his big body—his broad shoulders and muscular chest. God, he was so damn hot! Chloe felt like she might burst into flames just sitting there staring at him!

  “M-my turn,” he said softly, breaking her train of thought.

  “Okay,” Chloe whispered, bracing herself. What would he say? That she was a sweet girl but this was a one-time thing and after they were done here he would take her home and they would never see each other again? What was going on behind those inscrutable golden eyes?

  Tark took a deep breath and gripped her hands tighter.

  “Chloe,” he said, speaking on the exhale, as she had taught him. “You are…e-e-everything I have ever wanted in a f-female.
”

  “Oh…” Chloe whispered, surprised. But Tark wasn’t done yet.

  “You are so b-beautiful,” he murmured. “So c-curvy and luscious. But you’re kind t-too. Before I m-met you, no one had ever bothered to lis-listen to me. To really h-hear me. You s-saw past my stu-stutter,” he said in a low voice. He let go of one of her hands briefly to thump his chest fiercely. “To the m-male underneath. F-for that, I will always be grateful.”

  “Oh, Tark…” Heart beating hard, she reached up to run her hand over his cheek, feeling the scratch of his whiskers in her palm.

  “If you are not already touching your partner, please touch and embrace them now,” Monk Aaroni said from the podium.

  Chloe was hardly paying attention to the old monk’s words so when the Jell-O like substance beneath her lifted her like a wave at the beach and pushed her into the big Kindred’s lap, she gave a gasp of surprise.

  “Oh!”

  “It’s o-okay. I’ve g-got you.” Tark caught her quickly and she found she was straddling him, just as she had been when he sat on the bench in Monk Taroni’s chambers and they had been commanded to kiss.

  And just as it had happened before, her robe-dress chose this moment to melt away, leaving her naked in the big Kindred’s arms.

  “Oh, no!” Chloe exclaimed, trying to cover herself with her hands. It was probably silly since he’d seen her naked not that long ago but she wasn’t really thinking straight. Her attempt to cover up was an instinctive reaction to being suddenly naked.

  “What in the Seven H-hells is going on?” Tark growled, looking down at the two of them. His trousers had disappeared too, leaving his thick shaft exposed. It looked long and hard and dangerous to Chloe. She needed to be careful here—very careful, she told herself.

  “Now kiss your partner…or partners. Again, threesomes, foursomes, or moresomes may need to take turns,” Monk Aaroni intoned from his place behind the lectern.

  The Jell-O type substance of the gella pressed firmly against Chloe’s bare ass, pushing her up to meet Tark’s mouth.

  “Hey!” she exclaimed, looking over her shoulder and reaching behind her to slap at it. “Stop being so pushy! I can do it on my own, you know!”

  She turned to Tark, feeling her cheeks get warm.

  “It’s uh, pushing me up to you. Sorry.”

  “Then I g-guess we’d better k-kiss,” he murmured.

  “I guess so,” Chloe agreed breathlessly. “I—”

  Tark slanted his mouth over hers before she could finish and just like that, they were lost in each other.

  Chloe moaned as he sucked her tongue into his mouth, wanting more, taking more. How was it possible that he still tasted faintly of chocolate and mint? Before she’d thought it was the Thin Mint she’d given him to eat. Now she wondered if it was the natural taste of his mouth. But how could that be?

  Then again, how could he smell so incredibly warm and enticing like smoke and fur and dark spices? Everything about him seemed to draw her closer—to make her want him more.

  Chloe found she was sinking lower in his lap to slide against the thick ridge of his cock. It felt so good as he rubbed against her open pussy, grinding up against the tender bud of her clit.

  Shouldn’t be doing this, whispered a little voice in her brain. What about all that stuff you just told him about how sex is supposed to mean something? You can’t just throw all that out the window can you?

  Except it sure seemed like she was. Not that they were actually having sex but her nipples were so tight they ached and her pussy was wetter and hotter than it had ever been before. She rubbed against his shaft shamelessly, the same way she had rubbed against his tongue when he’d tasted her. He felt so good against her…so incredibly right.

  And then she tilted her hips a little too far and felt something start to enter her. Something thick and hot and hard had breached her entrance and was sliding into her pussy.

  With a little gasp, she tore her mouth from Tark’s and looked down. To her mingled fear and fascination, she saw that the big Kindred’s cock—which was utterly massive—had begun to penetrate her. In fact, the broad head and maybe an inch of his shaft was already inside her. All she would have to do was press down to have him all the way inside her.

  Part of her wanted that—wanted to take the thick shaft she could feel stretching her entrance all the way, wanted to let him slide deep into her pussy—to fill her with his cock and his come.

  But then her eyes wandered lower and she saw something that was seriously scary—the swelling around the thick root of his cock. Seeing it up close she could tell it was so wide there was no way it would ever fit inside her. It was huge. She remembered again about the rumors that Beast Kindred had something extra that would stretch you out and that sex with them could last for hours as they came in you again and again. If she let Tark into her, how much would it hurt? And how long would it take? Would he ever stop?

  Oh my God, what are we doing here? What am I doing? We barely know each other—this has to stop!

  With a little gasp, she pulled away from him, feeling his thickness starting to slide out of her. Then Tark’s big hands were on her hips and for a moment it seemed like he wasn’t going to let her go. In fact, he forced her lower so that several more thick inches of his cock slid deep into her pussy, nearly filling her to the limit.

  “Tark!” she exclaimed, wiggling against him as she felt the thick shaft stretching her inner walls. But not as nearly stretched out as you will be if he gets that massive thing at the base of his cock inside you, reminded a voice in her head. Better get him out now before that happens!

  Chloe started to panic. “I can’t…we can’t…please,” she begged.

  His golden eyes blazed into hers and a low growl rose in his throat. He said one word—the same word he had used when she had been threatened by the Slimerian.

  “Mine.”

  His tone was predatory…possessive. More beast than man.

  Maybe that’s why they’re called Beast Kindred, whispered that same little voice in her head. And somewhere deep inside her, a memory rose. Someone telling her you must never run from a wild animal—like a mouse running from a cat, it only made the beast more eager to catch you. Somehow she had awakened the beast in the big Kindred—her only hope of escape was to appeal to the rational side of him. And to do that, she had to stop stimulating the beast side.

  Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to stop struggling. With a little moan, she collapsed against him, resting her head on his broad shoulder in defeat. This position opened her even wider and she felt another broad inch of his shaft sink into her, stretching her inner walls wide on his thickness. But she didn’t try to fight him—didn’t try to get away though she could feel the wide tip of his cock nearly kissing the mouth of her womb. She simply lay there, limp in his arms, not fighting, not moving.

  “Tark, please,” she whispered in his ear. “Please, I’m not ready for this. I…I’m scared.”

  Finally it seemed she had gotten through to him. He stopped growling with lust and his grip on her hips loosened. When Chloe dared to raise her head to look at him, she saw that the haze of lust had left his golden eyes to be replaced by uncertainty. He looked like someone coming out of a trance.

  Or maybe a beast turning back into a man, whispered that little voice in her head.

  “Ch-Chloe?” he asked hoarsely. “What…how…?”

  “Please,” she whispered. “Out…out of me.”

  “S-so sorry,” he growled. “D-don’t know what got into me.”

  “It…it’s okay,” Chloe whispered. “I’m just…not ready.”

  He nodded and started to pull out of her…but that was when Monk Aaroni spoke again.

  “If you have not begun already, it is time to show your partner or partners the physical manifestation of your feelings for him, her, it or them. It is time for you to make love.”

  At the ancient Monk’s words, the gella mattress beneath them sprang int
o action. A wave of it reared up behind the big Kindred and pushed him hard between the shoulder blades. At the same time, it tugged at Chloe, rolling her onto her back and spreading her thighs wide to make her more open.

  With a gasp from her and a surprised growl from Tark, they found themselves in a completely different position. Chloe was flat on her back with her thighs spread wide and pinned open by the strangely malleable substance of the gella mattress and Tark was buried to the hilt inside her, the head of his thick shaft pressing hard against the mouth of her womb.

  “Oh!” she exclaimed, wiggling to try and get out from under him. But her motion only seemed to seat his thick shaft more firmly inside her pussy. Worse, she could feel herself beginning to stretch as the wide outer ridge around the base of his shaft actually tried to slide into her as well. “Tark,” she gasped, beginning to feel panicked. He was so big on top of her—she felt pinned to the freaky mattress beneath them—pinned and trapped!

  “S-sorry,” he apologized in a rough growl. “D-don’t mean to…I mean, I’m not…not doing it o-on p-purpose.”

  “Can…can you get off me? Out of me?” Chloe asked breathlessly. She was feeling a strange mixture of desire and fear but the fear was winning—this was really overwhelming and she felt completely unprepared for it.

  “Trying…” Tark heaved himself up, a few thick inches of his shaft sliding out of her tightly-stretched pussy. But when he did, the gella reached up and pushed him back down…and in.

  “Oh!” Chloe gasped as the thick shaft piercing her suddenly thrust deep, the broad head of his cock giving the end of her channel a rough kiss.

  “S-sorry,” Tark growled again. His golden eyes were glowing brightly. “Damn th-thing is s-s-strong.”

  He punched at the Jell-O like structure of the jiggling mattress angrily with his metal-gloved right hand but his fist simply sank harmlessly into the quivering substance, clearly not hurting the gella at all.

  “Just…just hold still,” Chloe moaned, because the jiggling from his punch made him move inside her again, his pubic bone grinding against her clit in a way that sent showers of sparks through her body. “Just…just don’t move,” she said. “It…it has to let us up, sometime, right?”