Chapter Twelve
Alanah couldn’t help feeling nervous—it was the Bathing Day, after all, but Bram had hinted that much more than bathing would be happening when he came home from speaking to his friend, the healer. She had met the healer—Ren—earlier that morning and he had taken some of her blood to “run tests” whatever that meant.
Afterwards, Bram had taken her to a place to eat where they served Jor’gen Kindred food and she’d gotten to try some of his favorite dishes which seemed to include a lot of meat. But then, to her surprise, Bram had claimed that the meat was actually “plant based protein”—or meat made of plants. This didn’t seem to make any sense to Alanah but then, much of his world didn’t. Not that it was bad—just different and something she knew she’d have to get used to.
The food had been good—if somewhat strange to her tastes—but Bram had also promised that he would help her program his “droid” to make the kind of food she was used to.
“Or you can cook it yourself if you’d rather,” he added when she’d said she didn’t know what she would do with all her free time. “I’ll teach you how to use the kitchen implements and the simulator can make any kind of ingredients you want.”
Of course, before she could learn to cook in his kitchen, she would have to be able to reach everything in it, Alanah acknowledged to herself. To help with this dilemma, her giant had gotten her a little droid of her own that looked a little like a sleek metal catkin. It flowed around her legs and followed her everywhere and when she wanted to reach something up high it would either jump up and get what Alanah wanted, or transform itself into a sturdy step stool which would raise her as high as she needed to go to get whatever it was she wanted to reach.
Alanah was becoming quite fond of her new pet, which she had named “Tabby” after a catkin she’d had once as a little girl. She only wished it had fur instead of a metal hide so she could stroke it and listen to it purr.
Right now she was engaged in trying to get the clothing simulator to work. It was a long, flat machine which ran on a kind of fine multicolored sand that was poured in one end. A flat, round metal disk called a “thought transmitter” connected to a long rope that Bram called a “neuro wire” was attached to it. The disk was supposed to stick on your forehead and then, when you had the garment you wanted pictured firmly in your mind, you pressed the red button on the simulator’s side and it spat out the required clothing from its long, flat mouth.
Alanah had been amazed when he first showed her how to work it by “thinking” a uniform shirt into existence. He explained how the machine picked up “thought waves” and heated the multicolored sands, which were called “polymer dots” until they became pliable enough to stretch into fibers. The machine then wove these fibers into the requested garment—all at an incredible speed.
But even knowing exactly how it worked, Alanah couldn’t help thinking it seemed like magic. It was so amazingly fast—Bram had made himself a shirt in the time it would have taken her to toast a piece of bread in the fire and with about the same amount of effort.
Alanah knew that to make a shirt like he wore by hand would have been the work of weeks back home. She would have had to sheer a sheep, card the wool, use a spinning wheel to twist the wool fibers into thread, dye the yarn, put it on a loom, and then weave it into a bolt of fabric before cutting and sewing it by hand. All of this for one item of clothing which he has simply “thought” into existence as though it was nothing.
If our people do mix, we’re going to have to find something to do with ourselves, she thought, as she carefully measured some of the polymer dots into the receptacle and picked up the thought wave transmitter. We’re so used to doing chores that take up our whole lives—planting and harvesting crops, raising animals, making food and clothes—it will be a shock to suddenly live a life of leisure where everything is done for us.
Not that she was complaining—she was actually excited about the prospect. Her father had taught her to read and write and think for herself—he had even employed a tutor for her, such as a male heir might get, when it became clear he would have no son to take the throne after him.
Alanah had always wished for more time to learn and read and now she would have it—along with access to much more advanced learning than she’d ever had before. Bram had showed her a small screen which he said held hundreds of books all at once and had promised to give her something which would help her learn his language so she could read them. It was an amazing idea and one she was excited about…if she stayed with him, that was.
Because as much as she cared for her gentle giant, Alanah had decided it wasn’t fair to tie him to her if she couldn’t bloom for him. It was the reason why she had put him off, yet again, when he had offered to take her to the Sacred Grove—the place in the center of the ship dedicated to the Kindred Goddess—and marry her that morning. She simply couldn’t go through with such a final step until she was certain she could give him everything a wife ought to give her husband.
She sighed when she thought of it. The experience she’d had with him last night had been equal parts amazing and depressing. Amazing because he’d made her feel things she hadn’t known were possible and depressing because in the end, even the intense pleasure her giant had given her hadn’t helped her bloom.
If only Thiera hadn’t refused to do the ritual, she thought sadly. I want so much to be open for Bram—to give myself to him completely!
Still, she hadn’t completely given up hope. Bram had assured her that his friend the physician could help. And the fact that he had taken blood from her made Alanah wonder if he might be a kind of witch or sorcerer himself—why else would he need blood? Could the “tests” he’d said he had to run actually have to do with a kind of magic?
Of course, Bram kept assuring her that nothing aboard his big, wonderful ship was magic and he had attempted to explain about “science” several times but Alanah thought it was probably something she would have to study for some time to fully grasp.
Okay now, stop worrying and concentrate on making a bathing shift, she told herself firmly. Of course, Bram had told her they would need to be naked in the tub during their bathing time but she was hoping he would at least let her work up to it by wearing a bathing shift or gown, such as she had always worn, to start with.
She knew it was probably silly to feel shy about being completely naked with him after what they’d done the night before, but she couldn’t help it—the idea of having her entire body unclothed at once in front of another person—especially a man—made her nervous.
Alanah had made several efforts at the bathing gown before but each time it didn’t quite seem to know what she wanted. She got piles of fabric which were oddly shaped and either too big or too small. It was frustrating after seeing how effortlessly Bram had made himself a shirt but Alanah was not a quitter—she was determined that this time she was going to get it right!
Closing her eyes, she concentrated hard, this time trying something a little different. On past attempts, she had imagined the gown she wanted by itself, hanging in the air. This time she imagined herself in it. In fact, she pictured herself exactly as she had looked in her long mirror after the last bath she’d had with Jenla, down in the bathing cave.
The simulator purred and a smooth, white piece of fabric began to emerge from its elongated mouth.
Alanah didn’t let herself be distracted. She kept picturing herself in the gown from all angles until the machine stopped humming and a soft heap of fabric fell at her feet.
Taking the sensor off her forehead, she bent, picked the fabric up, and shook it out.
“At last,” she told Tabby, who was purring around her feet in a slightly metallic tone. “I think I’ve got the size right—well, mostly right. Let me try it on…”
She took off the simple blue gown Bram had made for her that morning before taking her to the physician and slipped the new bathing shift over her head.
It had seemed perfect when she held it up to look at it but as Alanah pulled it over her head, she realized something wasn’t quite right.
“What is this? What’s wrong?” she muttered to herself. “It feels too tight somehow…”
Leaving the dining room where the simulator was set up on a corner of the high table, she went into the bathing room and looked at herself in the 3-D viewer.
What she saw made her gasp.
The bathing gown she’d made was practically translucent. It showed her breasts and flower plainly and it seemed to cling to her, especially in those areas.
“What in the world caused that?” Alanah asked herself. Then she realized the mistake she’d made—she had imagined the gown on herself looking as it had after she’d taken a bath. In other words, it had been soaking wet and clinging to her—much like the soft, silky fabric the simulator had produced for her was clinging to her now.
Alanah took another look at herself. The slit of her flower—or pussy, as she was beginning to think of it—was plainly visible and so were the tiny, undeveloped buds of her nipples. But…were they quite as small as they had been? Somehow she thought they might have grown and gotten pinker, just a bit. The same with her pussy—though she hadn’t yet sprouted any curls, the lips of her slit weren’t quite so colorless and she could even see the tiny pink button of her clit peeking out from between her outer lips.
Alanah wondered if the slight but noticeable changes had to do with the pleasure Bram had given her the night before—had to do with his hands on her? She shivered when she remembered the pleasure he’d given her. It had been so overwhelming…so intense…
Just thinking about it made her wonder if it could be repeated. She’d been too upset to ask the night before but now she felt tingly and achy all over, especially at the tips of her breasts and between her thighs.
Hesitantly, she reached down and cupped her flat mound in one hand. It was easy to feel through the filmy, transparent bathing gown the simulator had made for her. It was almost like wearing a cobweb, it was so light. Her pussy felt slightly warm in her hand. When she stroked gently and experimentally over the bud of her clit, she gave a low gasp of surprised pleasure. Oh my—that felt good. Almost as good as when Bram had touched her.
Alanah tried it again, this time circling the tight little bud with her fingertips through the thin gown. The pleasure was beginning to grow and she couldn’t seem to stop—didn’t want to stop—it felt so good…
“Well, well, little one…it seems like you’re enjoying yourself.”
The deep, familiar voice from the doorway made Alanah gasp and look up. Bram was standing there, arms crossed over his broad chest, leaning against the doorway. A sleepy smile tugged at the corners of his sensual mouth and his eyes were glowing with lust.
“Oh!” she gasped, suddenly embarrassed at what he’d caught her doing. She pulled her hand away from her pussy at once, her cheeks flaming with heat. “I…I’m sorry,” she stuttered. “I shouldn’t have—”
“Why not?” Bram asked, coming to stand behind her so that his much larger shape framed hers in the mirror. The top of Alanah’s head barely came up past his navel and she had to look up to meet his eyes in the reflective surface.
“Well, I mean because…it isn’t right for a woman to touch herself,” she said. “A wife’s body is only for her husband to touch and take pleasure in, isn’t it? That’s what we’re taught and I always believed it was so. Of course…” She shifted in an embarrassed way. “I never would have thought such pleasure was possible at all if you hadn’t…hadn’t shown me last night.”
“It is possible and you can give yourself pleasure—you don’t have to wait for me,” Bram said firmly. “Although the Goddess knows I love to pleasure you, little one.” He looked her up and down. “Mmm…and seeing you in this naughty little garment makes me want to pleasure you right now. How did you get the simulator to make you something like this?”
Alanah could feel her cheeks getting even hotter and she had to resist the urge to cover herself.
“I, uh, was trying to get it to make me a bathing gown,” she confessed. “I know you said we had to be naked together for our, um, Bathing Day, but I was hoping you’d let me wear it just to start with until I got over the idea of being completely naked with you.”
“Hell yes, you can wear it,” Bram growled appreciatively. “Although I don’t know how much it hides. It seems to emphasize your nakedness rather than covering it up.”
“I know,” Alanah confessed. “I realized that I imagined it on myself after taking a bath as I was making it. So it came out like this…as though it was clinging to me and wet with water.”
“If it looks this clingy and transparent when it’s dry, I can’t wait to see it on you when it’s actually wet.” His big hands slid over her shoulder and down her sides, tracing the curves of her breasts and hips. “Gods, you’re so beautiful. I can’t wait to begin our Bathing Day together.”
“Are…are we going to do it now?” Alanah’s heart was suddenly pounding in her chest and she felt like she couldn’t get a deep enough breath. Her giant’s big hands on her body seemed to start a fire inside her that nothing could quench.
“We are,” Bram rumbled and his eyes in the viewer had gone thoughtful. “But with a few changes.”
“Changes? What do you mean? I thought we were just going to bathe each other,” Alanah said.
“We are but after we get out of the waters, I have some other things planned.” He turned her around to face him and lifted her chin so they were eye to eye despite their height difference. “Alanah, I have something special planned…a ritual of our own.”
“A ritual?” She frowned. “You mean…a fertility ritual?”
He nodded. “Exactly.”
“But we don’t have any mannequins and neither of us is a witch,” Alanah objected.
“Haven’t you told me that many of the things on my ship seem like magic to you?” Bram asked.
“Well…yes. But do you have some magic that can make me bloom?” Alanah asked hopefully. “Did your physician friend give you something to help?”
“I have sacred oils to massage your body with,” Bram told her, his eyes going half-lidded again. “Especially your nipples and your sweet little pussy. But I’ll have to use other things as well.”
“Like mannequins?” Alanah asked, wondering if he’d gotten some of those from his friend as well.
But Bram shook his head. “No, this ritual will work only if we are the ones performing it—not any dolls or mannequins. But, Alanah—the other things I need to use on you, besides the oils, are my mouth and my shaft. It’s not our Tasting or our Bonding Day yet so I need to ask your permission for that. Are you willing to let me taste you and rub myself against you in order to help you bloom?”
“Just…just rub against me?” Her eyes were drawn involuntarily downward, to the large bulge in the crotch of his tight black leather trousers.
Bram nodded. “Yes, little one—haven’t I told you I would never hurt you? I won’t try to penetrate you with my shaft until after you’ve bloomed and had a good dose of the bonding fruit which helps a female open to a larger male,” he murmured.
“Then yes.” Alanah nodded eagerly. “Please, Bram—I’d do anything to bloom for you.”
“I know you would, little one. And that’s why I’m going to help you.” Lifting her in his arms, Bram took her mouth in a sweet, demanding kiss that took Alanah’s breath away. “I just need you to trust me and be open to me,” he murmured when he broke the kiss at last. “Can you do that for me, Alanah?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “Oh yes, Bram—I promise I can.”
“Good.” He sat her down gently. “I’ve already prepared the bedroom, which is where we’re going to be after the bathing part of our ritual is complete. But before we get started, I want you to take this.”
He reached in his pocket and brought out a tiny blue sphere, about as big as her fingernail.
Alanah took it from him and studied it. It was round and smooth and translucent.
“What is it? It looks like it has waters from the bluest oceans in the world in it.”
“It’s a special pill to help you understand and adapt to my world better,” Bram told her. “You’ll have an easier time with the machines, especially the simulator,” he added, eyeing her dress with obvious lust again.
“All right.” Blushing, Alanah swallowed the tiny blue sphere and waited to feel some effects. “When will it work?”
“You’ll notice the effects in a little while,” Bram promised her. “But for now, let’s begin our Bathing Day.” He looked at her speculatively. “It’s actually tradition for a male to undress his bride, but I think I’d like to leave you in that sexy little bathing gown, at least for now.”
“All right,” Alanah murmured. She had a sudden thought. “Can I…could I undress you, then?”
“Mmm,” he rumbled, smiling. “If you’d like to.”’
“I do,” Alanah said firmly. “I…I haven’t seen you, uh, naked yet. And I want to.”
“Want to know what you’re getting yourself into, little one?” His tone was teasing but there was a serious look in his sapphire eyes.
“Yes,” Alanah said honestly. “But…I also want to…to admire your body.” She blushed but made herself continue. “You’re so strong and hard with muscle and most of all so big. I want to see you naked—or mostly naked—as you’ve seen me.”
He held his arms out to his sides in a gesture of surrender.
“I’m yours, little one. Do what you want with me.”
Alanah was pleased to do exactly that. Reaching up, she began unfastening the buttons on his shirt. It came apart easily and she was able to pull it off his long arms, baring his muscular chest.
Of course, she had seen him bare-chested before—it was how he had first appeared to her on High Court day, which now seemed years in the past, though it had only been a few days. But it was still a pleasure to run her hands over his smooth skin and feel the hard muscles in his chest and arms—which was pretty much as far as she could reach, even standing on her tiptoes. Gods, he smelled so good—that warm, spicy fragrance that seemed to be his natural scent was invading her senses, making Alanah want to kiss him all over.
She restrained herself and went on to the bottom half of his outfit. Bram himself had already pulled off his enormous, tall black boots, so he was barefoot, wearing only the black leather trousers that all of the Jor’gen Kindred seemed to wear.
Alanah fought with the unfamiliar fastening of his trousers for a moment until he showed her how to work it. Then she was able to pull the tight leather open at the crotch and claim her prize.
And a prize it certainly was—a big one. Alanah had never seen male equipment before, although she had heard married ladies describe it sometimes when they were talking only among themselves. Some had said it was like a wormin which stiffened and reared its head when it wanted to push inside a woman. But Bram’s, Alanah decided, was much more like a snaken—a very large snaken.
It was long—long enough that the mushroom shaped head came up past his navel. But it wasn’t just the length that made her gasp—he was thick too—thicker than her forearm, Alanah estimated. She tried to imagine what it would feel like to have all that thrust deep inside her. It was a frightening idea…but also an intriguing one.
“Gods, Bram,” she murmured, uncertain if she could touch it or not. “It’s so…so big.”
“Don’t let it frighten you, little one,” he murmured. “I swear I’ll never hurt you with it. It will be only for your pleasure—you have my word on that.”
“I know you won’t hurt me…” Tentatively, she reached for him. “Can…can I touch it?”
“Of course you can,” he murmured, his eyes going half-lidded with lust again. “I’m yours, little one—just as you’re mine. We belong to each other now in every way.”
“Not quite every way,” Alanah murmured. “But I want us to, Bram.”
Taking him in both hands, she noticed how petal soft his skin was…and how warm his thick, long shaft was. Like a bar of heated iron covered in flower petals, she thought. She curled her fingers around his thickness but they couldn’t meet her thumb—he was too broad. And yet, she loved the feel of him…even the maddeningly rich, spicy scent he seemed to exude was stronger here.
He was so big—clearly much too big for her little pussy to take. But Alanah didn’t fear him—she wanted him. And that scent of his seemed to make her lose all her shyness and inhibitions—they fell away from her like clothing she no longer needed and in that moment she felt free.
Impulsively, she leaned down and kissed the broad, flaring head of his shaft.
Bram sucked in his breath. “Ah, Gods…little one…”
“Do you like that?” Alanah asked softly. “Does it feel good to have my lips on you?” She didn’t know where she’d gotten such boldness but somehow it seemed natural to touch and kiss her giant so.
“You know that I do,” he growled softly. “Your hot little mouth feels so good on me, little one.”
“I’m glad,” Alanah murmured. She liked the idea of giving her giant pleasure, just as he had given her the night before. There was a drop of something clear on the tip of his shaft, right where the tiny slit was. “Is this your seed?” She asked.
“It will be—it’s part of my male essence.” His deep voice sounded hoarse. “It’s what I need to rub against you—rub into you—to help you bloom.”
“Mmm…” Alanah liked the idea of the broad head rubbing her most sensitive areas. “Can…can I taste it?” she asked, stroking his shaft up and down with both hands. Gods, he was so long and thick!
“Yes, little one” Bram groaned. “In fact, it’s a good idea to get as much of my essence—my precum, we call it—in and on you as possible if this ritual is going to work.”
“In that case…” Alanah bent her head—she didn’t have to bend far due to their size difference—and lapped at the head of his shaft, letting her tongue explore the tiny slit and tasting the salty essence he’d called precum. Then she sucked him—taking only the head into her mouth, since there was no way she could fit the thick shaft—trying to get more of it.
“Gods, little one—be careful!” Bram groaned. “You’ll make me come down your throat and I don’t want to scare you.”
Reluctantly, Alanah pulled away and looked up at him.
“I’m not scared of you, Bram,” she murmured. “Though you are a giant, you’re my giant.” She stroked him again, up and down, coaxing another droplet of precum to the tip of his shaft so she could suck it away. “I want so much to be open for you,” she told him earnestly. “I want all of this inside me, Bram, all of you inside me.” She measured his shaft, sliding her hands over his thick, throbbing length. It was fully erect now and would have been a daunting sight if she hadn’t wanted him so badly. “I want to bloom so you can fill me with yourself,” she whispered.
He groaned softly and leaned down to capture her mouth, tasting his own essence on her lips.
“And you will bloom, little one. We’ll see to that. Come on—let’s go into the bathing pool.”