Kya
Finn became my second protector.
I really didn’t feel I needed one, and I was afraid I would have to start all over to negotiate the freedom that I had worked so hard to get with Magni. When I first arrived in the Northlands, he had been my shadow night and day, it seemed. But by the end, Magni had loosened up and allowed me to walk freely around the school and the surrounding area. He had even allowed Archer and me to be alone more frequently, but I suspected it was because he knew we didn’t like each other very much.
Luckily, Finn was a much more relaxed person by nature and he was funny.
“How do you even have time to be here?” I asked him the night he arrived. The kids were all sleeping while we adults sat outside enjoying one of the last summer nights before the fall would set in. “Don’t you have patients?”
Finn sat next to me and held out his hands to feel the heat from the small fire pit in the middle. “I do, but see, this may surprise you…” With a charming smile, he leaned back and rested his shoulder against mine. “…the Northlands have more than one doctor.”
“I knew that,” I scoffed.
“But did you know that I’ve been a protector before?”
“Yes, Christina told me.”
I thought I saw a crack in his happy mood, but it was short and he quickly smiled again. “Five days. That’s how long I spent with the witch.” He shook his head. “Did Christina tell you that Athena cursed me?”
Not taking him seriously, I asked: “You didn’t like Athena much, did you?”
“No. And it’s not because I don’t like women in general, because just for the record I fucking love women.” His face split in two when he laughed. “And I love fucking women.” Nudging his elbow in my ribs he wiggled his eyebrows. “See what I did there with my words – twisting them around?”
“Yeah, it was very impressive. You should be a poet,” I said. “But I didn’t think you had access to women here.”
“Nahh.” He shrugged. “But a true poet can’t let a small detail like the truth disrupt his creative flow.”
I didn’t fight him when he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer to him. “How about that fantasy of yours? Did you have any luck with Magni or Archer?” he whispered.
Marco and Archer were talking quietly among themselves on the other side of the fire pit, but Archer looked over when he heard his name.
“That’s none of your business,” he told Finn.
Finn smiled. “I see. Well, I’ll take that as a negative.” He placed a hand on my thigh. “Don’t worry, beautiful, I’m happy to step up and satisfy you.”
“What are you two whispering about?” Marco asked.
“Nothing,” both Archer and I said at the same time.
“Ah, that’s not fair.” Finn chuckled. “Why can’t Marco know that you have a sexual fantasy about being with two men?”
“Finn!” I said in my sternest voice. “It’s not funny and I really don’t.” I regretted ever lying about this and shot Shelly a head shake, feeling embarrassed that Finn would bring this up in front of her.
“Ahh, don’t be shy. We would never judge and from where I’m sitting, I see three grown, virile men at your service.”
Archer moved in his chair and pointed to Finn with a scowl on his face. “I don’t think Khan meant for you to come on to Kya. That’s not the role of a protector.” His tone was sharp, but Finn just chuckled again like he had no concern in the world.
“Khan’s hardly going to say anything, since both he and Boulder ended up marrying the women they protected.”
“Oh, I see, and now that you’re Kya’s protector, you think she’ll marry you?” The anger in Archer’s voice made me wonder why he would get so riled up when he knew I would never marry anyone.
Did Archer feel threatened by Finn? I almost laughed at the absurdity, since Archer didn’t even like me. Why would he act this jealous?
Watching Archer pull back and stare at the flames, I wondered if Nmen really attributed so much importance to marriage that Archer would marry someone he argued with constantly?
For a while no one spoke, but my mind was asking all sorts of inappropriate questions, like who would I pick if I had to choose between Finn or Archer.
Studying Finn for a second I decided his dark eyes had a warmth to them, and he was kind of charming with the way he often made me smile and laugh. Finn was definitely the most easygoing of all the Nmen that I’d met so far. As I watched him, he tucked his dark shoulder-length hair behind his ears, revealing that he had an earring in his left ear. It was a black circle, big enough to cover his earlobe, and from what I could see it was made of some kind of shiny metal.
Discreetly I turned my eyes back to Archer. Even brooding in his chair, I found him more pleasing to look at than Finn. Maybe because he’s closer to my age? I wondered, knowing that Archer was twenty-eight while Finn was thirty-two.
Archer smacked a mosquito on his neck. “Of all the species that we lost, why not the fucking mosquitoes?”
When he caught me looking at him, I quickly diverted my eyes, but I wasn’t completely done evaluating his looks and without wanting to I looked back at him.
Again, our eyes clashed, and this time he tilted his head slightly with a minuscule frown.
For a moment, I couldn’t look away. His features, which I had always thought too masculine and hard, had become… I dismissed the word “handsome” and replaced it with “familiar” in my mind. Yes, that was it. Archer had become familiar and safe to me. He might be annoying and frustrating, but he was also willing to sprint through the forest to save me from a bear attack. My face softened as I thought about an episode yesterday when he’d blown up at Nero because the boy had been disrespectful to me.
Without fully realizing it, I’d been staring at Archer for the past five or ten seconds, and the answer was very clear to me. I would definitely choose Archer.
“Why did everybody get so silent?” Marco asked and poked at the fire with a stick. “What were we talking about?”
“We were talking about me marrying Kya.” Finn swung his head to me. “You want to marry me, sweetheart?”
Archer broke our locked gaze and hardened his jaw.
“What did you say?” I asked Finn and blinked my eyes.
“Do you want to marry me?” he repeated.
“No, thank you,” I answered distractedly.
“Ahh, that’s disappointing.” Finn held a hand to his heart. “But I guess that since you’re a Motlander, you don’t technically have to marry,” he said pragmatically. “We could just have sex.”
I shook my head, but Finn wasn’t paying attention, since he had his eyes on Marco.
“How about you, would you be willing to have a threesome with me and Kya?”
Marco eagerly pushed to the edge of his seat and smiled goofily at me. “Just say the word, Kya.”
The small gasp from Shelly was followed by her scrambling clumsily to get out of the chair and excusing herself before she ran off.
“The word is no,” I answered Marco, with my eyes glued to Shelly’s fleeing back. This wasn’t the first time I’d picked up on her crush on Marco and it worried me. The last thing I needed was for her to develop feelings for him. Councilwoman Sheana Rene would never forgive me if one of her daughters chose to stay here.
I gave a sigh. At least Marco didn’t seem to reciprocate the interest one bit.
“I’m going to bed,” I announced and rose from my chair too.
“Alone?” Finn asked with disappointment.
“Yes, alone.”
“Hey now, don’t get all mad at me for coming on to you. You can’t blame a man for making you an offer.”
“I’m not mad at you, Finn.” My hands mechanically folded the blanket that I had been sitting under. But at the same time my senses were focused on Archer and the obscure way he’d made my heart race just by staring into my eyes before. He too got up and his closeness had me move back a little. Something strange was definitely going on.
“Are you okay?” he asked and searched my eyes.
“Uh-huh,” I muttered dismissively, and holding to a pattern practiced to perfection, I picked a fight with him. “You need to take it easy on the children for tomorrow’s run. You’re pushing them too hard.”
My demanding tone instantly put him into the role as the primitive, stubborn, and highly annoying male whom I wasn’t attracted to.
“I'll push them as fucking hard as I want to,” he told me with an attitude.
“You're being too hard on them.”
“And you are being too soft,” he retorted but there was no real menace behind his words, so I pushed harder, wrinkling my nose in disgust.
“This week you spanked three children!”
Archer took the bait. He narrowed his eyes and hardened his jaw. “I spanked Nboys who are used to that sort of punishment and expect it. But you know what struck me? You didn't volunteer to take their punishment, did you? Apparently, you feel differently about boys and girls.”
I moved closer to him, lowering my voice. “Don't for one second make the mistake of thinking that I don't believe in equality. You might have issues with me, but I'm not going to make it easy for you to spank me just by punishing the children. If you have a problem with me, you’d better man up and come talk to me about it.”
“As if I was ever afraid of a conflict,” Archer hissed softly.
It was getting chilly and with the twilight drifting into night, the fire pit offered the only source of light. I had always found Archer's eyes incredibly beautiful with the sharp sapphire blue color and dark eyelashes. But now, with the shadows from the flames dancing across his face, his eyes looked black.
“Marco, why don't you and Finn go and check up on the children while Kya and I have a little talk?” Archer said without breaking eye contact with me.
“Do you need me to stay and protect you?” Finn asked from behind me. “You know, in case he decides to spank you again or something.”
Stay firm, I reminded myself and tried not to blink from Archer’s intensity. “It's fine, we’re just going to have a talk.”
We didn’t speak until the two men had entered the school and left us alone.
“It's about time you and I cleared the air between us,” Archer said in a deep voice. “You're still mad about the spanking, aren't you?”
“How could I not be?” My voice was full of indignation. “You humiliated me and scarred Sky for life.”
He scoffed. “Trust me, she'll survive and so will you.”
I turned my head when he started circling me. This was a typical move on his part because he hated standing still, but I still wished he wouldn’t do it.
“Just because you feel offended doesn't mean you're right,” he muttered. “You've been acting all civil with me in front of the kids, but most of the time you won't look at me and you hardly talk to me unless it's to criticize.”
It was an adrenaline rush. For someone raised to always be polite, I had gotten good at bantering with Archer.
Electricity sparked between us, but anger was much safer than attraction and I sucked in oxygen to fuel my angry words. “I'm not offended, Archer, I'm furious with you. What kind of man hits a woman anyway?”
“The kind of man who doesn’t like you undermining him in front of his students. I would spank you again if I had to, and don’t you forget that you asked me to.”
My voice rose to a high pitch. “I never wanted you to hit me, I wanted to protect Sky.”
Archer was in my face so fast that I didn't have time to step back. “And now you’ve made up your mind that I'm a monster, haven’t you?” he breathed, his eyes looking intently into mine before they lowered to my lips.
I swallowed hard, trying to find my voice and to make my brain work, but his closeness made parts of my body hum and tingle. “I think that…” I started with a voice vibrating with emotions. “I think that you are too hard on the children and that your approach is old-fashioned.”
“I'm not talking about the kids,” he said slowly. “I'm talking about you and me, Kya.”
Hot lava flowed down my spine and my core began to tingle. Memories of our kiss among the fireflies made my eyes fall to his lips; at least he would never know that I’d thought about him sexually.
“You're playing with me,” Archer spoke in a strangely pained voice.
“No,” I whispered. “I'm not.”
“Yes, you are, and I swear it, Kya, if you allow Finn or Marco into your bed, I’ll lose my shit.” His left hand closed around my shoulder and he shook me a little. “Do you hear me?”
“Archer, I…” Looking down, I licked my lips and thought of a way to explain my confused feelings to him. “Maybe if we didn't work together it would be different between us.”
He was silent for a while before he answered more softly: “Then I wish we didn’t work together.”
I had no reply to that.
“Did you know that I asked to be your protector when Magni had to leave?”
“No, but I figured you might, so I made sure Lord Khan knew that I didn't want you as my protector.”
My admission only upset him. “Why the hell not?” he demanded to know.
“Because it would only complicate our relationship.”
He cursed low. “We could've been lovers with no one looking over our shoulders.”
“Lovers? We can't even get through a day without arguing; how could you possibly think we could be lovers?” I asked, my eyes falling to his lips again, my chest lifting and rising in shallow intakes of air. How I wished things had been more simple and I could’ve slept with him to get it out of my system, but he was so angry – and despite my physical attraction to him, I had about one hundred internal alarm bells telling me that sex between us would be a bad idea.
Archer had to know that and yet he fearlessly leaned in to claim my mouth. It started as an angry and punishing kiss that made me push at his chest to get free. Only Archer wasn't in the mood to let me go.
“Archer.” I opened my mouth to tell him to stop, but he only deepened the kiss. Pent-up rage and indignation flowed through me, and a need to set him straight. I had my own emotions to deal with and my own unwanted desires to battle. But instead of pushing him away, my treacherous hands pulled him closer and in the darkness of the night, I kissed him back. It wasn't logical and it definitely wasn't smart, but I did it anyway, and not for one second did I worry about bacteria.
We stood like two hungry humans, feasting on what we had denied ourselves for weeks, my hands raking over his strong body and his hands exploring my breasts and buttocks, and finally finding their way to my hair. He pulled my neck back, planting kisses all the way from my collarbone to my ear, and whispered hoarsely: “You’re driving me crazy. I need you so fucking bad.”
“We shouldn’t be doing this,” I objected, a small part of my brain still working.
“Maybe not, but we are going to do it anyway.”
“We can’t just have sex!”
“Oh, I’m pretty sure we can and I know we both want to.”
“Yes, but what about…” I didn’t get to finish my sentence before he picked me up and started walking with me in his arms.
“Be quiet,” he ordered in a whisper.
“But the children?”
“They’re sleeping, and Marco and Shelly have the night shift.”
“But Finn; he’ll surely come to check up on me.”
“Then you tell him to get lost.”
There was something excitingly primitive about the way he carried me off to his cabin with decisive steps. I was an adult and I could do whatever I wanted to. Chuckling against his neck, I teased him. “Finn might not be easy to get rid of; he probably wants to join us.”
“That’s too bad, because I’m not the sharing kind.”
“Okay, but just so we’re clear, this doesn’t change anything. I still think that you are annoying, and just because I sleep with you tonight doesn’t mean you have any rights when it comes to me.”
The hell it doesn’t,” he said and tightened his grip around me. “It means you’ve picked me.”
“No, Archer. If you can’t separate the two, we shouldn’t do it.”
He moved effortlessly up the few steps to his cabin. “Hold on to me,” he ordered when he used one of his hands to open the door.
“I mean it, Archer,” I said when we were inside and he’d closed the door behind us. “Just because we’re both curious doesn’t mean I’m yours, so you’d better make up your mind. Can you deal with it or not?”
He was pulling off his thick sweater and kicking off his shoes. “Maybe making love to me will change your mind.”
“Don’t count on it.”
He responded with a kiss and, like a man on a mission, trying to prove himself, Archer undressed me with eager hands. “Fuck, you’re so goddamn beautiful,” he said when he had me down to my panties. “How do you want to do this?”
“Huh?” I had my eyes closed but opened them. “What do you mean, how?” I didn’t have much experience except for my monthly visits to the pleasure parlor where male sex-bots made sure I left relaxed.
“You want me to take you against the wall, do the reversed cowgirl, or maybe doggy style?”
My eyes expanded in confusion. “Ehhm,” I muttered meekly, because I had no idea what cowgirls and dogs had to do with anything.
“In my fantasies, we’ve done it in at least a hundred positions in this room,” he admitted and shook his head. “I shouldn’t have told you that.”
“It’s okay, I’ve thought about you too.”
“Yeah?” he asked in a sultry voice. “You did?” Every one of my nerve endings was on fire when he let his fingertips run up my arms to my shoulders and nape, before he cupped my face and gave me a deep and sensual kiss that sent shivers down my spine. “Then you must have an idea about what you want to do with me.”
An idea struck me, and although it was cruel I needed to push his boundaries a little like he had pushed mine. “In my fantasy,” I cooed, “I get to spank you back.”
“Are you serious?” He pulled back and his sultry tone of voice was replaced by a harder one. “If you’re asking me to bend over and let you spank me, then the answer is a big fucking no.”
I pouted. “You did it to me.”
“That’s different.”
With a seductive smile, I let my fingers play with his hair. “Not even if I would let you fulfill one of your fantasies afterwards?”
He chewed on his lower lip, his brows closely knitted together. “Any of my fantasies?”
“Any of your fantasies where you don’t hurt me.”
“Oh, so you can hurt me but I can’t hurt you?” A slow grin spread on his face. “I should have known you Momsies fantasize about dominating men.”
“I can’t speak for other women,” I said and trailed along his lips with my finger while giving him another seductive smile. “But I really thought a big strong man like you could take a little pain.”
“I can, that’s not the issue.”
“Then what is?” I asked innocently.
“It’s…” He narrowed his eyes. “It’s humiliating.”
My shoulders fell in fake disappointment and I took a step back. “I understand.”
He instantly pulled me close again. “What happens if I say no to you spanking me?”
My eyes traveled to the door, hoping he would buy into my trap.
Archer drew a sigh. “Okay,” he muttered. “If it really turns you on and I get to do exactly what I want with you afterward, then I’ll let you do it.” He raised a finger to my face. “But you have to swear that you never ever tell anyone about it, and I’ll only let you do it this once.”
I swallowed a laugh. How could Archer possibly think I would be aroused by hitting him. Me? The biggest pacifist he had ever met.
“So?” He shrugged and looked a little insecure. “You want me to take off my pants or what?”
The sane part of me wanted to say: “No, I was just kidding,” but not so long ago this big brute had humiliated me with a spanking, and my inner devil whispered that I deserved a little payback, so I quietly nodded my head.
Archer’s cabin was dimly lit by a small lamp next to his bed, but my eyes zoomed in on him and I didn’t miss a thing when he stepped out of his pants and gave me a last frown before he turned his back on me. He had the firmest buttocks I had ever seen and they rested on top of his strong, toned legs.
“Bend over,” I instructed and covered my smile with a hand. It was a good thing he had his back to me or he would have caught on to my prank.
I was just going to give him one hard smack in the butt before I told him that I wasn’t serious. One little groan of pain from him would be enough to satisfy my childish need for revenge.
I raised my hand, took a deep intake of air, and hit him. Maybe because it was such an unnatural thing for me to do, there was no force behind it.
Archer turned his head with a raised eyebrow. “I thought you said you were going to spank me – what the hell was that?”
Tightening my lips, I raised my hand again and this time, I didn’t hold back. Smack. The sound was loud and I wanted to apologize right away, but again he turned his head and the expression in his eyes said: “You’re pathetic.”
“What?” I asked, annoyed that he hadn’t at least groaned a little in pain.
“Nothing. I just wanted to see if it really turns you on.”
“Oh, it does,” I lied and smacked him again.
“How long are you going to tickle me?” Archer asked dryly. “I’m kind of impatient to get to my fantasy.”
“It’s not really working for me,” I said. “Would you mind adding something?”
He puffed out air. “I’m not going to call you mama, if that’s what you want. That’s too twisted even for my taste.”
“I don’t want you to call me mama,” I said quickly. “But it would be nice if you thank me when I hit you.”
“You want me to thank you for spanking me?” His tone was incredulous.
“Yes, if you could say…” I thought about it before I continued. “Thank you, Kya, I’m so sorry for being such a jerk,’ that would be very arousing.”
Archer laughed and shook his head. “Sorry, beautiful, but that ain’t happening.”
“Just once?” I pleaded.
“And I have your word I can do exactly what I want to with you after that?”
“As long as you don’t hurt me,” I reminded him.
His head fell down and he took a deep intake of air before he steadied himself and said: “Okay, one time, but it better make you soaking wet with arousal so you’re ready for what I want to do.”
“I’m sure it will,” I said and waited for him to get into position again.
Raising my hand, I hit him as hard as I could, wishing to get that one groan of pain from him.
I didn’t, but he did say dryly: “Thank you Kya, I’m sorry for being such a jerk.”
A deep male laugh erupted and we both spun around to see Finn peeking his head in through the door.
“Get the fuck out of here,” Archer shouted at him while I quickly bent to pick up a sweater and cover myself.
But Finn didn’t look intimidated at all. “I just came to make sure Kya was all right. She wasn’t in her cabin and I couldn’t risk you taking advantage of her on my first day as her protector.” He was still laughing. “Maybe I should be your protector instead.”
Archer pushed him out and slammed the door closed. We could hear Finn’s laughter as he walked away.
Archer started pacing the room while I sank to the bed. “You should have locked the door,” I said quietly.
“Oh, so now it’s my fault?”
“I’m just saying you should’ve locked the door.”
He was fuming.
“Archer, forget about Finn. You know he would’ve done the same thing if a woman was willing to fulfill his sexual fantasy.”
“But why the fuck did you have to have such a stupid fantasy?” he said in a blameful tone.
“I didn’t,” I admitted. “It didn’t turn me on to spank you. It was just a prank.”
He stood stark naked in front of me with his hands resting on his hips and his mouth slightly open. He was huge, in all areas. “A prank?” There was a coldness to his voice.
I tried meeting his eyes, but settled on his shoulder since at least that part of him wasn’t staring me down. “Yeah, you know, because you humiliated me and I thought that…” I trailed off, because saying it out loud made me feel immature and mean.
“I was actually going to go easy on you,” he said in a deep voice. “But now, I think we’re going to jump right to the hard stuff.”
“What hard stuff?” I asked and clutched my sweater closer to me.
“You told me I could do whatever I wanted to do, remember?” Archer’s muscles flexed as he shifted his balance.
“Uh-huh.” I cleared my throat, still only meeting his eyes in glances because the tattoo on his shoulder had become a safe spot for me. “What hard stuff?” I added.
“Anal.”
I gaped. “You’re not se-serious,” I stammered, but Archer looked very serious.
“I’ve always wanted to try anal with a real woman.”
My throat suddenly burned and my palms grew sweaty. “Not that,” I whispered in a slight panic. “I’ve heard that it’s painful.”
“More painful than a spanking?” he asked with an uncompromising tone.
“I don’t think I’m ready for that.”
“Too fucking bad, since you made me a promise.” The bed dipped when Archer sat down next to me. “Don’t worry,” he added. “I’ll warm you up for it.”
“But what if I refuse?” I asked and finally managed to lock eyes with him.
“You won’t,” he said and tugged a strand of my hair behind my ear. “You have too much integrity to back down on a promise.”
Integrity was everything to me. I preached it to the children and Archer knew that. Rubbing my earlobe like I used to when I was upset as a child, I heard my mother’s voice. Don’t give your word lightly because once you’ve given a promise you will have to honor it or lose your integrity. How could I have been so focused on my own stupid prank that I hadn’t even asked him what his fantasy was?
“You have to promise me something,” I whispered. “If it hurts too much, you’ll stop.”
“Uh-huh,” he muttered against my neck. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
I survived the spanking, and I’ll survive this too. I calmed myself, but it wasn’t working, and I was tense when Archer pushed me down on the bed and started kissing and licking my breasts. Using every mental trick I knew, I willed my body to relax.
The more I relax, the less it’s going to hurt.
Archer took his time, exploring every part of my body.
“It tickles,” I said when he planted kisses on my inner thighs.
“I don’t care. You had your chance to be in control, and now it’s my turn.” His strong hands kept my thighs apart and his kisses moved up toward my most private spot.
I had experienced oral sex before, but it had been with sex-bots and I had never worried about how I might taste. Now I was suddenly self-conscious and I didn’t know if the sound coming from Archer when his tongue licked me was one of disgust or delight. The guttural sound came from deep in his throat and I had never heard anything like it.
Trying to push him away and press my knees together didn’t work since Archer wasn’t going anywhere.
“I don’t want you to kiss me there,” I gasped. “I probably don’t taste very good.”
“Did you hear me complain?” His mumbling was hard to decipher because he was licking me again.
“Archer, you really don’t have to.”
He lifted his head, moisture glistening around his mouth. “But I want to.”
Reading the tension on my face he told me to relax. “You taste delicious.”
That helped me relax somewhat but when his tongue drifted lower, I panicked and pushed at him forcefully. “Don’t even think about going any further south.”
“But I have to warm you up.”
“Not with your tongue,” I exclaimed. “That’s beyond disgusting!”
“I should’ve known you would be a prude.” He chuckled low and kissed my belly button before working his way down to my clitoris again.
It felt wonderful and slowly I began to relax; unfamiliar sounds of pleasure escaped me and my fingers wove into Archer’s dark hair.
“Ahhh,” I moaned and bucked a little, which only made Archer wrap his arms around my thighs to keep me still.
“You like it?” His warm breath against my clit, and the euphoric feeling in my body, made me groan my answer.
“Uh-huh, I love it.” Folding my lower lip between my teeth, I made a small whimper of pleasure and buried my hands in his hair.
The low growls from Archer were raw, sexual, and full of promises about what was to come, but not even that could stop the waves of my orgasm. Leaning my head back and tensing in my body, I came hard.
“Yes, yes, oh…” I licked my lips and arched my back. “Oh, Mother Nature, yeees!”
While I was still in a haze from the orgasmic explosion in my head, Archer rolled me onto my side, placing himself behind me and lifting my left leg.
In the back of my mind, a warning went off, but I was too sated to be fearful. Instead, I turned my head to kiss him again. His scent was a delicious mix of fire pit, fresh air, and raw masculinity.
“Are you ready?” he muttered into my mouth and my eyes expanded when he pushed inside of me.
“That’s not…” I croaked. “I thought you said anal.”
“I changed my mind,” he breathed against my neck.
I wanted to ask him if it had been his plan all along, but he swallowed any of my other questions with more kisses; and when he picked up his pace and switched positions I was too lost in him to keep up a conversation.
Archer drove deeper from behind and it was my turn to groan.
“Am I hurting you?” he asked.
“A little,” I cried out. “You’re very big.”
“Fuck, are you trying to make me come?” he said and pulled out.
“What are you doing?” I asked and opened my eyes to see why he would pull out when it felt so amazing.
“I want it to last,” he panted and turned me around before he slowly entered me again. “I don’t want to come in you yet.”
“You can’t come in me at all,” I said. “It’s unlikely that you’ll make me pregnant but just in case, I want you to come outside of me.”
He didn’t answer me.
“Promise me,” I said.
“This is my fantasy,” he muttered low before hammering inside of me in a steady rhythm.
I only knew one person who had gotten pregnant naturally, and Christina had to have made love to Boulder many times before it happened. There was nothing to worry about!
Archer was relentless in his lovemaking, and it was both dirty, sweaty, and noisy compared to the clean and mechanical sex in my past.
It was impossible not to get lost in the desire shining from his eyes and the way he touched me like I was everything he had dreamed of. So, this was what Christina had raved about. The feeling of being connected and worshipped.
My senses were on overdrive with too many new impressions for my brain to digest: the salty taste of his skin, the arousing sounds coming from him, and the way he entwined his fingers with mine like he wanted to hold on to me forever.
I had already orgasmed once when he licked me, but new waves were starting to build and they felt different this time –like a small volcano was about to erupt at my core. Leaning my head back, I closed my eyes, and moaned: “Oh yeees!”
“That’s it, gorgeous, let it go,” he coaxed and when I finally did, my insides cramped in small convulsions that had him cursing.
“Fuuuck!”
My thighs were wrapped around him and he pressed down on top of me, my hands on his muscled shoulders and our noses touching.
Breathing heavily, Archer hammered in and out at high speed before he pressed as far inside of me as possible and stilled completely.
“Fuuuck, I’m coming,” he muttered in a strained voice, the veins on his neck popping out and his face convulsing in something that resembled pain.
I could feel him: the pulsating sensation of his penis throbbing against my inner walls and filling me with warm liquid.
With a deep exhalation, Archer rolled to my side and lay panting with a hand on his chest for a few seconds before he propped himself on an elbow and looked expectantly at me. “So, what do you think? Am I better than a robot?” As he spoke he pulled me close to him and tugged my hair behind my ear.
I smiled at him and when his eyes softened in a boyish grin I felt a flutter in my chest. No robot could ever imitate this intimacy.
This is nothing more than sex, I reminded myself and broke eye contact.
“Yes, you’re better than a robot.” I sat up, swung my legs over the edge of the bed, and reached for my clothes on the floor.
Archer snaked out his hand and pulled me back down. “Don’t go,” he whispered into my hair.
“I have to before more people realize what we’ve done.”
“Why? Let them find out. I want them to see that you chose me.”
I sighed and caressed his face. “Archer, I’m not Christina or Pearl and I told you already, I’m not interested in marrying you.”
His forehead wrinkled. “But we just made love.”
“And it was nice,” I admitted.
“Nice?” His frown deepened.
“You’re a good lover,” I said to make him feel better.
“And how would you know? You told me you have never been with another man. You have nothing to compare me with!”
“True.”
“But I’m curious,” he said. “Have you been attracted to any other men than me?”
I shrugged, and it made him narrow his eyes.
“Who else?”
“Who else what?” I asked and pulled down my sweater.
“Who else have you been attracted to? Was it Finn?”
“Finn is nice but his beard is a little much for my taste.”
“Was it Marco?” He narrowed his eyes. “It was, wasn’t it? I could see why you would be attracted to him. He’s less threatening, being so young and all.”
“I’m not attracted to Marco.” Putting on my socks and shoes I sat on the edge of his bed. “Nor am I attracted to Boulder or Lord Khan, so there’s no reason for you to keep asking me names.”
“I don’t need to,” he said sourly and pushed himself up against the wall, his knees bent and his forearms resting on them. “Magni should have been my first guess.”
I shrugged, “Look, the first time I saw Magni, he was disguised as a Motlander. I thought he was fascinating, that’s all.”
“I thought all Momsies were afraid of Nmen,” he said grumpily.
“That’s true, but that’s because we grow up with all the stories about you being rapists and monsters. But for me it was different because I had already been listening to Christina talking for weeks about how much she missed Boulder, and how wonderful he had been to her. I knew from her that many of the stories were exaggerated or untrue.” I tilted my head. “And it probably helped that I met Magni and Boulder in my own home too, not to mention that Magni had shaved and looked really pretty with ribbons in his hair.”
That piece of information should have made Archer crack into a grin, but we were talking about my being attracted to another man and he wasn’t amused.
“Fascinating and attractive isn’t the same thing, Kya.” Jealousy was coming off Archer in waves, and I knew this could grow to be a problem between us if I didn’t set some boundaries right now.
“Look, this is a unique situation. I’m here to do a job, and that’s going to be my first priority. If you and I can learn to be friends who also share sex without any sort of commitment, then I don’t see why not. You just have to promise me that you won’t get possessive or jealous.”
“What are you saying?” he asked.
I was fully dressed now and faced him with a calmness that I didn’t feel inside of me. My words cut into my heart but I couldn’t risk Archer’s making scenes around other men. “What I’m saying is that I wouldn’t mind doing this again with you, but the minute you start behaving controlling toward me, I will find another way to meet my needs.”
His lips pressed into a firm line.
“If you don’t want to do it again, I understand,” I said and moved away from the bed.
He rolled out of bed and came over to stand naked in front of me. “At least give me something.” His eyes were burning with emotion.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
He took my hand and gazed deeply into my eyes. “At least promise me that as long as you sleep with me, you won’t be sleeping with anyone else.”
Rationally I knew it was better to set clear boundaries and say “no.” There was no need to get Archer’s hopes up, and giving him that sort of commitment surely would. In a few years, I would return to the Motherlands and my own people – a place out of his reach.
“Promise,” he repeated.
I opened my mouth to say “no,” but when he squeezed my hand and I looked into the beautiful eyes of the man whom I had just made love with, my heart answered for me instead. “I promise,” I whispered.