10

- Charlotte -

“No,” Cori'ax said lazily after a short pause.

“Really? I meant to be. I think I was, too. I hope I didn't ruin your hearing.”

“What?”

“I said, I hope I didn't ruin your hearing.”

“Huh?”

She turned to face him, starting to worry that she actually had screamed loud enough to deafen him. “I said, I hope I didn't- oh, you scoundrel!”

He was grinning mischievously at her with shining, white teeth, and she happily punched his meaty shoulder when she realized he was joking with her and that clearly he had heard everything she said. It made her truly happy – he had often joked with the other warriors, but not with her. Until now. She was glad that he was finally showing her that side of him.

She scratched her chin. “Do you think we attracted a bunch of predators?”

“With screams like that, I suppose they think someone was being murdered. But you said this is sound proof.” He punched the fabric, and it turned hard at the impact and made it sound like he was punching a sheet of wood.

“Supposed to be, anyway. I guess we'll find out. But Cori'ax. I have to ask. Why were you so cold to me when I came to be your pilot?”

He was quiet for a moment, but he squeezed her arm gently so she knew he wasn't ignoring her. “It was difficult,” he said at last. “I am the captain of the squad. A male Earth pilot I didn't know would have been hard enough to deal with. But you? I didn't know how to handle it. I am a simple warrior. I can deal with swords and enemies. But complicated social situations are not my specialty. At all.”

“But didn't you feel the attraction? I mean, I can understand not being too amorous when the other guys are watching. But even in private, you were so standoffish I thought you hated me.”

He placed one hand on her thigh and stroked her hair with the other. “I didn't hate you. My feelings were leaning the other way too much. And why didn't you come to me? I was expecting that you would. Didn't you enjoy our first ... meeting?”

“I think you know I did. But it's not like I'm going to throw myself at a man who is showing every sign of wanting me as far as possible the hell away from him. If you'd shown just a little response, or just treated me like you did everyone else, it might have been different.”

The warrior thought for a moment. “It might.”

“I guess it's one of those cultural differences that everyone talks about. You expected me to come to you, and I expected you to come to me. Or to at least give me the time of day.”

Another short silence. “I suppose I could have handled it better. I'm not sure I can convey exactly how confused I was about it to start with. And then the moment had passed.”

“Yeah. I see what you mean.”

Inside the tent the air was still fresh and pleasant, and the red sheen that seemed to come from everywhere at once made Charlotte feel relaxed. “So what will happen when we get picked up? Will you go back to treating me like air?”

He thought again. “No.”

“That's it? Just 'no'?”

His hand sought one of her breasts and gently caressed it. “I will not treat you like air, because now I know more about you and about us. But I have never had a woman in my squad before, and neither has anyone else. How shall I treat you?”

His hand on her breast was turning her on again, and she could feel something starting to poke her ass. “Hey, treat me like you do the other guys. Joke with me and order me around and ... well, all those things you do.”

“It will be strange.”

“No, it will be good. You have the best squad, and they have the best captain. You've had the best pilot in the army weeks now, but you haven't really made the most of her. Now that you're actually speaking to me, we'll be even more effective together. It'll be great.”

“I suppose it will. But ...” He hesitated.

“Yes?”

“In private, maybe we will be less formal?”

Charlotte grinned into the darkness, then put on her most serious facial expression and turned around to face him. She put one hand on his chest and fixed him with a grave face. “Oh no! We have to be extremely formal in private. You have to call me Pilot Charlotte, and I have to call you Captain. We can only ever talk about the war and fighting and technical matters, nothing that's the least bit personal. Of course any physical contact will be completely out of the question for as long as we know each other.”

His face fell, and the huge warrior who was always on top of things looked so shocked and disappointed Charlotte could barely keep from laughing out loud.

“Oh,” he said and looked down, so boyishly dejected that she wanted to hug him, “I thought maybe ...”

“But of course,” she said, still managing to keep a serious face, “you will have to spank me occasionally. It's very important. On the bare behind, of course. In fact I do believe you promised me a spanking earlier today. Perhaps you'd like to give it to me now?”

She took his hand and placed it on the side of her naked hip, then gave him the same mischievous smile he'd given her earlier.

His confusion gave way to a relieved smile as the penny dropped, and then he laid his head back and laughed thunderously in a way that Charlotte realized that she loved. Like everything else about him, the laughter was genuine and deep and unrestrained. She'd never met a man more real than this.

He slapped her hip lightly. “You dare joke with mighty Cori'ax! Then I shall show you the consequences. I have studied Earthlings recently and I know what a 'spanking' is. Indeed I agree that you will need many of them, if this shocking insolence is any indication. Now, how shall I position you ...”

Charlotte helped him place her across his lap, and she realized that she was dripping wet again. She enjoyed a little rougher sex sometimes, including spanking. But only with the right guys, the confident and super-masculine ones, and the strong and decent Cori'ax was so right for it the breath caught in her throat when she felt his large hand stroking her butt cheeks. She arched her back a little in invitation, and he slapped one cheek, and then the other.

“You can just start anytime,” she teased. She knew he was testing it out to see what she wanted, and she wanted it a lot harder than that.

He increased the force a little with the next ones, but it was obvious he was afraid of hurting her and didn't realize how much of a spanking her ample behind could handle. She loved that he was being this careful the first time he did something like this. It spoke volumes about him and the man he really was. But still she wanted to feel his strength more, wanted him to make her butt sting and send tingles to her pussy.

“Is that it? You hit like a girl,” she said, hoping to provoke him into giving it to her better.

It worked, and he gave her some harder slaps. She egged him on with little sighs and moans and whimpers, and in the end he gave her a decent enough spanking that made her squeal and kick her legs, more for show than because it hurt that much. She was dripping wet, and she'd felt something hard poking her in the hips all through the spanking, so she knew he was ready, too.

“So I guess now you have to fuck me again?” She got up on all fours in front of him and looked behind her. “I think that's a part of these very formal spankings.”

She made a quick mental note to bring some of the grilled alien meat back to the Friendship for analysis. That stuff had to contain some aphrodisiac stuff, because she couldn't remember being this outrageously lecherous with any man before. Or maybe Cori'ax just brought it out in her.

He positioned himself behind her and penetrated her again with that sensational manhood he had. Again she thought she'd orgasm at the first thrust, and again he showed her that he controlled that and that she was just along for the ride. She didn't mind that. She loved how he took responsibility and handled her body so well, as if he'd done nothing else for his whole adult life than thinking of ways to turn her on and make her feel great.

Once more she gave herself over to the sensations, and this time is was even better. Because now there was real intimacy between them.

He fucked her hard, as if the spanking had inspired him, and she went with the flow and came hard when he started vibrating her clit again to ignite the fireworks of sexual bliss he had created inside her.

She bucked and jerked and whimpered and screamed again as the orgasm shook her and as she felt him coming deep inside her, spraying her with his hot juices.

She came down slowly, still with him inside her. “Stars, where have you been all my life?”

He rolled over and placed her upper body on top of him, so that she was resting her head on his massive chest, rising and falling with his slow breathing, hearing the distant thunder of his relaxed heartbeat, feeling the heat from his skin.

“Let's not think of the past,” he growled into her ear. “Or the future. Right now there is only us.”

Charlotte felt tiredness engulf her. This had been a pretty eventful day. But the tent gave her a sense of security, and the large warrior putting his strong arm around her helped.

“You know, I could get used to this,” she mumbled sleepily.