seven
Molly
The ship docked with a space station of some kind. It came into view outside of Molly’s tiny viewscreen in her room. She found courage to turn an entire wall into a view of space. They were docking beside a giant space station which seemed dark with some neglected air about it.
Even though her room was clean now, Molly made a wide swath around the center of the room. She felt herself freeze up at the slightest creak. Last night when she’d opened the door, Oz had been at her floor again. He leapt to his feet to be at her aide. Molly rolled her eyes at that. “Don’t be here next time,” she said coldly. “I don’t want you around.”
“I just wanted to be here if you should need anything,” Oz said.
Molly held up her wrist to him to show the band she still wore. “If I need anything from you, I’ll beep, k?”
Oz drew himself up. “Molly, I will try not to bother you again.”
Molly had no idea why he was trying to look hurt. He was the one who had fucked and dashed. Okay, maybe she had wanted to originally, but that had been before the almost-death, twice, and the actual, mind-blowing, incredible fucking. To think she’d thought he was such a nice guy.
“Good.” She turned on her heel and heard the satisfying swish and click as the door shut behind her.
This just made her more frustrated. If he was going to toss her aside after a quick screw, why act all possessive and caring? It was too much. If she wasn’t pregnant, they’d have to do it again. She wasn’t sure how she would face it, knowing she’d be discarded so quickly after. She hadn’t meant to like him. The sight of him leaping through the air to save her almost haunted her with feelings of her relief and gratitude. His treatment after only made her feel more like some discardable womb.
She’d carefully stayed out of sight since the episode in the hall, and now, apparently, they were at a space station: a really dark, abandoned-looking thing.
The captain’s voice came out over the speakers. “Four, three and one stations. Battle-marks go. Clear and sentry. …Molly, we’ll signal you when it’s time to come aboard. For now, hold tight.”
It was a long wait until there was a knock at the door.
Molly walked slowly to the door.
“Hey, Molly, care for a tour?” It was Haze.
“Oh… um…” She’d expected it to be Oz, come to annoy her again with his concern. She felt disappointment and anger instead. Of course he wouldn’t come just to lead her off the ship. Where was the screwing in that? Molly took a deep breath. Obviously she just needed to stop thinking about the guy. There was not much right now that he could do which wasn’t just going to piss her off more.
“Oz is busy in engineering, working on repairs,” Haze said as though reading her thoughts. “He’ll be radioing over with the list he needs. I thought — while I gather the items — I could show you around.”
As they walked across the space dock to the massive station, Molly felt tiny.
“This is Barvah station. Mostly she’s scrap metal and junk, so we take what we need, when we need it. Besides, Oz is a whiz with getting things to work together, fastening what he needs out of odds-and-ends.”
“How is it that it’s so empty?”
“Courtesy of Xain and Oz. They worked out a bit of cloaking magic. Nicely enough, Barvah station was never within the normal trade routes. She’d been marked as totaled during a Suhlik event thirty years ago and was just floating, forgotten. Oz has made her habitable; Xain has made her forgettable. It’s a good setup for everyone.”
“So, you find things for Oz?” Molly ventured.
At Haze’s nod, Molly asked, “Does this place have a kitchen, a place where I could work? I’d just like to get my mind off things.”
“I can arrange that. We have one that’s on this floor, in good shape, not that any of us are all that handy, but it’s the one we use. I can bring over some foodstuff and cookware you might find useful, if you make me a list.”
“There’s something else too. Would you be able to… could you find out something for me?”
Haze didn’t say anything, just stared at her.
“My brother, Joe, Joe Galloway. He was a Marine. We know he was involved with some secret mission. I’d just like to know how he died, if he suffered.”
Haze nodded. “I can arrange that; see what I can find out. I have a few contacts that have contacts within the Mahdfel council, although Fyn might be a better bet on that front.”
“Whatever you can find out. It’s been so difficult not knowing. My family would really appreciate it.”
“You might not like what you find out.”
“At this point, I just want to know.”
“I get that. Here, let me show you around.”
The tour of this level ended in a small wing with several cabins. There was a large view-screen tuned to space beyond. “This is Oz’s corridor. If you look through here—” Haze led her up to the viewscreen. “—you can look out to see our baby, the Xeo Tarlith, most beautiful ship in the fleet.”
Molly leaned in. The Xeo Tarlith was beautiful, all sleek lines. She looked fierce and agile, a ship that could be depended upon.
“Haze, why do you risk the Xeo being destroyed, and all your lives taken, for some rock?”
“What?” Haze looked confused. “What rock? Oh.” His face lightened. “Oz didn’t tell you?”
Molly shook her head.
Haze stared at her. “It’s not my place to say really. We don’t usually tell—”
“—Outsiders,” Molly finished for him.
“Yes, I would not be the one to break silence with you. That should be Oz. Sounds like you’ve had this conversation before?”
At Molly’s nod, he continued, “I’ll take you back to the kitchen.”
“You said this was Oz’s corridor?”
“Yes.” Haze pointed at the room across from the viewscreen. “This is Oz’s cabin when we come here. I think he likes being on the side where we park the Xeo, keep an eye on things. Although he’s always more numbers and reports than eyeballing it.” Haze looked Molly, up and down. “No offense.”
Molly went cold. “None taken.” Although she felt perfectly offended. Haze had read it all in an instant, and somehow knew that Oz had rejected her, so he could be alone with his stupid ship again. It was like Haze was trying to let her know that Oz would be like that with any woman. Molly drew herself up. “You were taking me to the kitchen now?”
“Yes, this way.” Haze wound them back toward the central area and to a large metal kitchen.
Molly felt her world expand. “It’s beautiful. Well, after I clean some of this dust out. It’s not too bad though.”
“You can let me know what you need for supplies. I can see what I can scrounge from the Xeo or from other kitchens on the station.”
Molly set immediately to work, scrubbing until the counters and surfaces shined. She barely noticed Haze leave, although she’d given him a bit of a list so she knew he’d be gone for a while.
~
Oz
Oz was able to make several small repairs and upkeeps to the Xeo and set off in search of Molly. He found her in a spotless, shiny kitchen hunched over a notebook making notes. She looked up at him with a warm smile on her face that faded quickly when she saw it was him.
He felt his face fall, but he persisted. “Molly, they’ve put you to work?” he asked confused.
“No, I’m making myself useful. Haze is on the lookout for some things that I need.”
Oz felt his heart contract at that. He’d told her to speak to Haze, but yet he was her provider, not Haze. The attack on the ship flashed through his mind again, and shame gutted him as it lanced again through his body. Again, he was powerless to let go of the feeling.
She deserved someone so much better than him.
Still, he’d come here for a reason, and apparently some small hope still lingered within him. He couldn’t actually keep his word to keep his distance without trying again. Could he ever really give up trying?
The image of her writhing beneath him shot through his brain like a whip shot. No, he had to try again. Whatever it took to get her to forgive him for taking advantage of her before.
“Molly, can I show you something?” His tail swished about in it’s same old, nervous tic.
Molly glanced back at her notebook, then carefully put down her pen inside the pages and shut the cover. “All right,” she said with some deliberation. “For a few minutes.”
“It’s this way. I wanted to show you something; see what you think.”
Oz led her down his old familiar pathways, along the side ways, toward the Xeo, where he had a splendid view of his baby.
He slid the door open and turned to her shyly. “This is home,” he said, feeling a strange tightness in his throat.
Molly stood outside the door, her mouth falling open. “You’re kidding right? You took me to your room.”
“No— I, well— Yes. I thought you might be pleased with it. I could protect you more easily, if we were together. Just until we find a more permanent place for you.”
Molly walked to the view-screen on the wall. His beautiful, fierce Xeo was framed in the background. Maybe she would be able to see it too.
Instead, she shook her head. “I don’t think I could look out at this every day. All I can think about is that something may happen, and suddenly I’ll be frozen and floating through space.”
“I understand,” he said, although it hurt him more than he wanted to admit. Oz reached over and changed the view-screen to display as a window onto a forest landscape.
Molly put her hand to the window. “Much better.” She came over to his bed where he had haphazardly piled up books on various subjects, leaving them constantly on the verge of collapse.
Oz’s mind was never quiet for long; he needed the distraction. Somehow the pile of concrete knowledge before him made him feel secure, like the world was somehow more knowable, but just out of reach.
She ran a finger down the spine of one book on top of a stack, his newest challenge to himself. “You’re a reader?” she asked.
“Yes, I’ve been gradually adding to my collection. We don’t really have space to take many on the Xeo, but Haze is always willing to grab another to add to my pile here.”
“You have them printed. They aren’t all on your computer? I wouldn’t think you’d have them like this; your technology is so advanced.”
Oz shrugged. “Most of them are. There’s something about touching the pages though. I feel a deeper connection to them somehow. Certainly paper books have become rare. Haze does me a great service to collect them for me, when he finds ones that are of a particular type that might interest me.”
Molly opened the book and glanced down the page, flipping through it. Oz leaned toward her, wondering what she might think of his hobby. He felt a little nervous somehow.
She smiled sheepishly. “I can’t read it.”
Oz hurried forward to take it from her. “This is ‘Constructs of a Wormhole in the Zero Prime Gravity of a Tarlynth.’ It might be a bit much to start.” He smiled trying to gauge her reaction, handing it back to her apologetically.
“But I could teach you from this one perhaps?” He grabbed his blue copy from beneath it, well-worn and broken in. He often read snippets from it when he felt alone or lost. Perhaps Molly might find some comfort in it. “It is ‘The Forest of the Mother World- Holding Infinity at Root.’ It’s more of a philosophical read from my mother planet, thoughts on where we’ve come from, our purpose.”
As Oz looked down at her, he felt the warmth of her presence. When she glanced up to look at him, he felt the whole world fade away. She seemed to catch her breath, and her lips parted.
“I—” He broke off what he was saying as his tail wrapped possessively about her ankle. “You’re so beautiful,” he managed. He touched her arm with his hand, gently. “I wish that you would consent to perhaps stay here.” His tail flicked her leg slightly in invitation. “We could continue again, at least until we confirm your pregnancy, and I could find some place safer for you.”
Molly grimaced. “Yup, and then just ship me off…” She extricated herself from his tail and took a step back toward the door.
“Did you not want to go once you are pregnant? Would you stay here with us?”
“No, I- I want to go. As soon as possible.”
“I understand; I don’t blame you.” But it squeezed his heart a little. He would have to speak to the Captain; see what might be done for her.
He saw a look cross her face, quick but strong. She said something in an undertone, and the words took a moment to compute and translate.
“Fuck it,” she’d said.
His translator put forth a few definitions; she wished to mate again.
At the same time Molly lurched forward, going up on her tiptoes and stretching her arms up to his shoulders to pull his face towards hers.
Oz’s heart sped up from the utter despair of a moment before. If he could mate her well, perhaps she would consent to stay here, where he could reach her whenever he wanted.
He kissed her hungrily, loving the feeling of her soft lips against his, his tongue darting inside to search her.
He groaned as a feeling of painful need coursed through him. Already, he knew he would be wanting her many times over. How could he have such pleasure once and never again?
His tail wrapped again around her leg, higher up on her thigh. He held her close as he bent down to kiss her.
“Fuck it,” he repeated to her smiling, pressing his hips into her, showing her how much he wanted her. He grabbed her ass and pulled up her shirt, rubbing his hands along her back, fumbling with a strap and reaching around to the front, trying to find the way to unlock its wonders.
She startled but reached up behind herself to unhook it.
Oz would have to inspect the device later if he meant to be a good mate. In the meantime, he busied himself in removing her shirt and the breast contraption, so that he could kiss down her neck and lap at her breasts. He zeroed in on her nipple, his tongue circling around as it hardened against his touch, eliciting a moan from his mate. He reached a hand up behind her head to cushion her as he lay her upon his bed. His hand around her back, he arched her chest into his mouth so that he could play with each nipple bringing them to hard points. She moaned softly.
He drew back to gaze at her form, his hands making soft circles over her skin, bending down to lap at her nipples, teasing her as she closed her eyes and her lips parted. She panted and the sound filled him with satisfaction.
His tail was behind her waist now and he felt the top of her pants against its tip. Yes, his tail wanted to move on and explore. It had its own mind as they say.
He kissed down her stomach, wishing to kiss every part of her body. He unbuttoned her pants and held the flaps apart so that he could kiss her stomach.
Her hands went to his hair and pulled tightly.
Oz took that as a sign. He lifted her hips with one hand and slid her pants off with his other. His tail was quickly between her legs, darting up to her underwear, rubbing at her secrets there.
Holding her hips up, he pulled her underwear aside. His tail began rubbing her, exploring her.
Molly thrashed on the bed, moaning.
He bent down to taste her. His tongue lapped up to her front with its tiny nub. As he touched it, her whole body quaked in the most pleasing way. He licked again. Her response made him almost waste his seed on the bed. Concentrating, he set his tongue to a rhythm, dancing around her front nub until she was panting and moaning. At one point her hands grabbed onto his head, pulled him to her and she screamed, bucking into his face. He lapped fast, sucking her as she exploded around his tongue. She quivered and went still, panting loudly.
He touched her nub again with the tip of his tongue. She drew back quick as though it pained her.
His mate needed time to recover then.
There was more to explore though: the place he had entered her before. He used his finger to play at her entrance, before sliding his finger inside. Her body was like a warm pillow around his finger, and he rubbed, seeking pleasurable places inside her. He flicked at her front and was rewarded with a jump from her.
He moved his finger inside her and flicked her nub with his thumb. She jumped again.
A wicked desire came over him. He maneuvered himself so his mouth was at her nub to lick up, down and around. In counterpoint he rubbed and licked at her then in sync. Her hips left the bed. She panted again, holding his head to her nub. Another long moan escaped her lips, her voice rising in need.
She was ready so quickly this time. He felt a need wash over him to make her scream again. He lapped at her, gradually increasing his pace then slowing down, watching her response. He found a rhythm inside her until she was bucking. She thrashed her hips, jerking quick against his mouth. Her body tensed up until she screamed again. The moans seemed to tear out of her.
She was his — his ‘fuck’ as she’d said in that strange Earth word — his mate. He must bring her to this every day, every day of his life. Would he ever be satisfied?
As her body quieted, he raised up off of her. She panted, her body lay open to him. His tail flicked at her breast, rubbing her nipple. He bent down to kiss her other nipple, watching it harden again.
“Oh, no more. I can’t.”
She thrashed, but he removed his pants. He needed to be inside her.
He was hard, and his tip was wet in his need. He bent down to kiss her, wishing to slide his shaft into her mouth and feel her soft tongue upon him. For now, he was contented with the feel of her soft tongue upon his own.
He reached down to her opening, flicking playfully at her nub on the way. She bucked her hips, panting again.
He drew back, staring at her hungry eyes. “Yes, mah lo ma. You are ready for the mating. We will be one.”
He nudged the tip of his shaft into her entrance. Her eyes rolled back in pleasure.
“Yes, you are mine.” He rolled his hips to tease at her entrance, enjoying her response. He slid in further, leaning away from her so only his cock touched her, delaying the pleasure for himself too. He flicked at her nub with his tail.
Molly spread her legs wide. Her neck arched back, and her hips tilted forward. Oz slid in further.
He pulled back and slid only so far again. Then a little further, ending each stroke with a roll of his hips.
“Bastard,” she whispered so quietly that he could barely hear it. He didn’t care to listen for the translation. He rolled his hips again and slid in further, and she moaned again.
He felt her clench around him, and — able to bear it no longer — he slid in all the way. He allowed himself a soft moan as he sunk in to the hilt.
Yes. Yes. This was home to him now.
He grabbed her hips and thrust in earnest, pulling all the way out and sliding all the way back home. He used her as an anchor to his thrusts, her helpless moans in his ears raising his pleasure. She clenched up again, thrashing beneath him, calling out to him.
Oz found he could hold it no longer as his tattoos shone brightly, the heat rising inside. He thrust into her, increasing his pace, beating her insides with his shaft. The energy rose in him, driving him over the top. He jerked as he came, spilling his seed within her, broken and panting. He collapsed forward onto his arms, panting.
When he could breathe again, he pulled back to kiss her, seeking out her tongue, trying to devour her, kissing her so fast she struggled to keep up.
He drew back to claim her. “Mah lo ma, you are mate to me. Let us be one always.” He kissed her chin, nibbling. “Always,” he repeated.
Molly chuckled, a soft, pleasant sound to his ear.
“I can’t figure you out, Oz. You’re a very strange guy.”
He felt himself stir, already the hunger returned. He clutched at her lovely round ass, using it to pull her toward him. “Please, let me mate with you again. I wish to be one with you again, now.”
“Absolutely not.” She pushed him away. “I need to go play in the kitchen now.”
Disappointment filled him. “Soon then?” His voice dropped off hopefully.
“I just need to get dressed right now. I can’t think like this.” She gestured down at her naked body, so pleasing to his eyes.
~
Molly
Molly spent the afternoon cooking in the kitchen. It was a real kitchen, much better than the ship’s. She needed to make a few adjustments for the alien cookware, but things primarily functioned the same.
She tried hard not to think about Oz and what she had just done with him. Rather what he had just done to her. It had been good. Beyond good. She felt like she would melt through the floor as another wave of desire coursed through her. He was so hot and his body was so hard to resist. She just wanted his hands on her again.
Even if he was planning to dump her off somewhere after?
But yet, honestly, she wanted to live somewhere safe, if there was such a thing in this new world that had Suhlik in it.
Then the other thought crashed through her: If she left, maybe she’d never get to feel his hands caressing her body like that again. She closed her eyes and grasped the counter, her body swaying slightly in remembered heat.
At a distant creek, she came hurriedly back to herself, looking around.
Haze came in and brought her fresh food and some cookware that he had scrounged from the ship and a few other kitchens on the station.
At one point she found herself humming as Haze helped her put things away. She couldn’t help it; cooking made her happy. And there was something about what had happened with Oz. He was so… There was just something about how she felt when she was with him. Safe. Even now. She glanced down at her band. He would be here in an instant if she needed it… or even if she just wanted It.
She glanced over at Haze unloading the last few things onto the counter. Probably not the best idea to be thinking this way right now… But it was tempting.
The next moment Oz walked in. She glanced up as a tingle worked its way through her, but then she noticed a predatory look on his face as he moved toward them. The strange tattoos on his arms glowed softly.
Haze glanced over at Oz and made a hasty exit.
Molly watched Haze’s retreating back mystified, feeling slightly stung. “What’s that about?”
Oz walked toward her to lean over the counter. “You should not be spending so much time with the crew. I don’t think it is right as you are my mate, matched to me.”
Molly leaned away from him, the warm feeling crushed out of her in a shocked instant. “Excuse me?”
“It’s just… Haze will get the wrong idea.”
Just when she’d thought she’d figured him out. The hell? Better nip this in the butt right now.
“Listen, don’t try to tell me who my friends can be, got it?”
He jerked back from her. “You’re right. I don’t know what I was thinking.” He made a sharp exit out of the room.
The shocked look on his face made Molly feel slightly better.
~
Oz
As Oz left, the horror and shame rushed through him and consumed him. What was he thinking? His mate had the right of choice.
Besides his mother made no choice that he now seemed to be asking of Molly. It was not like him to only embrace the Mahdfel way. He’d always sworn to respect his mother’s culture. How could he ask something different of Molly, just because he could only have one mate? And really, Haze wasn’t even an option for her.
For what reason was he even acting this way? He needed to just get far away from her. This jealousy was strangling him until he could know no peace. …But her body…
Captain Vren came walking up as Oz made a right toward the Xeo. “Oz,” he said, “Come alongside me. We need to discuss our next shipment home.”
“Captain.” Oz dipped his head.
The Captain looked sideways at him. “Something bothering you?”
“Sir, no sir.”
“Something to do with your mate Molly, perhaps?”
Oz froze. It was obvious to everyone.
“Sir.” He stopped short. He felt the emotion come over him again. He was locked in the moment, and he wasn’t sure he could ever leave it. “I do not remember killing the Suhlik. Suddenly its body was beneath my knife. I felt so much rage, beyond any I’ve ever known. I believe if I’d had no knife, I would have ripped its head from its body with my bare hands.”
“She is your mate. These things can happen. It was the same for me while my mate, Mavesa, lived.”
“Sir, I can’t think straight. All I feel now is fear and… other things that I can’t control. I don’t feel like myself when I am with her. I believe it would be safer if I found a new place for her, but at the same time, I can’t bear to part with her. I am not a true mate, not one as someone like Haze could have been for her. She would be safer away from our mission, away from me.”
“Even though I am the captain — and I maintain my neutrality in all things — I notice the way Haze tries to shake you up. You are a calm soul, and Haze is a wild spirit. The opposing forces do not always mix well. And Haze does like to stir things up, if he can. I don’t suppose Haze has been causing you any trouble?”
“No sir.” But in his head, he continued: only in any way he can.
“Well, that’s good at least. I think you should give yourself more time to adjust. Have you thought to take Molly to Vrayelea? It might be just the place to cement your bond.”
“Sir, it would not make her any safer with me.”
“You’ll see Oz; there is no safer place for her than with her mate.” The Captain put a hand on Oz’s shoulder and patted it in reassurance. “No other will protect her as you will. We are safe here, for the moment, thanks to the steps you and Xain have taken to cloak the station. Besides, you deserve time away. You never take advantage of your free time. Make it Captain’s orders if that will make it easier.”
“Sir.”
In his mind’s eye, Oz saw Molly’s body rising beneath him again. How quickly just the thought of her could unsettle him. “I will see if she’ll come.”
“Make it a surprise,” the Captain suggested. “You will find that females tend to like that sort of thing.”