Chapter Four

After a day of struggling to find a way back to Earth, Lisa decided that even if she was stuck in this outpost, the least she could do was indulge her scientific curiosity. As such, she spent most of her time at the bar, asking questions to anybody who would answer her. She learned that the chip implanted in her wrist not only was an identification tag, but it also linked her to Zon's charge account and contained her genetic information so that the bartender knew what was safe to give her. The bartender once asked her if it was true that she had 'universal DNA', but she didn't know what that meant and so told him it was a lie.

It was two full days before she heard from Zon again, although it felt like the days were longer and nights shorter than on Earth. She got a call from him in the bar but didn't actually know that she was getting a call. All she saw was a red light flashing in her wrist and she thought her hand was going to explode. The bartender explained what it was and how to answer. Lisa retreated to the bathroom to take the call.

"Where are you?" Zon asked, his voice tense, as soon as she answered. A holographic image of his face extended from her wrist. Lisa stared at it, fascinated. How did they get the projection to go through her skin?

"I'm at the bar," she said. "Where are you?"

"Out," he replied vaguely. "I want you to get back to the hotel at once."

"Why?"

"Word of you has spread. I doubt most people would be stupid enough to try to steal you from me, but you're a rarity and I would prefer you to remain in the hotel, where you have less chance of being seen."

Lisa shivered. "Are you coming back, then?"

Zon hesitated, a pained look coming over his face. "It's been two days since we last saw one another. Am I correct in assuming that you are no longer affected by the pheromones?"

Heat rushed to Lisa's face. She had continued to dream about him every night, though she didn't have the same burning need to be with him she had when he was near. She cleared her throat. Two days was more than enough for the pheromones to stop messing with her head, and she could answer with relative certainty–she wanted Zon, and it wasn't just because of his musth.

But he was an alien. She shouldn't want him.

"I can think clearly, if that's what you mean."

"Good. But just to be safe, I want you to stay in the hotel. I'll be back in a couple of days. My musth is reaching its climax and, without sex, it's hard to control the aggression."

Heat surged in Lisa's body, making her gasp, until she realized what Zon was saying. He wasn't coming back for her. Wherever he was, he was going to find a different way to ease himself.

"So you're going to find some woman out there?" she blurted, unable to keep the tinge of jealousy from her voice. "While I sit around hoping that I'm not abducted again?"

To her surprise, Zon's expression darkened and he bared his teeth at her. "What sort of man do you think I am? I have never had a woman while I was in musth! With my pheromones influencing their decisions, it might as well be rape! No, not ‘might as well’–any man who seduces a woman who has not previously given her consent to have sex during his musth is raping her!"

His eyes burned with aggression, mouth set in a tight line. Lisa found her hand slipping between her legs–if she had been turned on by him before, she was radioactive now. A man who would fight his own needs to make sure that the woman he was with gave him consent… that was very attractive!

"But the pheromones have worn off on me," she blurted. "So that's not an issue anymore."

Zon's eyes widened.

Her heart pounded and her mouth was dry. She had had boyfriends in the past but they had always ended up making the first move, both to jump into bed and to leave her at the side of the road. Maybe sex without expectations of forever was exactly what she needed. When she got back to Earth, she could find a boyfriend who wouldn't destroy her when he left her. Maybe she would even leave him this time.

"You said that your aggression is hard to control without sex. Well, I'm right here and I have nothing better to do." Lisa dug her fingers into her thigh, pinching her skin to try to keep her mind calm. "And the pheromones have worn off, so I'm fully aware of what's happening."

"We can't know that for certain." Zon's voice was strangled. "Our species… we don't know how much it affects you. You could still be in the thrall."

Lisa hesitated, contemplating her own senses and body for a moment. Was it possible that what he was saying was right? "Maybe a little," she admitted. "But it's not like I'm so drunk on you that I can't think about it. I want you. And you need this. I know what I'm getting myself into, so no harm, right? Besides, I'm a scientist. I need to learn how similar our biology is. Unless you don't want me."

"That is not an issue, I assure you."

"But if you're in musth—"

He barked out a laugh. "I wasn't in musth when I first saw you. The pictures of you that the auction house spread… I came to that auction for you. I wanted you from the first moment I saw your image. It has nothing to do with musth."

His words turned her insides to jelly. "Then you want me and I want you. What's the problem?"

Zon groaned, and she could see she was winning him over. "I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't."

"Get back to the hotel," he rumbled, his eyes dark with lust. "Be ready for me."

She had completely forgotten that she was in the bar bathroom. The holographic image of Zon disappeared and Lisa raced out of the bar, leaving the drink she had been nursing behind. Her heart pounded in excitement as she ran back to the hotel.

Zon couldn't have been very far away, because by the time she had run her fingers through her hair and stripped off the armor plating covering her body, he was there. The full force of his pheromones hit her and Lisa was on him before she could think, dragging her fingers through his hair, thrusting her tongue into his mouth the way she wanted him to thrust into her.

"You smell so good," he moaned, responding to her fervor by gripping her thighs, spreading them over his hips.

Lisa flushed. "I haven't figured out how to use the shower."

"I'll show you how to use it–after."

His mouth caught hers again as he walked towards the bed. His grip was so tight on her legs she knew it would bruise, but that only made it more exciting. She'd experimented with BDSM a little in the past, but her boyfriend hadn't been up to it. Maybe it was time for those fantasies to re-emerge.

Zon tossed her onto the bed, caging her with his body as he followed her down. His skin was burning, as hot as flame, and that heat built inside of Lisa's stomach as he moved down her body, focusing on one breast than the other, making her nipples harden and her core tighten. He tested her with a finger and growled.

"So ready."

His skirt was tenting and Lisa found herself growling as well. "So are you."

"Musth," he panted, sliding a finger in and out of her while he worked her sweet spot. Lisa clutched the bedding beneath her, arching her back to him. "No foreplay necessary when you've got hormones pounding through your blood."

"Pounding," Lisa moaned, unable to think straight as her body writhed just from his touch. "Oh, god…"

A moan answered her. Neither of them could take it another moment and he entered with a single thrust, beginning a deep, fast rhythm at once. His thick, strong body rocked over her, his elbows resting on either side of her head. Lisa couldn't think as her body jerked in time with his thrusts, and she grasped his arms to anchor herself. Every time he drove into her stung a little, but she didn't care about the pain as the tightness built until she was so full and ready that it was agonizing to sit at the edge.

"Zon!" she screamed, half-begging, her fingernails clawing at his back. She clamped her teeth down on his shoulder, her jaw clenching, as he took her over the edge.

She didn't know if it lasted hours or days, but when Zon stopped moving, she couldn't breathe. He collapsed over her, only just not crushing her with his bulk. They gasped together, both clinging to the other, neither moving.

Eventually, Zon raised himself onto his elbows again. His eyes were wide and worried as he stroked her hair back from her face. "Did I hurt you?"

Lisa moaned, not knowing how to answer. Yes, there had been some pain, but that had made it all the better. "You were amazing," she whispered. Her throat was hoarse, probably from her screaming. "That was amazing."

Relief washed over Zon's face and he pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. "Was it?"

She nodded, her eyes drifting shut. Every muscle in her body was beginning to ache with weariness. She smiled. "So amazing. I've never had it that good before."

"Me neither," Zon admitted, his voice growing husky. He nibbled at her collarbone. She didn't think it was possible, but the heat began to build again at once. "Do you need a rest?"

"No," she blurted, although her body was trying to tell her yes. "I don't need to rest."

Zon grinned at her and began rocking his hips again. Lisa stared into his eyes, grinning. Who knew that an alien species would be so compatible with human biology?