Page 40 of Secretly Abducted
Now, swimming toward the zhik'ra fields, I'm wondering if he did the same. That spark between us had pulsed with something when I came the third time—an echo of pleasure that wasn't entirely my own. The thought that maybe he was touching himself at the exact same moment, thinking of me the way I was thinking of him...
I surface near the work platform to find him already there, sorting through yesterday's salvage. The morning sun makes his wet skin gleam, and when he turns at the sound of my approach, his bioluminescence immediately flares with gold spirals.
"You came," he says, and there's something soft in his voice.
"Said I would." I pull myself onto the platform, very aware that we're both already wet, half-naked, and alone. "How long have you been working?"
"Since dawn." He doesn't quite meet my eyes. "I couldn't sleep."
"Yeah?" I move closer, careful not to crowd him. "Me neither."
His colors shift, purple threading through the gold. "The storm damage is extensive in Section E. We should focus there today."
"All business, huh?" I grin, reaching past him for a cutting tool, letting my arm brush his. "Not even going to mention that you kissed me last night?"
His skin erupts in that pale green of embarrassment mixed with deeper purple. "I thought perhaps you wouldn't want to discuss it."
"Vel'aan." I wait until he looks at me. "I jerked off three times last night thinking about that kiss. I definitely want to discuss it."
He makes a strangled sound, his whole body lighting up. "Three times?"
"Would've been four but I ran out of time." I slide into the water, the cool embrace doing nothing to calm my heated thoughts. "Come on, show me Section E. We can work and talk."
He follows me into the water, his natural grace making my clumsy strokes look even worse. But I catch him watching me, his gaze lingering on my chest, my arms, the way my shorts cling when wet.
"You're staring," I say, treading water beside him.
"You stared first. On the platform."
"Fair." I swim closer, until we're just a foot apart. "I like your colors when you look at me like that."
"Like what?"
"Like you're thinking about last night too."
We work for the next hour, but it's charged with new energy. Every time we surface together, we end up closer than necessary. When I get confused about which growth to cut, he guides my hand with his, the touch lingering. When we pass tools between us, our fingers brush and his skin lights up every single time.
"This cluster's completely tangled," I call out during one surface break. "I can't tell what's salvageable."
He swims over, assessing the damage. "You have to feel for the healthy growth underneath. Like this." He takes my hand, guiding it beneath the surface to the base of the plants. "Feel the difference? The dying parts are softer, brittle."
His chest is pressed against my back as he guides my movements, and I can feel his breath on my neck. My cock is already half-hard just from this proximity, from his innocent touch that feels anything but innocent.
"Yeah," I manage, my voice rough. "I feel it."
"Good." But he doesn't move away. If anything, he presses closer. "You're improving."
"I have a good teacher." I turn my head slightly, bringing our faces close. "A very distracting teacher."
"I'm distracting?" His hand is still over mine under the water. "You're the one who keeps... flexing."
"Flexing?"
"When you cut the thick stalks. Your arms and shoulders..." He trails off, colors shifting to deep purple.
"My arms and shoulders what?"
"They move in ways that make me want to stop working."
