Page 24 of Stealing Samantha

She was all softness to his hard edges, her lips plush and smooth. Her tongue was more textured than his, and broader, but just like everything between them, their differences worked, fitting together like the matching pieces of a puzzle. That made him think of the elders sitting around the central platform in his village, the way they’d carve such games for younglings. Even as his rattle sang his pleasure in Sam’s sweet taste, part of him ached for all he’d left behind.

It’d be so easy to roll them up, to let his wings trail back over the side of the bed so that he could sit comfortably. He already felt his cock pushing up against his mating slit again. He could wrap his fingers around the tight flare of her hips and lift her until he was poised at her entrance. One motion would be all it’d require for her to take him. Now that he knew exactly how incredible it’d feel, it was difficult to fill his mind with thoughts of anything else.

Sam caressed the top edge of his outstretched wing. She was smiling softly, her fingers fluttering along the length of it like li’esthi settling in among the flowers, listing slightly on their delicate feet as they sought more honey sweet nectar. She grew more confident, the tentative dance of her fingertips transforming into long, thorough strokes. She was petting him, like the animals humans raised for companionship. He dipped his chin towards his chest to hide his grin. He didn’t mind. His k’lallsa could touch him whenever, however, she wished.

Sam’s hand suddenly stopped, and she turned her head back towards the door again. “Do you hear that?” she asked.

“No,” he replied, but as he spoke he clearly heard someone shaking the handle.

“Jaess,” Sam admonished with a frown, a slight furrow between her eyes. “It’s probably your roommate. Hurry—we need to get up,” she whispered quickly, already attempting to pull away. At that moment the person at the door began to bang on it.

“Stay—he’ll leave,” Jaess told Sam as he reluctantly drew back his wing, tucking it alongside the other. He swung his legs off the bed and walked lazily to the door. Once he was close enough to open it, he leaned forward and hissed loudly. It didn’t take long for the noise to stop. “Find another room tonight, Vasith. This one’s occupied.” He laughed when he heard the other man’s high-pitched rattle.

“You find this funny, beast of the forgotten forest? I’ll tell Lithi, you preyless hunter born from the mouth of the water refuse-eater, you ill-fated progeny of the lord of eternal night!”

Jaess had to admit that Vasith’s cursing abilities were more proficient than he’d expected. It didn’t stop his grin from broadening with each angry word.“I’ll speak with Lithi about making alternate arrangements,”he replied calmly in their mother tongue.“In the meantime, you will need to wait.”

He stood in place until he heard a rushing snap of feathers followed by Vasith’s thudding footsteps. Jaess turned towards Sam and walked back to the bed. “I guess we must dress, at least until we can settle Vasith somewhere else for the night,” he said as he pressed one knee into the mattress for balance as he leaned towards Sam, eager for another kiss.

She shoved his chest instead.

“You’re awful—in a really good way,” she added with a grin, in case he’d misinterpreted her teasing. He smiled back, happy she was comfortable enough with him to no longer be so careful with her words. “Hey, do you remember the guide talking about the northern lights on the ride back?” she asked.

He did not.

“I’d like to try to see them. What do you think?” she asked.

“I’m happy to do so if it pleases you,” he replied, gliding the back of his hand from her shoulder to elbow in an idle caress.

Sam grasped his wrist and pulled his hand away before she brought it up to her face. She turned his arm so the inner side touched her lips, and then she smiled. “Then let’s get dressed,” she said, dropping his hand and sliding off the end of the bed.

He pulled on his trousers first and then bent down to search for his shoes. He missed Vastiss for many reasons, and he was smart enough not to dwell on those that caused him genuine pain, but among the inconsequential things that he found irritating about being so far from home was the necessity of footwear. He couldn’t even blame that aggravation on the humans; sandals of some sort had been required in Verkissat, as well. Maybe he could pretend he hadn’t seen the second shoe lying halfway under the corner chair. Surely no one would notice if he walked barefoot to the warm room with the large fire pit.

“Here,” Sam said as she swept the shoe up off the floor and handed it to him with a smile.

Jaess took it and scowled at it as he forced his foot inside its confines. He hurried to pull on one of the human-style shirts with sleeves that had been altered for him. It had magnetic closures that brought the fabric together above and below his wings, but so much cloth felt unnatural on his body. Still, he was glad enough for the extra warmth in this climate.

“I’m ready,” he said as he turned to face Sam. She gave him a strange look, pinching the area at the bridge of her nose.

“We’ll be going outside.” She glanced at his chest again with a little frown and grabbed her heavy jacket.

Apparently the shoes wouldn’t have been optional. Jaess put all of his layers back on, wondering if he should have said no to these northern lights. By the time he’d worked the last robe-like garment around his wings, Sam was sitting perched on the edge of one of the chairs arranged around a small table.

“It’ll be worth it if we get to see them,” Sam said with one of her half-hidden, warm little smiles. “I think it’s fairly likely here, but there are no guarantees.”

She took his hand and they left the room. It didn’t take them long to pass through the pleasant front room with its inviting fire. He gave it a swift, longing glance before he followed Sam outside. She tugged on his hand, urging him along, but it only required a few more steps before he understood why she’d insisted they leave their room.

The sky in this place had already been majestic, so open and wide as it never was among the deep forests, but now it was streaked with curving bands of vivid green. He’d thought this was a colorless land, but he’d been proven wrong.

“You know, when I was little I thought alien planets might look like this—if we ever found any, I mean. Back then we didn’t know about any of you. We really thought it was just us out there.” Sam’s head was tilted back, her scarf bunched low around her collar, revealing the graceful line of her neck. How odd it was to see the very air she breathed turn into small clouds when she spoke. He understood what she was attempting to express. Everything about this region made him feel like an outsider. When he danced at night with his people, it was easy to forget how far he’d traveled.

“I know it was not what you’d hoped, but what did you think of Xithilene, of my home?” He hadn’t planned on asking her again so soon, but here, in this place with its unfamiliar beauty, he longed for sheltered skies and the softness of warm shadows.

She glanced away from the entrancing waves of color to look at him. She moved closer so that her back settled against his chest, and she pulled his arms over her shoulders, cradling his hands in hers. With the dark gloves they both wore, there was no telling how different they were, that they were from two separate species. He liked that reality, the one where they were the same.

“When I first stepped off of T’xith’s ship, I thought it was the most beautiful place I’d ever seen,” she finally said. Then she sighed, heavily enough that he could feel it as her chest sunk beneath the weight of their joined hands. “The air in Verkissat was so pure that I thought someone should bottle it. You’ve spent enough time on Earth now to know it’s different here. Even places like this that we try to preserve still aren’tcleanlike that, so alive. It was supposed to have been my home.” She leaned her head back against his shoulder, tipping her face so he could see her dark eyes. “It wasn’t a disappointment. You said it wasn’t what I’d hoped, but that isn’t true. Uvaess and I—that hurt, that it wasn’t the same, that’s true, but Xithilene—” She shook her head. “It was dreams of a future and six months of anticipation that were stolen from me, but it wasn’t a disappointment.”

He bent his head to brush his lips over hers. The heat of their mouths burned against the bitterness of the dry, cold air that surrounded them. “Thank you for showing this to me. I never believed I’d leave Vastiss, much less Xithilene, but I don’t regret it, Sam. I don’t.”

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