Kids.
N’kal wanted kids with me. Not necessarily right away, and not ifIdidn’t want them, but he wanted them. I hadn’t even considered kids since … since my heart got ripped apart by my own foolishness.
Since I lost Rick to a stray bullet.
N’kal rested on the bed most of the evening, pouting the poutiest pout I’d ever seen, but I didn’t have the emotional capacity to try to console him. Once he shot down my suggestions of finding a virtual college program, I think we both hit a wall. I was caught up in memories of Rick and the danger I’d put him in, and N’kal was immersed in his own dark thoughts. Since he didn’t share what the problem was, I had no clue what had suddenly deflated him.
I spent a couple hours worrying that I’d broken the bond N’kal spoke of, but when I changed into my pseudo-pajamas and crawled into the bed, he rolled over and engulfed me in his arms. He nuzzled my neck, and his cheeks were wet. Was he crying?
“Hey, hey,” I said, stroking his hair and holding him to me. “What’s wrong?”
“I do not understand this planet.” He sniffled and squeezed me tighter. “When I met Q’on and Amber, they spoke of a wonderful place, with many cultures living together, billions of beings coexisting on the same planet. They did not mention groups like AXL. They did not mention hate and intolerance and fear. Were they all lies?”
I paused, hoping I chose my words carefully enough. “No, not all of them. Therearebillions of humans on Earth, and it’s true that, in some places here, different cultures live side-by-side. What Q’on and Amber may have left out was the sad fact that multicultural life is rarer than we’d like, even in today’s era of interconnectivity and increased understanding. It’s not that humans are inherently evil or distrusting. There just happen to be sections of humanity that refuse to acknowledge change, that refuse to accept anything they see as different from themselves.”
“Like AXL.”
I nodded. “Like AXL.”
“What about your partner? Is he like AXL?”
“I’m not sure how to answer that. I don’t think he’s got any personal beef with you or even Xalanites in general. I think the appeal of easy money, especially exotic currency like yourkrin, made it easier for him to act against his nature. He’s not normally a bad guy. I’ve never seen him intentionally harm anyone who wasn’t an immediate threat, not even a perp, and I wonder if maybe he’s having money problems at home for him to take the hit that was ordered like he did. Our salaries are comfortable enough, but who knows? Jim could have a hidden gambling problem or other debts that made the offer too good to pass up.”
“Is that what my life is worth?” he asked. “A pile ofkrin?”
“No amount of money,krinor otherwise, would ever make me turn on you.” I kissed his forehead and hugged him tight, hoping to envelop him in love and companionship during this sad and lonely time.
N’kal eventually fell into a light slumber, and I continued to stroke his hair while I thought about the events that led us here. My biggest concerns, not counting the new issue with the media frenzy after our fight with the AXL members, were twofold: First, I worried about the hit that Jim had been hired for. Whoever hired him was still out there, and it didn’t sound like he’d opened up to the CPD or the AARO about who the culprit was. Or were there multiple culprits? Too many variables there, and way too many unknowns for my comfort.
The second issue was AXL themselves. I’d burned through some of my burner phone minutes to read up on the group, and they were larger than I’d first realized. There had been accounts of a few attacks near the intake center up in New York attributed to the group, and it bothered me that Steve hadn’t mentioned that. That was vital information, something I should’ve been privy to as N’kal’s erstwhile protector.
I made a mental note to call the local LEOs in the morning and see if they’d gotten any intel out of the AXL members I arrested. Something about their coincidental appearance at the con needled at the back of my brain, and I suspected it was an important piece to this puzzle.
Could the two seemingly separate incidents be related? I wondered. If the Xalanite who hired Jim had enough contacts on Earth, I supposed it wasn’t too farfetched for them to also be in contact with someone in AXL. If that was the case, our morning might not have been as much of a coincidence as I’d originally thought.
I got so wrapped up in my thoughts that I didn’t notice N’kal waking, so when he spoke I jumped with a start.
“I suppose the media frenzy surrounding the panel this morning means we cannot finish attending the convention,” he muttered. “I had hoped to return to the vendors for more items.”
“Sorry, N’kal, but we can’t. It’s not safe.”
“Pity.” He snuggled in more, resting his head on my chest. His hand drifted to my waist then slid around to cup my ass. For a moment I thought he was going to start another round of mating, but he just settled in and got comfy. It didn’t go any further, for which I was a little bit grateful. I mean, with all the reporters crowding the hallway—and I could still hear them milling about out there—I’d hate to think what would happen if I couldn’t keep quiet.
With the way N’kal mated, IknewI couldn’t keep quiet.
Then things started to get weird, in a “is this normal for Xalanites or what” kind of way. N’kal began to knead my ass with his hand, gently squeezing, rubbing, and releasing. In his sleep.
I knew he was sleeping because Xalanites, it seemed, snored through their gills. It was a higher pitch than human snoring, weedier, and the sound started just before the squeezing did. I figured that maybe he was dreaming, but I couldn’t be sure. AllI knew was the rhythmic motion felt amazing, and it got me riled up enough to worry thatImight start something that the reporters could hear if he kept massaging me.
Since I didn’t want to wake N’kal, and Idefinitelydidn’t want to alert the reporters to what might be going on, I decided to ease some of the tension building between my thighs on my own. I was usually pretty decent at keeping quiet when it came to self-love.
While N’kal slept, I slid my hand between us and rubbed my throbbing clit. I rocked my hips slowly, picking up the pace when I found the right spot. Before long I was biting my lip to keep from moaning, and I panted for air as I drove myself off the cliff of an amazing climax. I shuddered and trembled, whimpering, and that was enough to jerk N’kal out of his slumber. I felt his lips spread in a grin against my shirt, and he chuckled.
“Mating with yourself?” he asked.
“Um … yeah.”
His naughty hand gave me one last squeeze before he slid it up my back. “We Xalanites practice this, too. Interesting how self-mating transcends species, yes?”
