She pursed her lips and glared at me. “I just told you how bad it is.”
“Yes. Forhumans. I wish to try it.”
“Like, just straight sugar, or something made with sugar? I really don’t want to place another food order this soon.”
Hmm. She posed a good question. “I do not have a preference. Which is easier to obtain?”
Timber shrugged and pointed to a small device in the corner. “The coffee station there has sugar packets. Just grab one of those white packets and rip the top off. Then you can try a little taste without me spending any more.”
I took her suggestion and brought all of the white paper packets back to the bed. All in all, there were about ten packets. I tore the end off one packet and poured the contents into my hand. Small, white crystals rained onto my palm. They smelled quite sweet, as Timber had claimed. I looked back at her with the pile of crystals held in front of me. “How do I eat it?”
“Huh?” She was back on her phone. “Oh, you can just lick it off your palm there.”
Lick my hand? Interesting.
I stuck out my tongue and touched the tip to the pile of sugar. The crystals dissolved as soon as my tongue came in contact with them, and a surge of heavenly flavor coated the tip. My eyes rolled back in my head, and I moaned as though aroused. When I looked down again, I saw that myn’rilhad hardened with the taste. I gave the sugar a longer lick, and myn’rilbegan to vibrate. I shuddered and gripped the front of my pants, stroking my lowern’rilas wave after wave of euphoria ran through me, increasing with each lick. I opened all nine remaining packets and poured them directly into my mouth.
“Jesus, N’kal, what the hell are you doing?” Timber shot out of her chair and backed up a few steps, covering her eyes with her hand. “I don’t know how you guys do things on Xalan, but here on Earth it’s considered highly rude and vulgar to grab your fucking crotch in mixed company.”
I stroked faster as the remaining sugar shot through my bloodstream. “Why?”
“We save this shit for intimacy here! We don’t go around masturbating in front of other people unless we’re in a relationship with them.”
“You do in the mating programs,” I retorted with a groan, letting my eyes drift close as I tried to concentrate on finishing. I was close, so close … I needed more of this sugar.
Before I knew what was happening, Detective Timber tackled me, wrenching my hands behind my back and placing the metal restraints on my wrists again. I struggled against her grip, but she kept a knee pressed into the small of my back, causing a distracting amount of pain. As the sweetness of the sugar faded, so did my arousal. Within seconds, myn’rilwere back to normal, though my entire body trembled with need.
“The mating programs are faked, N’kal. They’re scripted. Fantasy. Real humans do not jack off in front of total strangers, and if they do, they’re arrested for indecency.”
Her words barely registered in my mind. I just wanted more sugar. My arms and legs twitched, and I shivered as though chilled.
“N’kal? N’kal, are you okay?” She put a hand on my shoulder and shook it. “N’kal?”
“More,” I croaked. “I need more.”
Detective Timber did not move. She kept her knee on my spine and her hands on my wrists.
“You need to come down off the sugar, sir. The AARO is gonna kill me if I get you addicted to some random Earth substance.”
“This is not random,” I muttered, still trying to break free. “This is divine. The Xalanite gods have blessed this shoo-garr. I must have more of it. Please, Detective Timber. Please give me more.”
“No can do. You’re staying right here and detoxing as fast as possible. Fuck, I should never have given you that stuff.”
My teeth chattered, and I let my lower lip jut out in a mockery of a human pout. “You are not fun, Detective Timber. You are a … killjoy. You murder joy.”
“Better that than murderingyouwith an overdose.”
True to her word, she did not release me until the worst of the cravings had passed. I had never experienced addiction on Xalan—we did not have substances like these crystals that had such profound effects on our bodies—and I went through a range of emotions as my body reverted back to normal. Anger, betrayal, begging, and an empty sadness all passed through my mind until the tremors stopped.
“Are you better now?” she asked.
A tear trailed down my cheek. “I will never be better.”
Chapter 4
Timber
Of all the stupid choices I’ve made in my day, feeding sugar to a Xalanite takes the cake. He came down relatively easily compared to human junkies, but from the way he acted you'd think he would never smile again. I was the mean lady who cut off his sugar supply, and his sour attitude after I unlocked the cuffs and let him up was disproportionate to the small amount of sweet stuff he consumed.
