Since we changed directions, there’s been even less to look at than before. Farther from the stream, the vegetation grows even more scarce, with the ever-present humidity only supportingmoss. It’s not ugly per se, but it’s incredibly boring to look at. Rocks and moss. Moss and rocks. Maybe I’ll go insane before I become fully paralyzed. What an exciting prospect. Not.
Passing through a narrow canyon, we arrive at a small valley nestled between two sharp peaks. The air smells odd here, a bit like rotten eggs and a bit like rocks and stone, making me scrunch my nose, but something about the smell is vaguely familiar, and not in the I-forgot-eggs-in-the-fridge-for-six-months way. There’s a lot more vegetation here, too, with vines and other climbing plants covering the rocks and cliffs around us. With the increased humidity and strange mist in the air, it feels like we’ve entered a slightly smelly greenhouse.
As Adam moves forward and the first pool comes into view, I suddenly realize why the smell is familiar. Hot springs I once visited with my family smelled exactly like that. Like sulfur, because it’s hot volcanic water bubbling to the surface.
Hot water. A hot bath.
My mind screeches to a halt, like a record scratch. I asked for a hot bath. I literally told Adam a hot bath would help me, and he veered off our path to bring me to fucking hot springs.
He understood me. There’s no other explanation for that, unless he’s actually reading my mind, but I put that on the back burner for now.
Adam understood what I said. There was no pantomime involved, no jabbing my finger in the direction I wanted to go or mimicking putting something to my mouth to indicate I was hungry. I just said “hot bath”, and nothing else. In English. Jesus fucking Christ. How can a primitive alien from a moon with no civilization understand English? Most of the freaking galaxy doesn’t understand English!
Everyone is implanted with devices called translator nodes that give a passive understanding of languages. Thanks to mine, I understand what aliens say, but they don’t understand meunless they have English downloaded into their nodes. Since Earth is still considered a primitive planet by the United Galactic Congress and protected from all outside influence by the Non-Interference Directive, the only humans out in the galaxy are ones who have been kidnapped by slavers. So it’s only slavers or people who work with rescued humans who bother updating their nodes with Earth languages. Pon, my pilot, had to have his nodes updated before accepting the contract to bring me to the medical ship, otherwise he wouldn’t understand a word I said.
And Adam, an alien who can’t even talk himself, somehow understands English after listening to my rambling for a few days? That’s impossible, unless he’s secretly a genius or has translator nodes installed, which just brings up more questions.
I set them aside for the moment, focusing on the inviting pools of steaming water we pass. Some of them bubble as if the water’s boiling, which makes them slightly less appealing. Adam moves around most of them without pausing, heading straight for the back of the valley. A set of smaller pools lies there beneath a few spiky bushes laden with pink fruit. It looks delicious, but I know better than to touch it without Adam’s permission. With the way my luck has been going, the fruit would probably spray acid all over my face.
Adam sets me down on a narrow ledge between two pools. Dipping a hand in each, he rumbles in satisfaction before looking at me and pointing at both pools at once. Oh, I even get to choose. Careful not to roll into the water, I test the temperature of both before deciding on the slightly cooler one. My fingers stumble as I untie the vines holding my improvised leaf clothing together, but I manage even without Adam’s help. He crouches nearby, watching and ready to assist if I ask, but he isn’t crowding me, for which I’m grateful.
I contemplate leaving my loincloth on for modesty’s sake, then realize I’m being stupid. We watched each other masturbatejust a few days ago and Adam has been helping me go to the bathroom ever since he woke up after his injury. The ship called modesty sailed a long time ago. Besides, I doubt the leaves would survive in the hot water. They’re surprisingly durable, but I doubt they are boil-proof.
Once I’m naked, I test the water again before nodding at Adam. I could probably roll in on my own, but why scratch my skin on the rocks when I have an assistant eager to help me?
I wish I could enjoy the slight thrill that runs through me when Adam scoops me into his arms, but the pain makes it difficult to focus on anything else. Not even my cock reacts, which shows how bad the pain is.
As Adam gently lowers me into the water, a long groan escapes me. “Fuuuck. This feels so good. Thank you, Adam. This is amazing.” Of course, I can only feel the warmth from my hips up, but it must be doing something for my legs, too, because the pain loses its sharp edge and becomes an incessant tingling.
Setting me on a bench-shaped rock by the edge of the pool, Adam checks that I’m safe from slipping into deeper water before jumping out himself. He shakes the water off his body like a dog before lying down on the ledge beside me.
“Don’t like hot water, hmm?” I guess. “Steven never liked it either. A hot shower, yes, but bathing in a hot pool always made him dizzy after the first few minutes. Me? Damn, I could soak for hours.” I might do just that.
Remembering my earlier theories, I beckon Adam closer. “Come here. I just need to check something.” Huffing, he lazily crawls over and plops his head down next to mine. When a waft of sulfur reaches his nostrils and he sneezes, I flinch, nearly toppling over, but I steady myself by grabbing a spike on his back. “Sorry,” I mumble, releasing it once I’m stable. Fortunately, that part of Adam’s body doesn’t seem especially sensitive. “Okay. Let’s see…”
His purr rumbles to life as I run my fingers up his neck, and his eyes flutter closed.
“Oh, you like that, don’t you? Should I scratch you like a cat?” I tease, forcing my disobedient fingers to curl under his chin. Huffing, he playfully snaps his jaws at me, as if telling me he’s not like a cat in that way. “Never mind. That’s not what I was looking for, anyway.”
Returning to his neck, I slide my fingers up toward Adam’s ear holes, softly probing at the scales behind them. “Oh fuck. There.” A tiny, long-healed surgical scar right behind his ear hole. Just to be certain, I touch the other side of Adam’s head, only to find the same scar in the same spot.
“The same as mine,” I murmur, absently touching behind my ear. “You have translator nodes. But how?”
Pon claimed the moon was uninhabited, and with the amount of solar activity in this system, I’m inclined to believe him. If just one solar flare knocked us out of hyperspace, what effect would regular solar storms have on ships and technology on the moon? Even if the ships could be shielded somehow, why would anyone choose to live here? I’m sure there are hundreds of similar planets and moons around the galaxy that are more easily accessible.
A touch to the shell of my ear pulls me out of my thoughts. Adam is repeating my motions, except he’s not looking for implantation scars. He’s just exploring.
A shiver runs through my body as Adam traces the shape of my ear, which must seem as alien to him as his ear holes do to me. I don’t stop him. Not al all. Tilting my head to the side, I give him more space to explore. To touch.
His tongue darts out of his mouth, but he doesn’t move in to lick my exposed neck. Yet. He runs his fingers down the side of it. His claws, which come out from his knuckles rather than his fingertips, are carefully sheathed as he presses his fingers intomy pulse point. Another hand cradles my head from the other side, and yet another plays with my hopelessly tangled hair. Fourth hand supports his head as he lounges on the ledge, and yeah, I’m jealous that I only have two hands that don’t even work that well.
The warmth is doing wonders for my fingers, too, so I stretch them before balling them into fists, massaging one hand with the other in the vain hope of rubbing more feeling into them. Adam takes over, gently massaging both my hands at once from my wrist to the tips of my fingers. It’s not an erotic action, yet his tender ministrations shoot straight to my cock. As most of the pain has eased for now, I’m free to focus on the pleasure and damn, when did hand massages become so hot? Then again, anything Adam does is hot to me.
I should really be figuring out the mystery of his translator nodes or thinking about how the hell I will survive in this place, but at the moment, all I want to do is kiss him. Slowly, I pull my hands from his and cup his face, bringing it closer to mine. I’m no longer afraid of his teeth, though I admit they don’t make this easier. French kissing is definitely off the table.
“Don’t bite me,” I whisper before touching my mouth to the side of Adam’s snout.
His entire body tenses, his tail, which has been lazily flicking from side to side, freezing in mid-flick. He stays motionless for so long that I begin to worry I’ve triggered some murderous instinct, but then he clamps one hand around the back of my neck, locking me in place as he drags his lips along the edge of my chin and down my neck. A breathless moan escapes me when I feel the tip of his tongue flick over my skin.
