But no one ever forgets resonance. Everyone waits for it, and the reason that I picked this planet to live on has turned into a noose around my neck.
I lie in his arms, but I can’t sleep. I can feel his breath against my skin, feel his big body pressed to mine. He’s offering me comfort, and he knows that I don’t like to sleep alone after years of sharing a bed with Johani and Vuurash. He doesn’t know that they never cuddled me. That I never felt their limbs touching mine as I slept. That no one comforted me with skin to skin when I was sad. I loved Johani and he was fond of me, but he didn’t understand my need for more. I had a good life as his “pet” human, and he didn’t understand my envy of Vuurash and their secretive love.
I should tell O’jek that he doesn’t have to press up against me when he sleeps over, but I like the feel of his arm around my waist and the way his body feels against mine. I say nothing at all.
Toying with a lock of my longer hair, I stare up at the ceiling of my hut, thinking about my life. About how much it has changed since I left Praxii and how yet nothing has changed at all. I’m still a virgin. Still unmated. Still waiting.
I’m so keffing tired of waiting.
For some reason, Veronica’s words drift through my mind.
The more I heal, the more I learn it’s about encouraging certain parts of the body to pay attention.
And an idea forms.
CHAPTER 4
O’JEK
I wake up, my senses on alert…only to realize that D’see is looming over me, her eyes glowing and unblinking.
Rubbing my face, I glance up at the smoke-hole. Still dark. I eye D’see again. “Is something wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” she whispers. “Everything’s right, actually.” There’s an intense glint in her eyes as she gazes down at me. “Everything’s great.”
This…does not seem great? But she is no longer crying, and I am glad for that. I reach up and touch her arm, patting her in the darkness. “Can you not sleep? Do you need tea? Food?”
She smiles down at me and shakes her head. “That’s very kind of you, O’jek. Very caring.” Her expression softens. “You’re going to be such a good dad.”
D’see is definitely acting strange. I sit up, gently moving her aside so she is no longer hovering over my face, and move toward the fire pit. My cock is hard, and I adjust it absently as I pull the fuel basket toward me. “I will make you a fire,” I tell her, flicking my braid back over my shoulder. “And we will have some tea. Perhaps that will help you sleep.”
“I’m not tired,” she says brightly again. She moves closer to me, her arm brushing against mine, and my body reacts to her nearness once more. I eye her, wondering if she is going to help me with the fire, but she seems content to rub up against my arm.
Not that I am complaining. When her full teat brushes against my skin, my cock twitches in response. It is both agony and pleasure, being this close to her. I know she is not herself right now, though. D’see needs a supportive friend, not a male obsessing over the rounded swells of her teats, and so I focus. Tea. Fire first, then tea. Then sleep.
With tongs, I toss a few of the fuel cakes into the fire pit and break them up. Then, I grab the spark-making rocks and get to work on a pile of dried tinder. D’see’s fingers brush over my bare arm again and my skin prickles with awareness. This is not like her. D’see is always warm and affectionate, but she is not…clingy.
“I’ve been thinking,” she tells me.
“I see.”
“I want a baby.”
“I know this.” The entire tribe knows this. The mountains in the distance know this. D’see has made quite clear her wishes. I am not certain why she feels the need to declare this in the middle of the night, however. I stifle a yawn, contemplating the blends of tea I keep in neat containers at the far end of the hut. D’see likes the ones with the fruit flavoring to them—
“You’re not listening,” D’see says, breathless. She touches my arm again. “O’jek, I’m tired of waiting for resonance. I think you should give me a baby.”
My cock is the first part of my body to react. It twitches in response to her words, my mind filling with images of doing just that to D’see—pumping her full of my seed while she is under me and giving her just what she wants. I squeeze my eyes shut, willing the image to go away because we are friends and nothing more. “D’see…we have not resonated.”