Hunger (10 page)

He bowed his head, looking away from her, but his colours showed her his emotions; they were bright yellow now, with tinges of orange like a fiery sun.

“I do not want you, Evie. I do not
want
to want you.”

“I know. And I won’t fight or scream when I am pregnant and you send me away. I’ve already accepted that fate.” She lifted his hand and raised it to her lips. “Think of it this way, Ishk. If you don’t have a child, then who will argue for your people? Your views may not be in line with the others on the council, but your heart is in the right place. I’m beginning to see that now.”

Evie placed her hand over his heart. “That is where your heart is, right?”

“Yes, we are anatomically similar.” His eyes were dilated; he kept staring at her lips. She couldn’t help licking her own and wondering what it would be like to kiss him.

“Good to know,” Evie said. “Why don’t we go and explore the other anatomical similarities between our species?”

Whatever had possessed her to initiate sex with him she didn’t know. Perhaps it was his vulnerability. He was so shut off from his emotions, and she wanted to help him find them, because their child would need a father who was capable of love.

Although she knew it was fruitless, she held some small hope that she could open his heart and find a place for her in there too.

Taking his hand, she led him to the bedroom, standing facing him in front of the bed and undoing the belt around his tunic. Taking hold of the hem of it, she eased it up over his chest. He held his arms up and she slipped it over them, needing his help when she reached his hands because he was too tall for her to reach.

Spreading her hands over his chest, she watched in fascination as his skin lit up, the colours vibrating under her fingertips. Pressing her lips to his flesh, the sensation was magnified and her desire for him grew. He was so unique, so unlike anything she had ever seen before. Well, of course he would be, he was an alien.

Ishk stood still, frozen in place, while she slipped his pants down. Then she slipped her hand around his cock and worked it up and down, stroking, squeezing, trying to work out what he liked. It wasn’t so much what he liked, more of what he wanted. And that was to be inside her.

Lifting her, he suddenly came to life, moving her to the bed, where he placed her face down. Her yellow dress was pushed up, her panties pulled down to expose her to him. As before he used his fingers to make her ready for him. She closed her eyes, feeling her arousal growing and hoping she would feel more pleasure this time.

Ishk didn’t take his time. As soon as he thought she was wet enough he entered her, grunting when he thrust so deep he impaled her completely. She groaned into the covers. It was uncomfortable, not painful, but also arousing, the feel of the head of his cock sliding against her inner walls.

Her orgasm was close. She pressed back against him, circling her hips to gain more friction as her inner walls yielded to him, but it was not enough. Her clit throbbed and her breasts ached to be touched by him, her nipples hard little buds of need. Should she touch herself, make herself come while he was inside her?

Then he came, too soon for Evie to follow him into ecstasy. He jerked forward, his cock thickening inside her, stuck in place as his seed spurted deep into her womb. Ishk cried out, his hands on her hips as he ground forward into her. But for Evie there was nothing but an aching hunger for something more fulfilling.

Ishk left Evie sleeping and went to the tower early. He had things he wanted to do. Things he wanted to remain a secret. That wasn’t to say they were wrong, or above the law. However, he would rather collect the data he needed and compile a report before he left for the farming belt. No matter how much he enjoyed Evie in his bed, he still had no intention of keeping her. The females were better off in the breeding house.

His plan was simple; it involved a visit to the simulation room. Past the guards, nodding in acknowledgement, acting his usual calm self, while inside his emotions were in a turmoil. Despite his plans for the day and his firm resolve, he still couldn’t get the thought of the way Evie had placed her lips on his skin out of his head.

Damn, he needed her gone from his life so that his equilibrium could be restored.

“Sim, this is Ishk, access code 12942IK.”

“Access confirmed.”

“Sim, I am searching for three data points. Regarding population forecasts and environmental effects.”

“Understood, Ishk. Starting point, please.”

“Current population with one additional female per male, plus one child.”

“Calculated!

“Store. Second simulation. Population, plus 50 percent of females and one hundred percent children. Females will be situated in the breeding house,”

“Stored.”

“Now put the simulations on screen.”

“On screen.”

The first scenario played out what would happen to the planet if each Karalian kept his female with him. “Show food source, food supply and environmental impact.”

“Added to screen.”

“Repeat for scenario two.”

“On screen.”

He examined the results, not liking what he saw. “Split screen.”

“Split screen,” the sim repeated, and the data flashed up in front of him, so easy to compare, so not what he wanted to see.

“Recalculate,” he told the sim, making sure there were no mistakes.

“Recalculation on screen.”

Ishk went to the desk and sat down, staring at the data. It took away all of his arguments. Even with only half the amount of females, the impact was so much less than if the females lived with their men. He had hoped it would be glaringly obvious that females living all over the planet would be bad for Karal.

He couldn’t understand the results.

Standing, he went back to the sim screen, and began filtering the data. An hour later, he was even more confused.

“Sim, why is the data so skewed towards the females being with their Karalian? The males are more productive, why?”

“Productivity rises when the female is in situ because the males have more hours to work. Females will help raise the children. I have also computed that females will assist in work.”

“Why?”

“I am working on the data from when the Karal had females of their own and cross referenced it with the known data from Earth. Human females are capable of work in all fields.”

Now he understood. The female population, if taken to the breeding house, would be like a herd of their cattle. They would always needing feeding and medical attention, whilst all of their potential labour hours went to waste. The breeding house put more strain on his people.

Ishk swiped the screen angrily. What was he supposed to do? Go back to the council and tell them he was wrong? Or carry on with this lie? A lie that would have him go back to the farming belt and try to persuade them to rise up against the Hier Council.

He needed time to think. Getting up to leave, he said, “Sim, delete all data from last log on access code 12942IK.”

“Deleted.”

Head down, he moved for the door, when the sim spoke to him. “Ishk 12942IK, there is a programme simulation waiting for your completion.”

“There is?” He couldn’t remember leaving anything open; it would have to be from before he went to Earth unless someone had been in here using his code. His suspicions sufficiently raised, he went back to the screen. “What simulation?”

“Human compatibility.”

“Human compatibility.” He had refused to take part in the sim, finding it demeaning. And now he had mated with Evie, did it matter? His body had functioned as it should; he had experienced supreme pleasure.

But curiosity was in his mind and he answered, “Show compatibility screening.”

“Do you wish to be a participant?”

“No. Watch only.”

“Begin programme, watch only.”

Two figures emerged in front of him. One a human female and one a Karalian male. They were both fully dressed. He was about to tell the sim that this was the wrong programme, when the female approached the male and began to slide her fingers up over his chest.

The male bent his head and pressed his lips to hers, a thing she responded to and enjoyed. Ishk could not help shuddering in disgust; swapping saliva with an alien was most distasteful. Then they began to undress, but it was slow, each stroking and caressing the other, sometimes kissing flesh as it was revealed. The Karalian’s colours flashed across his skin, and Ishk recognised the way the sim’s pleasure receptors responded.

A bed appeared behind them, and the couple approached it. They were both naked now, and the female lay down. He expected the male to climb on the bed and join with her. Instead, he knelt on the bed, pressing the female’s thighs apart. Then he proceeded to kiss her between her thighs.

Ishk moved forward. “Audio.”

The sounds of a quiet moaning filled the room; the woman was obviously enjoying what the male was doing to her. Leaning closer he could see the male pressing his tongue inside her and the female writhed on the bed. His mouth rose higher and he kissed her, sucking on her, and then the woman cried out, her voice a mixture of agony and pleasure.

“Sim, what is the female experiencing?”

“Orgasm.”

“This is how a female shows her pleasure?”

“Yes.”

The male now moved to press his cock inside the woman’s wet sex, and she responded with similar noises as he took her. The male kissed her breasts and she lifted her hips off the bed to meet him, moaning with desire. Her hands stroked the male’s skin, touching him, kissing him. And then the male came; he knew the moment when the male fused with the female, and she seemed to catch the sensations running through him and came too. Her voice was high pitched, crying out in ecstasy.

“End sim.”

The couple disappeared and the room once again stood empty. Ishk went over the way he had mated with Evie. She had never made those noises. The first time he had taken her she had looked sad, and now he knew why: she had gained no satisfaction, no real pleasure from their lovemaking. However, she had still taken him to their bed last night, despite knowing Ishk was a selfish Karalian who cared nothing for her.

Needing to see her, he logged off the sim and exited, planning to get his work done early and then returning to her. He wanted to put his newfound knowledge to the test, to see if he could reach out to this human in some way. If only so that if she were ever taken by another male she would not compare him unfavourably.

Deep in thought, knowing he had barely any control of his emotions, he walked quickly to the sanctuary of his office. Yet as he moved through the corridors he had a strange sensation and was shocked, when he looked up, to see Okil walking towards him with Evie.

Evie was nervous to go back to the tower, even though Okil accompanied her.

“It won’t take too long. Lytril asked for a new tag to be put in your neck, and while we are there he suggested a full body scan, to check there are no internal injuries that we don’t know about. Although you are looking better.”

“My body still hurts, but not so bad. The ocatha has healing properties, doesn’t it? Not just pain relief.”

“Ishk would know more, he likes his plants and things, but yes, I believe it helps repair the blood vessels damaged by bruising.”

“He does like his garden, doesn’t he?” She smiled, thinking how peaceful Ishk looked when he was tending his garden. It was a pity it didn’t spill over to any other part of his life.

“He does. Here we are.” Okil opened the door and led her into what looked like a very modern operating theatre.

“Just the chip, right?” she asked.

“Yes, Evie, we do not undergo alien experimentation as some of your old movies would have you believe.” Okil’s eyes shone with humour, and she was grateful he hadn’t teased her more than that.

“You’ve seen those?”

“They are a favourite on some Screen channels. A beam of light, which transports you to an alien spacecraft. I find it amusing that all of the aliens are bad.”

“And you are most definitely not?” she joked.

“We have been, Evie. I cannot deny that.”

“But you’re trying to change?” A thread of fear trickled down her spine.

“Most of us are.”

“Then there are those like Ishk, who would rather take what they need and leave the rest of the human race to become extinct,” Evie said.

“Yes. But it goes deeper than that. We have spent a lot of our time exploring space, and apart from the need to take females to breed with, we have adopted a
do not interfere policy
. It is not just Ishk who has to change; it is also the deep space pilots. They are used to turning around and leaving species to their fate if we have no use for them. They are our warriors, and they are trained to be how you humans would say, ‘heartless.’”

“I didn’t know that. I can understand that you would end up spending too much time helping other species. But I don’t think I could turn my back on anyone in need.”

“We have one goal, just like every other life in this universe. Procreation.”

“Ahh, hello, Evie. I am Darl.” A Karalian dressed in white tunic and pants came to her through another door, holding out his hand. “Okil tells me this is one of your customs.”

She took his hand and felt a tingle of electrify up her arm. “It’s nice to meet you, Darl. Yes it is an Earth custom, although not used so much where I have been living lately.” She couldn’t remember one stranger whose hand she had shaken since she moved to the city.

“Morning, Okil.”

“Darl.”

Darl moved over to the table and said, “Shall we proceed.”

Nervously, she made her way over to the table and asked, “Which way shall I lie?”

“Face down, head toward the door. I just want to examine your neck. I hear from Okil someone barbarically cut your tag out.”

“Yes.” She did as he asked, hoping it wasn’t going to hurt too much.

“Yes, I see. Painful. I think I can insert a tag to the left, and then seal your wound. It’s not deep but I wouldn’t want it to become infected.”