Close Liaisons (10 page)

Mia walked over to the table and sat down, closing her eyes for a minute so she could think. She had no reason to trust John, and she had no idea if anything he had told her was the truth. Still, she was somehow inclined to believe him. There was too much pain in his voice when he talked about his sister; he was either the best actor in the world, or the Ks really were abducting and enslaving humans who caught their eye. The way she had inadvertently caught Korum’s.

Another question occurred to her. Opening her eyes, she asked, “What if Korum knows that Jason is Jessie’s cousin, and he is already suspicious of me?”

John shrugged. “It’s a possibility, of course. But Jason is Jessie’s third cousin, so the connection is very distant. Also, he’s a nobody in our operation – he has barely been involved in the last two years. He only came to me today because Jessie had called him about you. We can’t completely rule out this possibility, but the odds are in our favor. Also, don’t forget – Korum is the one who has been pursuing you, not the other way around, so he really has no reason to suspect anything.”

“All right,” said Mia, “let’s pretend for a second that I do decide to spy for you. How do you expect me to go to him tonight, knowing everything you’ve just told me, and act like nothing has changed? He’s thousands of years old – he can read me like an open book. I don’t stand a chance.”

“I don’t know, Mia. At this point, you know him far better than we do. I know you’ve never been tested like this, but I believe in you. Your biggest advantage may simply be the fact that he likely underestimates your intelligence. As long as you’re just his charl, he may not see you as a threat.”

Mia had finally had enough. She stood up, a feeling of exhaustion washing over her.

“John,” she said wearily, “I understand what you’re trying to do, and I do sympathize with your cause. I can’t promise you anything. I will not put my life in danger to report to you on Korum’s whereabouts and what he had for dinner. But if I do happen to come across any information that could be material, I will do my best to get it to you.”

He nodded. “That’s fair, Mia. If you need to get in touch with us, just talk to Jessie – or if that’s not possible, send her an email with ‘Hi’ in the subject line – we’ll be monitoring her account. That way, if he decides to keep tabs on your email – which he probably will – he won’t get suspicious. You’ll just be saying hi to your roommate.”

Mia nodded in agreement, wanting nothing more than to be alone. Her head was pounding with a brutal headache, and she gladly locked the door behind John as soon as he left.

Making her way to her room, she collapsed on the bed.

She felt sick, her stomach churning from John’s revelations. It just couldn’t be true – she didn’t want to believe it. Yes, Korum did seem to ride roughshod over her objections, and he really hadn’t given her much choice in their relationship thus far. But to actually keep her as a very real sex slave? To take away all her freedom and keep her locked up somewhere within a K Center? If the existence of the charl were anything more than a figment of John’s imagination – and Korum intended to make her one – then he was definitely the monster that she’d accused him of being.

Mia felt nauseous at the thought that she would see him tonight and feel his touch on her body. And probably respond to it, as though he were really her lover. That last part made her want to throw up again. How could her body want him when he didn’t even regard her as a person with basic human – or rather, intelligent being’s – rights?

She was also terrified about spying on him. If she got caught, she was sure that she would probably be killed – perhaps even tortured first, for information. Anyone who kept slaves likely wouldn’t blink at torture.

She shuddered.

In fact, if he found out about her conversation with John today, she might be doomed.

She tried to imagine him intentionally inflicting pain on her. For some reason, it was difficult. For the most part, he had been very gentle with her. Even her loss of virginity this morning – as traumatic as that had been – could have been much worse if he hadn’t tried to control himself. In fact, some of his actions were almost caring – feeding her, making sure she was warm and dry, healing her (well, maybe not that one, given what she’d just learned) – and that hardly jived with the villainous image John had painted for her. Then again, she wouldn’t want to hurt a kitten either, but would have no problem keeping the said kitten locked up in her house. If that was truly how he saw her – as a cute pet that he just happened to want to fuck – then his behavior made perfect sense.

Mia tried not to think about the implications of it all, but it was impossible. Her future had always seemed so bright, and she had enjoyed thinking about it, planning out the next few years of her life. And now she had no idea what the next few weeks would hold – whether she would even be alive, much less still attending NYU.

The thought that she might end up as Korum’s charl in an alien settlement was devastating, especially if she started thinking of her family’s reaction to her disappearance. Would he at least let her tell them that she was alive, or would she vanish without a trace?

A wave of self-pity washing over her, Mia felt the hot prickle of tears behind her eyelids. Unable to contain her battered emotions any longer, she buried her face in her pillow and sobbed at the bitter unfairness of it all – until her eyes were red and swollen and she couldn’t squeeze out another tear.

Then she got up, washed her face, and began to pack her things for tonight as per Korum’s suggestion.

* * *

At 6:45 p.m. she took the subway down to TriBeCa and entered Korum’s building at 6:59. Mentally patting herself on the back, Mia thought that she made quite a punctual spy.

He greeted her with a slow sensuous smile, looking as gorgeous as ever in a pair of light blue jeans and a plain white T-shirt. Even after John’s revelations, Mia’s heart skipped a beat at the sight. Her inner muscles clenched, and she felt herself starting to get wet. His smile got wider, exposing that damnable dimple. He could obviously sense her arousal.

Mia cursed her body. It had gotten conditioned to respond to him, despite everything. Then again, if she was literally sleeping with the enemy, she figured she might as well enjoy it. Now that she knew the truth about his kind and his probable intentions toward her, she was fairly certain that she could keep her emotions in check, no matter how many screaming orgasms he gave her.

The dinner that he prepared was outstanding as usual. Tender roasted potatoes with wild mushrooms, dill, and caramelized onions were the main course, preceded by an appetizer of spinach salad with poached pears. The dessert was a platter of fresh fruit, cut in various unique shapes, with a sweet walnut dip. The entire meal was served by candlelight. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought he was wooing her with a romantic dinner. The more likely explanation was that he simply enjoyed great food in a beautiful setting, and she was the beneficiary of that.

Still, this hardly fit with the evil overlord image John had painted.

Despite Mia’s initial concern, she found it easy to act naturally with him – perhaps because she didn’t have to pretend to like him or be calm in his presence. He knew her feelings toward him perfectly well from this morning, and he wouldn’t expect her to be anything but nervous, snarky, and reluctantly turned on – all of which Mia genuinely was.

Dinner flew by, dominated by light banter – she learned that he really enjoyed American movies from the early twenty-first century – and delicious food. As the meal drew to a close, Mia’s anxiety levels began to rise at the thought of what awaited her later in the evening. Despite the gel he’d used on her, she still felt a slight discomfort deep inside and was not looking forward to experiencing sex again any time soon – even if, theoretically, it would hurt less the second time. She doubted that it could ever be completely pain-free, given the size of his cock and her own supposedly unusual narrowness. Still, her body did not appear to care as warm moisture gathered between her legs in anticipation.

After dinner was over, Mia helped Korum clean up, stacking the dishes in the dishwasher and wiping the table. It was a disconcertingly domestic task – something that she might have done with a boyfriend or husband in the future – and it made her even more aware of the strange turn her life had taken. It was difficult to believe that just four days ago, she was dreading her Sociology paper and worrying that her dating life was in the dumps. And now she was trying not to get caught spying on a two-thousand-year old extraterrestrial who likely wanted to keep her as a sex slave.

Once the clean-up was done, Korum led her to the bedroom.

At this point, Mia felt like a nervous wreck, fear and desire fighting with each other in her stomach. Noticing her obvious apprehension, he said, “No intercourse tonight, I promise. I know you’re still sore.”

Mia’s anxiety ratcheted up another notch. What exactly did he intend to do if intercourse was out of the question?

They entered the bedroom, and he led her to the familiar circular bed, now covered with a fresh set of blue and ivory sheets. The room was lit with a soft yellow light, and some kind of sensuous music was playing in the background. Sitting down on the bed, he pulled her closer to him until she stood between his open legs. In this position, Mia was nearly at his eye level. Trembling slightly, she stood still and tried not to look at him as he pulled her shirt over her head, revealing a plain white bra that she had remembered to wear this time. “You’re so beautiful,” he murmured, holding her gently by her sides while studying the body revealed to him thus far. Inexplicably, Mia blushed, her insecure inner teenager absurdly pleased at the compliment.

Bending toward her, he pressed a warm kiss to the sensitive spot where her neck met her shoulder. Mia shivered from the sensation, goosebumps appearing all over her body. Apparently pleased with the reaction, he did it again, and then lightly blew cool air on the damp spot his mouth left behind. Mia gasped, her nipples hardening from the pleasurable chill. He smiled, eyes gleaming with gold. “Still no mouth-to-mouth?” he asked softly, and Mia shrugged, remembering what happened the last time she set that condition.

Interpreting that as consent, he brought her toward him, burying one hand in her hair and keeping the other on the small of her back. Putting her own hands on his clothed shoulders, Mia closed her eyes and felt him press small butterfly-light kisses on her cheeks, forehead, and closed lids. By the time his soft lips reached her mouth, she was nearly squirming with anticipation.

At first, he kissed her very lightly, just brushing her mouth with his. Then he began gently nibbling on her lips, carefully teasing the rim with his tongue. She moaned, her body pressing closer to his, and he pushed his tongue into her mouth, penetrating it in an obvious imitation of the sexual act. A rush of moisture inundated her already wet vagina as he alternated fucking her mouth with his tongue and lightly sucking on her swollen and sensitive lips.

Lost in the sensations, Mia only vaguely registered his unfastening of her bra. Tearing his mouth away from hers, he kissed her ear, sucking carefully on her earlobe. She arched with pleasure, knees buckling and head falling back, and he took advantage, licking and sucking his way down the delicate column of her throat and the collarbone region until his hot mouth reached the small white globes of her breasts. “So pretty,” he whispered, before pulling one pink nipple into his mouth and scraping it softly with his teeth. Mia cried out, her clitoris throbbing on the verge of orgasm, and he gave her other breast the same treatment, holding her tightly as she writhed in his arms, maddeningly close to finding relief. He held her like that, pausing for a few seconds until the sensation waned a bit, and then lifted her astride one of his bent legs, grinding her jean-clad pussy firmly against his knee and swallowing her scream with his mouth as the long-awaited climax rushed powerfully through her body.

Collapsing bonelessly against him, Mia felt her inner muscles pulsing with little aftershocks. Without waiting for her to recover, Korum got up, lifting her in his arms, and lowered her onto the bed. Stripping off his own clothes with a speed that made her blink, he climbed over her, unzipped her jeans, and pulled them off together with her panties.

Lying there completely naked, Mia was unpleasantly reminded of the pain that followed the last time she was in this position. However, despite the large penis jutting aggressively at her, all he did was gently kiss his way down her body, starting with the sensitive spot near her shoulder and ending near her lower belly. She tensed in anticipation, and he did not disappoint. Pulling open her legs with strong hands, he bent his head and gently licked her folds, avoiding direct contact with the clitoris. Mia was surprised to feel herself getting turned on again, just minutes after her last orgasm. One long finger slowly entered her opening, pressing carefully on some sensitive spot deep inside, while his tongue flicked over her nub in an accelerating rhythm. There was no slow build-up this time; instead, her body simply spasmed around his finger, releasing the tension that had managed to coil inside her in a matter of seconds.

Stunned, Mia lay there. At some point, she must have grabbed his head because her fingers were buried in his short glossy strands. Feeling irrationally embarrassed, she let go, pulling her hands away. He slowly took his finger out, making her vagina clench with a residual tremor, and licked it while looking up at her. Mia nearly moaned again.

He sat up, still maintaining eye contact with her. Mia realized that he was still extremely hard, not having come yet. She licked her lips nervously, wondering what he intended. His eyes hungrily followed her tongue, and she suddenly knew what he wanted her to do.

Sitting up herself, Mia cautiously extended her hand and gently brushed against his penis with her fingers, feeling its smooth hardness. To her surprise, it jumped in her hand, as though alive. Mia’s eyes flew up to Korum’s face, and what she saw there was reassuring. He looked like he was in pain, eyes tightly shut and sweat beading up near his temples. Feeling her pause, he opened his eyes and hoarsely whispered, “Go ahead.”