Affiliations, Aliens, and Other Profitable Pursuits Read online

  “As in that which floats?” Ondry looked at him curiously.

  “Not literally. It’s more like a person who moves from one place to another without purpose like a piece of wood might float. I don’t know how to explain this in Rownt.”

  Ondry huffed. “Rownt have ututeh, and they are unwelcome in towns, but they would not give you fruit. If you did not bother them, they would ignore you, and if you tried to demand food from them, they would drive you away. They do not sound like your floaters.”

  “No, not really,” Liam agreed. “The floaters don’t agree with society, so they ignore it. They don’t pay taxes or keep regular jobs, they don’t get drafted, and the government typically ignores them unless they do something to annoy a citizen. They’ll take fruit from the edges of the fields or fish or set traps for rabbits. They sleep anyplace they can find shelter from the weather. And some of them were nice to me. They showed me how to stand on the board they use to balance on, and they always had a smile.”

  Ondry smiled, the lines around his eyes deepening as he tightened the muscles. “They sound like they knew the proper value of a youngling and palteia.”

  Now that he was thinking about it, the memory rushed back at Liam. After running away from home for a day, he would strip down to his shorts and wade in the ocean as the floaters surfed. Someone would bring food he’d scavenged or someone would pull out a fishing spear and a mask they used to see underwater. Liam would swim or surf until his legs felt like overstretched balloons, and then he’d drag himself back to shore and sink his toes into the wet sand as he shivered. A lot of times he would try to steal a little something to give them in return for the food—bottles of spice he took from the kitchens of his mother’s clients or a packet of the free medicine the school would hand out if you complained about a stomachache or headache.

  Liam’s memory scattered as the slicked end of Ondry’s tail pressed against his hole. The sneaky Rownt had hidden the lube somewhere in the nest, and Liam had been too distracted to notice.

  “You cheat,” Liam accused his chilta, and then the tail pushed into him. Liam cried out and dug his heels into the bottom of the nest, pushing his hips up into the air.

  “You use that word strangely. Are you not my palteia to please as I like?” Ondry asked. Liam gasped as the tail in his ass grew thicker and then wiggled. God, it wiggled. Liam tried to bring his hands down, but Ondry still held him tightly. With his free hand, Ondry stroked Liam’s neck before wrapping his hand around it. Liam’s neck had definitely become an erogenous zone. Liam pressed his head back into the pillows, arching his neck out. Then Ondry stroked the skin gently while Liam cursed.

  “Oh God. Oh God, yes. More.”

  When Liam asked for more, Ondry pushed his tail in farther. Now Ondry unerringly found Liam’s prostate and pressed against it until Liam’s eyes watered. Liam thrust desperately into the air. Ondry held Liam’s wrists with one hand and traced the line of Liam’s jaw with the other, leaving no hand for Liam’s poor neglected cock.

  “Tell me of these floaters,” Ondry said.

  “Now?” The word came out strangled and oddly pitched. Liam looked at Ondry, and he was flaring his nostrils in invitation, a gesture that Liam now found deeply erotic. However, Ondry also nodded to signal he wanted to discuss Liam’s past. “It can’t wait until after?”

  “I promised to keep you in the nest all day until you were worn with nonprocreative mating. I would not go back on my word to my palteia,” Ondry said.

  For a time, Liam couldn’t come up with any answer. Ondry’s tail undulated in his ass, and he was pinned down in their nest, and Ondry wanted to talk. It was insanely sexy, and Liam never wanted it to end, but he was almost dying from a need to come. Every thought required such effort Liam wasn’t sure he could string words together.

  “Tell me of a meal you shared with them,” Ondry suggested.

  Liam stared at Ondry for long seconds before he gathered his thoughts and spoke. If Ondry wanted this, Liam would give it to him.

  Ondry held Liam, sometimes stroking his neck and sometimes running a possessive hand over Liam’s stomach and down to his hip. The lust that had raged like a forest fire banked somewhat as Liam talked about his past, but the need grew more and more intense. Ondry’s tail felt like it had grown as large as a fist, and Liam often lost words, falling back on English or stopping until Ondry could guess what word came next.

  Liam described the fish fries on the beach, the old man who talked about the great drought fifty years earlier, and the laughter of these two girls who always traveled together. When Liam had seen their breasts, he had turned a bright shade of red, and they had nicknamed him Sculpin after a type of fish with red markings.

  Slowly Liam’s stories trailed off until he was answering Ondry’s questions, unable to reason much beyond that. His cock and balls ached deliciously, and Liam felt like he was swimming in thick water. Ondry’s weight holding him down and the netlike restraint around Liam’s wrists were his only points of contact with reality as he floated.

  Ondry nipped his neck where Liam would have a fora if he’d come out of a shell instead of being born. “Were other Rownt to smell you now, they would grow addicted to the scent of your lust and happiness. It smells better than kaile, better than cinnamon.” Ondry huffed, and Liam groaned in pleasure at the evidence that Ondry enjoyed his hormones. He wanted Ondry happy even more than he wanted release from the terrible tightness in his balls.

  With a happy glurble, Ondry began to nip at Liam’s shoulder, and then he tasted Liam’s neck with that long tongue of his. Liam almost came right there. “I could wallow in this scent all day,” Ondry said in a voice so deep with pleasure he rumbled the words. Liam shivered, and the movement made Ondry’s tail shift in new ways inside him.

  Ondry began to taste more of him, running his tongue over the front of Liam’s neck and then across his chest. Liam gasped for air, but he could only endure as Ondry slowly explored each inch of skin. Sometimes he nipped lightly with those sharp predator’s teeth of his, and a bright flash of heat enveloped Liam each time. Sometimes Ondry explored with his tongue.

  When Ondry let go of Liam’s wrists, Liam whined. Ondry lay next to him for a second. Liam wiggled his ass and groaned at the lust that washed over him. But he didn’t move. Ondry’s desire for Liam to stay still held him in place more strongly than any binding. So he lay quiet while Ondry licked his cock. Ondry’s fangs were near Liam’s genitals, and maybe Liam would consider that later, but now he only knew he wanted more, and he wanted to come, and he wanted to float in this place where nothing mattered but his ability to serve Ondry—and he craved all of that at once.

  Ondry flicked his tongue over the precum that had formed at the tip of Liam’s cock. Ondry’s cool tongue both soothed the heat of lust and drove Liam nearly over the edge.

  “Delicious,” Ondry whispered before he repeated the gesture. Ondry grabbed Liam by the hips and rubbed circles against Liam’s thighs with his thumbs. When he began to work his way back up Liam’s body, Liam closed his eyes and let himself drift away from reality.

  It was hours later, after Ondry had nipped, licked, tasted, stroked, rubbed, and caressed every part of Liam, when Ondry finally ran a finger along the underside of Liam’s cock. Earlier that would have been enough to make Liam come, but now he could only thrust weakly into the air as his whole body tightened. He was too hard, too far gone in the lust to actually come.

  Slowly, Ondry closed his fist around Liam’s cock and carefully stroked him. Liam’s heart pounded, and his whole body twitched in response to every thump. The worst ache was in his cock and balls, which were overheated and oversensitive, and throbbing so badly that Liam was caught on the edge of pleasure and pain.

  Ondry tightened his fist, and the bright flash of pain and pleasure intertwined, cutting through the haze Liam had lived in for the last few hours. Liam screamed as he came. Cum splattered over his chest and Ondry’s arm. Liam panted through the aftershocks o
f the strongest orgasm of his life. His whole body tingled.

  Ondry moved around the nest, attaching a chain to Liam’s ankle, a ritual that had turned into something between an inside joke and a security blanket. When he was done, Ondry got back in the nest and began licking up each white freckle and smear.

  From the happy noises Ondry was making, he enjoyed the taste.

  Chapter Four

  Ondry walked into the ship’s temple, Liam at his side. As they passed, Grandmothers and tuk-ranked traders darkened at the smells Liam was producing. Up to this point, if a Grandmother desired something from Ondry, his greatest pleasure was to provide it. But now he took a perverse joy in knowing the Grandmothers envied his palteia. They liked how Liam smelled, and he could tell they admired Liam’s language skills.

  While Ondry still served the Grandmothers, he found he enjoyed possessing that which they wanted. And right now, Liam smelled so strongly of musk and happiness, Ondry imagined everyone who caught scent wanted Liam.

  The eldest Grandmother stood and moved slowly toward them. She was old enough that she was stooped from age, and Ondry’s admiration for someone so old and wise led him to bow deeply. “Grandmother,” he greeted her.

  “Honored trader,” she said with some amusement. Ondry did not blame her for avoiding names and rank; some days he wished the Grandmother on Prarownt had not named him tuk and confused the matter. He had been so proud of his ka status, but now that tuk had been held out in front of him, he could not feel the same joy in being called ka. “Your palteia looks well.” Her emphasis on Liam’s appearance did suggest she had taken note of and was choosing to ignore the aroma. It was as good as admitting she did not understand why Liam smelled particularly pleasant. These Grandmothers had known only two humans, and Diallo had never put out such pleasant odors.

  “Thank you, Grandmother,” Ondry said, and he darkened more than was probably proper. He could make his palteia insanely happy in ways the Grandmothers themselves could not.

  “Come, youngling,” the Grandmother said, holding out a hand to Liam. “Come walk with me.”

  A bright flare of displeasure cut through all of Ondry’s happiness, although he tried hard to suppress the feeling. While he did not know why the Grandmother would take Liam from his side, Ondry could not help but resent the separation.

  Liam shot Ondry a quick and possibly concerned look. Sometimes it was difficult to tell with the lack of coloration, but certainly Liam did not look pleased. However, when Ondry said nothing, Liam smiled and moved to her side. “Of course, Grandmother.”

  She led him back toward the stairs to the Grandmothers’ rooms.

  “Do you find the temple aesthetically pleasing?”

  “Very much so. The symmetry is very calming,” Liam said. He used the same formal tones that he’d once used while trading with Ondry. It made Liam sound more foreign.

  Ondry feared the Grandmother would take Liam upstairs, but instead she led him to a seating space behind the steps. Curtains of light blocked Ondry from watching, and younger Grandmothers moved between them as though doubting Ondry’s self-control. Now Ondry knew the Grandmothers had some scheme and they distrusted his temper. That was offensive. Ondry was no unranked youngster who would blurt out his objections inappropriately. He gave them a bored look and then headed to a bench and sat. The curve of the room meant sound traveled better close to the walls. From here he could listen to what the Grandmother might have to say to his palteia.

  “Your chilta plans to trade with humans not designated by the human government,” the Grandmother said in a tone that suggested neutrality on the subject if not outright approval.

  Liam said, “Among humans, business and government often have a confrontational relationship. The government has goals other than profit, so we will have better profit going to businesses. I have told Tuk-Ondry as much.”

  Pride and embarrassment both pulled at Ondry. Every time Liam called him tuk, Ondry felt pride, but to do so to a Grandmother who had clearly chosen to avoid the issue left him discomforted. Luckily, Liam was so young that any mistake he made was easily attributed to youth. Ondry had been a terror before he’d reached a century—ignoring border markings to explore, introducing himself to strangers, generally proving his youth with such enthusiasm that he preferred to avoid thinking about it. Liam lacked even half Ondry’s own rashness at that age.

  “We land soon, and Ka-Diallo has agreed to take Lek-Aven and Lek-Visig to visit cultural sights that might interest a youngling. I need to know what time you need with your chilta so the Grandmothers might make plans to meet human leadership. I wish you to be present,” the Grandmother said.

  “I know Ondry would never wish to inconvenience a Grandmother. We can attend our business at another time in order to accommodate your schedule.”

  That was a proper answer. Ondry had no idea why the Grandmothers would even take his business into consideration. These Grandmothers differed in so many ways from the ones back in his birthplace of Janatjanay that sometimes Ondry felt as if he were the alien.

  The Grandmother answered Liam in the same calm voice one might use with a child. “Ondry is not our negotiator. However, I do not want to force him to wait until you have time to make proper introductions for him to negotiate his deals on his own. We will provide the text interface so humans can understand his speech. If you require a number of days to introduce him to buyers, we shall busy ourselves with the ship, allowing Lek-Aven and Lek-Visig to explore the human city before we begin the work of treaties with this government authority.”

  Ondry fought to keep his expression neutral. The Grandmothers planned to take Liam into the meetings without him. The idea of humans so close to Liam triggered all of Ondry’s predatory instincts. He understood the foolishness of such thoughts because the Grandmothers were more able to protect Liam than Ondry was, but Liam was his. Right now, Ondry wanted nothing more than to be lek ranked so he could loudly complain and have his words seen as nothing more than the reasonable foolishness of youth. However, to suggest that the Grandmothers were incapable of protecting a palteia was an offense that a tuk-ranked or even a ka-ranked individual would never commit. If Liam chose to refuse, Ondry would happily enforce that decision, but Ondry had no legitimate cause to refuse a reasonable request.

  After a long silence that spoke of Liam’s unhappiness, Liam finally said, “I had expected to work with Ondry, Grandmother.” It was a well-chosen phrase, expressing surprise without condemning a Grandmother’s decision.

  “You often work at your chilta’s side. Is that required for the palteia of human birth?”

  “Required? No.”

  “When you lived in Janatjanay, did you trade on your own?”

  “With humans, always. When I worked with Ondry, sometimes. Traders occasionally misjudge my youth. When that works in my favor, I will finish trades. When a trader appears to mistrust my experience, Ondry will complete the trade.”

  “Does that mean Ondry is always with you?”

  “Yes,” Liam said slowly, and clearly he sensed a problem. Unfortunately Ondry did not have the opportunity to explain that most palteia did not remain at their chilta’s side always. Once palteia had attached their loyalty to their new chilta, they would go and work, coming home to their chilta much as a child would wander during the day to come home to shelter with a parent at night.

  Ondry could sense the disapproval in the Grandmother’s long silence, but she did not know of the harm Liam had suffered and of the ways others had abused his nature. How could a palteia trust a chilta to provide safety when so many chilta had failed? Ondry felt a need to prove his commitment. Besides, if Ondry held Liam a little close, he had good evidence to support his position that Liam needed him. The Grandmother had never seen nightmares where Liam’s human mind insisted on reliving his pain. And when he had left Liam to go seek help for Diallo, Liam had nearly died. Ondry felt a killing rage even considering it. While Ondry understood that to hold a child or palteia too
close was to smother it, the Grandmother did not equally well understand their unique relationship.

  The eldest Grandmother eventually spoke again. “When Ondry first began to teach you to steal a little meat from his plate, he did recognize you as palteia?”

  “He did, despite my attempts to hide my nature.”

  “And who did he believe to be your chilta?”

  Liam took longer to answer. “I am unsure. I hid my nature from everyone, Grandmother. Even my own people had no idea I was palteia.”

  A number of the younger Grandmothers turned to look toward the back of the room, and a few paled. They should. Maybe now they understood why Ondry held his palteia a little closer. Liam’s own people had failed to recognize his nature and embrace him.

  “Most likely Ondry believed one of your officers held your loyalty,” the Grandmother said. “The Grandmothers who tested your nature report you attempted to return to your commanders, so they felt you had given your loyalty, even if those officers failed to understand your nature as a palteia.”

  “There are rules for all humans, palteia or not. They are supposed to return home if separated from their unit.” Liam’s voice had an unsteadiness to it that made Ondry feel aggressive.

  “You traveled alone, traded alone, and took lunches with Ondry. This did not discourage Ondry’s belief that you were palteia. So tell me, youngling, what does that imply about the nature of palteia?”

  “Clearly palteia who are familiar with an area and an area’s traders may function more independently, but the more I learn of Rownt culture, the more I understand the weakness of my language skills and the many ways I still require guidance. Compared to Rownt, I have very few years of experience.”

  Listening to Liam verbally spar with a Grandmother, Ondry could not remember a time when he had been more proud. Liam might be only forty or so human years old, but his people developed their intellectual talents early to make up for their lack of longevity.