His heart hammered in his chest, pumping blood through his veins at a rigorous pace. It was his first mating season back on the home planet after many cycles of isolation. He hungered for intimacy. Every cell in his body vibrated with desire. Her scent alone drove him mad. Her touch threatened to send him over the edge.
He wouldn't win the ooman's affection through animalistic rutting though. He knew he had to act civilized. After being unable to stand all the way up in the cage, he had a tendency to slouch. Uh'luka sat up straight and folded his hands in his lap. It took a few deep breaths, but he calmed himself.
Asha took one step towards him, then cautiously reached for the cloth. As she continued to tend to his wound, his eyes crawled up her body. They started down at her slender calves up to the fabric that hugged her hips. Sitting, he was eye level to her breasts but his attention didn't stay there long. His eyes moved up to the dip above her collarbone, to her shiny black hair, then finally to her eyes. The light brown orbs had a depth to them he could get lost in.
She leaned away, "That didn't sting, did it?"
Uh'luka blinked. He'd been lost in his thoughts enough not to realize that she'd finished wiping off the blood. She'd even applied the flexible spray-on bandage already. He glanced down and discovered that he was gripping the armrests. His fingers were wound around the metal tight enough that the chair was creaking.
He released his grip with a grunt and stood. He towered over her, radiating heat and musk. Asha backed away, then skirted around him to gather up the supplies. He followed her to the end of the hall where the medical supplies were kept. She must not have heard him. She flinched when she turned around and faced his abs.
Her skin was uniform in color, rare for his species. Without mottling or stripes, he used to think oomans looked dull. Her light cream skin was flawless though. He didn't know how he hadn't seen beauty in it before. Uh'luka reached out to touch her, but she scurried away.
Again, he followed. She went from room to room, picking up items then sat down in the living room. She'd chosen the chair so he couldn't sit beside her, that much he was sure of. That didn't stop him from pushing the couch forward some and sitting across from her. He sat on the very edge of the seat and leaned forward, craving to be close.
Asha ignored him. He chuffed and shifted in his seat but she did so much as make eye contact. When he purred, she didn't acknowledge him but her cheeks began to fill with color. It made him weak in his knees. Of all the species he'd observed, only humans blushed.
She put another stitch in the sandal strap, "You know, you're making it kinda hard to concentrate."
"Perhaps we should do something else then."
One of her brows rose, "I need my sandals fixed."
"Send it to be tailored. Why waste time sewing it yourself?"
"Because, everything is automated. The soap never runs out, light bulbs never need to be changed. There's never anything to dust. Spills soak right into the countertop and disappear...Sewing feels so normal."
"You miss doing trivial chores?"
"I know that sounds odd, but I kind of do."
"You miss Earth?"
She put another stitch in the sandal, then lowered her hands to her lap, "Yea."
"Yaut Prime is better in every way. We offer different clans for different life choices and have the same rural and urban settlements. You're safer here than anywhere on that backwater planet."
"I'm not arguing, but Earth was my home. I know I can never go back and I'm not asking, but I'll always miss it."
A tightness drew in his chest. If Asha wasn't content here, he feared she'd leave. After that yautja had exposed itself to humans to fight off a genetically altered badblood, the laws may have changed. Asha might be able to go back to Earth after all.
He was quiet until she was finished sewing, "The glue in the drawer where you got the thread would have held better."
"There was glue?!" She threw her hands up in the air, "Why'd you wait until I was done?"
"I thought you enjoyed sewing."
One corner of her mouth twitched upward. He didn't know what that gesture meant exactly, but it put a lump in his throat. When he looked at her too long though, her smile melted. Her features creased with worry. She chewed on her lip and began to tap her fingers.
When Asha uncrossed her legs to stand, the movement drew his eyes to her center. By chance, her toes brushed his. A rush of sensation went right to his groin. Without thinking, Uh'luka jumped forward to straddle her but he hit the chair with too much force. Asha shrieked as it tipped backward. Uh'luka did a somersault over it and ended up on his back. Asha had her legs and arms locked tight enough she was still in the chair.
She scrambled up, wide-eyed with her palms held up to him, "Easy."
The room around him darkened. All he saw was her. Uh'luka took a step forward but stumbled with a grunt. He glanced down to stare at the chair, seeing that it was still on the floor. His mandibles twitched. His mind was in a fog, but he realized that's what his foot had caught.
Asha giggled, "Are you feeling alright?"
When he didn't answer, she moved closer. His pulse began to soar to the point of making him lightheaded, which never happened. Her brows furrowed. As her hands lifted towards him, his heart skipped a beat. It was the oddest sensation. Uh'luka blinked down at her, thinking he might in fact be ill. He'd never felt this way.
She pushed him towards the couch and he plopped down in a daze. Asha pressed her palm to his forehead. He didn't have the slightest idea what she was doing, but his breaths became short. Having her tend to him made his insides queasy and heart feel like it might fail. No female had ever had that effect on him.
"Are you going to be fine by yourself if I go to the market?"
He couldn't form words so he simply grumbled.
"Before I go, Zagros gave me this for you to wear. It just tracks your whereabouts."
She handed the metal cuff to him. Without hesitation, Uh'luka broke it in half by the hinges and dropped it to the floor.
"Hey! That was probably expensive!"
Again, all he did was grumble.
"I'll be back soon."
She was leaving and the thought made his chest ache. As soon as Asha took a step back, his hands snapped forward to grip her hips. She let out a high-pitched noise of surprise. Uh'luka pulled her against him with a purr, but the ooman squirmed. The feeling of her curves gostling against him proved to be too much.
In response to her movements, his manhood hardened under his loincloth. He wanted to breed her, wanted to fill her with his seed as many times as it took before her belly grow with his offspring. She was making sharp, clipped noises, but that's all it was to him--noise. His mind was focused on its mission to impregnate. At that point he couldn't even discern that the sounds were words at all.
With one deft movement, he yanked her shorts down to her ankles. When she bent to pull them back up, Uh'luka yanked on the fabric. Her legs went out from under her. Her back had barely hit the floor and already Uh'luka was on top of her. He covered her chest with his, smashing her breasts between them.
The female bucked and squirmed beneath him, making his cock jump excitedly. Already it was swollen and leaking precum through its pores. He reached down and tore the loincloth off his hips to free it. When her fists flew at his chest, Uh'luka pinned her wrists down. He leaned over her with a growl.
Asha stilled, proving his dominance. Uh'luka abandoned his grip on her wrists. His hips pushed forward on her their own accord. As frantic as he was to enter her, the head of his cock missed its target. His shaft slid on top of her stomach. Pleasure rippled through his body, creating spasms that made his hide twitch.
The excitement crashed over him in waves, making his fingers tremble, but he pulled back his hips to try again. Before he could plunge his cock forward, he felt the ooman's arms slip around his torso. Her cheek pressed his chest before her face turned in, and her nose grazed his skin. Her arms tightened.
The behavior caught him off guard, but since she'd stopped fighting, he allowed his muscles to relax some. He drew in a breath. The air carried the scent of her ripe body. It made his cock feel like steel. He adjusted his angle, preparing to enter her.
That's when he caught the word "no".
Even though they were the only two in the room, Uh'luka looked down to make sure she was the one who said it. Her face was still pressed against his chest. Her eyes were tightly scrunched closed, and her lips were moving. A whine escaped him as he realized what he'd almost done.
Uh'luka slowly reached down and brushed his knuckles across her cheek, "Asha…"
Her eyes sprung open and immediately found his. Her eyelids crinkled in the corners, almost closing again. She pushed at him with a palm and turned her face away. Uh'luka lifted off her. When she tried to slip away though, he wouldn't allow it.
He sat back and took her with him, tugging her until she was in his lap. She curled into a tight ball. Her limbs we're still trembling from spent adrenaline. Uh'luka looped his arms around her and leaned his chin on her shoulder. Then, he purred.
The sound was deep and rich. He let it soak into her bones and calm her mind. It wasn't long before her arms relaxed, and her legs stretched out. When Asha lifted her head, his purrs deepened. He didn't look her in the eyes, and instead kept his focus on the wall.
She lifted a hand to wipe her eyes, "You stopped."
He didn't reply. He only held her tighter.