Chapter 4
The stairs seemed to go on and on. Malcolm would have stopped for a break, but the woman in his arms was getting less responsive my the minute.
After what felt like at least twenty minutes, the passage finally leveled out. Ooroko led on, throwing bizarre silhouettes on the walls.
The passage just seemed to widen abruptly, and the light suddenly glinted off a million gleaming surfaces. He skidded to a halt, feeling water sloshing around the bandages on his feet. It looked like he was in the center of a giant geode. As his eyes adjusted, he saw that the crystals themselves gave off a gentle blue phosphorescence.
He pulled his eyes away from the breathtaking ceiling and looked ahead. Ooroko was floating on its back in the water like an otter, the jar perched on its flat stomach. It looked at him expectantly, floating further into the pool of water, its thin tail propelling it on like a snake through the water. When it got to the opposite side he could see clearly that the passage went no further. This was the end of the line. It placed the light on a protruding crystal and went back to staring at him. At least it didn't feel like there were crystals below the water level. The ground beneath him shifted slightly under his feet like sand.
He took another step and found the ground dropping off quickly. He was now knee deep. The water was warm, and he suddenly realized that his feet were tingling. As the tingling increased, he recognized the feeling. It felt just like when she had poured the water over his hands.
He took another step forward and the ground fell out from under him. He found himself unexpectedly plunged underwater. He kicked up, breaking the surface, but the woman had slipped out of his grasp. He looked quickly around, trying to locate her. The slash on his side and the bite on his arm started tingling so much it was almost painful.
Then he spotted Ooroko. He saw a bit of light colored material drifting near the creature, and realized with a shock that it had gotten ahold of the woman, and was holding her under the water!
He swam quickly over and reached for her, but her own hand closed around his wrist, holding him off. He gazed down into the water, confused. It was clear enough so he could see her well this close to the light. To his amazement, she appeared to be breathing in the water.
As he watched, the bruising around her neck and on her cheek started fading. After a few minutes, Ooroko let go of her, slipping through the water and back out the other end of the pool.
She drifted to the surface, then rotated upright, head breaking the surface. Water surged out of her mouth. He quickly slipped his arms around her and held her up as she weakly coughed out the rest.
She just lay there, resting against him for a time. He just held her, letting her gather herself. When he felt she had recovered a bit, he gently asked her, "Who was that?"
She let out a shuddering sigh and seemed to hold him tighter. "Father." She whispered.
He blinked in surprise, "That was your FATHER?"
She nodded mutely against his chest.
"He could have killed you! Why would a father treat his child like that?"
She sighed again. "Shame."
Cold realization crept into his stomach. "It was because of me?"
"No. Me. I Bring shame."
"But how..." he paused, realizing something. "You're speaking a lot better..."
She looked up at him, a smile flitting across her lips. "You sleep, I study."
"Why are you so determined to learn my language?" he said warily, getting a feeling he was getting the picture.
She blinked. "Must know." she said simply.
He looked at her seriously. "How did you bring shame on your family?" he asked slowly.
She loosened her hold on him. "I take you... I bring you here... I claim right so they can no hurt you."
"What right?"
Her cheeks colored slightly and she couldn't look him in the eye. She let go of him and let herself drift away a bit, "Right to you... right to claim..." she struggled for words, "A prisoner... outsider..."
"So I am...?" he asked leadingly.
She blinked, "Mine."
His mind seemed to be buzzing now. He ran his fingers through his wet hair, noting the slightly oily feel of the water against his skin. "So I am what? Your slave? Servant?"
She looked confused. "I do not know these..."
"Do you own me?"
She laughed, then said "No." as if it was the funniest thing she'd ever heard. "YOU own ME."
That took him aback.
He felt her slip her arms around him again. She paused, feeling the bandage at his side, and let him go. She started towards the edge of the pool, taking ahold of his hand and gently pulling him along with her.
When they reached the edge, she started unwinding his bandage. He was about to object, worried he shouldn't get any more of the strange, oily water in the wound, but as the bandage fell away he saw nothing more than a pink line where the slash had been. He watched as she removed the one on his arm. It was the same. Then he had to hold onto the edge, raising each foot for her to remove the bandaging.
Only the vaguest tingling remained at the sites of the wounds, but the warm liquid seemed to radiate more than mere warmth. It was only then that he realized that all the aches and strains of carrying her all that way had flowed out of his muscles.
She slunk back down into the waist deep water, trembling under the extra weight of her soaked gown.
"Maybe need little longer..." she said, then tugged at the swirling material.
Malcolm didn't object. The longer he spent in the water, the more pleasant it felt. It was even more comfortable than the decontamination room back on the Enterprise. "This is quite nice actually..." He said as he drifted a bit.
He looked over as she slipped below the surface. When she reemerged, she shoved a sodden mass of material up onto the edge near the bandages. She then drifted around lazily, only her head above the water, just enjoying the pool.
He tried not to watch, but the water was very clear... He quickly decided he needed to distract himself. "So... is swimming a big pastime here? I mean when it's warmer of course."
She smiled over at him. "No... only witch float."
He blinked, then chuckled. "You know, a very long time ago they had the very same superstition where I lived. To test to see if a person was a witch, they would throw them in water.. and if they knew how to swim, they called them witches."
She looked confused. "No. Is true. Only witch float. All other sink. Mother change us." She quickly changed the subject, "But now the warm is almost gone. Soon it comes no more."
"What do you mean?" he asked curiously.
"Plants not growing now when should... not enough warm. Mother warned me... when I was girl... so I took many plant when still was warm... make house here..." she indicated above.
"You don't have summers anymore? Is that normal?"
She shook her head, "No... we die soon." she said as if talking about the color of a dress.
It sounded as if they were experiencing some sort of global cooling... he suddenly wished more than anything to be back on the Enterprise. Maybe there was something they could do... But then that was ridiculous... how could one space ship save a planet? Still... perhaps they, or a Vulcan ship could relocate at least some of these people to another planet?
She drifted over to him. "You strange male." she said softly, running her hand down his chest.
That quickly derailed his thoughts. He cleared his throat uncomfortable. "What do you mean?"
She smiled. "Strange eyes... and so narrow... like boy..." she said, running her hands down his sides.
He blushed a bit, more from the touching than the implication. "Well yes... if your father was any indicator, I suppose I am a bit thin... I'm pretty average for my kind though..."
She reached up and felt his ears, "And these..."
He blinked, realizing he had never actually seen her ears. He reached out and gently pushed the thick red hair away from her ears. They thinned towards the top, coming to a delicate point. "Another pointy eared species..." he said with a wry grin.
At her questioning look, he explained. "There is a woman where I come from that has ears kind of like yours." he smiled at her puzzled look, "It's ok... your ears are quite lovely."
She smiled, reassured, then continued her examination, "You have no ridge." she said, running her hand down the center of his chest, "No spike." She ran her hands down the sides of his ribcage.
"I'm not sure I want to see one of your males out of his coat." He chuckled. "You don't have spikes or ridges either... at least none I've noticed."
He irises widened a bit. "Am female." She said, as if worried he hadn't noticed.
He grinned. "I'm well aware of that... you aren't that different from females of my kind actually..."
"True?" she asked, surprised, "What different?" she asked, looking down at herself.
He cleared his throat as she stood up a bit in the water, "Um... the eyes of course... they have eyes like mine... and ears too... umm..." he was trying to pry his eyes off the small but well formed breasts that were right in front of him. She turned before him and he was able to look her over more.
"Hold on..." he said when she had almost turned back to him again. "Let me see your back."
She hesitantly gathered her long hair up, pulling it over her shoulder so he had a clear view of her back.
He looked closer. It wasn't a trick of the light... she had a narrow stripe of a kind of pearly, shimmering white down her spine. It ran all the way down to the small of her back. Her skin was so fair that it was barely noticeable. "They don't have markings like these..." He said, running his fingers down the stripe. He suddenly noticed that she appeared to be having trouble breathing.
He quickly withdrew his hand. "I'm sorry... did I hurt you?"
She stabilized her breath and turned, "No..." She replied a bit too quickly. Her eyes seemed oddly bright. She moved over, leaning against him, her head on his shoulder. "Do again... please?" she said in a soft, imploring voice.
By this point, he was pretty sure he'd found an erogenous zone. Another stroke down her spine confirmed it. She let out a shudder, wrapping herself around him. Another stroke and she made a little cooing sound and started suckling on his earlobe.
He couldn't deny he was getting very aroused himself, but he had serious doubts about going any further. Much to her disappointment, he stopped stroking her back and pulled his ear away a bit.
She shifted back, staring at him worriedly, "What wrong?"
"Um... I... I don't think we should be... I mean we are very different... we might not even be... compatible..."
She looked thoughtful. "Oh..." Much to his embarrassment, she proceeded to untie his pants and stick her hand down the front. "IS strange..." She said thoughtfully, "And bigger." She added, puzzled.
He blushed ever brighter. "Uh... yes... that does tend to happen when a male of my kind gets..." He cleared his throat uncomfortably, "Aroused..."
"True?" she said, surprised, looking down thoughtfully. Then she took his hand and slipped it between her legs. "Same?"
His cheeks burned, but he carefully explored her. "It... feels pretty much the same..."
She smiled and slipped her arms and legs back around him. "Good." she said, nuzzling up against him. She closed her eyes, gently brushing the tip of her nose across his skin.
He closed his eyes, feeling her warm body pressed against him as she circled his face, her nose and lips brushing his skin ever so lightly in fleeting, swirling motions, her gentle breath caressing him. Her warm tongue flicked over his eyelid, then the other. The simple, light, fleeting touching was surprisingly erotic.
As her lips brushed his, he kissed her.
She pulled back, obvious surprise on her face. He was starting to feel he had done something wrong, but then she moved forward again, putting her lips tentatively on his. Kissing was obviously something completely foreign to her, but she picked it up surprisingly fast.
He moved them over to the shallow end until she was almost out of the water, his weight on her. She barely noticed, now kissing him with such passion it took his breath away.
Their bodies connected. She released his lips, letting out a gasp. He froze, watching her with concern, but she didn't object. She looked a bit frightened, but excited too. He gently pushed further in, watching her carefully. When their hips met, a deep shudder went through her and she wrapped herself around him again.
When he started moving inside her, she started letting out little moans and cries that left no doubt in his mind that she was enjoying it. Relieved, he was able to cast aside his worries and concentrate on her. She cried out his name as he kissed her neck.
As they writhed together in the water, the whole cavern felt strangely attuned to them. The glow of the crystals seemed to pulse in time with their movements, the walls did not echo their voices, but absorbed them, and the water had begun to tingle against their bare skin once again.
He felt a sensation growing within him like none he'd ever felt before.
"Name me." she gasped in his ear.
This time he didn't even think of the oddness of the request, he just said the first name that came to his mind, "Madison."
She shifted her head and locked him in a breath stealing kiss. He closed his eyes as a blinding light surrounded him, and suddenly felt as if something had ignited within him, blazing through every nerve in his body.
It was a good several minutes before he opened his eyes again. The room around him still seemed a bit brighter than it had been, and when he looked down, he saw that her skin was glowing softly. As he watched, it faded away and her eyes blinked open.
"Are you alright Madison?" he asked, then was struck by the oddness of what he had said. Madison was just a name he had chosen, almost at random... and yet now... everything in him told him that that was her name.
She smiled brightly at the sound of her name and gave him a squeeze. "Perfect." she replied simply, tilting her head up and kissing him.
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