››Now comes the hard part,‹‹ he thought.››My memories, plans, all my thoughts of my work here. It isn’t pretty.‹‹ The experience of contact with Victor through the affinity wasn’t a strictly visual one, but her mind resolved the memories as a ball of sticky black bubbles, held together with slime and webbing and wire.
She hesitated. She could feel Victor’s unease radiating through their link, and no matter how she prepared herself, it would not be pleasant to absorb those memories. The fear reflected back to her from Victor and she knew that the more she waited, the harder the job would be. Bracing herself, she sent back,››Go ahead.‹‹
The memories enveloped her. The terrifying encounters flashed through her too fast to interpret, but the emotional context was clear. This man held a profound shame about sex, which was violated and inflamed every time he needed to contact one of the other races. Knowledge came with these images, knowledge of trade deals and technology transfers, but they were inconsequential compared to the memories of what he had been forced to do to obtain them. I wondered why a man with so many issues would take this job.
The torrent ended abruptly, and Kay felt the contact fade. She became aware of her surroundings to find herself still straddling him, though his softened cock had slipped out. The strange sexual urge that had taken her was gone, and she felt a strange combination of relief and loss. She rolled onto a nearby pillow and let out a long, calming breath.
Victor’s eyes, clearer and steadier, regarded her. “Will you be alright?”
“I think so. Now that the contact is broken, the memories don’t have the same emotional impact. I’ll be able to handle things, I’m sure.”
“Good. I wouldn’t want to hurt you.”
She smiled. “I know.”
“I guess that doesn’t leave much to say, does it?”
“No. It doesn’t.”
He chuckled and pulled himself up off the floor. “I guess I’ll go pack up my desk. Let me know if you need anything.” As he collected his clothes, Kay saw that he stood with shoulders a bit straighter, back a bit less bowed.
Kay didn’t bother getting dressed. “I think I’ll just get cleaned up.”
“Oh, certainly. There’s a bath over in the residential pod, behind the office.” He helped Kay to her feet.
“I know. That’s where I’ll be. I need some time to process all this.” Kay tapped her temple, walking past him on her way to the bath. The briefing she had received on Earth had told her that she’d have to operate alone for three months before anyone would be coming to relieve her. Skimming through the memories Victor had given her, she felt confident that she could do the job. Where her predecessor had felt guilt, shame, and humiliation at the encounters he had gone through, for her it was the assignment of a lifetime. She bent down and pressed the blue button on the spigot aimed at the tub. The green button, she knew, would provide an analogue of seawater; the yellow one, the near-boiling sulfurous water of a hot spring. Bathing in either of those wouldn’t be useful.
As the tub filled and she settled down into the shallow basin, she called up the memories Victor had given her. Many seemed familiar, but that didn’t come as a shock. According to the theories advanced by the dimensional scientists, the other worlds that sent ambassadors here were also Earth, but in alternate time-lines where different species had evolved sentience. There were cat-people, dog-people, pig-people, bear-people, parrot-people and dolphin-people, but also elephant-people, crow-people, orca-people, squid-people, and bee-people. There were even a few varieties of dinosaur-people. She was curious about all of them.
The only commonality between them was that they had sex. In every sentient species, the drive to procreate had been sublimated into a drive for physical connection and sexual pleasure. It seemed to be a universal constant, a hard line between animal and not-animal. Here on the Embassy, that was enough.
It would be a challenge, but Kay was ready. She made a mental note to send her first invitation to the dog-people ambassador. From Victor’s memories she knew he had quite a tongue.
Same Time Next Year? by Summer Daniels
As my flight finally touched down, my heart began to race even faster.
The long awaited and eagerly anticipated meeting was actually now within reach.
I thought back to how we arrived at this moment in time, meeting online through a posting designed to garner nothing more than a good friend. She had quickly become so much more than that.
The rapid pace of the connection we formed took us both by surprise. A very pleasant surprise, but surprise nonetheless. We quickly became inseparable, yet separated by a great distance as well.
A day without an email or smile from her became insufferable.
Thoughts, dreams, desires, and fantasies; nothing was hidden, nothing was too outrageous. Nothing said that I felt was better left unsaid, no dirty detail spared. It truly felt like for the first time in my life I was not being judged for who I was, but instead celebrated for it.
As I drove towards my hotel, I finalized plans in my head for this, our first meeting.
I am freshly out of the shower and slipping into nothing but a pair of boxer shorts when the knock comes at the door. I truly cannot believe this moment is here as it felt for the longest time as if we were just kidding ourselves that this day would ever arrive.
I have already given her a set of instructions to follow, and now I guess is the time to see if she will obey me or test my authority.
I open the door and she steps inside, eyes shut and a tentative smile on her lovely face. She seems a little unsure of being here, of having her eyes shut, of listening to my directions. She puts on a brave front, even when I know she is trembling with excitement and nerves underneath her cool exterior.
I just stand there for a moment looking at her, drinking in her every detail, because I know after tonight it will be a long while before we can be together again. As strange as it sounds, I miss her already.
I slowly and quietly move behind her and slip a prepared blindfold over her eyes. I lean close and whisper in her ear, “Just trust me. All will be revealed soon enough.”
I gently nudge her forward until she stands in the center of the room. Blindfolded and gorgeous, she awaits my next move.
I reach out and softly stroke her cheek, savoring the moment when I can finally touch her to my heart’s content. Her head leans towards me, trying to keep my hand in contact with her flesh.
“Stay still,” I say, not harshly, but leaving no room for misinterpretation.
I move behind her again, taking in the womanly curves of her butt through the tight jeans. I bend down and lift the hair away from the nape of her neck and lightly nip her with my teeth. “You know I could mark you as mine so easily right now, don’t you?” I say.
“You can do whatever you want with me, however you want, for as long as you want,” she responds.
In that moment I truly feel so blessed to have this woman in my life. She is offering herself to me without question, without reservation, without judgment, completely and fully not knowing or caring what I might have in mind. She trusts me that whatever I want, it will be for my pleasure, or hers, or ours. That whatever I ask her, or tell her, to do, will never be enough to quench my insatiable thirst for her.
I stand in front of her again, drinking in the vision of her just standing there, awaiting whatever I want to do. The part that warms my heart is that she knows in her heart that all I want for her, for us, is to enjoy this stolen moment of pleasure as much as we can. All too soon we will be apart again. For now though, for this moment, I put that out of my mind.
I come closer to her and brush my lips softly against hers. Blindfolded as she is, she senses the closeness and thrusts her body forward slightly, attempting to press herself up against me. Every fiber of her body is quivering, anticipating my touch.