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“All right,” he said. “I will go with you.” And before she could object, he picked her up again and carried her into the bathroom, placing her on her feet next to the jacuzzi.
“I wanted to go alone,” she told him mutinously as he pulled down her dress, leaving her standing there naked with the exception of the necklace around her neck and the soft booties on her feet. She touched the necklace lightly, finding the place where it apparently locked in place, and carefully took it off, placing it on the side of the jacuzzi. She had no intention of showering with a million-year-old piece of alien jewelry around her neck.
He sm
iled at her, taking off his own clothes. “Why would you want that?”
“Because I don’t like you right now,” she told him bluntly. Actually, that was a huge understatement. It was more that she felt like doing something violent to him – such as slapping that smile right off his beautiful face.
“Because I gave you what you wanted but would’ve been too scared to ask for?” he asked, cocking his head to the side.
“I didn’t want that,” Mia told him vehemently. “And the fact that I came has nothing to do with anything. I’m more than just the sum of my physical responses –”
“Of course you are,” Korum said, coming up to her and crouching down to remove the boots from her feet. Mia stared down at him resentfully, fighting a ridiculous urge to stroke the dark, lustrous-looking hair on his head. Fluidly rising to his feet and looking down at her with a half-smile, he added, “If you had been truly uncomfortable or scared, I would’ve stopped immediately and brought us back here. I could feel your excitement, your pleasure at doing something forbidden. That’s why you played with me in the virtual world today – because underneath that shy exterior, you secretly love the thought of being just a little bit bad . . .”
Mia didn’t have a good answer to that, so she lowered her gaze and padded toward the shower. He came in with her as well, adjusting the settings so that the water cascaded over both of them. Pouring the pleasantly scented shampoo in his hand, he applied it to her hair, his strong fingers massaging away the tension in her scalp.
After her hair was clean and soft, he turned his attention to her body, tenderly washing each part until she forgot all about her anger in the sheer bliss of his skilled caresses. And just when she thought he was done, he knelt down and brought her to another peak with his mouth, his lips and tongue soft and gentle on her sensitive flesh.
Utterly relaxed and incredibly sleepy, Mia barely felt him toweling her off and carrying her to bed. As soon as her head touched the pillow, she passed out, not even cognizant of lying in his warm embrace.
Chapter 9
The next morning, Mia woke up with the memory of their virtual sex session fresh in her mind.
She still couldn’t believe that Korum had done that to her – that he had made her believe he was fucking her in public, of all things – and she couldn’t believe she had responded like that, despite her feelings of embarrassment and humiliation. Even now, she could feel herself getting wet at the thought, and she cursed her own susceptibility to him. He seemed to know her sexual needs far better than she did, and had no hesitation about pushing her boundaries. She wanted to stay mad at him, she really did. But, if she were to be honest with herself, she had to admit that she had enjoyed the experience on some level. It had been terribly exciting, having sex in public like that – particularly since she now knew that there was no need for shame, as no one had actually seen them.
Stretching, she yawned and then remembered the promised beach outing. Jumping out of bed and putting on her robe, she went to brush her teeth and splash some water on her face before going to look for Korum.
To her surprise, he was nowhere to be found. Before she could wonder about his whereabouts, she heard something in the living room and left the kitchen to investigate. Sure enough, Korum was just walking in through the opening in one of the walls.
And Mia gasped in horrified shock at the sight.
Far from his usual immaculate self, her lover looked like he had just rolled in the mud, his clothes dirty and torn. And were those . . . traces of blood on his arms and face?
Seeing her standing there, Korum flashed her a quick grin, his teeth startlingly white in his dirt-streaked face. “You woke up early. I was hoping you’d still be asleep and I’d have a chance to shower before you saw me like this.”
Mia finally found her tongue. “What happened? Are you all right?”
He laughed, his eyes glittering with excitement. “I’m fine. I was just out playing defrebs – it’s a type of sport I enjoy.”
“Oh . . .” Mia exhaled in relief. “So it’s like a ball game or something?”
“More like a type of martial arts,” he explained, walking toward the bathroom.
Curious, Mia followed him there, watching as he stripped off his dirty clothes, dropping them on the floor and revealing the magnificent body underneath. He smelled deliciously sweaty, and his golden skin gleamed with perspiration. He looked like a warrior fresh from battle, and she could now see that those were definitely scratches and bloody streaks on his arms and legs.
“Is that what you do for exercise? Martial arts?” she asked, perching on the edge of the jacuzzi as he turned on the shower, adjusting the controls. The dirty clothes had already disappeared, having been absorbed into one of the walls, and the floor was again spotless. Another useful function of the house, Mia guessed.
“Pretty much,” he admitted, stepping under the water. His voice sounded a little muffled by the water spray, so she came closer to hear him better. “We rarely exercise the way many modern humans do, in a gym environment or doing only one type of physical activity. Instead, we usually engage in some type of sports. Defrebs is particularly popular because it’s the closest we get to fighting outside of the Arena –”
“Arena?”
“Ah, you haven’t gotten to that part of your reading yet . . .” He paused for a few seconds, lathering his hair and rinsing out the shampoo before continuing. “The Arena is a place where our citizens get to resolve certain irreconcilable differences. If, let’s say, I believe that someone has done me irreparable harm, I can challenge him to the Arena – and he would have to accept my challenge or lose much of his standing.”
Mia looked at the foggy shower glass with surprise. “So what would you do in the Arena? Fight?”
“Exactly. No weapons are allowed, but everything else goes. The goal is to win, to subdue your enemy completely while everyone watches . . .”
