“Walk with me in your garden.”

  For a moment, Marrex could only stare. He thought it was a good thing that his face hid his emotions well, otherwise Juniper might have recoiled from the knee-jerk anger that boiled up at the thought of sharing his sacred space… but then he mentally took a step back and wondered why it was such an affront. Would it be such a terrible thing to let Juniper in? He sighed, thinking about the complete solitude that never seemed to lessen his misery.

  “All right.”

  Juniper walked quietly beside Marrex as they took the winding path through the garden. As they had last time, the warm, fragrant air and lush plants filled him to the brim with joy. He wanted to touch the velvety soft petals of a large purple rose as they passed it or to run his hand over the frilly ferns along the path, but he kept his arms at his side, not wanting to provoke the captain in any way. He could tell how anxious Marrex was, sharing this space of his.

  Eventually, their leisurely pace took them to the stone bench and the small statue on its pedestal. Juniper couldn’t help but smile to himself over the many times he’d been here in his dreams, but then he sobered, remembering the conclusion of those dreams.

  “Marrex?”

  The captain grunted, looking over at him.

  “The symbols carved into the door… what do they mean?” he asked gently.

  Marrex snorted and tossed his head, and Juniper saw he had balled his fists, but he stayed silent, waiting for the captain to answer.

  Finally, Marrex let out a long sigh and shrugged. “Here lies Marrex the Monster.” He gave a bitter little laugh and sat down on the bench, clasping his hands between his knees. “I was…” He swallowed twice as if repulsed by his thoughts. “I was at a very low point.”

  Juniper nodded. “I can understand.”

  “Can you?” Marrex asked, tilting his head up to appraise Juniper. His black eyes bored into Juniper, but there was no malice in them, just weariness.

  “I left the only home I ever knew to board a colony ship just so my family wouldn’t be forced to live hand to mouth. Basically, I exiled myself… I know it’s not what happened to you, but I was feeling really low knowing I’d probably never see them again.”

  Marrex grunted. Then he surprised Juniper by gesturing to the bench.

  Grateful and a bit nervous, Juniper sat down next to Marrex. The bench wasn’t all that big so their thighs touched, and Juniper felt a little heat rise up his neck and into his cheeks.

  After clearing his throat, Marrex motioned to the foliage in front of them. “Some of these plants were already here before I came aboard the Stellerion,” the big Ghelyxian explained in a quiet voice. “Once I’d disposed of the bodies of the crew and made adequate repairs to the ship, this became my sanctuary. I worked on it for many years, adding plants and trees when I could. It brought me peace.” Marrex let out a slow breath, glancing around. “But the solitude became oppressive. It was the silence of a grave… and then I knew this place would become that one day—my grave.” Looking over at the small statue, Marrex shook his head. “I used to look like that, you know.”

  “I figured. Did you carve it?”

  “I did, actually,” Marrex looked down at his hands. “They might be deformed now, but they are still useful.”

  Juniper reached over and took one of Marrex’s hands in his, running his fingers over the large furry knuckles. Then he turned it over and discovered Marrex’s palm felt like velvet or suede. Lifting Marrex’s hand to his face, Juniper smiled at the captain’s dazed look.

  “I see nothing wrong with your hands,” Juniper said, rubbing his cheek against the soft palm. “They’re strong and warm.”

  Marrex’s nostrils flared, and the tip of his black tongue touched his top lip for a second before disappearing. He looked terrified, and Juniper thought it was funny that he could make a beast of a man like Marrex as nervous as a virgin.

  Juniper rose up off the bench, knowing full well he was completely on display through the gauzy yellow silk he was wearing.

  “What… are you doing?” breathed Marrex.

  “We should dance,” Juniper replied, pulling on Marrex’s hand.

  “We should?” Marrex rose slowly, his black eyes wide. “There’s no music.”

  “S1N?” Juniper called out. Immediately, some slow music started playing over the intercom system.

  For a moment, Marrex only stared at him. Then he gave Juniper a slow, formal bow before extending his free arm in a curve to invite Juniper to step into his embrace.

  Tilting his head, Juniper chuckled. “You can dance?”

  “Probably better than you,” Marrex replied, lifting his chin. “I’m a prince, after all.”

  “Touché.” Juniper smiled and let Marrex take him in his arms, then he frowned. “Hey, why do you assume you’re going to lead?”

  Marrex just growled and pulled him closer, swaying them to the music.

  “You know, you’re not as big of a grouch as you make yourself out to be,” Juniper said softly.

  “Hm.” Marrex looked down at him and wrinkled his nose in a smile.

  The captain’s body was warm and solid against Juniper’s, and though Juniper was shorter than Marrex, owing to the differences in their species, their hips were about level. Gradually, the lights dimmed in the garden until they were the blue of early dusk. Juniper sighed and leaned his head against Marrex’s shoulder, and he felt Marrex’s arm tighten around his waist as their dance slowed. He pulled Marrex’s hand back to his cheek to nuzzle it again and heard a low rumble come from Marrex’s broad chest.

  “I don’t like that you broke into my room to watch me sleep,” Juniper said, running Marrex’s hand down the side of his neck. “But I do like that you think I’m beautiful.” His heart was pounding loud enough that it was like a drum in his ears. Juniper looked up. Marrex just stared at him unblinking, his palm trembling against Juniper’s neck.

  “I dream about you,” Juniper confessed.

  “You do?” Marrex’s voice was hoarse.

  “Almost every night.” He brought Marrex’s hand down lower and coaxed it into a loose fist so that he could run the captain’s knuckles over his nipple.

  Marrex’s back straightened, and he let out a raspy little groan.

  “Do you still have any doubts that I’m attracted to you?” Juniper asked, cocking his head. He wondered if Marrex could feel how fast his pulse was going.

  First, Marrex began to nod, but then he stopped, bared his fangs in a grimace, and shrugged.

  Laughing, Juniper shook his head and pushed his pelvis against the captain’s, causing the Ghelyxian’s eyes to widen.

  “See?” Juniper whispered. He pulled back a little so he could guide Marrex’s unresisting hand down his front to the unambiguous silken tent. “Feel how hard you make me.”

  Finding his hand atop Juniper’s erection seemed to shake Marrex out of his stupor. He let out a low growl and wrapped his hand around Juniper’s shaft. Juniper gasped and closed his eyes as the captain fondled him gently through the silk.

  “You feel so good,” Juniper whispered. Curling his hand around the back of Marrex’s thick neck, he threaded his fingers through the coarse fur, sighing with pleasure as Marrex’s caresses became rougher.

  Marrex chuckled softly, and he said, “I haven’t done this for a long time.”

  Juniper felt the tips of Marrex’s claws press into him, and he shivered, letting out a low moan. “Yeah, me neither,” he murmured, wincing in a mix of pleasure and pain.

  Marrex let out a roar of a laugh, and Juniper nearly jumped out of his skin at the suddenness of it. Then he realized that his seventeen years was nothing compared to Marrex’s hundred and twelve.

  He looked up at Marrex with a grin. “Right. You have me beat there.” Juniper exhaled sharply as Marrex squeezed him harder. “Oh god, that’s good.”

  “Yes?”

  “Oh yes.” He looked down and saw that Marrex’s claws had made small rips in the yellow silk—he couldn’t wait to feel how Marrex’s soft palm felt against his naked cock.

  “You’re an interesting creature, Juniper Bo,” Marrex said, sounding amused. “How do you even know we’re compatible?”

  “We’ll figure it out,” replied Juniper, gritting his teeth as Marrex clutched his backside with the other hand, his claws digging in.

  “What do you want me to do?”

  Juniper cleared his throat and smiled. “I want you to take off your shirt.”

  Marrex’s hand froze midstroke, Juniper’s request obviously catching him off guard.

  “Please?” Juniper added, searching the Ghelyxian’s pupilless eyes.

  “As you wish,” Marrex replied begrudgingly, releasing Juniper.

  Juniper sat back down on the bench to watch Marrex tackle the buttons on the front of his blue dress shirt. Slowly, they came apart, and when Marrex pulled the shirt out of his pants to take it off completely, Juniper could only stare.

  “Wow,” he said in total awe.

  Marrex had broad, powerful shoulders and flat pectorals with no nipples, and his abdomen was a horizontally striated mass of muscle with no navel. The entirety of his torso was covered in the same blood-red fur he had on his face and arms, thicker and longer across his chest but from his sternum to where his pelvis disappeared beneath the black pants, the fur was shorter with a central line of darker patterns that reminded Juniper of Rorschach inkblots. He wondered if the captain’s cock would have the same black butterfly pattern he had seen in his dreams.

  “These marks,” Marrex said, ruffling the dark patterns on his belly. “They are part of my… curse.”

  “I don’t care. I think they’re beautiful.”

  Head cocked, Marrex stared hard at Juniper as if trying to gauge his sincerity, so Juniper spread his knees apart and beckoned to him with both hands. “Come here.”

  Marrex stepped forward, but when Juniper reached for the buttoned front of his trousers, Marrex grabbed his wrists.

  “If you’re going to tell me you’re deformed or ugly or cursed or whatever again, you can stop there,” Juniper said, gazing up at Marrex. “You’re not going to scare me off… I want to see you. All of you. Please?”

  Again, the word brought another reticent nod from Marrex, and he let go of Juniper’s arms.

  Hands shaking slightly from anticipation, Juniper undid the buttons on Marrex’s pants, then slowly pulled them open. Below the hard-muscled, furry abdomen, the line of dark patterns continued until they surrounded the root of his thick, half-hard cock. Like his palms, Marrex’s shaft was covered in very short velvety fur, but as Juniper slid the captain’s pants down further, he saw the head was smooth and hairless. He smiled when he saw the black stripes and butterfly.

  “What?” Marrex growled.

  “I’m just… sometimes I wonder if I’m still asleep, dreaming in my stasis pod,” Juniper admitted.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I just mean… I don’t know what I mean.” Juniper laughed. “It’s just too perfect.” Maybe all Ghelyxians had the same cockhead pattern, and he’d seen it somewhere in his research. He’d look it up later. Juniper looked back up and smiled. “What do you want me to do?” He licked his lips.

  However, Marrex was the one to sink to his knees in front of Juniper, and without any effort, the Ghelyxian quickly tore apart the rest of the damp yellow silk covering Juniper’s erection. Marrex snorted, his breath hot on Juniper’s skin, and he looked into Juniper’s eyes as his black tongue snaked out and licked his cock from root to tip.

  “Holy fuck,” Juniper moaned, leaning back so the captain’s horns wouldn’t rake him. “Do that again.”

  Marrex chuckled, then obliged him, taking his time to cover every part of his cock with his smooth, wet tongue, teasingly resting his furry lips open on the swollen crown as if he would take Juniper into his mouth, but then retreating to lick hot traces down the shaft again.

  Juniper’s thighs quivered, and he reached out to grasp Marrex by the lower horns to stop him after his serpentine tongue wound its way entirely around the base of Juniper’s cockhead.

  “S… stop,” Juniper said, his breathing out of control. “Hang on. Wow.”

  Marrex tried to move his head, his tongue squeezing Juniper’s shaft harder, but Juniper held fast. Then, the unimaginable happened—one of Marrex’s glossy black horns came away from his head with a loud crack. Immediately, Juniper released the captain, staring in horror at the heavy horn in his hand.

  “Oh my god. I am so sorry,” Juniper said. “I didn’t know that could happen. I was just worried I wasn’t going to be able to hold back and I never thought to look up whether that could be poisonous to your species and oh man, I hope I didn’t hurt you… I am so sorry,” he said in a panic.

  Marrex felt the smooth spot where the horn had been and frowned. “That shouldn’t have happened.” He took the horn from Juniper and examined the base. Then, he reached up and took hold of the opposite horn, giving it a hard yank. It too broke off in Marrex’s hand.

  “What are you doing?” Juniper asked, aghast.

  “My species has two horns. Only the cursed grow a second pair,” Marrex said quietly. “I wonder…”

  “What?”

  “It’s… nothing. I’m fine,” replied the captain. Then he set aside the horns and fixed Juniper with a narrow-eyed gaze. “And it’s not.”

  “What’s not… uhh,” Juniper threw his head back as Marrex took his nipples between his fingers and twisted lightly.

  “Not poisonous,” Marrex said in a low growl. Once more the captain’s long tongue wound its way around Juniper’s cock, but this time it was to pull it deep into his mouth.

  Juniper let out a cry as Marrex began to treat him to the most thorough blow job in his decidedly generous experience. Either Ghelyxians had extra muscles in their mouths or their tongues were more than just flexible, but Juniper felt as if his wet cock was being stroked in opposite directions while being simultaneously squeezed and licked. Every time Marrex’s fangs touched his cockhead, Juniper was sure he was going to shoot his load, but somehow, he managed to hold back longer.

  “I want you,” he rasped. “Marrex, please…”

  The captain pulled back slowly, giving Juniper’s cock another enveloping lick, and frowned up at him. Silently, Marrex stood, gathering Juniper up in his strong arms, and Juniper wrapped his legs around the captain’s waist, bestowing a kiss first on his furry cheek, then to the side of his mouth, and finally, gingerly, he kissed him on the lips. Juniper’s backside rested in the captain’s hands, and Marrex squeezed his cheeks through what remained of the silk as he opened up to the kiss. Marrex’s mouth tasted slightly peppery, and his smooth tongue curled playfully around Juniper’s as they kissed. After a few moments, Marrex drew his head back, his nose wrinkled in what Juniper took as a smirk.

  “Kissing is not something Ghelyxians do,” he explained. “But I think I like it.”

  “Oh?” said Juniper, breathless. His head was spinning.

  Sobering, Marrex gazed at him. “Do you really want me, Juniper?”

  It was obvious that the captain was talking about more than just sex, and for a moment, Juniper was struck dumb. He hadn’t really thought that far ahead. Sex, sure… but did he really want to commit himself to someone who’d been alone for so long? Someone who was so quick to take offense to every perceived slight?

  Did Juniper really want someone with that much baggage? Maybe he was just reading too much into the question…

  “Juniper?” Marrex murmured.

  Juniper stared into Marrex’s black eyes, full of hope and dread… and saw himself reflected in them. He placed his hands softly to each side of Marrex’s furry face, and he sighed.

  “I think so,” Juniper said quietly.

  Marrex’s nostrils widened as he took a quick breath, and a wrinkle appeared on his brow. He was disappointed, that was obvious. However, when Juniper pulled Marrex’s face closer for a kiss, he felt the captain’s eagerness return—Marrex’s hands squeezed his backside more firmly, the eight points of his claws sharp.

  Juniper shivered and groaned as Marrex broke the kiss to begin biting the side of his neck. “Harder,” he whispered, then let out a soft cry as Marrex obliged him. The captain’s fangs would leave marks on him, but Juniper didn’t think he would break the skin unless asked.

  Slowly, Marrex bent at the waist, supporting Juniper’s weight easily, and set him down gently on his back on the short mosslike grass. When Marrex stood again, it was to pull off his black boots and take his pants down the rest of the way, revealing thick muscular thighs and calves, his knees dark like the patterns down his chest, and large clawed feet.

  Juniper smiled and shook his head. Marrex looked like a demon out of some twisted fairy tale and that suited him just fine. His eyes lingered on the captain’s big cock. Unlike Humans, Ghelyxians had internal testes and their shafts were much wider at the base than the slim head, but it was a beautiful sight. He watched a clear drop fall from the lower slit to the grass and exhaled in eagerness.

  “You’re torturing me,” he said, fondling his own achingly hard dick. “Please?”

  Marrex tilted his head but said nothing, lowering himself to his knees between Juniper’s thighs, his cock drooling another clear drop onto Juniper’s belly.

  “I don’t see how this is going to work,” Marrex said, staring down at himself. “I’m going to hurt you.”

  Reaching for Marrex’s erection, Juniper gave it a few coaxing strokes. It was big. Really big. But that just excited him more.

  “It’ll be fine. Trust me. I’ve taken a fist before, so this should be a piece of cake.”

  Marrex recoiled and held up his fist, looking at it—it was about the size of Juniper’s head.

  Laughing, Juniper shook his head. “Human fist.”

  “Why?” Marrex sounded mildly horrified.

  “Because I wanted to. And it felt great, trust me.” Juniper beckoned to Marrex. “Come here… I just want to feel you on me for a bit, then I’ll run to a replicator and see about making some lube. We’re going to need a lot of it.”