Believer

Revaz was right. It was a big house. The kind that Victoria used to dream about living in during her girlhood. Surprisingly it was nothing like the cold and steely structures that seemed to haunt the city. From the very moment they were alone Revaz had beckoned her to following him through a dizzying maze of narrow alleyways and streets. He guided her up a painstakingly long stairway, and then down a long twisting road of brilliant looking houses.

His was the very last one on the road. The only one with an ideal view of the city and no sign of plant life in the front. Revaz was apparently not much of a gardener. She winced when she saw the gravel and cobblestone that made up the front 'yard', inwardly she yearned for the grassy fields of her fathers property.

The house itself was a work of art. Painted in soft, welcoming hues of light brown and lavender it was a sanctuary with or without the presence of an owner. Victoria wasted no time exploring it. She had, after all, nothing better to do with her time. It didn't take long for her to figure out that Revaz, though the owner of a three story house, appeared to spend most of his time on the lower level. The second story was all but vacant. Most of the rooms had layers of dust, some were locked off by intimidating chains, others were so old that the doors to them groaned and squeaked.

For the first few days she was entertained by the discovery. She shunned Revaz like a ghost, ignoring his presence and pretending that his existence was imagined. In that time she counted up the rooms and was both amazed and startled that one man would have one kitchen, three bathrooms, five bedrooms, a living room, a dining room, what appeared to be some sort of den, and several rooms that served no purpose at all. More shockingly was her knowledge that Revaz had only used four or five of these rooms, and had allowed most the others to become a mess.

The backyard was less disappointing than the front, in the very least there were some plants arranged along what appeared to be very overgrown grass. She would not dare venture out into it on her own but at times Victoria found herself gazing at it from through a window and wondering what sorts of creatures lurked within those overgrown blades.

“Why do you live here anyways?” She asked him one night while they were quietly eating dinner. “It seems like a complete waste of space to me. You barely use most of this house.”

“It wasn't my choice. My parents bought this home when I was a child. They wanted a large family, but instead all they had was me. After they passed away I inherited it. I've been living here ever since.” He avoided her gaze, instead he stared down at his place, muttering his words in between small bites.

“But wouldn't someone have sold this place after you were placed in...foster care?” She frowned, wildly guessing at where Revaz might have been sent after his parents demise. “an orphanage then? Or did you have adoptive parents?”

“No. I was never adopted. Nor was I sent to any kind orphanage. Our society closed all of them down after our birthrate plummeted. There was no necessity for orphanages without any orphans to live in them.” He replied to her coldly. “I was not taken in by any other couple either as I was too old to be adopted. Besides of which I had inherited enough money from my parents to survive into my adulthood and then some. I stayed here by myself. I have never left.”

“But...you were still a child when your parents died.” She murmured having just realized how personal their conversation had become.

“Indeed I was what you might call 'a child' during their demise. That is the flaw of this planets inhabitants. There is no sympathy for parentless children. The expectation is that if your guardians pass away and you are older than the age of 10 you simply raise yourself. I have been alone since their deaths. I taught myself nearly everything on my own.”

“Oh...” She murmured, glancing across the table at him as he was shifting in his seat. “Do you like living here at least?”

“No. This house surpasses the size that I require to function on a daily basses. It was designed for a large family. And as of to date I have no intentions of ever having one.”

“A family you mean?”

“Yes.”

“Then why am I here?!” Victoria cried.

He replied with a simple shrug of his shoulders. “I was pressured into taking on a breeding mission in order to see if our species could procreate by my superiors. But since you have made it clear that no such union will be shared between us I have altered my plans.” The look he gave her was venomous. She could feel the resentment burning through her like someone had tossed acid on her.

“What happens after the mark is gone.” She whispered, pushing her plate away as her appetite suddenly left her.

“The bonding will be considered annulled and you will have to either leave or the ritual will have to be redone which I sense you are not willing to do so. To make matters more simple; when the mark is finally gone; get out. Enjoy the rest of your evening.” He stood up, sweeping out of the room with his empty plate, leaving her with only the silence as a companion.

The mark on her shoulder had begun to fade now, just as Andrea told her it would. It was only slight at first, just a bit of dimming around the edges of each dot. All the warnings in the world did not prepare her however, for the drastic changes it caused in Revaz. She had anticipated a slight tantrum; what she got was a man on the brink of loosing his mind.

The first symptoms were sleeplessness. He would stay up all night. She would listen as he paced tirelessly across the house, wandering about as though searching for something to do. Dark circles formed under his eyes. He began to eat less and they stopped sharing simple things, like meals, together. The more she ignored him the more washed out it seemed that he became, as though the neglect was some agonizing form of cancer.

Andrea was permitted to visit her every once and awhile. Though every time she came she would roll her eyes, or sigh. “He's not going to get any better if that's what you're thinking.” She murmured as they sat together one afternoon listening to Revaz pacing loudly downstairs.

“I know.” She admitted between sips of cold water. Every now and then her eyes would dart towards the doorway, half expecting him to be there. Ever since she had been brought to his house Revaz had begun to stand over her while she was sleeping. Sometimes she would wake up and catching him just staring at her with bloodshot and empty looking eyes.

Even his mere presence had begun to disturb her in ways she never imagined. “It's like being in a house with an escaped mental patient sometimes. I've never been so frightened by someone before!” She exclaimed after Andrea became aware of her bizarre 'habit'. “It's like his mind is in another world or something. He's here physically, but when I look at him I see nothing!”

“Well what did you expect? I warned you about what would happen. It's like someone is dying and all they need is a simple cure but no matter how hard he tries he cannot give it to them. He's loosing his god damned mind!” Andrea shrugged, leaning back in her chair. “And to make matters worse he's only a quarter as bad as he could potentially be. Let me know when he /really/ starts to act crazy.”

Not even a day after Andrea's visit he began to speak to himself. It was softly at first. At least when he thought she was not around. But then he started to have full fledge conversations with himself. They were always angry, or at least they sounded that way. He always spoke in that strange Azrac language however and so Victoria found it impossible to understand him.

When the first dot had almost entirely faded he was so disturbed that just being in the house with him made her scared for her life. He would often erupt at the strangest times. Screaming loudly as though someone were physically torturing him. Sometimes he would recover from it very quickly, but most of the time she found him in the corner of whatever room he happened to be in, rocking back and fourth on the floor.

Conversations with him became nightmarish. When he did accept Victoria's approach most of what he spoke of alluded to death or disease. Their conversations diminished to nothingness. Whenever she asked him to stop he would become irritable. All the while Victoria secretly awaited the day when he would become so infected with madness that he would attempt to kill her. By then the calm, monotone Revaz she remembered from her arrival was only a fond memory. And to think that all of it had happened in less than two weeks. To her it felt like months. To him, it must have seemed like years.

All the while this was happening, Victoria's nerves slowly wore themselves down. There were times when she would have given anything just to have Revaz acting normal again. But then she would remember that an 'event' would have to occur in order to make her wish come true. One which required an uncomfortable amount of intimacy and the risk of being stuck with him forever.

It wasn't even the eternal bond that disturbed Victoria the most. It was the sex. Even now after having experienced a great deal with Revaz already she was uncomfortable with the idea. It was the ghosts of her past that were to blame for this. When she first came of age and her body started to develop it's soft curves her mother had given her a crash course on the birds and the bees. It involved a rather snarky lecture on what was improper verse's what was not. She would not tolerate promiscuity. Not from any daughter of hers. So she proclaimed the act of sex as awful,immoral, and life altering. There were times in her youth, that she would disturb Victoria with a graphic description of what occurred to a woman when she first had intercourse.

The images had haunted her to this very day, and without any proper girlfriends to discuss the subject with Victoria had assumed that what her mother said was true. The thought of pain, bleeding, and discomfort she had been threatened with made her stomach churn. And though she questioned whether the act in itself was entirely immoral everything else her mother had said clung to her like glue.

By the time that only one dot remained on her shoulder Revaz had stopped interacting with her altogether. Andrea was not permitted inside the house furring that time. He denied any visitors actually. Even ones like Tariel, who claimed to be friends. When any of them tried to visit, he would gruffly dismiss them or lock the door. Victoria took this as the final days of the 'bonding' and Ravaz's way of isolating himself from the rest of the world as he slowly awaited it's demise.

Having cleaned, and dusted almost every room in the house to ease her boredom she turned to the a crawl space in the attic for comfort. Revaz probably didn't even know it existed. It was very small, and the door blended so nicely into the ceiling that one could have passed by it a million times unnoticed. Victoria's father's house had one very similar, only not nearly as dusty. It was a charming addition to the house. Complete with pull out stairs and a creaky wooden door. She enjoyed how the stairs seemed to fold out on their own, making it easier for her to climb in and out. The only problem with it really was that it have grown filthy from neglect.

It was the ideal project for someone with far too much time on their hands. Armed with a bucket of soapy water and a washcloth she crept up inside and began to clean. She scrubbed and scrubbed until her elbows were tied, wiping the floorboards clean of a century's worth of dust.

In the very least after the mark was gone Revaz would have to thank her for cleaning up this place, or at least that was what she told herself as she was finishing the last few floorboards. After all the kidnapping, and the nightmare of his mental health fading she deserved some kind of reward, even if it was a simple 'Thank you' for cleaning her captures filthy house. While she was cleaning she fumed angrily, thinking about his behaviour over the past few weeks much more bitterly than she had before.

“Who does he think he is anyways?” She mumbled angrily to herself. “I'm the one who got kidnapped and taken away to a strange planet with only one other human being on it! If anyone should be having a break down right now it's me. How dare he try to make me feel like the bad guy. That self-absorbed jerk!” She got a sinking feeling in her stomach. It only happened because she still partially sympathized with Revaz. Jerk or not he'd had a miserable time growing up. This house was dreary enough to live in as an adult. But how could a child have coped with it? How many nights had he stayed up with no one there to chase away the monsters or read him bedtime stories? It seemed like a miserable way to live. But then again perhaps it was an common occurrence on this planet. For all she knew children living on their own here could have been like 16 year olds learning to drive a car on earth.

In the midst of her emotional tantrum she had moved from cleaning the floor to wiping off the circular window located at the very end of the room. It was rather tricky to clean, with a metal frame around it that seemed to have attracted the grim like a magnet over the years. Her soap bucket turned black by the time she had cleaned it to the point of her own satisfaction. “There!” She beamed happily. “Now whenever he has guests they won't have to look up and see a dirty window.” A part of her bitterly wondered in Revaz would even have guests over after she left. Maybe he was just isolate himself for the rest of his life after this.

She was about to head for the doorway, prepared to clean out and refill her cleaning bucket when something caught her eye. A hint of movement that seemed to be coming from one of the shadowy corners of the attic which she had yet to touch.

“H-h-hello?” She called out, half expecting Revaz to jump out of the shadows brandishing a knife at her. Instead she heard a low, angry hissing noise that made her stomach coil with fear. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she heard a scuffling noise against the floorboards.

The creature that emerged was not Revaz. It was a bulky, red eyed spider. One that made her so frightened she believed she was going to faint when she first saw it. Alongside being black and hairy looking it was a little bigger than a fully grown house cat. It looked terribly angry and it hissed at her again when she tried to back away, gnashing a set of fangs that could have carved through bone with little ease.

All in all it was the biggest spider Victoria had ever seen, and being in a cramped little space with it blocking her only exit made her wish she was small enough to just smash open the window she had been cleaning, but the only thing she would have fit through it was her head if she was lucky.

“Please, please!” She begged no one in particular as it scuttled towards her, growling again like an angry dog. She prayed for it to go away, and cursed herself for being so careless. If she had brought something up there with her, like a broom, she could have chanced the ugly creature away. All she had on her was a wash cloth, and throwing it only seemed to make the spider angrier.

It lunged at her with it was close enough, sinking it's teeth into her leg so quickly that she barely even had time to react. The fangs dung into the back of her calf, pressing so hard it was like a wild dog was chewing on her leg instead. Victoria screamed in agony, trying to beat the creature away with her fists but it held on tight, clamping even harder when she attempted to pry it off. For a moment she truly believed that she was going to die. If not by the possible venom this creature might have then by bleeding to death. It began to pull away from her with it's teeth still sunken into her flesh, tearing the wounds open like it were ripping through fabric. The harder that it tugged the louder her screams became, until all she could focus one were two things; the pain, and her own rapidly beating heart.

Blood poured from her wound. She felt it trickling onto the clean floorboards and she sobbed as the pain completely paralyzed her. She could not do anything. Every muscle in her body felt like it had tensed up. The only thing she could do was cry, but even that was difficult now. The words; "I'm going to die." whispered tauntingly in the back of her mind, filling her with complete and utter despair. Over and over again it repeated itself until she truly believed it. She was going to die. At the hands of a loathsome, hideous spider.

With her eyes tightly clamped shut she could not see anything. But Victoria did hear the sound of heavy footsteps pattering against the floor beneath her and the painful splinter of breaking wood as the attic door being forced open. She felt the spider release her abruptly and hiss in the direction of a brand new distraction. She didn't dare open her eyes but she managed to crack them open just slightly for a moment to make out the blurry outline of Revaz's figure. She heard him snarl right back at the creature, and a thumping sound as something was struck followed by angry and human cries. Something wet and warm sprayed against her leg and it took every ounce of strength for her not to throw up after that. There was a sound of something being torn, followed by complete silence. It was only then that she realized it was over.

When she did at last open her eyes to see what had happened Victoria could not help but cringe with disgust. The spider had been completely torn apart. She could see it's legs scattered across the entire attic floor at the twitching remains of it;s thorax, which had been gouged apart like a piece of cooked meat. Revaz crouched just a yard away, staring at his handiwork with a completely empty expression. Though his hands were coated with the creatures blood he did not seem even slightly troubled by what he had done to it.

The thought of him killing another creature so brutally scared her out of her mind. Not nearly as much as being gnawed by a spider, but enough that when it mingled with the realization that she had narrowed avoided death at the hands of the same man it caused her to burst into tears. There was a small pool of blood around her leg now. The vermin had done a fair amount of damage. Enough perhaps, that Revaz could just watch her slowly bleed to death. He stared at her for a moment, scanning her from head to toe before turning and vanishing through the attic door.

She deserved to be left up there. Logically Revaz should have closed the door and let her die alongside that disgusting spider carcass. She was after all, responsible for driving him mad. It was alarming for her when he returned only a few minutes later, carrying a cloth that was damp with a faint orangey substance and a glass which he handed to her.

“I want you to drink this.” He murmured, lifting her wounded leg up so that he could wipe it without it touching the floor.

“What is that?!” Victoria squirmed. Even though he was using the gentlest touch her leg still stung very badly. The cup he had given her turned out to be filled with ordinary water. She managed to drink most of it, but when the stinging from the wound became too much it tumbled out of her hands and splashed onto the floor.

“It clots wounds and helps with the healing process.” He explained. “That creature isn't venomous, but it's victims run the risk of dying from the loss of blood or an untreated infection. You should not have been up here by yourself. The fact that it was so unkept should have told you something was amiss.”

“I'm sorry okay!” She moaned, trying very hard not to focus on the pain. “I didn't know that thing was up here.”

“Sorry is not going to fix what has happened because of your lack of judgement.”

“Then why don't you just leave me up here to die!” She watched him pause when she verbally lashed out at her, turning her head away in defiance when he made an attempt to look her in the eye. “If you hate me so much why not do it?”

“I do not hate you Victoria.”

“Yes you do.” She pouted, unashamed by the tears that were forming in her eyes again. “Look at the way you've been acting lately. You hate my guts. You despise me. Just because I won't sleep with you.” A sob caught in her throat, making her feel as though she were going to suffocate. “You hate me...”

“No, no....” She saw him shake his head out of the corner of her eyes. “I am mad at myself Victoria. I am mad at my poor planning, and my insensitivity towards you. I hate the way that you resented me when I first brought you here. You looked at me like I was a monster...No one has ever looked at me that way. I don't want to be a monster. I feel as though this whole mission was a waste of time. I'm a little angry at your behaviour, and I loathe the way our bond has almost withered away but I do not hate you. I could never hate you. Even if the mark fades, you leave, and we never see each other again I will not hate you.”

She was crying again. She knew because when he leaned forward and gently clasped her head between his hands a tear splashed against his arm. “I'm so scared. I-I don't know what to do.” She wept softly, unable to control herself as the words suddenly came our. Pouring into the air in the form of a verbal confession. One she hadn't wanted him to hear. “My parents didn't teach me anything. I don't know what happens-or what I'm supposed to do! I-I'm afraid I'll be too small, and that you'll hurt me.”

He listened to her ramble on and on, confessing all the embarrassing phobias and discomforts Victoria had been secretly feeling for most of her life. Her body made her uncomfortable. Not knowing what it could or could not do was a frightening thing. She'd never dared ask someone questions. Even one of the girls in her school. They would have only laughed at her. How could a young woman, who was almost completely grown, know so little about sex?!

“It is okay to be scared Victoria. It doesn't make you strange.” He whispered to her, leaning closely so that their lips were almost touching. “It hurts a little your first time. But it is only ever truly agonizing if you do not trust your partner. Sex requires mutual trust and a certain level caring in order to occur properly. Just like love.”

“Revaz I don't want to have to leave this place, or you. I don't want to end up with a complete stranger.”

She watched his eyes very carefully, as they seemed to widen with surprise at what she said. Her cheeks flushed awkwardly, unable to contain the embarrassment that was flowing through her right now. He turned away from a moment, coughing just to ease some of the tension that had built up between them. Placing the cloth onto the floor he reached out, wrapping his arms around her in order to lift her up. “Come. Let's get you cleaned up now.”

He stayed outside the bathroom door while she was cleaning off, occasionally asking her whether she was 'okay' but never truly invading the room. Victoria's abrupt declaration had made them both very uncomfortable. While she was washing off the blood and the dirt that covered her body she scorned herself for being such a twit.

The bleeding had stopped, but the leg itself was nearly useless for her to walk on. She managed to drape her body in a towel and stumble out into the hallway but everything else required Revaz's aid. He carried her without complaint, bringing her to her room first to allow her to change into some clean clothes and then downstairs into the kitchen where he propped her up onto a counter like a small child, allowing him to watch as he rummaged through the cabinets.

“You know, you are very lucky that I was around. Had I not been you might have bled to death up there in that attic.”

Victoria shrugged, steadying herself with both of her arms so she would not fall over. “I just wanted something to do. I didn't think this planet had any spiders on it.”

“We do. But they are much bigger than any of the ones on your home world. Be careful if you're going to wander into dark places like that. The creatures that are considered minor pests on Azrac can easily inflict harm upon a human.” He had produced what appeared to be a roll of gauze and was humming softly as he began to wrap up her leg. “This should keep all the bacteria out until it's healed up.” She watched his hands as they covered her skin, adjusting the thin binding with complete ease. The movement suggested skill, and a lot of practice which an ordinary person would never have been able to learn.

“Revaz...” She paused, chewing on her bottom lip. “Are you some kind of Doctor by any chance?”

“Yes.” He nodded, smiling up at her for the first time in ages. “I am a medical engineer to be more precise. It is the main reason I was chosen to go on that mission. I was more capable of differentiating diseases and medical flaws that might interrupt the natural breeding process.”

“Oh.” She sighed, attempting to relax as she watched him tend over her injury. “You must be really important...and a lot older than I thought you were.”

“Yes, I suppose that there are times when my profession is perceived as one of importance. “ He completed bandaging her leg, stepping back a moment as though to inspect his handiwork. “It is a fortunate thing that I am medically skilled. Otherwise you might have suffered a great deal for your carelessness. As for my age; I am 28 years old.”

“Why didn't you tell me that?!”

“You never asked me and I did not believe it was necessary to inform you how many years I have been in existence.”

“Revaz you're 9 years older than me!”

“Would you have preferred me to be 19 as well? If I had been I would not of have the proper training to help you and you would have bled to death or obtained an infection from your wounds. Youth is an insignificant thing compared to experience.”

Victoria sat there for a moment, imagining what might have happened if Revaz hadn't been able to come to her aid. Would she have bleed to death in that dusty attic? Would that disgusting spider have eaten her after her body had gone lifeless? Her father would have never seen her again. She came very close to death. And had stupidly walked right into it's embrace.

Revaz cringed slightly at the peek of her emotional 'trip' but said nothing about it. He busied himself by calming placing the leftover gauze back where it had been found and examining her leg one that time. “Fortunately you did not loose nearly enough blood to do any serious harm to your health though you may feel fatigued. I would recommend getting some rest to help you recover faster.”

“I couldn't sleep even if I wanted to. Not after what happened.” she hugged herself, shivering as her mind briefly flashed with images of that vile creature gnawing into her leg. She would be lucky if she ever had a peaceful night again.

“You are still frightened.” He had placed his hands on her again. This time they rested against either side of her neck. “You do not feel safe still, even though the creature that attacked you has been destroyed. Why?”

“I don't know.” Her words were feeble. With him touching her it felt like there was something squeezing onto her windpipe. Her lips began to tremble, she was at a complete loss for words. Her eyes focused on his hands, studying the way that they carefully moved to brush the hair away from her face.

She kissed him after that, intentionally luring herself down a rabbit-hole where all the feelings she had once acknowledged for Revaz now dwelled. In truth it was possibly the worst thing she could have done. Much like holding a flame over a gasoline soaked paper the chaos it stirred within her was worse than being on a rollercoster.

Victoria found herself disgusted by how much she enjoyed it. The sensation of threading her fingers through the back of his head enthralled her. The faintly sweet smell of his skin was tantalizing. So much so that that it made her hungry for more.

“We...shouldn't.” He hesitated, pulling away from her as though some invisible had violently pushed him away. “The sooner you start resting the better you will be.” There was a twinge of well-deserved bitterness in his tone. One that could have only come from two weeks of dealing with Victoria's burning resentment. “Let's get you to bed now.”

“No!” She resisted when he tried to pick her up, pressing her hands against his chest in a vain attempt to keep him distanced from her. The effect was like trying to stop a moving truck. She could feel her arms buckling also as soon as they began to push. She relinquished with a gentle whine, allowing him to gather her up and carry her out of the kitchen. The room that he brought her to was not the same one Victoria normally used. Though it was the closest, there was nothing comforting about that white and peach confection. The colour scheme was far to cheerful for her mood. Before her cleaning frenzy the mountain of pillows that were piled on the bed had been caked in dust.

“This isn't my room!”

“No...It is not.” He agree with a gentle click of his tongue. “But your original bedroom of choice is located on the second floor. Until your leg has fully healed it will be rather difficult for you to walk up and down stairs.” He set her down at the very foot of the bed, steadying her by her shoulders. Victoria had allowed herself to go completely limp as she mused over her situation. Living, and sleeping in a room she could not stand. Hobbling about like an old woman, forbidden to even climb stairs.

“How long do I have until the mark on my shoulder goes away?” She whispered. Even bringing the subject up made her feel uncomfortable. Knowing what had to be done to stay here made it feel like there were snakes squirming around inside her stomach and imagining what might happen if they did nothing at all just made those snakes squirm harder.

“Less than two days. The bond between us had a slow and painful death, but now it has almost entirely passed away.” He replied coldly, fluffing the remaining pillows on the bed while pulling back the sheets. “You should get some rest now.”

“You're just going to leave me here then?” She whined as her eyes briefly darted up at the ceiling, frantically searching for signs of another gruesome creature lurking about. “What if another one of those things gets in here?”

“Victoria those creatures prefer small, dark places. They would never venture into a room like this. You're being paranoid.”

Like hell she was going to believe him. If they were anything like the spiders on earth the moment she closed her eyes one of them would come scuttling out of hiding. The thought of there being more than one in that house made her skin crawl. “Please, just until I fall asleep?”

“Fine.” Revaz made a low sighing noise as he closed the door. “I still think you are overreacting about all of this.”

Regardless of whatever he might have thought about the situation she was glad that he stayed. It strained her nerves having to share the bed but just having someone else there was payment enough. Who knows, maybe if a foul creature did find it's way into the room it would attack him instead? Revaz was bigger than her after all...

“Get some sleep now.” She heard him say as she curled up on the mattress, far too lazy to even bother pulling the blankets over herself. With a low yawn she closed her eyes and struggled to coax herself to sleep. Though her eyelids had become so heavy that she could no longer keep them open her mind was racing like a hamster wheel. Her thoughts were plagued by vulgar images of herself and the male that lay quietly beside her.

By the time she drifted off the only thing Victoria was thinking about was sex. Was it any wonder that it made it's way into her dreams as well? Three months ago the very same images might have startled her awake, now she found herself embracing them. The dreams just felt that real.

Everything in the dream seemed to play out hazily, as though she were looking at it through a vaseline smeared camera lens. She recalled vibrant and disturbing images of herself without any clothing. Her hands reached blindly through the darkness in search of her clothes. Revaz was there too. She could not see him through all the blur but she knew he was there for some reason.

The next thing she recalled was him kissing her, again and again and again. And though it seemed that each one was more intense than the last neither of them made even a sound. She heard nothing. Not even the sounds of raspy breathing as his lips began to travel beyond her mouth. She could almost feel it when he burred his head in between her breasts. Her body temperature rose to uncomfortable highs as his hands began to wander. And all the while she never begged him to stop. In her dreams Victoria accepted him. Welcoming the sensation of his fingers sliding into her body without even a sound.

She should have been disturbed by such a dream. But when Victoria's eyes shot open and she forced herself into a sitting position she knew that the small beads of sweat that had gathered across her forehead were not the product of fear.

The recollection of the dream was not even the most surprising thing. Not when she actually opened her eyes and discovered a set of pale violet ones staring back at her. Revaz was slumped up against the doorway, watching her with a vague and very distant expression. She remembered him being able to read her dreams before. Victoria had actually found the idea so disturbing she remembered becoming angry at him. Which might have explained why he appeared to be trying to decide whether or not he should approach her.

“I'm sorry.” She grimaced when she hugged her knees against her chest only to discover that there was now a warm, moist spot on her underwear. “I forgot that you could see...'them'. How long have you been standing there anyways?”

He replied with a slight shrug of his shoulders. “I have been here long enough to have a detailed account of what you were dreaming about if that is what you are asking.”

“Oh...” She felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. One that told her there was no way to deny or whine her way out of this mess. He knew she had liked what she'd seen. She'd wanted it. There was no way to hide that in her current state.

“Embarrassed again I see. It seems like every pleasure you allow yourself to enjoy only brings you humiliation.” He padded across the room as he spoke. She watched him just out of the corner of her eye, curious, and just a little bit delighted by his presence.

“I told you already, I don't know anything about this sort of stuff. Is like trying to walk down a dark hallway and every few steps you fall over. It's so...uncomfortable.” Her stomach quivered as though it were filled with butterfly's. He had taken a seat right beside her. So close that if she wanted to she could have reached out and touched him. “If we do it now...what will happen?”

That suggestion, as simple as it was, seemed to be the magic phrase that broke whatever icy barrier Revaz had placed around himself. “The mark will reappear and the bonding process will be completed.” She shivered when one of his hands traveled across the bed until it found a resting spot on her knee. He leaned closer to her, closing his eyes and inhaling the air as though he had just smelled something marvellous. His expression was one of sheer delight and yet it startled Victoria to see him this way. She could feel the fine hairs on the back of her neck stand up as he inched even closer, leaning so that their faces were only a foot away from each other.

“I...can smell you.” He hesitated, unable to explain what he meant perhaps. He seemed as though he were inhaling a fond aroma. But when she squinted her eyes and absorbed some of the air she smelt nothing quite as pleasant as whatever he was detecting. “Victoria,” He muttered to her. “If you do not want me to touch you please say so.” He whispered as he fingers reached under the hem of her skirt. “Because if you do not then...I am afraid I will have to leave the room.”

A small gasp escaped her lips as her skirt suddenly tumbled down off her knees, leaving her legs almost completely exposed. She imagined him leaving might of had something to do with whatever he was smelling. But through the dream-like haze that had now completely fogged her senses she found herself unable to deny him. She could not say 'no'.

He wasted no time in obtaining what he wanted. After weeks of distancing from her it was only understandable that Revaz would behave so eagerly. His movements were sharp and swift, as though in a hurry to complete the task before the opportunity itself slipped away. He unzipped the front of his jacket, revealing a pale chest beneath underneath it she had never encountered before. His skin was surprisingly soft to the touch when she ran her hands across it, a sweet surprise to Victoria, who had always expected a man to be rough and callous. As he shrugged away the remains of the jacket she studied the detailed curves along both arms. The result of developed muscles. These were not the arms of any Doctor. They couldn't be.

As he was doing this Victoria had begun to unbutton her blouse. It proved to be a rather difficult task, as she was all thumbs for some reason. There was no bra beneath that plain white garment. Nothing that would have sheltered her breasts from view. When he had taken her back to her room to get changed Victoria had been simply too lazy to find any sort of bra. She regretted it now as she reached for the very last button, exposing her bare chest to the cool air.

His hands drifted down to the elastic waist band of her skirt, pushing it down just a notch as though he were testing for any reaction. While she removed the remains of her skirt he worked it slowly down past her knees, taking her underwear with it. She gasp at first when it became more apparent that it was actually happening and she was not dreaming. His warm breath searing across her bare skin made her squirm with discomfort.

She could feel his fingertips brushing lightly across her skin. They trailed up her stomach before fanning out across the sensitive skin of her breasts. “Your scent is intoxicating.” She heard him tell her as he brushed the edge of his thumb against her nipple, sending a tingling sensation throughout her body that reminder Victoria of what he had done to her back in her fathers barn.

Something slithered it's way around her waist. Instinctively she gave a startled cry and squirmed away from him like he had suddenly caught fire. It was those damn tentacles of his. Two or three of them had protruded from his back and had made their way along the bed. She could feel the very tip of one resting against her ankle, stroking it gingerly as though to reassure her that everything was still fine.

“Do you trust me Victoria?” Revaz questioned her. She could hear the sound of him unzipping his pants. The sound left a prickly feeling on the back of her neck that both delighted and disturbed her. She felt as though she had gone made. He was right there undressing himself in front of her! She was naked! They were going to have sex! And those god damned tentacles of his were coiling around her legs!

She watched them with morbid fascination as they crawled along her body, avoiding the more intimate parts as though repelled by some unseen barrier. One found a snug place around her waist. The other two seemed more than comfortable draped around her legs. At a glance they seemed rather harmless. Like trio of snakes that had merely sought Victoria out as a heat source. It wasn't until they moved her than she could feel her insides clench.

They carried her like a rag doll and she found herself thrust onto Revaz's bare lap like a small child. “Do you trust me?” He questioned her again but all she could think about was the fact that she was sprawled across a now completely naked male. One who was nine years older than her.

“I guess so...”

Had she the nerve to actually do so she might have been honest with him. She could have said “No Revaz. As much as I like you, you're still a god damned alien and I'm waiting for you to sprout wings and lay eggs in my chest!” It might had spared her the anxiety of feeling something hard press against the inside of her thigh. All of the blood felt like it had rushed to her face at once. She knew what that was, and where it was meant to go. She expected it to be there, just as she expected a hand to have four fingers and a face to have two eyes.

What she did not anticipate however was the gentleness of his caress. He smoothed his fingers up and down her body in fluid motions. It felt as though they were dancing across her bare skin, kneading away the stress and the tension that had been built up for days. She relaxed softly against his chest, marvelling at the fact that the tentacles had also joined in the seduction, brushing up and down her back as though they were intentionally indicating an obscene gesture.

“You can always trust me Victoria.” He said as his hands slowly drifted in between her slightly parted thighs. Her legs had been reduced to jello. They parted for him easily, without restraint or any childish protests. It was not until she felt the very tip of his member, prodding against the now moistened opening that the dream-like sensations faded and the reality of what was going on returned in full bloom. It was far too late for her to stop him. The very moment a gasp escaped her lips she felt his hands lifting her up by the waist and the blunted tip as it began to slide inside of her.

Oh it was painful. Indeed it was probably the most unpleasant thing that had ever happened to her. But truth be told it was nothing like she had imagined that it would be.Victoria had always planned for a sharp stabbing sensation. And she had crafted it around the presumption of having a spouse who would be self-absorbed and very indifferent to her suffering. Revaz was neither of these things. He was careful, and calculated, lowering her down slowly so that the event would last longer. The result was a prolonged tearing sensation as her body stretched to accommodate him.

He ran his fingers through her hair when the first tears escaped and started to trickle down her face. When more came, he pulled her against his chest. “I know it hurts.” She heard him say. Did he really know? She wondered as Revaz cradled her softly. His arms draped around her like a protective shield, defending her from anything that might try to do her harm. She enjoyed feeling safe. As much as Victoria wanted to deny it she found herself savouring the moment quite happily.

Her body heaved when he rolled her over, placing her onto her bed. The air around her no longer smelled like dust anymore. There was a sweet aroma lingering in the air. She could not find the source of it, nor did she genuinely care. When he lowered himself over top of her and she felt the warmth of his breath ghosting across her chest Victoria thought of nothing else but him.

He was very careful with her, testing every action as though he were a child treading strange waters himself. Two of the tentacles that were still protruding from his back where wandering again. While he thrust himself gently in and out of her they bound themselves across her breast, flickering her already hardened nipples. The sensation it caused made her back arch painfully, unable to control the strange things her body was experiencing.

If she had any sense she would have screamed the very moment those appendages touched her, but that wasn't on Victoria's mind. The only thing she thought of as she lay there sprawled across that unfamiliar mattress was the overwhelming pleasure she felt every time he thrust inside of her.

She could feel Revaz's eyes on her. They watched her with such a peculiar intensity that when she glanced up to meet them she suddenly felt as though he was burrowing right down into her soul. The sensation was quite alarming, and yet the softness of his expressions seemed to reassure her that he meant no harm. She embraced him greedily, welcoming the gentleness she had denied so many times before. Her arms draped across his shoulders, happily exploring the newly exposed and unfamiliar territory.

“Revaz.” She whispered his name as her blunted fingernails dug into his skin, desperate for a release. The emotions swelling up inside of her were stranger than anything she had ever felt before. They mingled with the ecstasy of their bodies pleasuring each other. Her body felt as though it were about to explode. Every time that he pushed inside of her she would lift her hips curiously in response, unable to think of anything more useful to do with herself. Her skin was coated with tiny beads of sweat. She could feel him burying his head against the delicate curve where her shoulder and her neck met. He lips kissed the thin skin at first, teasing her until she gave a sharp cry of delight.

“I love you.”

At first she believed she had imagined him saying it. She was after all, very delirious and caught up in a whirlpool of new and exciting sensations. Did she imagine it thought? “What did you just say?” She murmured when he lifted his head for a moment to kiss her. It felt wonderful. Just like all of the other kisses she had shared with him. And ever though she knew what to expect Victoria still found herself feeling girlishly excited when he slipped his tongue into her mouth.

The tentacles squeezed her breasts, sending mixtures of pain and pleasure flickering through her mind. When she arched her back in response he slipped a hand beneath her digging his long fingers into the side of her back. He was going faster now. With every thrust the tingling sensation built up inside of her, gathering in the very core of her body as though it were bracing itself. She moaned every time he slid inside of her, unable to resist as she slowly drew closer to her climax.

“Revaz!” She wept softly as her body orgasmed. Her hands trashed violently, tugging and curling themselves around the bedsheets as a wave of pleasure washed over her. She found herself unable to speak as the sensation surged through every inch of her body. She felt him tense as she tightened around him and in the midst of her own delight Victoria could not resist lifting herself up to look at him.

The blank mask he had worn so frequently since their first meeting had completely shattered. Emotions played across his face ow that Victoria had never seen him express before. He looked so helpless, even when he was leering over top of her. Helpless and completely vulnerable. Just like she was. He didn't cry like she did when he reached his climax. Instead he growled. Burying his head into her chest to muffle the genuine delight that mingled with the sound. She mewled softly when she felt him nip into the sensitive flesh of one breast, rolling her nipple between his teeth until he felt her shudder. He filled her with a warm, sticky fluid that made her squirm. The sensation of it trickling out of her body when he pulled out of her made her stomach churn.

The lingered together for several minutes, just listening to the sounds of each others breathing. Victoria found herself rather alarmed by what had just happened. Did she really just allow an alien to sleep with her?...

“I said that I loved you.”

“What?' She panted, listening to the sound of her own heartbeat pounding in her ears. Revaz seemed almost unphased by the action. He recovered with ease, sliding over to the edge of the be to retrieve his discarded clothing. She envied him bitterly as the sensation of exhaustion washed over her. Where was he going anyways? She thought bitterly as her mind flashed with images of what couples often did on film or in TV shows after they had made love. They were supposed to lay in bed together, entangled in the afterglow of their own passion. Seeing him redressing himself as though nothing had even happened made it feel like she were somehow sinking.

“You asked me when we were copulating whether or not I had said something to you.” He explain while zipping his pants back up. “I said that I loved you.”

“Are you leaving me now?” She asked as she struggled to lift herself up. Without the pleasure to distract her, her mind had returned to the throbbing pain in her leg. “Now that you have what you want...”

“You disappoint me Victoria.” He replied in a tone that suggested either annoyance or anger. “Even after all that has happened you still do not trust me.”

“Yes I do!” She flinched, overwhelmed by the feeling that he had just insulted her. “I just let you take my virginity didn't I? That requires trust!”

“You also believe that now that I have claimed my 'prize' that I am simply going to get up and leave you here in a pool of sweat and bodily fluids.” He retorted as he paced around the room, gathering each stray article of clothing into a neat little pile at the foot of the bed. “I'm not going anywhere. If you trusted me you would instinctively know that.”

“Then what are you doing?” Victoria sighed as she scooted herself over to the edge of the bed, cringing when she accidentally bumped her wounded leg.

“Well, when you're done your sulking I'm going to take you to the bathroom so that you can clean yourself off. Then I'm going to have to re-bandage your leg. And lastly, it appears you will be switching rooms once again as I am quite certain you are not going to sleep here now that the sheets have been soiled.”

“Why did you put your pants back on so quickly then?” Victoria lowered her head with an embarrassed sigh. “I thought you were getting ready to take off.”

“You are not comfortable with nudity, or being in the presence of a fully undressed male. I am quite certain if I had tried to carry you around without at least partially redressing you would have thrown a fit. You did not even look at me from the waist down when we were having intercourse.”

She stifled, embarrassed that he had actually noticed her discomfort. Why would he? All those feelings swimming around in her head for him to pay attention to. She was so certain he would never noticed her awkwardness towards nudity. “I'm sorry.”

“I am not mad at you Victoria. I expected it.” Revaz responded with a casual shrug of his shoulders. He knelt down beside her, scooping her up in his arms and carrying her out of the room. “Come on. Lets get you cleaned up.”