Makar

MAKAR

I knew what she was doing. If I missed the way she sucked my finger, it was obvious by the time she tilted her ass into my hips while I showed her how to sift the flour.

It was clear she had zero interest in baking. But if that were the case, why did she take my criticism? Why did she try so hard to make sure everything was absolutely right? And why did those cupcakes turn out so well?

There she was, looking at me like I had made her day just by approving her work. I was used to having to tell everyone to give me a break when it came to my favorite pastime, but I usually had to tell them more than once. With Sophia, it was different – she was a sponge taking it all in.

When the timer went off, I pulled the pans out and set them on racks. Taking some powdered sugar, milk, butter, and vanilla, I showed her how to make buttercream frosting. "Why buttercream?" she asked.

"Is there any other kind?" I replied drily. Instead of chuckling or even scoffing, she flushed and went back to her work. Something had gotten in her head, and I couldn't quite tell what.

We finished whipping up the icing, and I tested the cupcakes to see if they were cool enough. They weren't, and I told Sophia we would have to wait. She bit her lips, crossed her arms over her chest, and leaned back against the counter.

Looking at the floor, she spoke slowly. "So… what got you interested in human baking recipes?"

Small talk, huh? No matter. I could make small talk. "When I was a kid, I had a lot of eating issues. I had a hard time with textures, and my mother thought that if I learned to bake, it would help me find things I liked." She looked up. It was probably my diving right into my childhood that had grabbed her attention. I leaned against the opposite counter, nonchalantly mimicking her pose. "So she picked up a cookbook that had a lot of baking recipes from other planets, and I gravitated toward the ones from Earth. They were different."

Sophia looked confused. "How so?"

I chuckled. "Well, for one thing, there's almost nothing that originated on your home planet that isn't edible. I mean, there are minerals, but that's about it, and even some of them are edible. Every living organism in your world eats all the time, and nothing doesn't get consumed. It's insane!" Sophia looked at me like I was insane. "I'm serious," I continued. "Think about it!"

She laughed a little. "Okay, so why did that interest you so much?" she asked.

"I don't know. Maybe I wanted to know what was so great about the food that kept everything on Earth eating all the time. So I tried it, and I couldn't believe what I found." I paused, waiting to see if she followed.

Her gaze locked on me, and I saw the hunger of the Earth in her eyes. "At first, it struck me as greed, but that wasn't it. The more I tried the same ingredients the same way, the more bored and disinterested I got. No, what keeps Earth creatures hungry is variety! Exploration! Curiosity! There's life in the pursuit!"

She smiled, and I continued. "Each ingredient has myriad possibilities, so many ways it can be prepared, from growth to harvest to the application of heat. The variables are endless, never more so than with baking. If you change the slightest detail, you alter the chemical reactions and end up with a whole different dish. I was obsessed with getting it right!"

Sophia giggled, a bubbly sound that filled the air with sweetness. "So why desserts specifically? I mean, I know baking usually tends that way, but there are plenty of other dishes you could have been drawn to."

"Where do I even start?" I gushed. "The properties of sugar are incredible! It's the ultimate chemical variable! It's a solid but dissolves so easily it's classified as a liquid. All you have to do is let it have a sniff of water, and it runs like syrup." She seemed entertained. "And the amount you add doesn't just have to do with sweetness. Add too little and your creations are dry as a bone, hard as a rock—too much and you have a crusty, melty mess. It doesn't make any sense! Even the savory stuff uses sugar!"

I became aware that my zeal had run away with me and blushed, suddenly nervous. "Anyway, once I started fighting, there wasn't any time for that. Now that we're settled on Thodos III, it's nice to have time." I cleared my throat to change the subject, but she stopped me.

"Don't be embarrassed," she assured me. "It's nice to see such passion. It almost makes me nostalgic for a home I've never seen." I smiled, but the poignancy of her words wasn't lost on me.

I thought about what it would have been like to be born separated from one's origins like that. It was as if everyone in the human race was orphaned.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

I didn't want to talk about orphans. I shook my head. "Nothing. So, what about you? How did you get into, uh, dancing?"

Her whole demeanor changed. A shutter dropped over her face, locked against me and the world. A moment before, I had her full attention, her entire presence. Then it was gone, and I wanted it back more than anything.

I tried not to analyze my reaction to her, but it was palpable.

Why did I want so badly to have her there? Why had I gone so far to get her without a second thought? And why was I so sure she would want to stay?

She attempted to answer the question that obviously made her uncomfortable. "It's not really… I mean, there's no… story. It's just… you know…"

Partially to ease the tension and partially because it was painful to hear her try to ramble—maybe for a few other reasons—I offered her an out. "Let's clean up a little while we wait. Do you want to try some of this buttercream?"

I offered her a spoon this time instead of my finger, and she seemed disappointed. I tried not to smirk.

At least her hold over me seemed to go both ways. As she dipped it into the frosting and let it melt in her mouth, her eyes rolled to the ceiling, and she let out an enticing groan.

"Oh, that's good!" she exclaimed with a guttural sigh. I felt my skin prickle at the noise emanating from her throat. She opened her eyes and glared at me as if to ask what I would do about it.

Nothing yet.

I scraped some more batter from the bowl we used and licked it off my fingers. I took my time, wondering if she knew what even the slightest hint of my saliva on her skin would do.

She looked as if she were about to drool. I couldn't control my smirk that time. I gathered the utensils and tossed them in the bowls, setting them in the sink and running hot water.

"Come help me. Or does finding you in a club mean you've never done dishes, either?"

Sophia rolled her eyes and grabbed a towel to dry.

"No, no," I teased. "You're on scrub duty. Show me a little elbow grease."

She raised an eyebrow at my taunts, refusing to be fooled, and tossed the towel at me.

Picking up a brush, she soaped it and washed each dish thoroughly. "Not that way," I said, even though her technique was flawless. I came up behind her as I did earlier and guided her hands across the slick surface of a bowl.

"Like this?" she asked as she leaned forward to ease her weight onto the edge of the sink and away from me. She returned my smirk.

"No, not so hard. Lighter," I insisted, enclosing her further.

"Oh, okay." I half expected her to snort at my overt pass, but she looked up at me through her long lashes. "Like this, then?"

She backed up into my arms and I didn't pull away this time. I held her hands and established a rhythm with their strokes on the bowl, though neither of us paid any attention to the cleanliness of the dishes.

With her dancer's grace, Sophia nimbly stepped backward until she leaned against my chest, carefully wrapping one foot around the back of my leg and dragging it up my calf. She pressed her ass into me and, in an expert move, supported herself on her elbows just long enough to encircle my other leg with her other leg.

She picked herself up on my calves and lifted herself until she ground into me. While I wasn't averse to moving quickly, I wanted to savor her. Sophia was in my kitchen on my terms.

I eased her hips down while holding her tighter so she would know I didn't push her away. Turning off the water, I took the brush and bowl from her hands and dried them for her on the towel.

I spun her around and pulled her arms down her back, swaying side to side to see if she would follow. She mirrored my dance without music, copying my every move as if it were what she was born to do.

I held her as I wished I could have held her at the club, rolling her hips with my hands to our silent dance. She lifted her arms around my neck, curling her fingers through my hair and pressing her breasts into my chest. Though I had planned to take my time, she wasn't going to make it easy for me.

Lowering my head down to her neck, I traced my nose along the skin from her shoulder to her ear and back again, breathing deeply in her scent. I liked seeing the trail of goosebumps I left on her flesh.

When I got back up to her earlobe, I gently teased it with my tongue and was gratified to hear the sharp intake of her breath. "What was that?" she asked, almost whimpering with pleasure.

"Relax," I breathed and licked again. I was glad she was shocked by the feelings of my Vinduthi saliva. She was nearly putty in my arms, but somehow retained the strength of will to redirect my hands from their path to her chest.

She put them around her waist instead, turning her head to kiss me lightly on the collarbone.

Normally, I could have gotten a girl to faint dead away if I wanted, but there that one stood, lucid as ever.

This is going to be fun.