13. Sloane

thirteen

Sloane

" W hat do you call this game again?" Essa asks as she slips into the booth seat across from me at the dining table.

So far, I've convinced Essa, Phial, Holoth, and Jovi to play various party games with me in the evenings after we've all eaten to kill some time. I call it 'Crew Bonding time with Sloane,' and they're forced into it. Not that they have anything better to do anyway.

Not to mention, I pick only the best party games. The ones that have been around for generations. I'm pretty sure the people of yesteryear were playing these back before the invasion, and that's how you know they're good. They've withstood the test of time.

We've played spin the bottle, which we had to modify because no one except for me was willing to kiss anyone. Then we played truth or dare, which they were all much more receptive to. We've played flip cup and beer pong without any alcohol, which ended up not being as fun—who would've ever thought?

I always invite Alik to come hang out with us, too, but he's very much into giving me singular grunts and one-word answers to everything. I'm pretty sure it's a side effect of all the new rules they've given me about being with them, but it's his own fault because they're his rules. Those aren't important right now, though. No, right now, we're playing a new game.

"Never have I ever." I clap my hands together as I say it and take stock of our little group.

Holoth and Essa sit across from Jovi and me in the booth seats around the kitchen table. Phial sits backward in a chair at the head of the table. He has to sit backward so his tail doesn't get sat on. His tail is thicker than Essa's, and he says he can't sit on it like she can with hers, so he has to sit in chairs backward if they aren't made to accommodate it.

"Never have I ever? What are the rules?" Essa furrows her brows, her tail thumping around my feet until it finds one and lies limply across my toes. I snort out a laugh and kick my legs further under the table so she can wrap her tail around it. I don't know why she does it, but it makes her happy and isn't a hassle for me. Why wouldn't I let her do it whenever she wants?

"We'll learn by doing," I tell them. "Start by putting up a hand with all five fingers up." I plant my elbow on the table and wiggle my fingers around at the group as I stick them up and spread them wide.

"Uh," Phial lifts his hand, reminding me very quickly that he only has four fingers.

"Is it good or bad to have more than five?" Essa asks.

She looks at her own hand and counts the six digits with her other hand out loud, making me feel even worse for not remembering that we might all not have the same number of fingers. Jovi and Holoth are no help. They both lean back and don't even pretend not to be amused at my blunder.

"Okay, we'll just go with four because we can't very well make Phial grow a new finger," I say, trying to keep things moving so that we can get to the fun part and past this part that has me flushing.

I've been making them play party games because it's the best way to get to know the silly things about a person, at least in my experience. It would be made easier if we had alcohol on board, but the only thing here to get any of us drunk is Jovi and Alik's semen, and that only works on me. Not that I haven't tried to talk them into it, because I might've.

The kitchen door slides open, and Alik enters like a skittish cat, uncertain if it actually wants to be around people. I shoot him a wide grin and push at Jovi's shoulder until he's sliding out of the booth.

I need to snatch Alik up and guide him over to the table before he can talk himself out of being here. He prefers to be locked away in his room, away from all of us, where there's no one he has to grunt at or give one-word responses to.

When he came to see me earlier for our at least once-a-day boning session, I thought it would be the only time I saw him today. But here he is, and he looks like he's actually making an attempt to socialize.

"Come sit with me. We haven't even started yet," I say to him cheerily.

I make sure to squeeze my boobs together when I get close to him and don't stop until his eyes dip low for a beat. He likes them a lot, and I'm not opposed to using everything in my arsenal to get what I want. I snag his hand and intertwine our fingers as I pull him over to the table with everyone else.

There are various looks of surprise on everyone's faces, but I ignore it because Alik is here. I force him into the booth first. That way, he's trapped. I slide in next, and Jovi squishes us all together as he forces himself as close to me as possible.

"Okay, four fingers up!" I announce and wiggle four of my fingers in the air. I rest my elbow on the table, and everyone else follows suit. "Okay, the rules are easy enough. Each of us will say something we've never done. If someone in the group has done that thing, they have to put a finger down." I look around to make sure the rules of the game are easy enough to follow.

"What do we do when we have no more fingers?" Phial asks, looking at his claw-tipped fingers and wiggling them. "Does that mean we win or we lose?"

"Technically, it means you win, which means there should be a prize."

I'm kind of making this up as I go along, but everyone is pretty good sports about it. It doesn't hurt that none of them have any idea how this game is actually played, so I could make up whatever rules I want.

A part of me loves being in charge of the games, but another part wants to learn about the games each of them has from their planets. No way is Earth the only one with party games. I'll talk to Essa about it and see if anyone else has any interest in teaching us some of their silly games next time we do this.

"We should get to make someone do a dare," Essa says, leaning on her forearms and tightening her tail around my ankle. "Like that game we played two nights ago without the boring truth part."

"Oh, yes, I can make Holoth eat something disgusting." Phial lifts his feathered brows up and down as Holoth scowls at him.

"A dare?" Alik asks, his whole body tensing like he's not too keen on the idea.

Before I can try to assuage his fears, Jovi is leaning past me to hit his arm. He shoots me a wink that has butterflies erupting in my stomach. "You'll like it, don't worry. Sloane dared me to do all kinds of things to her, and none of them were eating things I didn't like."

My face flushes at the way Jovi is implying I had him do sexual things for me. I had him give me a neck and scalp massage and then rub my feet. That was the extent of our touching during the game. Afterward, things might've been different, but those were dares meant only for my bedroom.

Alik's lips flatten at what Jovi says and at my reaction. When his eyes settle on me, all hard and bossy-like, I feel my lower abdomen tighten in anticipation. "I might be interested in these dares."

"Ew," Holoth and Phial say at the same time, reminding us that it's not just the three of us at the table playing this with each other.

I mean, I'd love to get Jovi and Alik all alone to play a little never have I ever, but something tells me that'd be against the new rules we have in place, so they'll have to endure playing out here with all of the crew. Jovi and I were skating pretty close to the boundary of the rules when we were daring each other to do stuff, but there was no intercourse, and my pendant stayed off. So, really, did we actually break any rules?

I ignore the 'ew' comment and continue on about the game. "Okay, whoever puts all four fingers down first gets to give anyone here a dare. After they give the dare, they come back into the game with four new fingers. We keep playing until we're bored or no one can think of anything new. Sound good?"

They all agree, and I bite my lip in anticipation. I'll go first to show them how it works, and we'll go clockwise so it's easy to keep track of. I tap my chin with my free hand as I think about what I want to say.

"Oh! Never have I ever shot a blaster."

Everyone around the table gives me a disapproving look before they each put down a finger. I gave them an easy one so they could get used to it, now's the hard part because it's Alik's turn and I have no idea what he might say.

I nudge his shoulder, and he grunts. It could be an 'I don't want to' grunt or an 'I'm thinking' grunt. I'm still working on deciphering them. Everyone stares at him with rapt attention until he finally gives himself a small nod.

"Never have I ever been engaged," he says the words with all the stoicism we know him for.

The statement has Phial throwing his head back and laughing. The back of his hand whacks Essa in the shoulder as she glowers at Alik and lowers one of her fingers. My eyes go wide at the new information, but I don't push about it right now because Essa looks like she's ready to gut Alik for mentioning it.

"Before Essa can decide whether or not we need a captain anymore," Holoth says with an amused lilt in his voice. "Never have I ever rutted anyone."

The table grows quiet as we all look around at one another, trying to figure out if Holoth doesn't understand the rules of the game. Phial shrugs and puts down a finger, but it's Jovi who says something to Holoth.

"You're supposed to tell us something you've never done."

"I did," Holoth says, his eyes hardening as though he's preparing for us to all have worse reactions to what he's saying. I'm more so just confused because I thought his kind went into ruts and heats and couldn't stop from being with one another. Holoth sighs and looks at Essa. "I did this to get the attention off you, but I'd very much like it to be back on you now, please."

"When you say never rutted anyone, does that include being rutted into? Because I haven't been inside anyone, but I have had plenty inside me," Essa says it all so matter-of-factly that I let out a little giggle of amusement before nodding along.

"Good question because I think it determines whether or not Essa can lower a finger. I don't have the same problem, though." I wiggle my brows at her, wanting her to ask about the time I wore a strapon to fuck an Ilonan male who was really into getting pegged.

She's just about to ask about it, too, but Jovi reaches over and puts a hand over Essa's mouth, stopping whatever question she wants to ask. He turns to face me and puts one of Essa's fingers down, letting us both know the specifics of the rutting don't matter.

"I adore you, Sloane, but unless you're talking about rutting Alik, I don't want to hear about it," Jovi smiles as he says it, but I can see the truth in his words, the iciness he's holding back. It's emphasized by the low growling on my other side. Apparently, Alik isn't a big fan of knowing I've rutted someone, either. It's kind of cute.

"Fine, fine, your turn, Essa," I say, shooting her a wink. Yes, we will be talking about so much stuff the next time I can get her alone for some girl time.

"Never have I ever had sex with a human." She smiles to herself as Jovi and Alik lower their fingers, but her gaze turns confused when I don't.

"I've never been into human guys, and there were always plenty of other species on Earth," I tell her with a shrug. Alik growls again, and Jovi lowers his face into his palms. I lean against Jovi, and my hand traces up Alik's thigh. "You both do know what my job is here, right? Did you expect me with no experience?"

"Expect? No," Alik snarls. I glance over at him, wide-eyed, because he just said two whole consecutive words to me, and that's like twice as many as normal. Then, he surprises me more by continuing. "But we're territorial. You know this."

"I do, don't I," I murmur, my hand moving higher on his thigh until I'm cupping where his cock is straining hard in his pants. You wouldn't know I'm groping him based on the stern expression on his face, but his chest is violet. I give him a soft squeeze to feel him twitch against me. I keep hold of him and turn my attention to the rest of the group.

"Never have I ever been to Haven III," Phial says, watching as Essa drops her final finger.

"That's not fair. You just wanted her to give someone a dare," Jovi says, pointing at the two like they've committed a crime against us all by conspiring with one another.

"Sometimes the mother wants us to let our friends dare our other friends to do things." Phial shrugs, using his deity as an excuse for why he does things like it's normal for him. "Who am I to question the will of the mother? And no, we're not talking about your mother, Holoth." He shoots Holoth a dirty glare for a second, and Holoth has to press his lips tight to keep from smiling.

"Very well, yes, no questioning mothers," Essa smiles and nods along as though she's in agreement before a wicked gleam takes over her features. "Alik, I dare you to let Sloane sit in your lap for the remainder of the game."

I curl my toes and do a little wiggle as I think about what a great friend Essa is. Of course, Phial doesn't feel the same because he was hoping for a grosser dare than this.

"Boo!" Phial groans and pouts to himself at his plan not working. "I wanted you to make Holoth smell a dirty shoe or something. This is no fun."

"Maybe not for you." I shoot Alik a wicked grin that only grows when I see the hint of worry in his eyes.

He's not scared of me or thinking he's going to do something to embarrass us. Oh no, he's worried he's going to like this too much, and I'm going to make sure that happens.

I climb into his lap as best as I can and make sure I plant my ass right on top of his cock. Every time I lean forward or backward, I'll grind nice and good against him. His head falls against my hair. I don't need to see him to know he's getting all cold and dead in the eyes for me.

"This is dangerous," Alik whispers, one of his hands moving up to cup the back of my neck and giving it a soft squeeze.

I bite my lip to keep from moaning because I don't want the game to end so soon because I made everyone else uncomfortable. Jovi, Alik, Phial, and I only have one more finger each. Holoth still has two, and Essa is back in the game with four fingers up.

"Never have I ever drugged someone with a bodily fluid." Jovi stares down Alik as he says it, but Alik's head is still buried in my hair.

I hear his groan, though, and watch as he drops his last finger, curling it into a fist that he presses against the table. His hand on my neck tightens as he lowers his lips to my ear.

"I dare you to think about riding my cock and swelling with my young for the rest of this game," Alik's voice is calmer than I expect it to be, but I can hear that command in it. The one he hasn't used on me since he had me get on my knees and take him in my mouth. It has my whole body erupting in goosebumps, and I wriggle against him, needing to ease the growing ache inside of me.

I ignore the way Holoth and Phial are looking around the kitchen and the disapproving yet excited for me shake of the head Essa is giving me. Even more surprising is that she only has three fingers left up now. Jovi's already sliding closer to me, his hand high on my thigh. It's like he knows this game is already coming close to an end, and we've barely started.

"Never have I—" My voice squeaks with the last word as Jovi's fingers press up against the apex of my thighs, against the thin shorts I'm wearing.

"That's our cue," Holoth says, shoving at Essa's arm until she reluctantly slides out of the booth.

Phial grumbles under his breath about Jovi and Alik ruining the game. I might agree with him if not for the fact that I'm going to get them to play a much more fun one with me all alone. Or I would be if the stupid rules weren't in place, ruining everything.

"Let's go," Essa says, her hand on the hilt of her favorite dagger. I think she's talking to me for a second, but Jovi lets out a long, extended sigh before cursing under his breath and following her out of the kitchen.

"Ten minutes?" Alik asks, lifting me off his lap enough to lower his pants down and grab his cock. He's quick about shimmying my pants halfway down my thighs and spreading me just enough that I can sit on his cock.

"Fuck, I wish we had more than ten minutes," he snarls against my neck as his lowers hand lifts me and drops me down on him over and over, using my body quickly to bring himself pleasure.

The hand on my neck tightens, and I wish so badly to twist around, to press our lips together, to devour the growls he makes when he gets close. Instead, he keeps me facing forward, his nose running up and down my neck. His fourth hand is between my thighs, rubbing against my clit in deft movements that have the pleasure building up inside me.

"I want to look at you," I whine as I reach back and grab at the back of his head.

"I want that too," he murmurs, the words soft for how lost to his lust I know he is. "I want it too much, sweet human. Not today. Not today. Not today."

He repeats the two words under his breath, almost like a promise that maybe someday we can do more. One day we can be more than the restriction placed on us by the rules he came up with.

His words turn to growls, the growls to snapping his teeth and the bite of his fingers where he's holding me. There's no more sweet words, no more soft touches. There's demand for me to come, and I do.

He touches me just right until the world grows dim, and there's just the two of us and the building pressure inside of us. It explodes inside me at the same time he does, my orgasm drawing his out, taking him deep, milking everything from him that I can get.

Alik keeps his nose pressed against my neck as he comes down from his orgasm. Our breathing evens out together. Our heartbeats sync. He presses a kiss to my temple as he slides out of me, not caring as I make a mess on the crotch of his pants.

He tucks himself back into his pants and slides my shorts back up before I even register that he's done with me. I try to cling to him as he slides me between him and the wall in the booth, but he untangles my arms from around his neck and gives me a sad little tilt of his lips.

"Want me to send Jovi in, or do you want to go to your bed?"

Instead of answering him, I press my lips tight together and give him a judgemental once over. It's definitely rude of me, but then again, he's been all grunting and moody to me, so I think he deserves it. "That was less than ten minutes."

Alik's eyes go wide, his chest's flush growing so much I've never seen it take up so much of his chest before. I feel kind of bad because, obviously, telling him that has embarrassed him much more than I meant for it to. Then again, I am trying to goad him into telling me why he has all these dumb new rules.

The coldness in his eyes that disappears for a little bit after he comes is flickering back into his gaze already. He apparently does not like it when his ability to perform is brought into question.

"What do you want from me, Sloane?" Alik asks, his tone so genuine and full of longing that my stomach flip flops and fills me with an even worse feeling of longing for this male.

I may not know why we have so many new rules, but based on how Alik is looking and sounding now, it's not because he doesn't want me. I give him a half-hearted smile, not wanting to hurt him anymore if that's what I just did.

"Walk me to my room." I offer him my hand, and he helps me out of the booth. "I don't think Essa would like me fucking in the kitchen even more."

Alik looks around, his brows furrowing together like he forgot we were in the kitchen at all. Maybe he was pretty far gone during the game.

His eyes snag in the corner where the camera is, a growl slipping from his lips. He turns to look at me, but I just shrug at him, telling him I don't really care if Jovi's watching. He already told me the cameras aren't set up to record.

Alik's lips flatten back into their tight, stern line as he guides me out of the kitchen and back to my room. Jovi's already there, leaning against the wall, his legs crossed at the ankles, his arms stacked in front of him. My core clenches at getting to be with him right after I was with Alik. The only thing that could make it better is if we were all doing this together.

"Don't turn that pendant to green just yet," Jovi says as he saunters over to me and wraps an arm around my waist, stealing me from Alik in one easy tug. "I want to keep playing our game before I have my way with you."

I giggle and press my body into his, letting his lips crash into mine as he spins me around the hall. When we come apart for air, Alik is already gone, back to hiding away from me. I only let it bother me for a second before Jovi pulls me back into my room and we play for so much longer.