Chapter 18: Political Favors

“Yes, Mister Secretary. Thank you, sir,” Jules said as he stood before the monitor. He was inside one of the vidphone booths that could be found around the torus, the constant noise of the crowds muffled, rendered almost inaudible by its sound-proof walls. The inhabitants of the station passed him by beyond the glass barriers, the panes rendered temporarily opaque while the booth was in use. It wasn’t much larger than a shower cubicle, but it could be used to make calls in relative privacy. If he had been discussing sensitive information, Jules would have placed his call to the UN Secretary General in the safety of his apartment, but he wasn’t transmitting diplomatic documents or giving a field report. He was simply asking an old friend for a favor.

He shut off the monitor and stepped out onto the torus, Zuki looking up at him from across the walkway where she was perched awkwardly on one of the human-sized benches. Her ears pricked up as he threaded his way through the throngs to reach her.

“W-what did they say?” she asked warily, as if afraid to hear his answer.

“Well, I have an immaculate record, and I’m severely overqualified. Since Araxie joined the Coalition this very morning, the position was, of course, vacant. The Secretary General had only just gotten word of it himself, and fortunately, he owed me a favor. It pays to have connections.”

“So... ?”

“You’re looking at the new ambassador to Araxie,” he said, spreading his arms triumphantly.

Zuki pounced on him, lifting him clear off the ground and sinking him deep into her bosom through the woolen fabric of her suit. She laughed as she spun him, she was on top of the world, finally able to enjoy her success without the fear of losing him hanging over her head like a dark cloud.

“Hey, hey! Not in public!” Jules protested, struggling in her tight grasp. She set him down gingerly, clasping her hands behind her back as she gazed down at him with a grin on her face. “We’re probably in the clear now,” he muttered, straightening his tie and brushing himself off. “But let’s keep up appearances for a little while longer at least. Wait until we’re somewhere more private.”

She thought for a minute, glancing around conspiratorially, then took him by the hand and led him off into the crowd. Jules was too short to see over the people that clogged the torus, and so he couldn’t tell where she was taking him. As the pedestrians parted before her, she dragged him into a vacant space between two of the ‘buildings’ that lined the hull. It looked like a narrow alleyway, but it was clearly some kind of maintenance area, designed to let the engineers access the inner workings of the station. It was a lot deeper than it had looked. The further they walked, the more the white hull material began to give way to pipes and exposed machinery, and the quieter the din of a thousand muddled conversations became.

Zuki stopped, then took him by the upper arms, her furry hands large enough that her thumbs met across his chest. She turned him towards the nearest wall, pushing him up against it and nestling him between two silvery pipes, very much out of view to any passers-by.

“Is this private enough?” Zuki asked with a mischievous smile. She was blocking his escape with her body, leaning down so that her warm breath blew his hair. Her dexterous tail snaked around the side of her thigh, brushing the material of her skirt as Jules felt it stroke the crotch of his pants. He lurched, surprised by her sudden assertiveness.

“Here?” he asked, momentarily confused as his brain struggled to keep up with what was happening. She leaned her upper arm on the wall above his head, getting close enough that she could reach his ear, sucking it between her soft lips and nibbling it gently as she loomed over him. Her chest was at eye level, and as he watched, she began to unbutton her dress shirt with one hand. She opened it just enough to expose a tantalizing glimpse of her cleavage, her breasts pressed together tightly beneath her sports bra.

“I have everything that I ever wanted,” she whispered, a shiver of pleasure crawling up his spine as her long tongue slid out to rake his neck. It was hot and slippery, the barbs tickling his skin. “And a few things that I didn’t know I wanted until recently...”

“I-in public?” Jules stammered, his brain battling for control as his growing erection tried to muscle it out of the equation.

“We Araxie are masters of stealth,” she replied with a smirk, “nobody will see us. Just stay quiet ... and let me do all the work.”

He opened his mouth to protest again, but she filled it with her tongue, all of his doubts evaporating as she subjected him to a slow and lurid kiss. Her taste, her scent, the feeling of her roving organ coiling around his own kindled a fire in him. She blanked the thoughts from his mind and replaced them with warmth and desire. When she broke away, a strand of her saliva fell to the collar of his shirt, dampening the white fabric. He was red-faced, and his heart was beating in his chest like a drum.

“I think I’ve created a monster,” he chuckled, his laughter interrupted by a gasp as she slid her hand beneath his shirt and lightly dragged her claws across his belly. She locked him in another probing embrace, this one clumsier and more urgent, Jules struggling to unfasten his belt as she pressed him up against the wall and ravished him. Every deft stroke of her tongue sent another surge of excitement coursing through him, his hands trembling with anticipation as he opened his zipper and let his member bounce free. She afforded him a chance to breathe, hovering with her smooth, black lips an inch from his as he panted.

“This feels so risky,” he said with a nervous laugh, “what if someone sees us?”

“Nobody will see us,” she whispered, “I’ll hear them coming long before that.”

He felt her fingers enclose his shaft, her delicate fur gliding against his skin like satin. She squeezed gently, a throb of pleasure turning his legs to jelly. Why was this so exciting to him? He felt electrified, so much more aware of his surroundings than he usually was when they made love. It was cool out on the torus, making the warmth of her hand even more appealing in contrast, and he leaned his weight against the cold wall behind him as she began to move slowly.

“How far are we going?” he asked, his eyelids fluttering as she planted a sucking kiss in the nape of his neck. She didn’t answer, keeping up her pecking and gentle biting, Jules feeling completely overwhelmed as she boxed him in. It was a positive feeling, he was liking this new confidence that she exhibited.

Despite the hypnotic movements of her hand and the warmth of her lips, Jules found himself unable to relax. He was hyperaware, something about doing this outside the confines of the bedroom felt so unsafe, and yet that element of danger also made it all the more exciting. He felt like a kid smoking his first cigarette behind the bike sheds at school, knowing that it was wrong, but taking satisfaction in his own little microcosm of rebellion. Zuki looked so good in her form-fitting suit, her skirt hiked up to expose more of her muscular thighs, his eyes drawn to the sliver of wobbling cleavage that was peeking out from beneath her shirt.

Using her tail, she raised the hem of her skirt, releasing his member for a moment to leave it bobbing in the air. She slipped her hand between her thighs, and Jules wondered if she was going to mount him right there. But when it emerged again, her palm glistened in the light. Her silky fur was matted with a web of her juices, her excitement sticking to her coat in a shining layer. She made a fist, then opened it again, strands of it clinging to her fingers. She grinned at him from behind her sunglasses as his member bounced at the sight, slowly closing her digits around his shaft again.

Her already velvet-soft fur was now slick and slimy, permeated with her heat, gliding against his skin like she had a fist full of lubricant. He could hear the wet, obscene sounds that it made as she began to pump her hand. The sensation was incomparable, and he shivered as she squeezed him a little harder, Zuki watching him intently as she drank in his reaction. She played her fingers up and down his length, twisting and alternating the tightness of her grip, controlling the swells of pleasure within him like a goddess of the seas might command the tides.

“I’m not doing this because you helped save my people,” she whispered in his ear, “but because I want to...”

She pushed the tip of her curved claw beneath his chin, Jules feeling it prick him, and she angled his face upwards so that she could lean down to kiss him again. She maintained the tormenting tempo of her pumping as the taste of her tongue flooded his head, worming its way past his lips like it had a life of its own. Her sinuous muscle slid against his tongue, dancing across the roof of his mouth, filling his cheeks with its damp coils. He couldn’t get over how long and thick it was, he never got used to it, it was a surprise every time that their lips met. Her licking was downright artistic, teasing him with quick flurries and then placating him with deeper, slower strokes that left him bewitched. She started off so gentle and measured, gradually becoming greedier and more sexual as the embrace dragged on. Her tongue wound around his own, Zuki careful only to use the smooth underside rather than the rough barbs as they intertwined. It was so nimble and limber that two of the aliens could probably have braided them together.