The Ilia's Lovers - Chapter Nineteen

After their welcome meal, Dahnus and Hadith showed Elaine around the island. It really was small. The trees were thick with rough bark. They had large widespread leaves which hid fruit, some of which they brought back with them after Hadith climbed the trees to knock them down.  Elaine and Dahnus tried to catch them and succeeded with most. The purple skin, the weight and shape reminded Elaine of mangos.

Later, they lounged next to the pool and swam both in the pool and in the water surrounding the island before changing and having a lovely evening meal while the sun set.

“What time does it begin?” Elaine asked, looking at the sky. “Will it be visible during the day?”

“It will be visible at every time of day and will look slightly different at each time. It will be a few minutes more before it begins.” Dahnus was stroking her arm the entire time he spoke.

The meal had already been cleaned away and the table and chairs were taken away and replaced with a sun lounger of sorts. Though, it was more like a day bed, with the back at an angle like a lounger. Elaine lay between the two males as they watched the sky. A sliver of purplish light sat on the horizon as the sun disappeared. Then it was gone.

“I can’t see the nebula from here,” Elaine said.

“And you won’t,” Dahnus said, still caressing her skin. “It’s barely visible the atmosphere of Athia. There are elements which filter out the light which don’t exist on Amara.”

“But that is enough,” Hadith picked up where Dahnus left off. “Nebulas are full of elements. When they come through our atmospheres, they explode into showers of light.”

“It sounds beautiful. I wish I had a camera so I could capture it.”

Dahnus and Hadith smiled at one another.

“We will record it, in our own way.” Dahnus said, picking up a black box Elaine saw him place there when they sat down.

“What’s that?” Elaine asked.

“Varosai stones. For which this festival is named.” Hadith moved closer to her, turning towards her.

“I thought it was named after your nebula?”

“The Varothinia nebula,” Dahnus said. “The Varosai stones and the Varothinia nebula are connected through this festival.”

“How?”

“Varosai stones are photosensitive,” Hadith replied. “They are all black, until they are exposed to light. If they are exposed to daylight, they turn white. But, if you can maintain a dark environment and wait until the light displays start, they will capture the colours in the atmosphere at the moment they were exposed to it.”

“That’s incredible. Where do they come from?”

“Denisteer,” Hadith said, pointing to the dark moon that hovered over both Athia and Amara.

“They are mined under the strictest conditions. The stone around it is preserved until it is brought into labs on the moon, the last of the stone is pressure washed away. Then, it is given to Myardahl stone polishers. They do not use light to see, so they can work in perfect darkness to shape the stone. Then, they are placed in individual light proof bags and as an added layer of protection, sold inside these boxes,” Dahnus touched the top of the box. “There are three stones in here. One for each of us.”

Dahnus opened the box. Each bag was nestled inside a pillowed compartment. He handed one each to Hadith and Elaine and took out the last for himself, before setting the box down.

“You put your hand within the bag, and hold the stone in there, until the moment you see the display you wish to capture,” Hadith said, untying the bag and slipping his hand inside. Elaine opened her bag and slipped it within, feeling the stone, large and flat, enough to fill her palm in such a way she’d never be able to close her fingers around it. Instead, she took the edge between her forefinger and thumb.

“Any moment now.” Dahnus said, his own hand inside his bag.

They waited in silence for several long seconds, before finally, slowly, dimly, but with growing power, the sky began to light up.

At first, it was white. White showers of light like peony blossom fireworks lit up the sky. Elaine settled back to enjoy a natural fireworks display.

Then the white transitioned to yellow, then warmed into orange and pinks and reds. Suddenly, the sky was filled with blues and purples, greens and teals.

Colour of every spectrum filled the sky, moving in waves, exploding into showers, cascading and falling. Elaine sat completely still, utterly entranced.

When she realised she wasn’t breathing, Elaine tore her eyes from the sky and took in a deep breath.

Hadith was holding his stone, which was covered in yellows, golds and teals.

“That’s incredible,” Elaine said, when he held it up for her to study.

“The colours remind me of you,” Hadith said.

Suddenly knowing what she wanted, Elaine went back to watching the sky. The colours had shifted to exactly the spectrums she wanted and when a particularly dazzling mauve blue joined with the aqua and turquoise, she pulled the stone out and watched the glossy black surface transform in the eye colours of her two lovers-to-be.

Elaine turned to Dahnus, who had tied his bag back up.

“I shall wait,” he said, smiling.

“Why? What for?” Elaine asked.

“What have you got in mind, Dahnus?” Hadith asked.

Dahnus smiled at them both.

“You shall have to wait.”

*****

Usually, by this time of night, Hadith would be on his stomach on this very bed, Dahnus deep inside him, denying him, dominating him while they watched the Varosai festival begin. It was their tradition since their first night here. Dahnus would whisper all his plans. Tell Hadith how proud he would be to have Hadith by his side as his Ilidan. On this night, they would say all the things they couldn’t in the cold harsh light of the palace.

The welcome interruption to their routine had added a desperate edge to their earlier vrokking that Dahnus usually held back by pure force of his will. They needed to be together. The eroticism of sharing Elaine’s lips with Dahnus, the fact they wouldn’t be making love until later, that they could both sense Elaine was not yet ready for them, close, but not yet. All of it loosened the knots Dahnus kept on his control and resulted in the pleasant ache that told of his sex well used.

Hadith thumbed the smooth surface of the rock. Elaine’s heat was at his side. Dahnus’s warm voice vibrating as he explained to Elaine that myth of Tarokan the male, Denisteer the adalan and Athia the female.

“It was back in the age of the great philosophers,” Dahnus started the story as he always did. The same way his father told him the story when he was a child. “Adalan were a separate race to Amarans. They had few children, their population falling, then gently rising. Keeping steady. They were never strong enough to challenge the dominance of Amarans. But, Amarans stopped having children.”

“How come?” Elaine asked.

“A new element was introduced to our atmosphere by a comet,” Dahnus said. “It caused an endocrine disorder in our caya, our females, and stopped them ovulating. We were dying. Denisteer was an adalan whose parents were said to have died, but likely the Amarans took him to use him as a slave. Either way, their daughter Athia fell in love with Denisteer. But Athia was promised to Tarokan. There was a prophecy, you see. Athia was destined to be the mother of a great lineage that would save all Amarans. Tarokan was a great war leader on this continent and believed it was his right to father that lineage. Denisteer and Athia fled, but Tarokan followed. It’s said when he found out Athia ran, he promised to kill Denisteer slowly. But when he laid eyes on the adalan, he fell in love with him instead. Something that had never happened to him before.”

Dahnus was stroking Elaine’s arm again. Hadith reached out and took the hand of the arm next to her and laid his cheek on the back of the bed, watching her.

‘When Athia gave birth to an Adalan child, everyone thought Denisteer was his father. But then they realised that the child had Tarokan’s eyes, just, more saturated, like adalan eyes.”

Elaine turned to Hadith and stared into his eyes.

“I love your eyes,” she said quietly.

Hadith smiled. They were his best feature.

“I love yours,” he admitted.

“What happened then? After Amarans realised they could father children with Adalan?”

“Not good things,” Dahnus said, turning on his side and watching Hadith and Elaine.

“Adalan were forced to be breeding slaves. Adala, their females, were cast out. Sterilised, turned into house slaves. Adalan were passed back and forth. Slowly, Adalan as a race died out and Adalan as a sex became their new normal.”

“That’s horrible,” Elaine said.

“Yes.” Dahnus agreed. “And it only got worse for a time. The abuse poorer, abandoned adalan suffer now was normal for hundreds of years. Adalan began to advocate for themselves and others. Families wanted to protect their Adalan children. Time and opinions changed, though adalan had no rights for a long time after that. I think, our ancestors feared if they had rights, they would turn to Adala and Caya without the males, Dunaar, of our species and we would cease to exist as the Amaran people.”

“But then Adalan fought for their rights? Like women did on Earth. When did that happen?”

“Fourteen hundred years ago,” Hadith said, familiar with the story. “I’ll bring you some books. Let’s change the subject to something less depressing.”

Dahnus smirked. “Of course, my heart. Perhaps instead, Elaine could tell us if she enjoyed the audio feast we put on for her earlier?”

Elaine seemed to still, a short gasp, then nothing. No breathing for a moment before she pulled a breath back in.

“Wow. You Amarans are direct.”

“Did you enjoy it?” Hadith asked, desperate to know the answer.

“Yes,” Elaine said, squirming a little where she lay. “It was a little overwhelming.”

Dahnus drew away a little and propped himself up on his elbow.

“Anytime you want this to stop, say stop and it will. No anger. No recriminations. I want you to know you are absolutely safe, Elaine.”

“I know I am,” Elaine said. “It just feels like, I want it. I crave it. You. The two of you, but… I’m afraid.”

“Do you know what you’re afraid of?” Hadith asked.

Elaine shook her head.

“Of feeling overwhelmed. The two of you… what you have between you is very powerful. It feels like nothing I’ve ever felt before. I’m afraid of losing control. I’m afraid of… how much I want you both.’ Her voice finished on a whisper.

Hadith looked at his Nidan, waiting for his response and knowing the knot of anxiety Elaine’s words evoked in him would cease when Dahnus spoke. Dahnus looked up at him, a serious look on his face before he turned to Elaine who was turning her head from one to the other as they exchanged their silent agreement.

“You know that adalan enjoy being dominated?”

Elaine nodded, listening attentively.

“Good. If you decide to continue on this journey—”

“I will… I do.” She interrupted.

Dahnus smiled, a relieved look on his face.

“Then, the first time we make love, I will direct you in dominating Hadith.”

Hadith closed his eyes, suddenly dizzy, his cock erect from the idea of this little human standing before him, lying over him, denying, delaying, taking her own pleasure from him. Hadith couldn’t stop the groan.

“How aroused you make both of us, Elaine. You take your pleasure from Hadith. I will direct you, from a distance. I will take…” Dahnus took in a controlling breath. “I will take a great deal of pleasure from watching you make love to Hadith, Elaine.”

The scent of arousal thickened the still air. It wasn’t just Elaine’s; it was all three of them. Elaine’s mind may be struggling still, but in this, their bodies were in accord.

“The only thing I demand is that I taste you from your source.”

“You mean?” Elaine was breathless.

I plan to tongue your cunt until you’re slick and wriggling beneath it, Elaine,” he said, his eyes rapt on her reactions which had entranced them both.

“I like you like this,” Dahnus said, his own voice losing its power until his words were little more than a whisper. “I like seeing you, smelling you, aroused. I can’t wait to smell your skin, lick it. Your cunt.”

Dahnus closed his eyes and Hadith knew from long years of experience that he was savouring his own arousal.

Hadith was going to have a long night of denial in front of him, and he couldn’t wait. His only wish was that all the things Dahnus was saying about Elaine, would be a part of that.

Elaine wasn’t ready yet. They could feel it. So Hadith would submit to Dahnus, and enjoy the wait until Elaine was with them.

Maybe tomorrow night, while Dahnus made love to him on this deck, under this beautiful sky.

Hadith felt it would be soon. Before they left the island.

His whole body tingled with anticipation.