Callum scooped the last of whatever he was eating into his mouth and was sorry that he had no more of it. The chef had called it curry rice. Callum had asked for it because of the smell but when he saw what it looked like, had been sure he'd made a mistake. He hadn't. The curry was as good as anything he'd ever eaten. Valencia had gotten the same thing and eaten it with equal relish. Russell had deserted them to go see that book room. Myna had told them it wasn't necessary for her to eat.
Valencia sighed and leaned back in her chair. "That was good." She looked so satisfied that Callum had to smile. It was nice to see her content. Valencia had been so much quieter and withdrawn than he was used to and the worst part was he knew it was his fault. His smile turned into a bit of a smirk, though, and Valencia saw it. She frowned and sat up straight. "What?" Callum reached out and tapped the table. It was metal and you could see a vague reflection. Valencia leaned forward and looked where he tapped. After a moment she noticed the curry all around her mouth. She glared at Callum and snatched one of the wipes given to them by the chef, furiously scrubbing at her mouth.
Callum burst into laughter. Valencia glowered at him for a moment longer and then began laughing herself. It felt good. Callum couldn't remember the last time he'd shared a laugh with Valencia. 'We used to laugh together everyday.' After they wound down, Callum pushed away from the table and stood up. "Should we go?" Valencia nodded and got to her feet as well.
It must not have been a normal eating time because the mess hall was empty. Callum and Valencia walked out side by side with Myna trailing after them. Callum paused just outside of the door, suddenly feeling a little pensive. "Do you think we should check on Mikan before we go back?"
Valencia glanced at him, her expression neutral. "I don't know. Why?"
Callum rubbed a hand across his face. "I can't quite understand why she decided to stay there, to be honest. You saw how those people in the…what did Joan call it…the salon?"
"Saloon," Valencia corrected.
"Right! You saw the way they all pawed at her."
"None of them touched me or Mikan, though."
"Yeah but…I just feel like it's dangerous for a girl to be on her own on this ship. I mean, we saw Wu have sex with someone right in front of us!"
Valencia crossed her arms. "You're not wrong. I wouldn't want to be alone on this ship." Callum nodded enthusiastically and opened his mouth to say they should go but Valencia silenced him with a look. "But Mikan chose to stay in that dance place. I don't know if she would appreciate it if we barged in. Besides, aren't the two of you pretty much superhumans at this point? I don't think she is in any danger."
Callum frowned. He couldn't really argue with any of that. He also couldn't quite shake the feeling that he shouldn't leave Mikan alone. But maybe he was underestimating her because she was so quiet and shy. She'd proven more than once that she had a lot of guts and was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. She had decided to become a mech pilot of her own volition and been a monster in the fight over Ragrun. 'She also decided to have sex with you, which you never would have imagined.' Callum had to admit he didn't really understand Mikan. 'So maybe it's better if you don't interfere with her life.' He scratched the back of his head. "Maybe you're right. Let's just go back." Valencia nodded, her face strangely blank.
They got turned around going back to their rooms but when they started discussing aloud which way to go, Myna suddenly spoke up and guided them directly to their rooms. That only made Callum more worried so before he went into his room, he stepped up to Myna and said, "In a couple of hours, if Mikan isn't back yet, could you check on her for me? Make sure she is alright and isn't lost?"
"That is something I can do."
Callum nodded with a relieved smile and then thought about it for a moment. Something she could do? "Will you do it, please?"
"As you command."
Callum felt a little of his tension ease. He said goodnight to Valencia, who seemed a bit distracted. Maybe she was worried about Mikan, too, despite what she said? He headed into his room. As he suspected, Russell wasn't back. Callum sat on the edge of the bed and pulled his shirt off. It was kind of uncomfortable and he didn't really like the way it gaped open in the front. He was about to toss it to the floor when he remembered Shargi's instructions on how to care for it. With a soft huff, he put it away properly. If anything, the tight pants were worse than the shirt. They hugged him as close as a jumpsuit but didn't have any stretch. He had his hands on the buckle of his pants when somebody knocked on his door.
Callum frowned. He hoped this wasn't anything serious. After the flight and the meeting with Wu, he was exhausted. He contemplated the shirt he'd put away for a moment and then shrugged and answered without it. He was very surprised to see Valencia on the other side. Her eyes widened when she noticed he was shirtless but Callum wasn't too worried about it. Valencia had seen him topless any number of times.
"Can we talk?" she asked. She seemed almost reluctant. Callum got a bad feeling in his stomach but didn't hesitate before nodding. He'd been needing to talk to her, too, but kept putting it off. He'd even thought of broaching it tonight but it was so nice to see Valencia looking a bit like her old self.
Valencia walked inside and then paused. Callum followed, waiting for her to speak. The silence stretched. He sat down on the bed and stayed patient. Prodding Valencia was never a very good idea. She wandered a little away from him and stopped near one wall, still not looking at him. After a little while longer, she took a deep breath and asked, "Are you sleeping with Bel?"
The question hit Callum like a kick to the gut. He'd done his absolute best to shield his mind from anything regarding Bel but he supposed it was impossible after all. There was no point in hiding it. He didn't feel ashamed and he only felt guilty because he hadn't told her before now. "Yes." She flinched, which hurt him but he managed to hold back an apology. It wouldn't be right to apologize.
"I knew it," she said, with a soft sigh. "I suspected, since you were gone so many nights. The hints I got while we piloted together confirmed it."
"I didn't get any sense of you realizing when we were piloting," Callum said, a bit surprised.
"I guess that's because I already knew, deep down." Callum noticed her hands were clenched into fists and she was trembling slightly. Her back was still to him. "Callum, can I ask you a question?"
"Of course," Callum answered, trying to make his voice as confident as possible. He was sitting up straight and a few beads of nervous sweat slid down his body. He was afraid that if this went wrong, Valencia would leave again, maybe forever this time.
"Mikan, I can understand. You weren't yourself. It was a completely unique situation. I can understand that. Nita Kay, I could kind of see. I know you've had a crush on her since you were a boy. I can even see Bel. She's exotic and incredibly pretty and nice and charming." Valencia seemed almost offended, even though she was saying very nice things. "What I don't understand is why you rejected me when I threw myself at you. Am I really that unattractive?"
"Of course you're not."
"Don't lie to me!" Callum could hear that she was on the verge of losing it. "You told me you weren't sure you were ready for a relationship and then you went out and had sex with two different women! Explain that to me!"
"That's…" Callum shook his head. "It's different."
"Different how?! Because they both have big tits?!"
"No." Callum wasn't even hurt by the statement because he knew that she didn't believe what she was saying. She was lashing out because she was confused and sad. He had to explain himself. 'But will it make her feel any better?' He couldn't think of what else to do, though. She deserved the truth. "No, the difference is that…how can I explain this?" He rubbed his head lightly with the tips of his fingers. "If me or Nita decided that we no longer wanted to do that sort of stuff, we would both be fine moving on. Our friendship would stay the same. And Bel…" Well it was a little more complicated with Bel. He could admit he would be crushed if Bel decided to stop seeing him. But he didn't think sex was explicitly tied to that. "I think that me and Bel could still have a close relationship, even if we decided to stop sleeping together." 'Well, I'm sure Bel could. I'm not so sure about myself.'
"But with you," Callum continued. "I think that if we took things to that level and it didn't work out, we wouldn't be able to go back to being friends. I think you would leave and I don't know if I could take that."
Valencia finally turned around and stared at him for a while. She'd managed to hold back tears, though her eyes were a little puffy. "Callum, I understand what you're saying but I think that things are going to end between us if we don't take that step."
Callum nodded. He had worried that might be the case. It had to be tremendously painful to see other women get what she had wanted for so long. 'Why did you have to love me, Valencia? And if you had to, why did you wait until I saw how big the universe was to tell me?' "So," he said. "What do you want to do?"
"What do I want?" Valencia smiled humorlessly. "I want you to stop having sex with Bel and make me your only woman."
Callum nodded. "And if I'm not willing to do that?"
Valencia looked away from him, her face reddening. "Then I want to be your woman anyway."
Callum got to his feet. "Are you sure?"
"God damn it, Callum," Valencia said, turning back to him. "I don't know. But I can't live without you. You don't have to be afraid that I'll leave you. You own my soul, you son of a bitch. You might as well own my body, too."
Callum stepped up to her and took her chin in his hand, forcing her to meet his eyes. She was blushing heavily and her soft blue eyes were misty. He bent down and kissed her. He'd learned a lot of things from Bel and one of them was how to kiss properly. It was almost cruel, taking her first kiss this way. His first kiss had been sweet and bumbling, hers was savage and sexual. But he wanted her to know what she was getting into. If she wanted him to own her body, he would. He was going to ravage her. He didn't exactly know why but something about this situation made him want to go all out. Was it Venus whispering in his ear?
When he finally let her lips go, she collapsed against him, breathing heavily. Callum had undone the neck of her gown while they kissed and he peeled the front of her blouse down. Valencia gasped and tried to cover herself but Callum got her wrists and gently but firmly held her hands away from her body. He bent down and kissed along her collarbone and down to her breasts. Her breath shuddered as he took one of her nipples into his mouth. She had cute nipples, pale pink and soft. She cried aloud when he flicked his tongue over one and he made a mental note that they were so sensitive.
Callum went down to one knee and kissed down her sternum and belly. He pulled down her dress and let it pool at her feet. He hooked his thumbs in the waistband of her panties but stopped when she said, "W-wait. I'm not sure, I'm ready." Callum looked up at her. She seemed terrified. Callum supposed he could understand but didn't say a word. He gazed at her steadily until she gave a little nod. Then he pulled her panties down to her ankles. She clasped her hands to her face with a little shriek. Callum lifted first one leg and then the other, pulling off her shoes as he did so. Then he scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bed.
He set her down so that her ass was right on the edge of the bed and then knelt down between her legs. He moved her thighs apart and she moaned, "God, don't look right at it."
"Why not?" Callum asked. He'd gotten used to Bel's hairlessness and thought he might prefer it but Valencia's pubic hair was so soft and wispy that he found it kind of adorable. So he said so. "It's adorable. Just like you."
"Oh, god. God," Valencia moaned. Callum took his time. She was a virgin and Callum doubted she had explored very far by herself. He kissed along her inner thighs and gently stroked her. She was so tense that it took quite a bit longer than it had with Mikan but eventually she was wet enough for him to insert a finger. She almost hissed when he did so, tensing up again but he persisted, working his finger in and out while softly kissing and licking her labia. As he relaxed again, he added another finger and began to focus more on her clitoris.
He kept going long past the point where she was ready for sex. He was on a mission now and it didn't stop until she started spasming and crying out his name. Callum settled back on his heels to give her some time to cool down. When he stood up, she had a dazed look on her face. He unbuckled his pants and stepped out of them, then crawled up on the bed so that he was above her.
"W-what was that?" she asked, almost plaintively, confirming his suspicions that she hadn't played with herself very much.
"An orgasm," she said, leaning forward to kiss her jaw. "You'll need to get used to them." When he pushed himself up, he noticed her looking at his erect cock with a fearful expression.
"Jesus Christ. That thing is not going to fit inside me," she said breathlessly.
"It will," Callum assured her "Trust me. Are you ready?"
She took two shallow breaths and then said, "Alright." Callum positioned himself to enter her but before he could, she put a hand on his chest and asked, "It's just me and Bel, right? No one else."
Callum paused. "I can't promise that."
"You God-damned bastard." She didn't sound surprised, though.
Callum thought about his conversation with Bel. "I can be honest with you but that's all I can promise." He rubbed the head of his cock against her clit and she moaned. "Do you want to keep going?" Red-faced, she nodded. Callum entered her. Wet as she was, she was still so tight that he was worried he might have hurt her. "Are you alright?"
"Yes. I don't know. I think so," she said breathlessly. "Oh my God. Oh my God."
Callum grinned and didn't move for a moment. "How does it feel?"
"I don't know. It feels…strange." She threw her arms over her eyes. "Oh, God, Callum. I can't believe you're inside me. How did it fit?"
Callum laughed softly and kissed her cheek near her ear. "It fits because you're gushing down there," he whispered into her ear. She whimpered. "Are you ready?" Valencia nodded behind her arms.
Callum started to fuck her with long, slow strokes, constantly kissing her on her lips, her jaw, her neck and her breasts as he did so. He caressed her head, her breasts, her ribs and her ass, lightly but relentlessly. After a while, she clutched at him and began to shake and tremble underneath him. He wasn't close to orgasm himself and barely even noticed when her fingernails cut furrows into his shoulders. All of his focus was on her. Callum withdrew as she slumped and straightened up on his knees.
"Oh my god. Jesus Christ." Valencia put a hand to her forehead. "That was incredible, Callum." She glanced at him and her eyes widened. "Holy shit. That was actually inside me?" After a moment, she blinked and said, "Why is it still so hard?"
"Because I haven't cum yet."
"W-what?"
"Turn over." Valencia looked at him blankly. "Roll over. Onto your hands and knees."
"Okay," she said, hesitantly. Her limbs trembled a little as she got into position, presenting her pussy to him. It was slick and red and puffy. Callum hilted himself in one stroke. "Jesus!" Valencia moaned. Callum started fucking her faster this time, though not with abandon. He was still focused on her over himself. He reached around and began to frig her clit at the same time. She came even faster than she had the previous two times but this time Callum was right on the edge himself. He grit his teeth and just barely managed to will himself away from the brink.
After riding out her orgasm, Valencia fell face-first onto the bed as if all her muscles had simultaneously stopped working. She mumbled something into the pillow that Callum couldn't make out. He waited a moment, more to give himself time to recover than her, and then reached down and flipped her over onto her back again. She stared at him and then her eyes moved down to his still hard cock. "Again?" she asked, almost fearful.
Callum didn't respond with words. He lifted one of her legs up so her foot rested on his shoulder and pressed himself inside her again. He knew this would be the last time he could go but he was bound and determined to make her cum a fourth time. The position he was in let him vary up the angle he drove into her and he subtly changed it until he found one that had her writhing and moaning and calling out his name. Now it was an endurance contest. Callum focused everything on holding back until she orgasmed and when he finally felt her spasming, he let go instantly.
The orgasm was like none he'd yet experienced. It was so powerful his vision seemed to darken. He ejaculated more than he could ever remember, all deep inside of Valencia. When it was over, he barely managed to keep himself from toppling over. Valencia was covered in sweat and unmoving. Her dazed expression reminded him of a time he'd seen a few men just after they'd barely escaped a cave-in.
Callum suddenly felt remorse. He could have easily cum the third time. Hell, if he'd wanted to he could have prepared her and they could have orgasmed just once, together. Then they would probably be lying in each other's arms and talking, not trying to catch their breath as if they'd just had an all-out fight. Callum wasn't sure what had come over him. He knew Valencia was sexually naïve. This was almost certainly not how she would have imagined her first time going.
He shook off his exhaustion and stepped down from the bed. As he pulled out of her, a stream of cum oozed from her vagina. Callum scooped her up in his arms, finding her completely unresistant, and carried her to the bathroom. He turned on the shower and washed her, doing his best to be particularly gentle with her genitals. She didn't seem to be even able to stand without his support.
Once they were both clean, he put her to bed on the side with the least amount of wet spots, tucking her in as if she were a child. She fell asleep quickly. Callum sat down on the bed next to her and stayed up late into the night, wondering about himself, his lovers and the power within him and the entity that had given it to him.