Upon a Savage Shore Ch. 05

"Are you alright, Commander? I didn't offend you, did I?"

"I'm... I'm fine. Thank you, Sergeant," she said, still not looking at him. "Really? I mean you were able to fit?"

"Uh..."

"Because that's just amazing!" she went on. "I can't imagine it. Even Thahn 'Den have some difficulty mating with Pah'Tht and they aren't much larger than them. It's said dTel'Qohar could never do it! And you were able to..."

Realizing she was blathering and making a fool of herself, Commander M'pel E'kmel shut her mouth. She sat there trying to compose herself. It was a very undignified thing for her to have done and she hoped she had not offended the Human with her incredulity.

"I'm so sorry, Sergeant," she said after a moment. "Please do not mention this to the others. I would be shamed."

"I don't think I would come out looking all that good either," he said with a chuckle.

"On the contrary," she countered. "Let me just say, Sergeant, for a Human you are very attractive. And knowing about... other assets... does not make you less so. I will leave you now."

"Commander," he said before she could get to her feet. "I... Well, you see... I just want to return the compliment. For a jZav'Etch, you are also very attractive. Before I met the three of you I didn't know how much like Humans jZav'Etch actually are."

She paused and gave him a curious look. She settled back down and decided to ask a new question.

"In what ways are we attractive?"

Liam swallowed, sensing he had just opened a whole new can of worms.

"Aside from your personalities, you mean?" he asked, buying time to think.

"Yes," she said. "Are we physically attractive to you?"

"Yes."

She narrowed her eyes trying to understand why he was so reluctant to speak.

"Please go on," she encouraged him. "It may be helpful in the days to come if I know why you are attracted to us. Perhaps tell me what it is about Clot'ilda that attracts you."

After a very long, embarrassed silence Liam said, "She's good looking. She's nice to look at. I mean, Clotilda isn't attractive the way a human female is, but she's attractive."

"I don't believe you understood my request, Sergeant," M'el E'kmel said, very amused by his attitude. It was obvious to her that he was uncomfortable and trying desperately to be discrete. That would not help her smooth his way over the next few days, nor would it help her towards her goal. She needed more specific information.

"I told you what you wanted to know," he said a little lamely.

"Let me give you an example of what I was hoping for," she replied with her cat's smile and twinkling eyes. "I like the way your shoulders and chest look when you aren't in your armor. The scars on your cheek are... I think the word is sexy. The hair on your face is very endearing and I believe it will be a great asset once it grows in more thickly. Your hands are quite nice, too and I really like the shape of your... Rump, is it? Without a tail it still manages to be nice to look upon. And... I am intrigued by the size of your... organ. Be that honest with me, Sergeant. That last was slightly difficult for me to say, yet I believe the information will help us both."

"Okay," he sighed. He felt he should be more mature about this kind of thing, but he'd never discussed attractiveness with anyone except in a joking manner among other marines. "Clotilda is shorter than me, and that's a nice thing. She's pretty. She has pretty fur and I think she wouldn't look right without it. She'd just seem... I don't know. It wouldn't be right for her to be bare skinned. And then there's her figure. She's really well proportioned, especially for a small girl. I mean her legs look a little longer relative to her body than a human female's would, but our women wear high heels all the time and she sort of has the look they try for. You all do, actually."

"So it is her height and proportions and her fur that attract you?" the commander asked seriously.

"Yeah," he shrugged. "She's got a pretty nice butt too and a trim little waist. We normally use the term 'figure' to describe the combination of all her feminine qualities."

"And are you attracted to Tem'Ma'tel for the same reasons?" she asked.

"Tem'Ma'tel is a different story," Liam said with a shake of his head. "She's as tall as I am and built like a triathlete, only with bigger... breasts. I was really surprised when I examined her leg wound. I've never seen a jZav'Etch female's leg before. Tem'Ma'tell looks like she could be a dancer or a gymnast or something with those legs. She's two meters of spring steel and carbon fiber, as a friend of mine would say. There's not an ounce of waste on her. Could bounce a quarter off her ass and get change in return."

M'pel E'kmel smiled at the expression. She didn't comprehend the meaning, but it seemed the sergeant was loosening up.

"And what about me?" she asked. "What aspects do you like? Please be truthful."

"You?" he asked, sounding much less comfortable than a moment before.

"Me," she grinned with good humor. "Come now, Sergeant! Is it not fair?"

"Fine," he grumbled hesitantly, but after her frankness he felt an odd desire to tell her the truth. "I think you have very attractive breasts. They're well shaped and large without being too large. I also like the way your hips fill out your fatigues, and from the few glimpses I've gotten of your rump, I'd say it ranks pretty high on my all-time list. You are a very attractive woman, Commander. I'd like to see you in a bikini, in fact. And I think if I spend much more time talking to you like this I'll put an inconvenient dent in my armor. Clotilda would get upset with me."

M'pel E'kmel snickered. "She would not be upset with us just for discussing such things."

"If we keep talking I don't know that I will be able to 'just' discuss such things," he said and gave her a meaningful look.

She met his eyes, trying to comprehend that look in combination with what he had said. When she finally realized he was hinting that he was actually growing sexually excited her eyes sparkled and she covered her mouth in that gesture he had seen her make several times throughout the day. She cast her eyes down and laughed low and husky in her throat. When her laughter passed Liam could hear M'pel E'kmel purring in spite of her efforts to conceal it.

They said nothing for a bit, with her looking at him and him looking at the remains of the fire. Eventually she pushed herself to her feet and he looked up at her to be sure she was alright.

"Sergeant," M'pel E'kmel said in a huskier voice than usual. "I am roughly ten years older than you are and would not blame you if you decide to not take me as a mate. However, the vigor of youth does not compare to the experience of age."

Liam smiled as she turned away.

"I'll bet it doesn't," he murmured appreciatively, watching her tail twitch rhythmically as she attempted to strut the way Clotilda had after he had first taken her prisoner.

Before going to her nest M'pel E'kmel went to Clot'ilda and asked to borrow her language study guide. It was equipped with an encyclopedia of Human culture, including many image galleries. Most of the images were taken from personal effects captured from Humans during the war. She ran a search for the word 'bikini', having eventually to speak it into the machine because she did not know how to spell it. Her eyes widened at the images that accompanied the definition and known history of the so called garment.

"He would like to see me in one of those?" she breathed and suppressed a snicker. "Why not just look at me naked? Males! Utterly ridiculous."

She set the little computer down and settled into her nest, grinning with amusement. She lay there for only a moment before picking the device up once more and looking at the images again. She grinned, eyes sparkling in the glow from the screen.

"A bikini," she purred to herself. "Where could a woman get such a thing out here?"