Alien Vacation Ch. 04

Tags up front: alien, male-female sex, psychic powers, psychic sex, power fantasy, blowjob, fantasy sex, female dominant (gentle/affectionate), telepathy, romance, enhancement, consent... and maybe some fantasy prom night nostalgia!

*****

Kyle slept soundly in the hotel bed. Dreams flitted past. He forgot them all, except the one that was more memory than imagination.

"I want to open up my own gallery," said Melanie. She said it without prompting, having nothing to do with anything discussed on the Daily Show on the TV across from their coffee table, let alone anything discussed between them so far tonight.

Kyle looked up from his meal, if he could call it that. He could probably beat anything the dollar menu at McDonald's had to offer with not much more money and a little time in their cramped kitchen, but McDonald's made Mel happy, or at least filled one of her wants. If a fast food dinner on the couch got the job done, at least it saved him a little time. He was already exhausted. As usual. This way, he wouldn't have to clean up after his cooking, either. Or after Mel.

Thoughts like those didn't make him happy. It wasn't the sort of relationship he wanted. He didn't want to be that guy who complained about his girlfriend all the time, even if only in his own head. He stuffed those complaints down the same mental hole where he'd shoved all the others. "You mean like an Etsy store?" he asked. "That's a good idea. It's not like there's always a gallery or a showing for your art every day of the week. It'd be good to have it all available somewhere."

"No, not like that. Etsy's for people who want to make money on a hobby."

He choked down the next bite of his McChicken sandwich, along with his response. All across America he could hear crafters and artists shouting at his girlfriend to get bent.

She couldn't hear them, though. She swept a few blonde locks back from her face and over her shoulders. "I want to run my own art store. I want my own business."

"Oh. That sounds like a good goal."

"You're not listening," she grumbled, looking away and pushing aside her fries.

"I'm right here," Kyle replied. He put the sandwich down. "You said you want your own gallery. I think that'd be a cool thing to do someday. What am I not hearing?"

"I didn't say 'someday.' That's how things never get done: when you say you'll do it 'someday.' I mean I want to find out how to get started. Find a place."

The Hole of Unwelcome Thoughts belched forth with worries she'd given him plenty of times before. She already spent a ton on art supplies, many of which she didn't use. She got her stuff into showings here and there, which was all well and good except for the money it cost. She didn't listen when people told her not to "pay to play." Even when it wasn't a rip-off, there were always hidden costs. Kyle wound up shouldering much more of them than Mel did.

She dreamed big, which he adored about her, or at least he used to. Then her dreams started leaning on his finances, and his time, and his energy. Now this.

Mel had retail experience, but only up to being the third key at a bookstore. No serious management skills, no experience as an entrepreneur. No formal business training. No money to invest, either, and for that matter no collateral. The mere thought of yet more debts caused his shoulders to tense up. His stomach suddenly felt like it was on an edge, as if it might tumble down from its spot in his body into some other spot where it didn't belong.

"You don't... have that much stuff to fill up a gallery," Kyle ventured. Best to start there rather than the real practical stuff about financing and loans. God, not more loans. Even with the GI Bill and working more than part-time, he still owed plenty for college. And Mel never took the "we don't have the money" thing well.

"It wouldn't be just my own stuff. I'd get some other artists in there with mine."

"You figure they'd go in on staffing the place, too?"

"I thought you'd help me," said Mel.

"Hopefully I'm gonna have my hands full with a nursing job soon," said Kyle. He didn't mention how little enjoyment he got out of "helping" with gallery shows, or crafts fairs, or any of the rest of it. Yet the tensing of his shoulders now ran down his back. "I'm working all the overtime I can get at it is."

"Yeah, but you'll have a new job, and then you'll have more time. Unless you just don't want to." Something in her voice sounded preemptively disappointed. Hurt before he actually said anything. It was a tactic that had worked on him in the past, and he hated it.

Kyle reached for words. In the back of his mind, he tried to shove those unpleasant thoughts back down their hole. He'd invested so much in this relationship already. Mel dreamed big. That wasn't a crime. She just wanted someone to believe in her... not that she lacked for such people. They just weren't enough. Nothing he'd already done for her was enough, either.

"But we're partners, right?" she asked.

For a partnership, it sure seemed to go entirely in one direction all the time. It took all his money. His time. His energy. His attention. His affection. Everything he had, thrown down another hole, only this one was bottomless... while the one for his unwelcome thoughts threatened to overflow.

I don't think I want to be partners anymore, said a voice inside him, but it didn't make it outside. Not this time, anyway.

* * *

He awoke as she sat down beside him on the bed, roused by the depression in the mattress. He'd been fully asleep until then, but surprisingly awake before her hand stroked his bare chest. His dreams disintegrated under the touch of those fingers. Kyle's eyes opened to find Emily fully dressed and ready to go. With one look, his mind was entirely in the present rather than the wisps of dreams of the recent past.

"Hey, sleepyhead," she smiled. "I hope I didn't wake you getting ready. You seemed out cold. I figured the hair dryer in the bathroom was worth the risk."

"No, I'm good." Kyle paused, looking her up and down. "You look good, too. Guess you've gotta go?"

"Yeah. My shift starts in just a little while. Late shift yesterday, early one today. You don't have to bail too early, though. This room is marked unavailable until they get the balcony fixed, and that's not until Thursday at least. Far as I'm concerned, you're welcome to stay another night if you want," she winked. "Don't expect housekeeping to check in here, though."

"You're not gonna get in trouble for this?" he asked.

"Me? No way. Hell, one of my supervisors taught me how to cover my tracks on something like this. I've never done it before, but I'm not the first employee around here to be a little naughty. The only real risk is if somebody else on staff pulls the same trick while you're here."

"I don't know what to say." His hand found hers, gently pulling it to his lips. "You're amazing. Last night was amazing, too."

"Yeah, it was." Emily nodded, then gestured to the nightstand. "Listen, if this was a one night only thing, I'm totally cool with it. But I tucked my business card with my cell and email in your wallet if you want to call me. Anytime."

She means it, assured the feminine presence in his mind. I won't let her get heartbroken if it doesn't go further. She'll feel good about this either way. I'm not here to break hearts.

"I think I might," Kyle said. "Sooner or later. But I've got a lot going on right now so I can't say when. Wish I could. Thank you for everything."

Emily shook her head. "You don't have to justify." She leaned in close, stopping just short of his lips. "You gave me the time of my life last night. If anyone owes thanks, it's me. And I'll be more than happy to return the favor any way I can." Kyle caught the sparkle in her eyes and her grin before she planted a long, grateful kiss on his mouth.

A gentle knock at the door interrupted them. "That'll be the breakfast cart and your clothes from the laundry," Emily said as she stood up. "I'm gonna steal something off the cart on my way out, but I've gotta go. You take your time. You earned it last night." She walked over to the closet to grab her suit coat before taking one last look at him with a lusty grin. Then she left.

Before you say "I can't believe that happened," I want to remind you there's a psychic alien lady in your brain, said Xin.

"I can't believe..." he began. Then stopped. I can't believe any of this happened, he thought.

You can talk out loud if it's more comfortable for you. At least when we're alone. Like I said last night, I may be bonded with your body and your mind but often it'll be better to communicate slower and process things normally than for us to communicate everything in sudden telepathic speeds. We've got lots of options. It'll be fun to play with them.

"You mean fun to play with me?" Kyle asked.

That, too. The reply came with unmistakable flirtation and intimacy.

Kyle stretched in the bed, finding every muscle slightly aching. Now that he thought about it, his mouth was dry, too, and he was starving.

I'm already at work on your body. You're in decent shape to begin with but I'm prepping you for maximum fun and convenience. It's taking a little of my energy and a lot of your calories.

"How does that work?"

Mostly through direct control at the cellular level. It requires a lot of concentration, though. Best if I do it while you're asleep. You don't need to worry about shaving anymore. I know you like a clean face, so I shut the growth down. And yes, this is why you aren't waking up needing to go to the bathroom for the first time you can remember. Not to be too graphic, but you'll have less of that in general in your life from now on. Let's just say I'm more efficient with your body than it would be on its own.

The aches subsided as soon as he sat up on the bed, leaving him feeling like he was on the second or third day of recover of an all-over intense workout. He smirked at the hardness at his groin. Of course it looks bigger now, he thought.

It is. Plenty to start with, but as long as I'm making improvements I have my priorities. Don't tell me you don't like it.

Kyle rolled his eyes. He found a hotel bathrobe in the closet and threw it on long enough to poke his head out into the hall and roll the room service cart inside. As promised, he found his clothes neatly folded up on one shelf of the cart. Covered plates rode on the top shelf. At a touch, the covers suggested the plates were still plenty warm. Apparently the staff really did take care of people who stayed in this room. Kyle pounded the glass of water without a second thought, but he felt a little guilty as he pulled the cart inside and brought it to the small table.

They hadn't messed around with breakfast. This was a full restaurant meal, along with a card on the side inviting him to the buffet downstairs.

Feels like we need to talk, came Xin's voice in his head. Then he heard something he instantly understood wasn't real, but was more convenient: a voice from the bathroom. "Maybe this will be another easy option?"

The Latina swimsuit model who stepped around the corner existed only in his mind. He knew that. Xin put her there. But to his senses, she was real, from the sound of her voice to the perfect skin shown off by her bikini. He'd seen her online or in a commercial somewhere, but couldn't place the real model's name. She, or rather Xin, smiled. "I pulled this one out of your memory at random," she said, slipping up onto the table in a playful, show-off-her-hot-body pose. "She'll never know we borrowed her image. Our little secret."

"I like how your first choice is 'hot bikini model,'" Kyle chuckled.

"I like whatever turns you on."

"Did it make that much of a difference to you? What my turn-ons are? My orientation and all that?"

"Not too much. My hope was to find someone who was bi- or pansexual. I wanted my options as open as possible. Obviously I lost my chance to really shop around. But moral and ethical compatibility were the biggest concerns. Whatever my host's sexuality is, I want to experience it. And I'm as happy as I could imagine with you, Kyle. I'm here for the long haul. No regrets.

"Anyway, you're bothered," she said, gesturing to the breakfast. "Let's talk it out. It's about money. I know that much. And your ex-girlfriend, somehow?" Xin nodded at Kyle's hesitation and his understanding. "I experienced that dream, too," she said. "Dreams like that can happen in the blink of an eye. Like I said, my concentration has been elsewhere. But I felt it, too. Clearer than you remember it now. You still need to talk it out, though."

"My ex was irrational as fuck about money," he sighed. "I'd rather just forget about her, but we were together a long time. Bound to leave some marks, and not just on my bank account. When I get stressed about money, a lot of baggage with her comes back."

"Fair. You should just come out and say she's selfish as fuck, though. I can see it in your memories. But she's not what's actually making you uncomfortable now. You weren't really thinking about her. What is it?"

"It's like I said before. Somebody paid for this," Kyle said. He dug in as they spoke, making it the oddest breakfast conversation he'd ever had, but it didn't stop him from eating. Nothing could, given how hungry he was. Xin didn't mind. "The soap and shampoo and all that in the shower, too. Maybe the room isn't really in use by the hotel, and maybe the actual costs of this are less than what I'd pay on a bill, but none of this is really free, y'know?"

"Ah. You feel like we're stealing."

"Pretty much. Look, this breakfast isn't a huge deal. It's already cooked, so there's no point in it going to waste. I'm sure it's ridiculously overpriced but I can at least leave a good tip or whatever. But we need to talk about how we're going to pay for things. You said I'm not going to need my courier job anymore, but you haven't explained how. I'd love to ditch that job, but...is this the plan?" Kyle asked gently, gesturing to the room. "Glide out of paying for stuff with telepathy and mind control? That's...a little messed up."

Xin sighed. "Yeah, I see your point. And yes, that was kind of the plan. I figured we'd get plenty of help from our playmates. Consenting playmates," she emphasized.

"Wait. Seriously? You figured we'd just hook up with some movie star or something and let her pay our way?"

"No. No, I... I figured maybe a bunch of hot movie stars. Or heiresses. Or, y'know... that sort of thing. But I can kinda see the problems with that now that you're thinking of them." The gorgeous model's shoulders sank. "Shoot. This is more complicated than I realized."

"Yeah, kinda," Kyle scowled.

"Okay, but you can't tell me you wouldn't gladly share your money with your lovers if you had a lot of it. Why shouldn't they? Ugh, I hear the words 'gold-digger' and 'gigolo' and 'taking advantage' in your brain now. Nevermind. I get it." She brightened up with another thought. "What about sex work? I mean you're already my own personal sex worker, more or less, and I know you don't have a problem with other people doing it."

"No, but I don't know. I get that you make sure everything is consenting, but even so, above and beyond natural attraction and desire, right? How does anyone set a fair price when your powers are involved? That's maybe a little more manipulative than I want to be."

"I guess that's fair." She tilted her head. "You should probably understand I use my powers like you use your hands and feet and your senses. Mind-scanning and mental nudging is pretty much casual interaction for me. When I talked about consent, I meant people who we're really getting involved with, especially sexually. I won't hesitate to use my powers for survival, or even minor convenience if it's not hurting anyone. Having some boundaries isn't going to make me a saint. I don't want to be a saint. I'm going to be using my powers pretty much constantly, and beyond that I came here looking forward to being naughty as fuck."

"I'm down with that. I just don't want to go around robbing innocent people left and right or leaving some other person to pick up the tab for our partying, y'know?" He looked down at his now empty plates. Either Xin had influenced his perception of time somehow or he'd practically inhaled the breakfast. "Dang. All that and I could go for more. Maybe a lot more. I might hit that breakfast place downstairs after all."

"You should. I'm not done with your tune-up. You need proteins and sugars and other things before I'm done."

Kyle nodded, frowning a bit. "Guess I can afford that without a problem. But I can't make a habit of eating like this unless we figure out the money issue soon."

"Right. This is a wrinkle I hadn't expected. My people don't have this sort of economy. We're more of a 'post-scarcity' sort. Cooperative. But while I'm here on vacation on your planet, living in your conditions, I want to live it up. I want to feel rich. Be rich. More importantly, I don't want silly human 'job' stuff getting in the way of our party time."

"I guess it's not much of a vacation if you have to sit through me working full time, huh?" Kyle asked.

"Not really. Besides, you have a job now. You work for me, remember? Although I'm hoping it never actually feels like work," she said, returning to that intimate, affectionate tone again. "And now I think we're back to that dream you had. I don't think it was just about money."

"What do you mean? You think it was a stress dream?" he asked, thinking out loud. "What have I got to stress about? I mean other than a commitment to a complete change in my life beyond anything normal or rational," Kyle chuckled.

"It is a commitment, though. It's not so different from saying I'm here to take up all your time. You're on the tail end of a break-up with someone who wanted everything from you and never gave anything back. Now here I am asking for a total commitment to change your entire life."

"You don't seem much like my ex," Kyle smirked. "And that ended 'cause she flipped out and hit me in a tantrum... although I really should've ended it way sooner than that. There was always some reason why I felt like it wasn't time. But she was taking advantage of me all along."

"And now you have someone new wanting even more from you."

"You're not my ex," said Kyle.

"No. She wanted to take advantage, like you said. She talked about being your partner as a means of leverage. I want to be a partner for real, Kyle. I want mutual benefit. It's the energy from your emotions that sustains me, and I won't be here without your consent. So if you're ever unhappy with things, we change course. This is symbiosis, not parasitism."

Kyle laughed. "Okay, maybe calling her a parasite is a bit far."

"Or maybe not," Xin smiled.

"I don't really want to talk about her, to be honest. The farther behind she is, the happier I am. And if it's a partnership, you're the one bringing the most to the table with your powers and all. I know you're concerned about my feelings. Maybe my subconscious has to adjust, but I'm down with all this. Kind of nice of you to give me the space to sort it out rather than psychically pushing it all away."

He hesitated, but his grin and his feelings got the better of him. "I like you a lot, Xin. It's not just all the sex and psychic benefits here. I like the way you talk to me. I don't feel smothered. I feel invited. I... I like you a lot."

Her smile broadened, but also softened. "I know exactly how you feel, Kyle. Literally. You don't have to be afraid of your feelings or worry that it's too soon. I already know how well we mesh, so I know where this is going. It's okay.