Cuculiformes 02 Pt. 01

She let him taste her hand until, with a whispered "Gross," she realized what it was sucking on. It dipped onto all fours, it's front paws gently pulling up the edge of her covers, hunting for the source of the smell. This distraction allowed her hand to gently scratch its head and ears, and then pat it. Its attempts to remove the covers were thwarted by the weight of its own body, and so it gave up its temporary quest for the source of the sweetness, and instead lay down and let the alien creature gently pat and preen it.

Brooke's fingers moved slowly inside her body, matching the slow rhythm of her other hand on Julian's head. She meandered between dozing and gentle play, not enough to bring her to any final climax, but enough to make her feel very pleasant. With the added weight resting on her, and the closeness of another living creature, she succumbed to the day's adventures and fell asleep.

**********

Julian rested on the bedroll. He could feel the creature below him peacefully breathing in and out, her temperature returning to normal as she drifted into sleep. The hand that scratched him playfully had slipped down onto the roll, and then slipped away completely to fall onto the ground.

She subconsciously shuffled a little on her back, finding a slightly more comfortable way to lay. The shifting of the covers let a short burst of her creamy scent out, immediately attracting Julian's attention. With a quick sniffle and hurried look around, he lightly leapt down onto the ground. Following his nose, he sniffed under the covers, and then started ferreting his way down deeper along her body until he found the source.

He stopped to briefly suckle on the two fingers that had been inside her body, but the taste was fleeting and unsatisfying. He crawled across her waist, his fingers on each of her bare thighs, and dipped his nose down into the hairy patch between them. The source of all the sweet creaminess was here, and he quickly began lapping at the groove, the point of his long tongue not firm enough to force its way inside from this angle. Instead, he dug it into her folds as far as it could go, dragging all the wetness back out with it.

Intoxicated but unsatisfied by what she was offering, he searched around her body for a better footing using slow movements, taking careful note of her breathing and heart rate. Dropping off her, he cuddled further down her legs before turning around and coming back up to her bare thighs. This time his rough nose dug into her clit, forcing the hood back, allowing his lips to briefly suckle on her now exposed clit. The taste was hot, sweet and fleeting, but the intimate touch caused her body to react by opening her legs just a little.

This allowed him to keep nudging his nose further between her thighs, which in turn caused them to open a little more until finally the confines of the pants could let them go no further. With his small hands clasping the sides of her opening, trying to squirm them further apart, his nose dipped between her welcoming lips. He could now lap directly at her creamy walls, his long, rough tongue drilling deep inside in its quest for all the nectar her flower had to offer.

Over and over he gently pulled her lips apart in time with his licking, his small mouth lapping and kissing all the natural cream she exuded, smearing it all over his face. He couldn't resist the urge to bury deeply on the hunt for more, his tongue lashing as far as it could go. He could feel her heartbeat racing, the heat against his tongue surging, her insides rippling against his probing, and the steady flow of luscious cream which he sucked down.

Suddenly her thighs clamped around his intrusion, sending him into a panicked retreat to the bottom of the bedroll where he struggled for escape against the confines of the material. Breathing heavily, he tensed waiting for her to come after him, but instead the warm body barely moved again.

Waiting nervously, he preened his face with his tongue, tasting the last of her heat smeared over his fur. The restricted air laced with her scent only served to overcome his nervousness, replacing it with a determined hunger for more. With a lack of any further movement, he uncurled and sniffed back up along her legs to the honeypot he sought, finding his treasure blocked by an intervening hand now nestled between her thighs.

With a quick, forceful prod of his nose he realized he wasn't shifting the obstruction, and the tantalising wetness was out of reach, for now at least, but opportunities would surely come again soon. With a half hearted swipe he gave up, and leaving the heavenly, nectary confines of the bedroll, he jumped up on top of her again and settled in.

**********

Brooke jumped up startled from her bedroll, screaming incoherently as she spun around confused in the dark night, desperately pulling her pants back on. The air was torn by the loud, screeching wails of two hellhounds that were thrashing around her in the long grass. They moved at dazzling speed: together; apart; crashing back together; thumping; hissing; spitting; then racing around and around hidden in the dark shadows.

The Sentinel fired up instantly, bringing the camp lights online and powering them up, throwing their stark silver light over the top of the long grass. Even so, the light hid most of the activity in the darker shadows, further adding to the confusion about what was happening. Nearby a Gloria rumble snorted, staring at her impassively with its big doe eyes while she continued her confused screaming.

A mad, wrestling flight of shadows erupted in the grass nearby where the two creatures collided with a solid thud, whirling by in a haze of movement that hit her bedroll and exploded it, sending the layers scattering into heaps hanging on the grass. All around her the camp was coming alive with people yelling and moving.

It took a few long seconds before the first handler had got their thoughts together enough to reach for their weapon and move toward her. The planet was dead silent outside the camp, and within it, every other sound was eclipsed by the raging commotion flying through the grass. The pitch and ferocity of the sounds was nerve wracking and terrifying, and the unnaturalness of the sounds only served to heighten everyone's apprehension.

Brooke's screams petered out as she tried to keep up with the movement and it became apparent she was under no immediate threat. The shadows thumped past again, scattering her bedroll even further, before they both stopped at her feet in a writhing ball of fur.

The hissing, screaming ball disentangled, one half staying put while the other backed away with a defiant howl, both puffing heavily. They were two Julians, haunched up on their back legs trying to look threatening, their tails thrashing and quivering like a rattlesnake. In the shadows they were ducking and weaving, looking for the next opportune moment to strike out and start the next round.

The nearest handler pulled up beside her, gun pointed down at the sparring animals. Fortunately she was aware enough of what was happening to push the gun away and start shooing the animals away. As more people crowded around, the attention of the Julians shifted from their argument to apprehension they were being surrounded. With a startled squealing, both shot off into the long grass, bounding away to leap up on different Gloria's backs, where they distantly watched the assembled humans.

With the excitement over and no apparent danger, the majority went back to their own beds in a babble of voices. José stopped to help Brooke put her bedroll back together, while Rolley collected the scattered layers.

Mike caught up on a midnight snack, standing nearby supervising Rolley's work, authoritatively telling him to shake everything out and where the last parts were hiding in the shadows. With everything back to normal, the whole camp settled back into their routine nightly sleep.

**********

Brooke rolled over and stared out into the slowly dawning sky. The sun would be above the horizon soon, and she'd have to get packing and be on her way. As glorious as this adventure was, it was coming to a close for a while. That might be sad, but she was just as energetically buzzed about getting into her samples and detailed research. She was sure they were onto a good thing, and that could only mean they'd be coming back for a very long stay, maybe even permanently.

Sitting up, she reached for the coffee cup, and then realized it was knocked over somewhere nearby in the grass after all the nocturnal action. Oh well, with no Rolley around to find and recharge it, she'd have to do that herself. Sliding out of her bedroll, first she checked her pants were done up properly, and then she sauntered off for coffee, breakfast, and human company.

That done, she came back to her bedroll, which looked a little more messed up than she remembered. Then again, she was also more forgetful than she used to be, maybe that was how she left it. Giving it a bit of a shake out to remove the dust and loose grass, she rolled and tied it up. Slinging it onto her shoulder, she stowed it onto the lifter, checked her duffel bag of clothes was there, then went through all her samples, making sure the whole lot was secured. With all that done, her stomach grumbled fiercely, reminding her that she was still a little bit hungry, so she headed back for a second breakfast.

Three of the carryalls were bustling off into the distance. Deb was heading out with Observant Tom back to where they'd found the flying creatures, so they'd be gone a long time. The lifter crew were busy doing final checks and cargo loading. So she spent a little time with José taking final instructions for the orbiter and getting questioned on her observations about the planet, and what she thought she'd be needing to do on her next rotation, if that became necessary.

With all of the last ritual done, she sat around with a few others watching the herd move back through camp. There was nothing else to do but let time tick by to the optimal lift-off window, which left her idle and bored, distracted by thoughts that were easily drifting to places they normally shouldn't be.

She slipped down from her temporary crate chair and ambled around to where Rolley was working on the last carryall.

"Hey," she called as she approached, making sure she had his attention.

"Hey, Brooke," he looked up with his big grin. "Thought you were blasting off?"

"Nope, not yet. Going up soon."

"And then coming down," he laughed.

"And then going back up," she followed, not quite getting the in-joke.

"You keep going up and down, and they'll give you a ride in the cockpit," he laughed again, deep and manly. She blushed, realizing the double meaning of where the conversation was going.

"That might not be so bad, getting a front row seat to all the action?" she questioned, joining in the game.

"Riding in that cockpit, I'm sure you'll get all the action you need," he countered, hammering his point home. They both laughed, smiling at each other.

"How long until you fix this thing?" She quickly changed the subject.

"Nah, it's not really broken. When I fix it, it stays fixed. I'm good with tools," and he gave her a knowing look. She blushed again, taken in by his beaming smile.

"How long till you're back? Looks like I'm going to be down here for a long time."

"Oh, I'd say a week or two, depending on what I find in the samples, and how hard they are to analyze. Why's that?"

"It'd be nice to see you back. Kind of sad I didn't get to take you out in the carryall, I heard you all went swimming. Wish I could have seen that. Sorry, wish I could have DONE that with you." He tried backtracking, hoping she didn't piece together he knew they were swimming in their underwear. Either way, she had other concerns.

"Don't tell the cap, we'll get in trouble if he finds out."

"Oooh," he teased. "That might cost ya," and then he laughed at the innuendo. "I'll take you out riding next time. I hear there's a lot out there to go exploring."

She smirked, she had nothing to say back to that without digging herself in any deeper.

"Well, thanks for the chat. Better get some last minute checks done." She turned to go and walked off, nervously doing a last second look around to see his eyes following her every move. She gave him a smile and wave, and walked away with a little extra swing in her step.

And while Brooke was busy flirting, no one, not even the sentinel, noticed one of the Julians padding up the loading ramp, hot on the trail of Brooke's bedroll and the heady scent it contained.

Chapter 5

Brooke sat the small cup of tea down beside her, and panned up the next page of the book she was reading on her mini screen. She was trying to follow the action in the words, but her mind kept skidding off track and disappearing into memories of her younger days, climbing mountains and running through forests near her childhood home with her school friends.

She wasn't sure why these memories had started coming back, she'd been in space for years now and hadn't seen or heard anything about homeworld for so long that it was of no relevance to her life.

She read the next line on the page and had no thoughts about how it connected to the last page, or even if she was just seeing the words and not reading them. She had a pair of yellow pants she used to love wearing, and her mind went off in tangents of more childhood memories.

Some time later she came back from her memories and realized she had been reminiscing for a very long time. Tapping the screen off, she got up and changed into her long blue night shirt and laid down on top of her bed.

"Brooke, lights, off," she commanded the AI, and then lay there staring at the near dark ceiling. Memories came drifting back as she looked at the green edged silhouettes of the light fittings and ceiling panels, and one of her charging stations blinking its green light in a small pool on the wall. She adjusted the pillow under her head and thought about where her school friends had gone with their lives after they parted, until finally she slipped away into the darkness of sleep.

**********

The thing about animals is that we'll never know what they think about. Is it just food, sex, sleep, or do they ponder the deeper things like love and death and friendship, and having a purpose beyond food, sex and sleep?

On one of the high shelves over her entertainment unit, a small head with big ears and eyes frenetically swivelled back and forth and all around as it studied the dark room. All the little electrical power on indicators gave the room a faint green glow once the ceiling lights had gone off. And while it didn't understand how lights go on and off, and why there was no gradual fading of the light like when the sun goes down, it was patient enough to lay there and study everything it could see for a long time.

There were no sweeping fields of grass, or trees to climb - which is why it was on the shelf where it was - and no lumbering sausage creatures for it to hitch a ride on to the next garden where it could feed and drink from the long tubular flowers there. And on top of that, without any sausage creatures to lay its eggs in as they developed, it was starting to feel bloated inside as they banked up.

In the wild, with unlimited sausage creatures available, there was never a need to store the eggs for long at all. Its body over generations had then become accustomed to them being emptied like an assembly line, baby making machine, without any need for long term storage.

But here, trapped inside a spaceship with no flowers to feed on, and nowhere to lay its eggs, it was becoming more than hungry and thirsty and looking for somewhere to lay. The only upside was that lying below it under the covers was the creature whose body secreted the most delicious creaminess, which is what tempted him into this alien environment in the first place.

With all quiet and still, and the creature sleeping, it stealthily climbed down onto the floor and across to, and up onto the bed. It nosed around the coverings until it found a way under to explore down her body. While there was no thick scent of her creamy delights, it knew roughly where it should be coming from, and in its hungry state it was determined to get to it.

Finding her long night shirt protecting her modesty, he moved down her legs and then back up her thighs, his head easily tunneling under the hem. In the darkness under the material, with his senses focused on the warm touch of her skin and the subtle scent between her legs, he nudged his nose into her groove and probed his tongue into the rapidly moistening recesses of her body.

**********

Brooke let out a soft whimper in her sleep. Her body sexually tingled and itched all over, and as much as she tried to drift into deep sleep, she kept being dragged back to dreamy feelings of intimate touches and sexual stimulation. Her brain floated in a haze of unreality, into which she sank further into an intense desire for sex and disconnection from the world outside her body's senses.

She could feel warm skin against hers, arms locking around her, holding her tight, warm kisses, and soft moans in her ear. A hand exploring everywhere, touching everything, to which she instinctively responded by arching her back and opening her legs as it descended down her body. And in her dreamlike trance, her unknown lover began his exploration, a finger gently sliding in between her rapidly moistening lips, running up and down, teasing her into submission. And when it slid in deep, her body convulsed around it, sending ripples of pleasure racing around her body as she shuddered into her first climax.

The more it plundered, the more the ripples intensified and pulsed, and the more her body heated and moistened, until finally it had finished teasing her body and her racing heart had a chance to wind down, though the reprieve was only temporary. She could feel him move down between her thighs, kisses lower and lower until his face was pressed in tight against her pussy, and he began doing that thing that her husband had hardly ever done. A rough, forceful tongue lapped inside her, and floated her on the edge of orgasmic heaven until she drifted into a short satisfied sleep.

She was yanked out of her bliss by a short, dull pain deep inside her body that quickly gave way to a spreading feeling of pleasant warmth. She could feel her lover pulsing within, from her clit through to where her pain had momentarily been, his cock was gently rippling against her clenching muscles as he unloaded his cum with a tide of flooding warmth that filled her tummy.

**********

Julian nuzzled his snout a little tighter into the depths of Brooke's opening, her lips ruffling around his intrusion as he waggled side to side to push deeper. His rough tongue lapped hungrily into her depths, chasing any of her errant sexual cream that had escaped his attention, until he was exploring the outside of her dimpled cervical opening. Her body tasted sweet and creamy, much more enticing than the Glorias that he was used to, and he couldn't help but figure out that behind the dimple was hidden the place he needed to lay his eggs.

Glorias had a far more simple system to protect the place his children would nest in, one that had evolved over generations of symbiosis to allow the two species to key together perfectly. Brooke, however, was much more well protected, and as his soft tongue discovered, the tight entry into her womb was more than he could push through. But with his body in breeding overdrive, he was determined to take his chances with his hard tipped ovipositor.

His tongue's exploring around her cervix had increased her heart rate, and there flowed under his tongue a surge of heat and energy that betrayed the sexual desire her body was forming. Her thighs unconsciously opened a little wider, allowing his body to sink down between them, her warmth completely enveloping him. His tiny hands pried her open, his fingers coated in the freshly reforming wetness she was exuding.