Chapter 59

Part 3

A subtle vibration ran up Callum's arm. Then again. And again. He slowly came awake, wondering what was going on. Then his brain started working and he realized his alarm was going off. His chip was vibrating in his hand. It wasn't enough to actually move his hand, just enough to feel. Callum carefully sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. The chip stopped the moment it could sense he was fully awake. He glanced to the side and, as he expected, Bel was still asleep. 

Her back was toward him and her thin blanket only covered her up to the hip. She was nude underneath it. Callum gazed at her back, admiring her pale blue, unblemished skin. His eyes tracked up to the delicious curve of her shoulder and the nape of her neck, partially covered by strands of pale pink hair. No matter how many times he touched it, Callum was amazed by how soft it was. She's so beautiful. Callum resisted the urge to touch her. He knew she usually stayed up long after him, working the myriad and never ending problems of the Shimayasumota and the fie and humans aboard it.

He carefully pulled the blanket off his legs and stood up. He stretched, popping his back and shoulders and swallowing a groan of pleasure. He picked out a pair of loose trousers and a sleeveless shirt from the closet space Bel had provided for him. He had almost as many clothes here as in his actual apartment now. Then he tiptoed out of the room and out into Bel's apartment. 

Callum stopped short when he reached her sitting room. Jella was sitting on the couch, her knees drawn up to her chin, playing a game one-handed. It was far too early for her to be up but Callum knew she was having trouble sleeping. It had been three months since the Rukh had assaulted Shimayasumota and Jella had gone through periods of nightmares that kept her sleepless since. Bel's daughter had been left alone during much of the attack. The guilt tore Bel up inside and Callum hardly felt less guilty about it, even though their actions had been critical in keeping the Rukh from taking and devastating the Shimayasumota. 

Jella hadn't lifted her head when he walked in so Callum yawned loudly to let her know he was there. She jumped and then glanced his way guiltily. Callum smiled warmly. "You're up early." 

Jella nodded. She nervously played with her bare toes. "I was missing Shargi." 

"Yeah." Callum walked over and sat down next to her. He tousled her hair. It was exactly the same shade as her mother's. In fact, Jella looked pretty much exactly like a miniature Bel. "She had work." Despite everything Callum and Bel had done, Shargi insisted she had to work in order to "earn her keep." Bel thoroughly vetted each person now before Shargi "attended" them but Callum still wanted her to just stop. Shargi worked as Jella's nanny now but apparently she didn't consider that enough. Callum wasn't really in a position to demand anything of Shargi either, not when he had Bel and Valencia taking so much of his time. 

"You and Mama say she doesn't have to work," Jella said plaintively. 

"You heard that?" Callum asked with raised eyebrows. He'd thought she'd been in bed. I don't think we raised our voices. "Well, it's Shargi's choice. She wants to feel like she is useful…she's had a hard life and she's doing her best. Don't be mad at her." 

"I'm not," Jella said, not altogether convincingly. "I'm mad at the carcha. Why are they so mean? Why would anybody hurt someone as nice as Shargi?" 

"That's, uh…that's a question I don't have the answer to." Callum didn't understand the carcha at all. Even the ones he kind of liked like Dahri and Chajin were completely inscrutable to him. Callum stood. "Do you want to help me make breakfast?" he asked. Jella stuck her arms out toward him with a slight pout on her face. Callum laughed and lifted off the couch and into his arms. 

He carried her into the kitchen and gathered his breakfast supplies with one hand, holding her easily in the crook of his other arm. Callum couldn't really cook. Shargi or Bel usually cooked for him when he was here and he just had simple stuff at home. Bel had simple stuff, too, though. What Callum made wasn't too far off the porridge his sister had used to make for breakfast on Ragrun, except that it was sweeter and yet not quite as good. He didn't know how Cat had done it. She hadn't had any ingredients other than what the carcha had given her, which was just the bare bones.

Callum made three bowls, expecting that Bel would be up soon enough. She was like his sister in the fact that she seemed to need far less sleep than he did. He would have wondered if women just needed less sleep than men if not for Valencia. She usually slept in even longer than he did. Bel didn't disappoint. Just as he was finishing, she came out of her bedroom. She was dressed in a tanktop and shorts that seemed to hug everything they didn't show. Callum didn't know whether Bel only had sexy clothes or if she just made anything she wore sexy. 

Bel stopped a few steps away from him and put one hand on one of her generous breasts. "By the Lady, what a precious site." Her large violet and pink eyes trembled slightly. 

Callum blushed slightly. He expected Jella to say something to start to agitate to be set down but she was silent. He glanced down at the top of her head but couldn't see her face. It was pressed against her shoulder. He heard a very soft snore. "Is she asleep?" Callum whispered. 

Bel nodded, her bob of pink hair waving. "I need a picture." Bel activated the virtual hand display of the chip implanted in her palm and took a picture. Callum smiled slightly, unsure of what expression he should make. "So cute. Both of you." Bel said, closing her display. She stepped up to Callum and accepted her daughter from him. She carried Jella over to the couch and laid her down carefully. Jella stirred but didn't wake. Bel gazed down at her, love and worry on her face. "She woke up early again?" 

Callum nodded. "I'm not sure when. She was on the couch when I came out." 

Bel crossed her arms and sighed. "Maybe I should have slept with her last night. I knew it would be hard for her without Shargi." 

"Yeah." Callum scratched the back of his head. That would have been hard on him, though. Bel was so busy he only got to see her every few days. Last night he had barely been able to last through dinner and studies. The moment he'd had Bel alone, he'd practically ripped her clothes off. "I'm sorry." 

She grinned at him. "Don't be," she said, apparently knowing exactly what he was thinking. "I was the same way. I could barely pay attention in my last meeting with Tsyirinsaku. I think I left a puddle on that chair." She winked at him. Callum blushed and started to stiffen beneath his trousers. Bel eyed his tent. She put her hands on her hips and, consciously or unconsciously, thrust out her breasts and butt. "Really? You're insatiable, aren't you?" 

Callum tried to cover it up. He was fully erect, though. "Sorry." 

Bel glanced at her sleeping daughter and then crooked her finger for Callum to follow. She took him behind the kitchen counter and dropped to her knees. When he was in range, she jerked his pants down without any preamble and grasped his cock with her soft hands. "Ah," she said, rubbing her cheek on the head. "I never get tired of seeing this guy. He's so brutish!" 

"Brutish?" Callum asked, sucking in a rattling breath as she ran her tongue up the bottom of his shaft. 

"Uh huh. Fie cocks are more delicate. Very pretty and non-threatening. Not like this monster. I think most women would run screaming from it." She took the head into her mouth and swirled her tongue around. 

Callum didn't know how to respond to that. She seemed to be complimenting him even if it didn't seem like it. It was also getting hard to think. Bel was taking more and more of cock into her mouth and he felt it going down her throat. She had done this before but it was rare. Callum held on to her head, running his fingers through her hair but keeping his grasp very light. He fought to keep his hips from bucking but it was hard. Her throat was incredibly tight on his cock. Bel kept coming, swallowing him until her nose was pressed into his pubic hair. Callum couldn't believe it. 

"F-fuck." Whether on purpose or because she had his full erection down her throat, the noises she was making and the vibrations it was causing took him over the brink fast. Callum exploded down her throat. His knees went weak and he had to grab the kitchen counter to stay on his feet. Bel kept him in her mouth until he finished and for a few moments after. When she pulled back, she coughed a few times and wiped saliva from her chin. There were tear tracks down her cheeks. "Are you alright?" he asked. He wanted to kneel down and touch her cheek but wasn't sure his legs would support him yet.

"Yeah." She coughed delicately again. "I've been wondering if I could do the whole thing. I feel pretty satisfied." 

Callum wasn't sure he believed it, with her face covered in spit and tears but then again, she liked sex a lot rougher than he would have believed too. She's always been up front with you. If she says she likes it, she does. Callum wanted to reciprocate but it probably wasn't appropriate to go any further with Jella right in the next room. Probably hadn't been to even go as far as they had. It was just so hard not to around Bel. And it was amazing to him that she seemed to have just as much trouble as him. 

Bel washed her face in the sink and then they sat at the small table in the sitting room near the couch where Jella was sleeping. The porridge had gone lukewarm but Callum wolfed his all down anyway. Living on a Ragrun for the vast majority of his life had made him the opposite of a picky eater. He was kind of sickened by how easily and often the fie seemed to toss away food. Callum noticed that Bel had only eaten a few bites of hers and fixed her with a questioning look. Was it bad? He had thought he had gotten okay at making it. 

"It's good," she said, again divining what he was thinking. "I'm just a little full already," she said, patting her stomach and giving him a wicked grin. Callum flushed. He started to stir again but he had to ignore it this time. As much as he wanted to laze–and screw–around with Bel, it was time to get on with his day. Callum headed for the bathroom to clean up and shave and then he went to Bel's room to dress. He wore a loose, sleeveless shirt and billowy shorts.

When he returned to the living room, Jella was still asleep. Bel was in the kitchen, putting away their dirty dishes. Callum hugged her from behind. He pressed his nose into the top of her head. She always smelled so good, no matter what time of day. "When will I be able to see you again?" he asked, his voice slightly muffled because of her hair.

Bel leaned back into him and covered his hands with her own. "The day after tomorrow, I hope. I think we may be close to the end of this nightmare." Callum nodded. The Rukh attack had done a lot of damage to the Shimayasumota and seemed to have done even more to the psyche of the fie aboard it. Bel had been run even more ragged than usual. "No promises, though. Are you headed out?" 

"Yeah." Callum reluctantly let her go. She turned around and Callum took her in his arms again to kiss her. "Don't kill yourself working, okay?" Riley had used to say that to him sometimes but Callum had never felt as tired after a day in the mines as Bel seemed to some days. 

"Mm," Bel said, noncommittally. She rested her head on his chest for a moment and then pushed him away. "Now get going. You know Mora will have a fit if you're late."

Callum grinned. Yemoramato would find some reason to have a fit regardless. The day wasn't complete without one. But he did leave. Reluctantly.