Aziz woke up in a better mood than he had any right to. His wife lying next to him was dying from an incurable condition sustained from the hibernation on the way here. The farm they’d been given, which he would be responsible for maintaining alone, was seemingly under attack by a dangerous monster. His host, and future neighbor, hated the pair of them for being Tunisian.

  And yet, she'd saved his life. She was honestly teaching him how to survive. But much more importantly to his spirits this morning, he had slept the night snuggled with Rania. She may be dying, but right now she was here, her flesh pressed against his. A sensation he had not felt literally in years, although he had slept through most of that.

  He slipped out from beside Rania, hoping she would get more sleep. He threw something over himself and went into the sole bathroom to quickly do his morning hygiene. Returning to the bedroom, he dressed as quietly as he could and went out to the common room. Marianne and Genevieve were already up.

  He shot a surprised glance at Marianne; it was still dark out.

  “I get up when she gets up,” she responded. Genevieve gurgled happily. “Besides, this is a farm, we get up early.”

  “Thank you for letting me sleep in. How soon do I need to wake Rania?”

  “Well, we sit here quietly until Pierre wakes up. Once that happens, I have to start breakfast. I would appreciate someone taking care of the little ones while I worry about breakfast.”

  “I can do that. I don’t have Rania’s experience with children, but I think I can babysit.”

  “You better be able to do more than babysit once Rania is gone. I need help, not a guest.”

  “I will learn,” Aziz said, shuffling his feet uncomfortably as he stared down at them. “I will ask Rania to teach me as much as she can.”

  Aziz sat down on a chair to wait. A few minutes later, Pierre came wandering out, rubbing his eyes.

  “Morning, mon caneton. Are you okay?”

  “I wet my bed.”

  Marianne stood up and handed Genevieve to Aziz. She turned to Pierre and, sounding shockingly upbeat, said, “Let’s go get that all cleaned up!”

  Genevieve looked at Aziz suspiciously. Aziz worried she might start wailing. His upbringing was very conservative in family roles; he'd done very little child care. But he’d bounced a nephew about this age on his knee, so he tried that with Genevieve. She giggled.

  He paused for a moment; she looked around. He started up again and she giggled again. He tried starting and stopping almost at random. She was trying to anticipate each change, but never could and was always surprised. He paused longer than usual without starting back up. Genevieve was looking at his face, concerned. No longer a concern about being held by a stranger; concerned that the game might be coming to an end.

  Aziz started up again without warning. She shrieked loudly in glee before just giggling. Aziz let her slide down his knee and held her against his chest, still giggling.

  Marianne stormed out of Pierre’s room at that moment, snapping, “Can’t you even - . Oh, that was a happy shriek. Sorry. Thank you.” Marianne went back into Pierre’s room.

  Aziz reveled in the moment. He’d succeeded. It was a minimal childcare task, but he’d done it. There was a lot of work to go, he knew. He would need to be competent to be the full caregiver for both children at times over the next months while he was living here. But he now believed it was possible to get there, which for all his assurances to Marianne, he’d had significant doubts about achieving.

  But he also reveled in the emotions of this little person who had accepted him into her life now. He’d always avoided children until they became interesting, around four or five. Pierre was getting close. Younger than that, he never saw the point in them, other than as future people. But the creature giggling against him was a person, he understood that now. A very different person. But a person, none the less. One he could make happy. He liked making people happy, it was a big part of who he was.

  He still had a big grin on his face when Marianne came back out. She smiled slightly at Genevieve snuggling up to him, then said, “He hasn’t had that problem in a few months. He’d been doing so well, I’d transitioned him out of night time diapers already. I guess yesterday was a bit much for him. Hopefully, it’s a one time slip, not a new phase.”

  Aziz had never thought about the transition out of night time diapers happening separately from day time diapers. He had a lot to learn.

  “If you can keep caring for her and Pierre when he comes out, I’ll start on breakfast,” Marianne told him. “And you should pay attention to what I’m doing so you can cook breakfast tomorrow.”

  Aziz was panicking mildly as he considered trying to care for two children while carefully watching what Marianne was doing. He shifted Genevieve to his hip, like he’d seen the women do. It was harder to get her settled comfortably than they made it look. And she was heavier to hold like that than he’d expected. Once she settled in place, he walked over to a comfortable viewing distance and said, “Let’s watch Momma cook us breakfast.”

  He noticed a single tear roll down Marianne’s cheek as he watched.

  A few minutes later, Pierre comes out of his room, dressed for the day.

  “Why don’t you come stand with me, Pierre, and all three of us can watch Momma cook our breakfast.”

  “I want Momma to hold me,” Pierre said.

  “She has to be free to cook our wonderful breakfast. Can I hold hands with you?”

  “I want Momma! And I don’t want to hold hands with you!”

  “Why not, Pierre,” Aziz asked.

  “Because Momma says you’re dirty!”

  Marianne winced. She turned to relent when Rania comes out of their bedroom. Rania said, “Can I hold you, Pierre?”

  The boys face lit up with joy. “I thought you’d gone away!” He ran over and Rania picked him up. “Why were you in Momma’s room?”

  “Aziz and I are staying in there for now.”

  Pierre looked at Aziz uncertainly, before he asked, “Where’s Momma sleeping?”

  Marianne spoke up. “I’m sleeping in with Genevieve. I told you they’re going to stay with us for a while. A long time really.” She paused for a moment, then added, “Aziz is not really dirty. Momma was just angry at him when she said that. You know I sometimes say things to you I don’t mean. Momma says things she shouldn’t when she’s angry.”

  He nodded his head. “Aunt Eleanor tells me to ignore what you say when you’re really angry. She promised to tell me what you say to her when you’re angry at her, but only when I’m older. Do you think she’ll tell me next year?”

  All three adults laughed at his na?veté. “No, mon caneton, I think she means older than that. At least she better.”

  The five of them sat down to a breakfast of porridge with a biscuit each and some sort of spiced tea along with what is presumably goat’s milk.

  “You probably don’t need to make me so much,” Rania said. “I can share a biscuit with Genevieve at the least.”

  “Are you sure? Genevieve eats most of a biscuit these days,” Marianne said.

  “I’ll be fine. Does she need her biscuit broken up?”

  “No, she kind of breaks off pieces on her own. It’s fun for her. Then she lets them dissolve in her mouth. They’re probably her favorite right now, mostly because she can do so much herself. She’s definitely starting her ‘me do’ phase.”

  As they ate, Aziz asked, “How long before the council meeting do I need to leave?”

  Marianne looks at him quizzically.

  “I mean, how long is it going to take me to walk there? I assume you’re taking the horse.”

  “A fast walk would take about forty five minutes each way. But there’s no way you’re getting out of an hour and a half of work that way. WE are taking Pascal.”

  “Riding on him together?” Aziz asked.

  “I don’t think he’s riding us.”

  Aziz realized what she meant and looked at Rania. She nodded okay.

  Aziz cleaned up after breakfast while Marianne gave Rania guidance for childcare for the day, including nap schedules and snack menus.

  ++++++

  Aziz and Marianne tackled the morning chores before they had to go to the council. She seemed quite pleased with the progress they were making. “We’re catching up on my backlog nicely. Between Rania with the kids and a second pair of hands out here, this is the easiest this work has gone. Thank you. Tomorrow, we’ll go to your new place for a few hours so I can show what you need to be doing. Then you need to spend several hours a day over there as well as all the same work here. It's going to be tiring.”

  “I will do it. I have no choice.”

  Marianne nodded her head.

  ++++++

  Shortly before they had to leave for the council meeting, Marianne went into the house to check in on the kids. She nursed Genevieve then went to the barn to saddle the horse. Aziz realized there was only one saddle and looked at Marianne for clarification.

  “You’ll ride behind me. Sitting directly on him, so you need to hold on to him closely with your legs and onto me with your arms. I need you healthy enough to work, not falling off and breaking an arm or something.”

  “I’ll try. I’ve never actually ridden a horse before.”

  Marianne rolled her eyes and angrily shook her head, her jaw set. “How did they expect you to survive here? Just hold on tight. Your legs are going to be very tired tomorrow. I would keep one of the kids in front of me to hold them on myself. But you’re too big to fit in front of me. So you have to hold on tightly. There is no choice. You must do this.”

  Marianne climbed onto the stallion’s back effortlessly. She offered an arm to help Aziz up, but he was struggling to get fully astride Pascal. He finally used a bale of hay as a step stool. That, combined with Marianne pulling him up, let him scramble all the way onto the horse’s back, sitting behind her.

  He pulled himself snug against Marianne’s back, his arms wrapped around her stomach. She was only the second woman he'd ever wrapped his arms around. Marianne was much stronger, much more muscular than Rania. Every part of Rania always felt soft and gentle. Every part of Marianne felt hard and unyielding.

  His face was just behind her head. He smelled her aroma, felt her hair against his face.

  “All set?” Marianne asked.

  He nodded, but realized that she could not see that. He said, “I’m on as tightly as I think I can be.”

  Marianne said nothing else, but lightly flicked one rein and the horse turned to its left and started towards the road. Aziz was not ready for the motion; he bounced in place a bit. More notably, his hands slid up her torso. Suddenly, instead of both being wrapped around her muscular belly, one of his hands was now grabbing a breast.

  Marianne snapped on the reins and Pascal stopped suddenly. Aziz slammed into her back. She turned as far as she could towards him, shouting, “Never do that! This is not an excuse for some fantasy of yours!”

  He dropped his hands back down. “I-I-I’m so sorry. That was a complete accident. I guess this is harder than you make it look. I’ll try harder.”

  “You better do more than try,” she hissed. “If that happens again, even ‘accidentally’, I will break that hand and throw you off this horse. I will tell the guards where to find you. You will spend the rest of your days doing tasks you don’t want to imagine. I will probably let your Rania stay with me to help with the kids. But she’ll die knowing that the rest of your life will be hell.”

  Aziz started to cry. “I’m trying as hard as I can. I’ll let go if I risk losing control of where my hands are going. But please don’t be too hard on me if I fall off then.”

  Marianne took a deep breath, then spoke again, this time much more gently. “It’s okay. I do believe that was an accident. If I thought it wasn’t, you might already have a broken hand. I will try to be more gentle with the horse’s motions until you get more of a feel for the rhythm of it. With everything else you’re doing, you probably need to learn to ride by yourself as well.”

  Aziz wrapped his arms back around her belly, trying to stay lower on her this time. “Not too low, either,” Marianne said sternly, but without the venom in her earlier scolding.

  When she urged Pascal forward again, Aziz managed to maintain control. Within a few minutes, he felt much more comfortable on the horse and was getting used to when the movement would happen. He allowed his grip to relax a bit.

  As much as he was controlling his posture and hands now, he could not control where his mind wandered. He remembered how her bosom felt in his hand. She was not particularly large breasted; of course, neither was Rania. Unlike Rania, she did not wear any undergarment beneath her leather shirt. He guessed that made it easier for her to nurse.

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  Once again, his mind returned to the feeling of her breast in his hand. He knew he should not be thinking about this, but he couldn’t help it. That was the most erotic moment he’d had since entering hibernation. His crotch rubbed against her backside that he was squeezed tightly against. The thoughts and the sensations were having a predictable impact on his body, much to his horror.

  He wondered whether to slide backwards an inch or so to reduce the sensations. Before a decision could be made, Marianne spoke, “Don’t get too comfortable back there and let go, I need you to keep holding tight.”

  Although her voice lacked the venom it could have towards him at times, it still reminded him who he was thinking about. She hated him with a passion. Just not as much as she hated the council or the creature. That thought broke the spell and he regained control of his problem. The rest of the ride was easy. He watched the village come into view and looked more carefully at the houses that they passed. A few people on the road nodded or waved to Marianne. She nodded back to some of them. None of them seemed particularly happy to see her.

  ++++++

  When they arrived, the council was in a closed door session. The sergeant-at-arms immediately recognized Marianne but had to ask Aziz who he was. Fair enough, he’d only been on the planet less than forty eight hours. The official slid into the room, leaving the pair standing just outside the door.

  A few minutes later, he reappeared before leading them into the room, closing the door immediately behind them. In front of them was an arc of desks, each with a councilor seated behind it. The center seat held Renee Desjardins, the council president that Aziz had met the previous day. The other four were “representatives”. None of the members were elected; the foundation had appointed all five members before the original departure from Earth. Any replacements would be appointed by the remaining council members, although none had been needed yet. The original promise had been that this was a transitory system of government, but five years later, no plans to move to a democratic system had even been considered.

  Once the door was closed, the officer led them to two chairs opposite the five chairs. Before they even reached their seats, Renee Desjardins spoke, in a voice dripping in sarcasm and venom, “Look it’s the woman of the hour and her brown friend. Has his wife died yet?”

  Aziz was furious. He heard a noise from beside him and saw Marianne looking equally angry. But she controlled her emotions and put a hand on Aziz’s arm, signaling him to stay still and quiet. “She’s trying to bait us into behavior she can punish,” Marianne said in a whisper.

  “Did you say something, Mademoiselle Laurent?” Renee asked.

  “Nothing that concerns the council,” Marianne said.

  “Then strike all comments from the transcript made since the pair arrived. And note that Marianne Laurent and Aziz Gharbi have been seated in the chambers,” Renee instructed the automated transcription system.

  “I will start the hearing with two questions, followed by any questions from the other members of the council. Are there any objections to that process?” She paused only momentarily before continuing, “Hearing none, I declare this hearing in progress.”

  Renee asked the first question, “Based on your statement to me yesterday, you shot an unknown indigenous creature with your council awarded weapon, causing the seemingly intelligent and possibly sentient being to fall to its apparent death. Do you have any justification for this heinous action?”

  “The entity had laid an apparent trap for Aziz and me. I expected that it was climbing onto the plateau to kill Aziz. I shot to protect a fellow colonist.”

  “And ended the possible first contact with another sentient race. But of course you have a documented history of bigotry against other races, don’t you? Do you have any evidence that he was in imminent danger? Or was this just more reckless behavior by you?”

  Marianne clenched both her fists as she listened. This time, Aziz pats her arm to remind her to keep her anger in check.

  She took a deep breath and answered, “The entity had laid the same form of trap that it used to catch and kill my husband, Andre. It had broken the fence and hidden just below the top of the cliff, emerging as soon as Aziz started to repair the fence. I expect it would have dragged Aziz over the cliff if I had not shot it with my rifle.”

  “But the official report stated that your husband fell off the cliff with no mention of any creature.”

  Everyone turned to see Jacques Piton as he made the statement. He sat immediately to Renee’s right. “The President recognizes Councilor Piton for a question,” she stated.

  “How do you reconcile your opinion with the thoroughly investigated legal finding? And how do you justify your actions, given the unsupported nature of the claims you are making?” Jacques asked.

  “Everyone in this room knows that report is not worth the electrons that it’s stored with. And anyone who denies that is a bald faced liar.”

  Bang, bang, bang. “Order!” Renee snapped as she wielded her gavel like a weapon. “Any further disparagement of this council or its proceedings, past, present, or future will result in penalties for contempt of these proceedings. Is that clear?”

  Marianne and Aziz nodded their heads in submission.

  Renee asks, “Are there other questions from any of the council members?”

  She appeared ready to end the questioning when she noticed the councilor to her far left had his hand raised. “The President recognizes Councilor Clements for a question.”

  The member at the end took a deep breath, then spoke in a calm voice. “Only President Desjardins has heard your description of the encounter. Would you please enlighten us, so we may preside more wisely in this matter. Any detailed descriptions, including size and distance could be helpful.”

  Marianne took a deep breath of her own. Aziz watched as her hands relaxed. She then spoke, “The fence rail had been broken. For any of you who do not work on a farm, the rails that all our farms use are nearly indestructible. I have only learned of one other incident where a fence rail has broken since our arrival on this planet. That was the day Andre died.”

  The two councilors who have not yet spoken, both nodded their head. She had engaged them in this meeting. In a way that Aziz hoped was good for their side.

  “The fence is approximately one meter from the lip of the cliff. Aziz pulled out the two haves of the broken rail from the post on either side. As he started to insert one edge of the new rail into the far post, I saw the tip of a large entity emerge onto the plateau. It appeared to be the end of a huge tentacle, colored dark blue, approximately a half meter in diameter. A little over a meter of the tentacle was reaching towards the far post, where the far end of the rail was sliding in. I do not know whether it touched that post or not, but it must’ve been within 10 centimeters. That’s when I shot.”

  The two silent councilors each gasped. Even Jacques Piton shuddered. Renee just looked angry and sad.

  Councilor Clements asked, “Can you explain why you chose to fire?”

  Bang, bang, bang. “The councilor has not been recognized!”

  He raised his hand, but Renee refused to acknowledge him. “Any other member of the council wish to ask a question?”

  She was once again about to gavel the hearing to a close when the woman to her immediate left raised her hand. Renee sighed, “Councilor Ouellette is recognized.”

  The newly recognized councilor took a breath before asking, “Can you explain why you chose to fire?”

  “I presumed it was about to realize that it had gone for the wrong post and would soon try where Aziz was working. I didn’t feel it prudent to find how quickly it would make that realization and shift positions. I hit the tip of the tentacle and it made an amazingly loud call. Neither Aziz nor I could hear anything for most of the rest of the day. I understand that it was clearly audible in the village, which is what, five? six kilometers away? Between that sound and the sound of the crash when it hit the top of trees, the entity must've been enormous. I would guess five or ten tons, but I have no training to estimate something that sized.”

  “Any what training do you have? Beyond killing things. How many people did you slaughter while in the peace brigade?” Renee asked pointedly.

  “I served honorably in the brigade. We were sent into heavy combat. Over a third of our platoon was killed. I believe I was credited with twenty seven combatants killed. And zero civilians or comrades.”

  Jacques spoke up, “Madame President, you had not recognized yourself to ask a question.”

  “Right you are Councilor Piton.”

  She turned to the screen. “Please strike the previous question and its answer from the transcript.”

  She looked back up and asked, “Any further questions? Seeing none, the President calls this portion of the hearing to a close.” She had not even looked for any other questions.

  “The citizens are instructed not to speak of this incident to anyone outside this council chamber. Any such disclosure will subject either of you to penalties as levied by this council. The council will consider any other action or penalty required in response to your behaviors. Be prepared to surrender your rifle back to the council when requested.”

  Marianne raised her hand. Renee asked her, “Do you have a question about the proceedings?”

  “So you are telling us that we’re being punished, but nothing is being done to protect the colony?”

  Bang, bang, bang. “This insolence will not be tolerated! You are fined 100 credits.”

  Marianne turned and walked to the door where they entered.

  “If you leave now, you will be fined further!”

  Marianne looked at the sergeant-at-arms and he nodded, before opening the door for her.

  Bang, bang, bang.

  Aziz stood and turned towards the door as well.

  Renee raised her voice, almost shrieking at Aziz, “When your wife dies from her sleeping sickness, you’ll need friends here on the council. Think about what you’re doing!”

  Aziz stopped, his face taut with anger. He turned to face the council, the fury obvious to every member of the council. Then he took a deep breath and spoke calmly, “I know Marianne hates me. But she also saved my life and is sheltering me. What have you done for me? Did you expect her to leave me to be eaten out there? Is that why I got the farm I did?”

  He turned back away from the council and walked out, the sergeant-at-arms opening the door once again, The officer stepped outside the chambers with them.

  He turned to Marianne and said, “The colony owes you a debt of gratitude, even if that isn’t obvious in there. Thank you.” He offered his hand to her and they shook hands firmly, with real respect for each other. She nodded an acknowledgement to him and turned to walk out. Aziz followed closely behind.

  Still silent, Marianne quickly and effortlessly hopped onto Pascal. As she reached down to give Aziz a hand up, she finally spoke, “I heard what you said in there. Thank you. I wasn’t sure you had my back. Now I know.”

  With a big pull, she helped lift him so he was on the horse seated behind her. The mount seemed comfortable this time to Aziz. He didn’t think he looked nearly as awkward as he must have on their way here. He wrapped his arms around her waist. No verbal communication was needed this time, he settled in against her and she nudged Pascal to move.

  ++++++

  After riding for a few minutes, Aziz asked, “What can you tell me about the other three council members I’d not met?”

  “Georges Clements, is the only one of there with any balls. He’s willing to stand up to Renee. Not every time, he chooses his battles and he knows how far he can push it. She would replace him on the council if she thought she could get away with it. But he saved our bacon today.”

  “Not a phrase that rolls off my tongue, but I have to agree. Even being naive about the politics here, that was obvious.”

  Marianne laughed at his comment about the bacon. “Sorry for the phrasing.”

  “No problem at all. What about the other two?”

  “Michelle Ouellette was the one who picked up the questioning when she cut Georges off. That was the most open rebellion I’ve ever seen from her. Renee’s hold on power is feeling pretty tenuous right now. I was shocked by the open hostility towards her from the citizenry in the public meeting to announce you coming out of hyperspace. I had thought I was the only one who hated her.”

  “And the last one?”

  “Jean Martin. You’ve heard him speak as much as I have.”

  “But he seemed to react positively to what you had to say.”

  “Georges obviously knows the other two and what will work for them. He set me up to say exactly what they needed to hear. She overplayed her hand today and I don’t think either of us will see any official repercussions. I think I’ll keep the rifle, despite her wishes. I think we know pretty well which three members got me that rifle, probably against Renee’s wishes. But she’s pissed and is going to be looking for revenge, so be careful. Merde! I sounded just like Eleanor when I said that to you.”

  “Thank you. For the explanations and for everything else. I know you didn’t choose to host us, and wouldn’t have if you’d had a choice. But I’m glad you are.”

  They rode the rest of the way back to the house in silence.

  ++++++

  At the house, Marianne took both kids back from Rania while Aziz recounted the meeting to his wife. She was aghast at Renee’s actions. At the end, she said, “I’m proud of you that you stood with Marianne in front of the council. That took courage.”

  Marianne asked Aziz if he could assemble lunch. “Just cheese sandwiches, mixed greens, none for Genevieve, she gets cut up carrots. And more spiced tea with milk. It’s our usual lunch."

  “I’ll help you,” Rania said. They quickly assembled lunch while Marianne played with her children, something that seemed especially important to her at the moment.

  After lunch, Marianne and Aziz went back to working through her high priority two person tasks. Despite his assurances this morning, they both knew he wouldn’t be able to do as much with Marianne once he started working on his own house and farm as well.

  That evening, Marianne coached Aziz through cooking dinner while Rania helped her with the kids. He was pretty comfortable he understood cooking in her kitchen now. Unlike childcare, he’d learned to cook when he was growing up; his cooking was a source of personal pride.

  Rania and Aziz snuggled in bed again that night. Despite his needs, he knew she did not have the energy for sex. He carefully avoided any evidence that he was frustrated by the situation. But his mind wandered to the incident on the horse, when he’d accidentally grabbed Marianne’s breast. He could still feel it in his hand. Once again, his body reacted predictably, a sign he could not hide from Rania.

  Her response surprised him. She asked, “How was riding on the horse with Marianne? I didn’t want to ask in front of her. Or the kids.”

  “It went well. I’m starting to get comfortable with Pascal.”

  Rania picked up her head and looked at him. “You haven’t had sex in five years. You are holding onto a beautiful woman and you want me to believe all you were worried about was the horse? I know you better than that. I trust you and I know we love each other. But tell me what really happened.”

  Aziz grimaced and sighed. “When the horse started moving, I had my hands wrapped around Marianne’s belly to hold on. But I wasn’t really ready for him to actually move. I mean, I don’t expect chairs or benches to move when I’m sitting on them. I got jostled around and one of my hands ended up holding onto her breast.”

  Rania laughed. Aziz protested, “It wasn’t funny. She threatened to break my hand and throw me off the horse if I let it happen again. I think she meant it.”

  Rania was still chuckling when she said, “What did you do then?”

  “I moved my hands lower on her abdomen. But she warned me not to go too low either. I tried to hold onto the horse with my legs as much as I could. My legs are so sore tonight.”

  “But you kept thinking about that breast, didn’t you?”

  Aziz sheepishly nodded.

  “And it made you hard, just like it did tonight.”

  He nodded again.

  She seemed bemused. “What did you do about that?”

  “I’d already relaxed my grip a bit as I got more comfortable with the horse’s movement. I tried to loosen more and shift back, so I wasn’t rubbing against her backside. But she scolded me to not get lackadaisical about my riding. She said she needed me to stay healthy enough to earn my keep. Her scolding was enough to solve the problem.”

  Still lightly laughing, Rania said, “I don’t think we want to ask her in to scold you now. Maybe we can find another solution to your current problem.”

  She reached a hand down and grabbed his mostly erect cock. Any lacking it had was suddenly gone. He moaned softly.

  “I will help you tonight. And don’t worry about me. I’m past that point now. But I want you to still be happy.”

  It only took a few strokes on his cock before he exploded. He was so beyond ready for that release. He grabbed his used underwear and wiped up the huge puddle on his abdomen. Rania reached down and kissed him then collapsed on his chest.

  She said, “I don’t know how many more times I can help you. But I don’t want you to let yourself get so anxious again. It’s going to need to be your hand, but I want to be holding onto you when you do. It’s not the sex we both want, but it’s the best we can have. We need to find ways everyday to make the rest of our time together as special as we can for each other.”

  Aziz sobbed. He pulled her tightly against his chest.

  “Not quite so hard, Aziz. I’m fragile now. Save your hard squeezes for Marianne.”

  Aziz chuckles broke his sobbing, although not all the tears.

  ++++++

  That night, Marianne had her own thoughts at bed time. She’d only masturbated a handful of times since Andre had died. Usually, she was just too tired. But sometimes the need would take her. She assumed it would be her only sexual outlet for the remainder of her life. There were only two eligible men on the planet. Neither of whom held any appeal to her. And she had no time for courtship anyway.

  But tonight, she could still feel her breast from when Aziz’s hand had accidentally grabbed her. She was furious when he did it, but it actually felt good. She chuckled thinking about his terror of her anger. He was more willing to fall off than do that again. His biggest fear if he fell off was her anger. He was trying so hard.

  Speaking of hard, she’d noticed his erection a few minutes later. He seemed to have enjoyed that accidental grab as well. He was about to risk falling off so she wouldn’t notice. Her scolding seemed to do the trick. She remembered Andre standing behind her, squeezing her tightly. She could feel his erection against her back. For almost four years, they’d lived a loving life up here. If Pierre allowed it, those embraces would generally end in loving sex.

  Her right hand reached down to her crotch as she remembered how Andre reached down. Her left hand reached up to her breast, giving it a gentle squeeze. She realized, while she was imagining Andre’s hand stroking her pussy, she was thinking of Aziz’s hand squeezing her breast. Before she could consider this more thoroughly, Genevieve started crying softly in her crib a few feet away.

  Marianne sighed, getting up to check on her daughter. She settled the toddler back into place before lying back onto her own mattress. The thoughts now disturbed, she closed her eyes and was soon sound asleep.