Page 32 of Alien Attachment
This is highly problematic for what remains of my sanity.
When she finally stirs, I jerk my tendrils back, fighting to maintain control over systems that want nothing more than to wrap around her and never let go. She blinks awake slowly, and when her gaze focuses on me, something hot and immediate sparks between us.
“How long?” she asks, her voice rough with sleep in a way that goes straight to my core.
“Three hours, forty minutes,” I reply, my voice rougher than intended. “No pursuit detected.”
She stretches, arching her back in a movement that draws the fabric of her jumpsuit tight across her breasts and reveals more of that maddening expanse of skin I’ve been fantasizing about. The sight sends heat cascading through me with such intensity that my bioluminescence flickers involuntarily.
“Did you just... glow at me?” she asks, sitting up with a smile that’s far too knowing for my comfort.
“Involuntary response to visual stimuli,” I reply stiffly.
“Visual stimuli.” She deliberately stretches again, and my bioluminescence betrays me with another pulse. “Interesting. What other responses do I trigger?”
“You don’t want to know,” I say, as three more tendrils extend despite my best efforts to control them.
“I think I do.” She stands, moving through the ship’s small space with unconscious grace, and I’m treated to watching every curve and line of her body as she moves. “For example, are your tendrils always this... active around me?”
I glance down to find that no fewer than six appendages have extended toward her without my permission, creating what could generously be described as a “reaching” configuration.
“They appear to have developed strong opinions about optimal positioning,” I admit.
“Optimal positioning for what?”
“Touching you,” I say honestly. “At all times. Preferably in ways that would make you make those sounds again.”
Her cheeks flush, but there’s satisfaction in her expression rather than embarrassment. “What sounds?”
“The little gasp you made when I pulsed current through your skin. The way you sighed when I touched that sensitive spot behind your ear.” My voice drops lower as I watch her reaction. “The soft moan when I demonstrated exactly what ‘pleasure induction’ means.”
Her flush deepens, spreading down her throat, but she doesn’t look away. “You remember all of that?”
“I remember everything,” I say, my voice rough with wanting. “Every sound, every response, every way your body moved against mine.”
She sits up slowly, deliberately, and I catch sight of her jumpsuit gaping at the neckline. Instead of covering herself, she seems to relish my obvious hunger. “What else do you remember?”
“According to every rational thought left in my head,” I admit. “Which are becoming fewer by the moment.”
“And what do your irrational thoughts suggest?” she asks, standing and moving through the ship’s small space with unconscious grace.
The question stops my breath. “You don’t want to know.”
She begins cataloguing our stolen vessel’s resources with efficient precision, but I notice how she unconsciously traces surfaces I’ve touched, how she seems hyperaware of my presence in the confined space. When she discovers the hidden compartment, her expression shifts to surprise.
“Emergency rations, medical supplies, and...” She holds up a cache of untraceable credits. “Well, well. Our bounty hunter friend was planning his own retirement.”
“At least we won’t starve,” I observe. “Though his retirement plans appear to have been... interrupted.”
“His loss, our gain.” She continues exploring the compartment. “Found something else interesting,” she adds, discovering additional entertainment modules. She picks one up, reads the label, and her face turns an appealing shade of pink. “‘Advanced Interspecies Intimacy: Practical Techniques for Cross-Cultural Bonding.’”
“Educational,” I observe.
“Very educational.” She quickly puts it back, but not before I catch her glancing at me speculatively. “Our bounty hunter friend had... comprehensive interests.”
“Perhaps he was a researcher,” I suggest innocently.
“Right. A researcher.” She clears her throat, holding up another module.
