A Prince's Duty

by Lily Anton

  It wasn't stupidity and it wasn't ignorance (as her team had come to learn and accept); it was just how she operated, how her brain worked, and no amount of coaching could change it.

  The being weighing her down probably very easily could have crushed her wrists or snapped her neck…and that only served to fuel the telltale signs of arousal coiling inside of her.

  He was dangerous, and was an anomaly neither Satina, nor her team, understood.

  That simply added to the thrill of it: the fact that she didn't understand…that she couldn't predict his actions or what could possibly happen next.

  She didn't move and chose to just lay there, schooling her expression when the alien's eyes softened...seemingly placated, for a time.

  By what, she wasn't quite certain, but she was apparently no longer perceived as a threat.

  Satina didn't squirm, didn't struggle, remaining absolutely still and silent as she waited for the large male above her to make his next move.

  As shameless as she usually was, it was to Satina's chagrin that she found herself almost painfully aroused without the male on top of her even having done anything.

  Okay, so maybe, just maybe, Satina had a xenophilia thing going on. But that was to be expected considering all the differing alien species she’d met over the years.

  In a society and job where she met, discovered, and interacted with sapient alien species and races on a day to day basis, it was just as much of a hindrance as it was beneficial.

  As a rule, her fellow teammates were exempt from her fixation.

  But the male Nagarren between her legs, pinning her to the ground and dwarfing her smaller form, certainly was not.

  Maybe it was time to break the ice.

  Satina cleared her throat, "Uh… Hi."

  Perfect.

  All she received in response was a long, hard stare that looked slightly confused, but with Satina struggling to read his expressions and body language, she knew better than to just assume that was the case.

  The other Nagarren had spoke Earth English, but of course, that didn’t mean the male on top of her did as well, despite her educated guess that he would have.

  It would be better to ask directly, in the case that she was mistaken.

  "Do you… Understand what I'm saying?" she spoke slowly, feeling relieved when received a nod in response.

  "Can you talk?"

  Another nod.

  "Can you talk right now?"

  A shake of his head ‘no’ confirmed Satina's rising suspicions; watching with thinly concealed interest as the large male sat back and motioned behind his ears to where she knew there were gill-like slits.

  Maybe the implication should have been obvious, and she should have easily been able to put two and two together, but she found that she was only drawing up blanks, a frown marring her face and confusion knitting her brow.

  The Nagarren showed no signs of irritation or even exasperation; he just seemed to take it in stride, like he hadn't expected anything more from her.

  She watched as it raised its own wrist in order to inspect the IV needle taped in place, eyeing it curiously, like he didn't understand its functionality, before grabbing it with the intention of simply yanking it out.

  Satina was quick to stop him.

  "Uh- No. Wait. Don't… Don't do that," she panicked, swallowing dryly as she carefully reached out to take his wrist into one hand before gently peeling away the adhesive and sliding the needle out of his vein, eyebrows raising as a blue-black substance congealed on the surface of his skin.

  His blood, Satina noted, carefully wiping it off with her own thumb.

  That same softness was present in the alien’s eyes when Satina looked up at him again, resisting the urge to squirm away and avert her own.

  His gaze was raw and intense, and Satina couldn't help but feel naked beneath it.

  She took a few deep breaths to calm herself; relaxing again when his eyes flitted elsewhere, sweeping over their surroundings; staring intensely at the bag that his IV drip had been attached to and where it was hanging

  on a stand beside the cot.

  He gestured towards it.

  It took her a moment to register what he meant.

  "Water?" she tried simply, receiving a nod in response.

  "Gills… Water…" Satina began mumbling to herself, eyebrows furrowing in concentration, like she was thinking really hard about what he could possibly mean.

  It had been some time since she'd last visited Earth, or encountered any sort of sentient aquatic species and a Nagarren (particularly an aquatic one) was not one she thought she’d ever run into.

  "You need to be in water?"

  She mentally congratulated herself when he nodded in confirmation.

  "If we find somewhere to dunk you in… Uh… Will you be able to speak?"

  Another confirmation.

  Satina felt like she was on a roll and absolutely brilliant.

  "Is any type of water fine? Does it need to be a specific kind? I know, on Earth, some species-"

  She cut herself off mid-sentence when she received a responding nod for the umpteenth time.

  "What should I call you?"

  The male arched an eyebrow.

  "Your name?"

  He flashed a small smile which Satina missed as she realized it had been a stupid question to ask.

  Still, the Nagarren opened his mouth to speak, obviously frustrated with his lack of voice but trying to do his best.

  Satina stared at his lips and resisted the urge to lick her own as she tried to get his name.

  “O…dair…”

  She squinted and leaned forward as if those two things together would help her hearing.

  "O’dair?” she repeated back slowly, surprised when she received a pleased smile in response.

  He really needed not to smile like that at her or she’d just become a puddle of pure arousal.

  CHAPTER 3

  "Alright, well… This is it."

  O’dair looked towards her curiously.

  "It's the tank we use to keep aquatic specimens in for transportation; there hasn't been anything in it for a while, because that hasn't been our focus, but…Kandann keeps it clean, if that was a concern."

  The tank in question was located in Kandann's private study on the ship, and while Satina knew with absolute certainty that he really wouldn't appreciate Satina messing with his equipment, she justified her actions by telling herself it was for a good cause.

  It spanned the length of an entire wall: easily large enough to accommodate several large creatures at once (given that they rarely encountered any noteworthy small species), the depth and width of the tank was a necessity. The top of the tank was level with her waist- a feature present solely for ease of access, and quick, painless transportation.

  The height allowed for O’dair to effortlessly lift himself over the reinforced outer edge, after Satina pulled back the top cover; designed to prevent outside contaminants from entering the water.

  She watched in silence as O’dair slid into the water with a nearly inhuman degree of fluidity, something which Satina had been certain (based on watching him as he tripped over himself) there was no way he possessed.

  At least considering his injuries.

  Still, if anything, it was endearing.

  There were all sorts of various sub-species of Nagarren, and while her first encounter had been with the more common ‘sand dweller’, O’dair’s rarity and uniqueness only increased considering his was a rarer aquatic type.

  The educated guesses her and her team had all made about the Nagarrens they’d encountered being in the upper echelons of their society were all but confirmed in Satina’s mind now.

  His movements made it clear that water truly was his natural element, that same clumsiness he'd displayed on land now nowhere to be found. O’dair looked comfortable and relieved; eyes closing in apparent satisfaction as he allowed himself to be enveloped by the gentle lapping of the water, ba
sking in its touch.

  Satina didn't fail to notice that he'd chosen to keep his pants on and wasn’t sure if she was grateful or disappointed for it.

  It too, crossed her mind that perhaps the almost ritualistic scene playing out before her was something that would be better carried out in complete privacy... but, that would involve Satina leaving the room, which Satina had no intention of doing.

  Supervision was mandatory; who knew what kind of damage her new companion could inflict…the harm he could cause…?

  Satina had known him for all of half an hour; and despite her near instant attraction to him, it didn’t mean that she’d trust the Nagarren with Kandann’s precious research.

  Well that, and maybe Satina wanted to watch.

  She entertained the idea of that being a little strange, but seriously doubted that O’dair minded.

  Satina wasn't entirely sure that O’dair even understood Satina's attraction towards him. How could he, when Satina truthfully didn't even understand it herself?

  She attempted to chalk it up to mere fascination…to something that would pass...

  ‘As soon as he fucks it out of you’ a sly voice in the back of her mind supplied.

  Satina shook her head to clear the dirty thought, allowing her eyes to trace over the dark silhouette of O’dair's figure, backlit by the lighting in the tank, and now subconsciously wetting her lips.

  His bodily proportions were perfect: the width of his shoulders, the breadth of his chest and back, the slight dip of his waist, the width of his hips leading evenly into thick, smooth tentacles.

  Tentacles?

  Satina rubbed at her eyes with the heels of her palms as she stared in complete disbelief.

  Fuck.

  She had to just be projecting a long-running fantasy of hers onto him because there was no way that—

  Ten smooth, inky-blue tentacles cascaded down from where Satina assumed his hips were, replacing his two very humanoid, bipedal legs he'd just had moments prior.

  The water had acted as a catalyst, triggering a natural, physiological response…adapting to the changing environment.

  Or, perhaps, reverting back to his true, aquatic form…the one he belonged in, from where he had adapted from the water to land instead.

  This wasn't even fair.

  Satina reasoned that she had never even stood a chance in the first place…losing all semblance of composure and subsequently dropping her efforts to keep her own uncontrollable arousal at bay.

  She figured her sudden lightheadedness was due to the fact that all of the blood in her body had seemingly almost instantaneously rushed straight down to between her legs, instead of doing what it was supposed to do, like, keep her alive…keep her conscious…keep her from falling ove—

  Satina legs chose that moment to almost give out from beneath her, causing O’dair's eyes to snap open, his concentration lost and his focus redirected as Satina unsteadily took herself to the floor, the sound of it jarring in the quiet space around them.

  O’dair frowned, his confusion clear as he leaned over, arms gripping the padded edge as a couple of his tentacles moved their way up the side of the tank.

  In contrast to ink-blue, the underside of each tentacle (much like his eyes now), glowed a startling shade of cloud-gray, all lined with several rows of what appeared to be suckers, that were smoothly camouflaged.

  His expression shifted then as he looked to be considering something.

  Satina felt compelled to avert her eyes.

  Her love of sex and a good time had never been a question, just as it had never been a phony excuse to sleep around, like her team, perhaps, thought it was.

  She found it highly unsettling that she was having such a reaction to this particular male...and so quickly.

  "Human," the alien rasped, his voice low, hoarse from disuse: a deep, undeniably pleasant baritone that certainly didn't improve her plight.

  It took a few seconds for Satina to even register that he was calling her.

  "It's…" she paused, clearing her throat. “Satina. I'm Satina."

  "Satina," O’dair repeated back carefully.

  Satina's clit actually fucking throbbed beneath the confines of her jeans.

  She automatically squeezed her thighs together as if it would alleviate the warm pressure.

  One of the tentacles curling over the edge of the tank, twitched as a conflicted expression settled on O’dair's face.

  "What is causing you distress?"

  Each syllable was enunciated carefully, like the words were uncomfortable for him to form in his mouth, yet he spoke smoothly, each word like a caress across her skin.

  Satina opened her mouth, as though to protest, but closed it again shortly thereafter when she realized that there was no refuting it. Never one for beating around the bush, Satina caved easily.

  "It's… my body is annoying," she began with a resigned sigh, "Makes me feel like I have no self-control."

  "Are you ill?"

  Satina gave a little chuckle, shaking her head, "No, no. I'm not sick or anything- I just, uh…"

  She couldn’t believe she was openly admitting to him exactly what was happening.

  If she was lucky, perhaps her new alien companion wouldn't even have a solid understanding of what she was about to tell him.

  She deemed that minute possibility highly unlikely, but still considered the fact that O’dair may have had an entirely different perception of sex all together.

  She'd phrase it vaguely…in a way that O’dair could easily understand.

  "My body wants to have sex."

  Right. Very subtle. Good job, Satina.

  Both he and the sole tentacle perked up in tandem…intrigued.

  He looked interested, curious, and eager to learn more.

  "And does sex not interest you?"

  "Um…it does," she admitted, considering her words, "Sex is great. Works well for stress-relief, among other things… Just, not all the time."

  "Your body wants sex, but you do not?" O’dair asked, head cocked to the side.

  Satina sighed in slight exasperation, shaking her head,

  "No, I do, definitely do- just, I'd prefer if it were on my own terms."

  "I understand."

  “You do?” she asked, eyebrow raised.

  “Yes. It is why I left my planet. It was required that I select a mate and I did not wish to do so. Having not made a selection, one was made for me and I refused.”

  Satina wanted to tell him that wasn’t what she had meant exactly, but by the annoyed look on his face as he recounted what had happened to him, she chose to remain quiet.