by Leela Ash
He was almost hoping that she would refuse so that the matter would be taken out of his hands. Captain Kane would take over and she would have no choice but to listen to his reasoning. He was one of the most persuasive men in the Driad community, and if anybody could explain the importance of their mission to her, it would be him.
Pria was sitting up on the thin grey couch they had set up in her room to make it more comfortable. She was holding a very outdated magazine that had been placed on the end table. It was flipped open, but her eyes were staring out into the room.
“Are you all right?” Zander asked softly, approaching her as the doors hummed closed behind him. She registered the care in his voice, the concern on his face, and shifted over to make room for him on the couch beside her. He understood the cue and sat down close to her, his leg pressed against hers. He was hot to the touch, she realized, not just warm like she was. Feeling his body pressing against hers seemed to carry that heat straight into her loins, and she felt a hot red flush creep across her cheeks.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said softly. “I’ve just been thinking, that’s all.”
“What about?” he asked, his magnetic and unique eyes boring into hers. She let herself get lost in them for a moment before answering.
“About what you said.”
“Which thing?” he asked with a small smile.
“The…I’ll do it.”
“What?” he asked, genuinely surprised.
“I don’t see how I could say no. Most people aren’t just handed a chance to help to play a part in saving the entire universe. What kind of jerk would I be to say no?”
“I…do you understand what this would entail?”
“I think so…”
“You would have to trust us completely. Put your life in our hands. Be willing to fall under the scalpel at any time of day or night. You would be surrendering control to us. Is that what you want?”
“Well…”
“And that’s just for the vaccination. What about…”
“I’ll do that too.”
“Are you absolutely sure?” Zander asked, his eyes wide.
Pria smiled, putting his face in her hands and pulling him close to her. Zander’s hearts both began to quicken and he tried to speak but he faltered. He had been so nervous about this moment, but now with her hands on his skin, nothing could have felt more right.
“I’m sure,” she said, her long-lashed eyes speaking volumes that she couldn’t dare to say out loud. She couldn’t possibly explain to him how he lingered in her mind long after he left. How she longed to let herself explore the entirety of his body. What other little differences would she find?
Zander ran his strong hands through her soft auburn hair, exhaling quietly as he did so. She melted under his touch and leaned her hand against his cheek. He pulled her face close to his, and waited for a brief pause as he gazed at her face. She was the most captivating person he had ever seen. He loved the way her blue eyes glowed when she looked at him, and the way her body looked in the clothes she had arrived in from Earth. They hadn’t changed them yet since the procedures hadn’t been very invasive, but he came to her now with a new change of clothes. And something else.
“Are you sure?” he asked, not wanting to get his own hopes up if she would back out. He felt a stiffening of his groin as the reality washed over him. Her hands on his skin, cool and sensual. Her body offered up to him on a silver platter to unlock secrets that could save the galaxy.
“Yes,” she whispered.
She wanted something. Her voice seemed high pitched. Her full lips were so close to his own. He was tempted to draw her close to him, to feel the tender mouth against his own. But Able and Krill would be there, watching from the observation room. He had only come to get an answer.
Zander stood up abruptly, looking down with pained eyes at Pria.
“I’m so glad you decided to help us. Please put this gown on. The testing will begin tomorrow.”
“All right, Zander,” Pria said, her voice disappointed.
He could feel her eyes watching him as he handed her the gown and headed out of her room. He couldn’t give in to his temptations. Especially not when Able and Krill were watching. It just wouldn’t be ethical. It might even stir dissent upon the ship and get him demoted. Worse, he would be labeled unworthy and sent back to population control on the mother ship, where the ordinary Driad citizens tried to carve out a life for themselves as much as they possibly could.
He couldn’t allow that. And he couldn’t love Pria. Not when their lives were so different. Even their bodies, their hearts. And that was what love really boiled down to. He would just have to hold back.
* **
Pria watched Zander go, feeling dissatisfied. She felt sure they’d had a connection, and even opened the door for him to feel her attraction to him. But he didn’t quite seem to get it. In fact, he looked confused, or pained in some way. Did he find her repulsive? Of course he did. Men on Earth could be shallow enough. What would a man from another planet think of a woman who was nothing like the women on his own world?
Pria sighed. She shouldn’t have bothered to get her hopes up. And yet, she hadn’t done so consciously. Every time she saw Zander, it was like her body couldn’t help but react to him in one way or another. She was craving his touch, more of that hot skin on her own. How could she help herself? It was a physical reaction she was having, nothing more and nothing less. She would just have to accept that and let it go. He wasn’t going to be attracted to her. She had been wasting time even considering it.
She would just have to do what they wanted her to do and hope that the process was fast and easy. Anything short of that would be difficult and she hoped they would let her revoke her permission. But somehow she doubted it. If what they were saying was true, then their tests on her would be too important. She had agreed. Of course, Zander would probably let her out of it. He seemed kind and compassionate enough. But was he really? He had just left her hanging there. What did she really know about these people anyway?
What if they were lying to her? But the doubt seemed weak. She had already felt in her intuition, and Pria’s intuition was rarely wrong, that Zander was telling the truth.
She leaned back against the couch and sighed, wondering what in the world she had gotten herself into.
Chapter Seven
Pria moaned. Her body was on fire. She had never been more aroused in her life. It felt like every inch of her was begging for release. Any touch would do for her. She just wanted to feel something. She tried moving, hoping to let her hands roam her throbbing body, but she realized that she couldn’t move.
She opened her eyes weakly and saw a blurry silhouette.
“Zander?” she asked, bucking her hips against her restraints. She needed his touch. Needed to feel him on top of her, inside of her.
“Yes, Pria. It’s me,” he said in a hushed whisper.
He had known the arousal serum would test all of his boundaries, but he hadn’t expected it to be this torturous. His groin throbbed in longing as he witnessed Pria becoming a slave to her own desires, and cursed the man who had unlocked the key to putting human women into heat. It would help their studies and overall understanding of Earth’s human biology, but being trapped in this room, so close to her body, knowing that she was aching for his touch was too much.
“Zander,” she panted, closing her eyes again. She couldn’t bear to look at him, not when she felt like this. She wouldn’t make a fool of herself by coming on to him when she felt it was clear that he had rejected her. “I didn’t know it would be like this.”
“Neither did I,” he replied, his voice tight. “Don’t worry, it will be over soon. We’re almost done getting the readings. Then I can inject you with something that will make you feel better.”
“Inject me?” Pria said with a soft giggle. Zander swallowed hard.
“You feel this way because of a serum I had to give you while you were sleeping. It’
s to test your body’s biorhythms…I’m really sorry for the inconvenience.”
He had learned the last line from a feed the Driads had intercepted from customer service representatives on Earth’s phone lines. Much of his class had been taken from case studies such as these.
Pria whimpered when his hand grazed her arm, and he gritted his teeth, wishing they could both find some relief from their situation. Unfortunately, that would be impossible. Krill and Able were analyzing the data, and if they saw him act unprofessionally they would surely report him. There were many Driad men who were eager for a chance to captain on such an important mission. He shouldn’t make it easy for them to replace him.
Finally, Krill signaled the green light and Zander sighed in relief, injecting her with the cool-off serum. He wished he could have a little bit of that for himself, and he was sure it wouldn’t take all of her arousal away, just the worst of it. There had to be a better way to gather information from her. Couldn’t he have someone else do it?
But it was his job. And the thought of letting any of the other Driads near Pria, especially in this state of arousal, made him recoil. Except for Shef, who he knew had an aversion to humans. It would be torture for the poor man. He wouldn’t do it to him. His only choice was to accept his fate and do his best not to make a fool of himself in front of his crew. Nobody would need to know about his reaction, although his erection was sure to give him away. If he could just sneak away from the room and have some privacy, then everything would be fine and they could get on with the rest of the tests without him.
“You should be feeling better any second now,” Zander said softly, taking her hand in his and squeezing it. She squeezed back, and her urgent writhing began to subside, until she was panting heavily with her eyes closed, her forehead beaded with sweat.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“We’re going to give you some privacy now, but we will be back this afternoon to take some blood.”
“All right,” she replied.
He left the room swiftly, and headed to his private chambers. The look on his face made it clear that he didn’t feel like interacting with anybody. Even Shef kept his distance, even though he was normally burning with curiosity to find out whatever he could about the supposedly vicious human race. Shef was terrified of them, but Zander had always been intrigued by humans. Was that why he was so drawn to Pria? Or was it something else? Something about her specifically?
He locked himself in his small room and sat on the bed with a heavy sigh. How was he going to handle more tests like these? There were at least three left to do, and each one would surely be more torturous than the last. He laid back in his bed and gently stroked his pulsing groin, unable to get the thought out of his mind that Pria would be doing the same thing. The scientists had been dismissed after the testing and had to move on for preparations of the next experiments. That meant that nobody would be in the observation room.
He knew it would be dishonorable to go and watch her there. But maybe he could say he had gone for the sake of science. He felt a thrill in his abdomen from the thought, and his member stiffened in his hand. He had never needed release so badly in his life. But should he really resort to spying?
***
Pria moaned softly, pulling the sheets up over her body and roaming her hand over the mound of her vulva. Whatever serum they had given her had really taken its toll, and she could think of nothing but getting herself off before they came back.
She tentatively dipped her fingers into her wet slit, closing her eyes as the gentle thrill overwhelmed her. She didn’t want to keep going in case they were still there somewhere, watching her, but the thought almost made her cum. Would it really be so bad to give some horny guy a show, she wondered to herself, gazing at the two-way mirror where she knew the Driads liked to observe her. She felt a powerful pull when her eyes reached the glass, as if somebody was really in there and knew what she was doing. She couldn’t help but let a seductive smile spread across her face, and she spread her legs a little wider. It wouldn’t hurt anybody.
She closed her eyes and slipped two fingers inside herself, moaning immediately as she began to work off the tension from the experiments. She hadn’t known what she was in for when she agreed to surrender herself to Zander. She wished that he was there, and swallowed hard. What if he was the person in the observation space? He hadn’t been able to hide his massive erection from her. She’d been looking, hoping for it.
She closed her eyes, hammering her fingers harder into herself and imagining it was Zander’s huge cock. Her walls tightened around her fingers and she uttered a low moan as they were flooded by her orgasm. It hadn’t taken long. Not much of a show for the person who was watching her, but at least she felt better. Pria lowered her eyelids and fell into a blissful sleep.
Zander looked down at the mess he had made on the control panel of the observation room. He had let his lust make the decision for him, and found himself still cumming hard even as Pria’s orgasm dwindled away and she was pulled into sleep. That was the thing about their sex organs, he knew. His would keep going, more powerful and explosive than a human male’s. Would she be able to handle it? Probably not.
He closed his eyes, remembering the sensual smile she had cast into the room. Almost as if she had known he was there. The look on her face overwhelmed him with pleasure and he finally released the last of his load into his hands. Zander sighed. He had some cleaning up to do before the others got back.
Chapter Eight
The next time Zander saw Pria, things felt awkward. Zander felt ashamed of himself for being a voyeur, but Pria just felt as if she had been rejected. Whether her arousal had aroused him or not wasn’t an issue. But when they could have kissed, he refused her. She was sure she wouldn’t meet up to his standards of a woman anyway. Beauty was always in the eye of the beholder.
He hooked up a few machines to her body and gave her a curt nod before leaving. He felt too embarrassed to face her. Pria watched him go, frowning, wondering if touching him so intimately had been wrong of her. She wished that they could talk about it, but there wasn’t really much left for her to say.
A few hours later, he returned, and she got her hopes up. She thought that maybe he really did want to talk to her and everything had just been a misunderstanding. But when he returned, his face was grim and serious.
“Follow me,” he said. He normally would have helped her up, but he didn’t dare to touch her. Not after the things he had been thinking about doing to her the day before.
“Where are we going?” she asked as he led her through the bay. She took in the vast sights and sounds of the spaceship. Many of the Driads stopped what they were doing to stare at her. She remembered Shef’s fear of humans and made a face at them. Several of them cowered, while others laughed. She was spunky, they had to hand her that. But she was going to save the universe. There wasn’t much to fear.
“We need other tests done. Vitals. Physical limitations, things like that.”
“Physical limitations?” she asked, stopping him in the corridor and staring him in the eye. He shifted uncomfortably and looked away.
“Nothing painful of course, or um…we’re just going to have you exercise for a while, okay? See what you’re capable of. It will help us in the future when we use your test results to create the hybrids.”
“I see,” she said softly, following him into an open room. It was much like the one they had been keeping her in, but it was full of strange equipment. Some things looked similar to the machines she would find in a gym on Earth, but others looked terrifying.
“We have to hook you up to these monitors here,” he said, turning to her. He gently brushed the shoulder of her gown down, revealing her clavicle and part of her round, white breast. He tried not to stare as he hooked her up and turned away quickly. “This one needs to go over your heart.”
He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, before facing her again and pulling the gown down, revealing her
breasts. She felt a little embarrassed, but surprised to find that he lacked the hostility she expected to find in him. She had believed that he didn’t like her. She never would have guessed that he was so shy. Maybe that was why he hadn’t kissed her.
She inhaled sharply as his hot fingers pressed the hook up to her chest. She wanted to feel more of his touch, but it was over too soon.
“Krill here will show you how to use the equipment and what to do.”
“Okay…”
Zander moved to a bench and started fiddling with his watch. A hologram popped up and she realized that although she could hear and speak different languages, she still couldn’t read them. How far in life would that get her learning French? It didn’t matter.
She endured two hours’ worth of physical tests as Zander took notes and observed her. She would glance over at him from time to time and realize that he was staring at her. She expected him to look annoyed or indifferent, and was shocked to realize that he looked sad. Maybe it was true then. Maybe Zander was just a shy man who was just as confused about his feelings as she was about her own.
If that was the case, then she would just have to do her best not to blame him for refusing her. Maybe alien customs of showing affection were different. Maybe they didn’t even kiss. She had no idea. All she knew was that she very desperately wanted to find out.
***
Zander paced his room, realizing unhappily that he had been doing this a lot lately. It was a way that he liked to relieve stress, but sometimes it backfired and just made him feel more anxious. It was a habit his mother had tried to break him of, saying it drove her to the brink seeing him pace like that. But he couldn’t help it. He couldn’t get Pria out of his mind. The tests were going to advance soon and then she would be returned to Earth. He just had a couple of days left with her. Would he be able to live with himself if he just let her go back without ever having the courage to act on his feelings?