Chapter 20
Twenty
Ellie
Ellie was alone for the first time since waking in this strange new life.
Pilot had decommissioned all the extra droids he had made.
They had no use now that this place was almost entirely cleaned up, and he claimed that he didn't want them sticking around when they were just copies of himself.
She didn't really blame him for that. Ellie knew what it was like to have exact replicas of who she was all around.
It was rather eerie, and she couldn't imagine how strange it was for the Original of all of them.
But once only Pilot remained, he had informed her he was heading to the other facilities to check over the squid’s work.
They should all be online. The power seemed to be coming on in increments in this building, which meant clearly something was right.
But Pilot had to make sure it was all perfect.
She'd watched him roll into the water and disappear, and a strange feeling overcame her.
This was... odd. Lonely, maybe. But also it was the first time in her life that she'd been able to stand in complete and utter silence, and not have someone else talking. Even in the distance.
At first, she wasn't sure what to do with herself. She'd gone through one of the few doors they'd left without the barricade against the sand. She'd poked her head out now that the storms had passed to see what the real world looked like.
Awe inspiring.
And terrifying.
Even standing in that doorway looking out at the vast, rolling dunes of sand, all she could think was that humans were doomed if they lived here.
There wasn't life on this planet. Only the blistering sun, the intense heat that made her mouth feel dry just standing in it for a few minutes, and the endless wasteland.
From what she had read in the woman's diary, this place had once been green. Plants had dotted the land as far as the eye could see, and even more if they kept going. Trees had lived here. Ellie had only ever seen pictures of them.
But now, there was nothing. A few scraggly, skeletal remains of what might have once been trees were still standing in the distance, but even from here she could see they provided no shade.
This place couldn't host life. Not unless people went underground, which might have been the plan all along.
Maybe. She wasn't really sure. The diary hadn't given her more information other than what they were working on, which was a lot of impressive gene splicing and genetic alteration.
What a pity it hadn't worked. Maybe there would have been a very different story to tell if it had.
Ducking back into the cool facility, she shook off the feeling of heat that still clung to her arms. At least the sea was cold. She could always dunk herself in the water if she wanted to.
But as Ellie stood in the center of the room, strangely bored, all she could think about was that kiss.
She'd call it a kiss, even if he didn't. They had brushed their mouths over each other, and maybe he had just been tasting her.
It wouldn't be surprising for a creature like him to want to taste her one more time.
He had, after all, nearly consumed her arm.
Her thoughts always ended up back at the kiss, though. No matter how many times she told herself it was foolish to think of him as anything other than a demonic creature who lived in the sea. He was more than that.
He was Proteus. A sea god who was kind to her, but also a man who had worked hard two centuries ago to try to find a way for them all to live together. He was a man who had seen all of this happen, and who was still here. Fighting for what was right.
Even if Ellie didn't know what was right.
Dropping down onto a chair they had found in the woman's chambers, she leaned back and stared at the ceiling. What would he think if he knew where her mind continually wandered?
Proteus had been the one to kiss her. She had kissed him back. Probably poorly, but that had been her first time. If he tried it again with her, she was certain she would kiss him better than before.
Ellie wanted to. She wanted to kiss him again because there was something about him that... She wasn't sure how to put it into words.
Lifting her hand, she ghosted the tips of her fingers over her lips.
He had kissed her like a man possessed. No, a man frenzied.
He'd wanted to kiss her for a long time, that's what that kiss said.
He had been dying to kiss her for ages, and the fall had frightened him into realizing he didn't know if he would ever get the chance again.
The hunger in his touch had set her body on fire.
Ellie wasn't ignorant of the idea of sex.
She'd seen enough of it in Tau to know how it worked, but only with human men.
She didn't even know if he had a cock. So far she hadn't seen any hint of it whatsoever, and she assumed she would have seen it by now considering all the time they spent together.
She'd seen humans doing things with more than just a cock, though.
Her mind flicked back to the room full of writhing bodies that Malcolm had brought her to once.
He'd been there to fish another scientist out of the fray, who was very late for an important meeting.
But she had been unable to stop staring at the people who were doing deplorable, yet very exciting to watch, things.
Her hand smoothed down her neck, following the lines of her throat all the way into her shirt. The men in that room had all been so interested in the women's breasts. She mimicked what they had done with her own fingers, pressing a circle around her nipple before pinching it hard.
It wasn't as good a feeling as the women in that room seemed to think. But even the memory of them made the sensation somehow a little stronger. A little more than it had been before.
The moans filling that room had made her wonder what could feel so good. She wanted to listen to them moan like that for hours. Not just the women, but the men too. They had all been enjoying every touch, every taste.
This time, when she rolled her fingers over the tips of her breasts, the touch felt even better.
It was so easy for her to imagine Proteus doing this.
His long, extra jointed fingers would look like an abomination against her skin, and yet she wanted to feel him touching her like this.
She wanted to feel those long fingers digging into her skin, to see his claws leaving tiny pinpricks of pain and blood in their wake.
Throwing her head back, she thought of what else she wanted him to do.
There was, of course, the intriguing thought of that long black tongue.
He had no idea what it had done to her to see him stick that out of his mouth and let it hang from his lips.
It was so long, and clearly stronger than the average tongue of a human man.
She wanted to know what it would feel like sliding along her skin.
Perhaps he would taste her belly, pressing those sharp teeth to her sensitive skin there, and she would know that at any point, he could bite into her.
The threat of his strength would always make her shiver and quake with desire.
Did he know that? Did he know that the thought of his touch made her clench her thighs together?
This feeling was so new. The heat that poured through her skin was hard to understand. All she knew was that she wanted to keep touching herself. She wanted to feel more of these sensations, to chase what her mind had conjured up.
Her hand smoothed down her belly and toyed with the waistline of her skirt.
She had seen what the men and women were doing between their legs as well.
The men were more obvious, of course. With their cocks in their hands, they hadn't seemed embarrassed at all to grab themselves and slowly pump their fists up and down over that engorged flesh.
But Ellie hadn't been able to see what the women were doing. Everything was so hidden between their legs. Now, however, she wanted to discover what it would feel like to touch herself. Just for a little while. She wanted to know if it would feel as good as the others had made it seem.
Unbuttoning the top few buttons of her skirt, she focused on the sensation of her fingers. The skin between her legs was soft and wet, so much so that it made her feel a little shivery when she touched it. But no matter what she did, the fingers weren’t enough.
At least, until she thought about him. Until she imagined Proteus between her legs, his massive, unhinged jaw unfurling between her thighs so his long tongue could join her fingers.
She swore she could feel him even now. The sensation of that long, thick muscle wrapping around her calf.
He would stroke his tongue higher to her thighs, but the fabric of her denim would stop him for a moment.
Breathing hard, she imagined those long fingers unbuttoning the skirt, one by one.
Each button would pop open, the feeling of those pops echoing throughout her entire body as he moved higher and higher.
His tongue was so warm. So slick. She could feel it leaving a trail of thick, viscous liquid as he trailed it up her thigh, but it didn't matter. She liked the feeling. She liked knowing that a monster was about to devour her whole.
And then she could feel his breath between her legs. The idea was as foreign as it was familiar that soon enough, his tongue would trace between her folds. For now, he wanted her to feel the hot air from his mouth fanning over a place she had yet to discover on her own body.
She opened her eyes, fingers still delving into the liquid heat, only to realize that she hadn't been imagining this at all.
Ellie stared down her body to see a monster between her legs.
His dark eyes seemed even bigger as he met her gaze.
That mouth was indeed unfurled, a strange vision of teeth that just kept going, but his long black tongue was right there.
Still gently licking the crease of her thigh and so close to where her fingers were still moving.
The question in his gaze was obvious. She could ask him to stop, and he would. He would slink back into the water and let her be.
But she didn't want him to stop.
Ellie took a deep, steadying breath and then slowly moved her fingers out of the way. She wasn't getting the job done anyway. She wanted to know what he could do if he was in control.
A long, rumbling groan echoed from deep inside his chest, and then he lunged forward. His mouth was so large. Teeth clamped down above her pelvic bone, not hard enough to make her shriek, but a threat all the same that somehow heightened this interaction.
His tongue suddenly replaced her fingers, and her eyes rolled back in her head. The sensation of that powerful, muscular tongue pressing against her clit and sliding over it was almost too much. Combined with the sensation of teeth that wrapped all the way around her waist?
Ellie's mind fractured. All she could focus on was that long, hot tongue working over her most sensitive flesh. Breath sawed in and out of her lungs as he spun her higher and higher, into a place she hadn't realized existed.
Her muscles coiled. For some reason, she wrapped her legs around his head because that seemed like the only way she could ground herself. She even tried to reach down and grab onto him, but he let out another growl and put her hands on the arms of the chair.
She grabbed on as if her life depended on it. The moment she did, his tongue moved down to probe her center.
She'd known this had to be part of it. She'd seen people having sex, and knew there was something on a man that entered a woman. But she hadn't realized it would feel like this.
Warm and slick. Undulating inside of her until he let out a rumbling sound like that of a whale that ended up vibrating his tongue as he worked it further and further inside of her. The strange sensation of something foreign gave way to pure pleasure as that vibration drew her closer to the edge.
The edge of what, she had no idea. All she could do was continue to hold on to the chair and stay as still as possible because he'd clamped down harder with his teeth. If she moved at all, she'd slice herself on those sharp edges.
Ellie was completely at his mercy as he licked her from within, pistoning his tongue deeper and deeper inside of her with every stroke that made her want to scream for mercy and also beg for him to never stop.
She tried to form words, but they wouldn't come. She couldn't figure out how to tell him not to stop, but she didn't have to. He clearly wasn't going to.
And then his tongue found a spot deep inside of her that made pleasure sparkle behind her eyes. She stopped breathing as he slid past it and knew the moment he recognized her reaction. Suddenly he attacked that spot. That hot, vibrating tongue flicking quickly right where she wanted him most.
Her back bowed, her hands clamped down harder on the arms of the chair. Every muscle in her body tensed and coiled, reaching for something she feared might hurt, but then...
Bliss.
She could feel her inner muscles clenching around his tongue, milking him for something that wasn't entirely possible from a tongue like that. Her chest ached and then soothed as everything inside of her rode that wave to become liquid with relief.
She had no idea what had happened. But she'd seen people in Tau react the same way, and now she knew what it was like to come. Now she knew what a wonder it was to feel connected like this with another person.
Blinking her eyes open again, she stared down at him still between her thighs. He had withdrawn his tongue, but was still gently licking between her thighs. Soothing her through what had been her first orgasm.
Proteus seemed reluctant to let her go. But eventually he opened his jaws, pulling his teeth from her flesh where they had all bitten a little too deep.
Tiny aches of pain registered, but she didn't mind them.
Ellie didn't even care when droplets of blood dripped from the wounds, sliding down her torso like he'd decorated her torso in rubies.
Proteus stared at them with a strange mix of emotions in his eyes. She swore he was sad, but also immensely pleased to see those marks.
"I promised I wouldn't hurt you again," he said as his jaw closed back up. "I seem to have lied."
She reached for his face, palming it in her hand to make him look at her. "It didn't hurt. You gave me a gift, Proteus."
The grin on his face was decidedly wicked. "Trust me, Sisu. You were the one giving that gift."