9. Assistant 23
I was nervous as fuck.
What would Farr’vye think about my pasty skin? My uneven freckles? My giant ears and nose? All the things I’d been teased and mocked for? All the things I hated about myself?
Before facing him, I nearly made myself sick with anxiety. But it was too late to chicken out. I owed it to him.
When I turned around, the awe in his expression knocked the air out of my lungs.
Farr’vye, the hot older alien, was staring at me as if I were the sexiest thing he’d ever seen. My cheeks burned. I wasn’t used to this much attention, much less positive attention.
“C-cut it out,” I mumbled.
My instinct was to lift my hands and cover my face. But the second I raised my wrists, Farr’vye’s tentacles shot out and gripped them like a determined octopus.
“Hey,” I complained.
“Let me look,” Farr’vye ordered.
The low growl in his voice sent a shiver down my spine.
I was suddenly very aware that we were in a private space, surrounded by walls on all sides.
Obviously, I knew that, since I’d revealed my face, but being alone with him felt different this time.
My skin was tingly and hot, and my blood seemed to buzz in my veins.
Farr’vye stepped closer. He towered over me, all seven-foot-whatever of him. With his floating mane of feelers and the single horn jutting from his forehead, he felt even larger. Intimidating. The space he occupied hummed with an intense energy—and all of it was focused on me.
I swallowed past the sudden dryness in my throat.
He could eat me up if he wanted to, I thought. The worst part is that I would probably let him.
The idea made my cock stir. I felt another stab of embarrassment. Why did I have to be so weird?
I had to tilt my head back to meet Farr’vye’s gaze. His orange eyes looked like they were on fire. Intense wasn’t the right word. It was almost… fanatical.
And I wasn’t scared.
Farr’vye never broke his feverish gaze as his hands cradled my face. His palms were large and warm, cupping my gaunt cheeks like I was a frail baby bird.
I guess that’s what I resembled to him. A tiny weak thing. Just like the animal he’d taken apart, fueled by pure obsession.
I shuddered again.
“Are you afraid of me?” Farr’vye asked.
He’d misunderstood. I shook my head. “No.”
“Cold, then?”
“No…” I chewed my lip. “I dunno. Excited, maybe? For whatever you’re about to do to me?”
A slow, ecstatic grin spread across Farr’vye’s face, exposing each of his sharp fangs. In my gut, an ancient primal fear screamed at me to run away from the giant predator who’d caught me in his grasp.
That was how I’d felt about all Maeleons at first. Pure terror. So it was ironic that Farr’vye, the creepiest one of all, made me feel the most comfortable.
“I think there’s something wrong with me,” I rasped.
Farr’vye smiled. His thumb stroked across my cheek. “Perhaps.”
His confirmation made me chuckle, but I also felt seen. He didn’t try to assuage my worries with fake words. He simply accepted me, maladaptation and all.
“I assume there is something wrong with me, as well,” Farr’vye said, amused.
“Should we get Jaeyoung to diagnose us?” I joked.
A breathy laugh escaped through Farr’vye’s rows of teeth. “I do not see the point. But you are a linguist, yes? You enjoy labels?”
I thought about it for a while. My mind was quiet while Farr’vye held me, empty of its usual racing anxious thoughts. It was nice.
“No,” I decided. “I don’t want a label for whatever we are.”
“I agree.”
Farr’vye was about to lean in.
“But…”
He paused. “But?”
I licked my dry lips. “Um…” Doubt crashed in, and I shook my head. “No, never mind.”
Farr’vye’s thumbs dug gently into my cheeks as he forced me to look at him.
“Tell me,” he demanded.
Fuck, why did it feel so good when he ordered me around?
“It’s stupid,” I mumbled.
Farr’vye narrowed his eyes into fiery slits. The implication was clear enough: Don’t make him say it again.
Ignoring the thrill that swirled in my belly, I said, “Um… I dunno. I thought it would be nice to be your…” I cleared my throat. “Your filum.”
It was awkward saying it out loud. Being the recipient of Farr’vye’s attention should’ve made me happy enough. Why did I need to push my luck? What if I wasn’t his filum, and I made a total ass out of myself? Would it change how he felt about me?
“You know what? I changed my mind—”
But Farr’vye’s nictitating membrane had already slid over his eyes.
Dread fell over me. I stood still.
What if he saw nothing? What if we were incompatible?
I trembled as anxiety gripped me. But Farr’vye was gripping me, too, and his influence over me was stronger.
As soon as he felt my body shaking, he held me closer, his fingers digging deeper into my skin.
It was firm but not painful. Grounding. I relaxed as much as I was able to while unknowns still hung in the air.
The third translucent eyelid slipped away, and his eyes became bright and vivid again.
“Would you like to know?” Farr’vye asked.
My stomach twisted into more knots than a pretzel.
“Yes. No. Maybe. Yes,” I blurted. “Hurry and tell me before I change my mind—”
“You are.”
My heart skipped a beat. I was dazed for a second as the information sank in.
“You’re not lying to make me feel better, are you?” I asked weakly.
Farr’vye’s stare didn’t falter. “I promised I would never lie to you, did I not?”
My chest was still fluttering. It wouldn’t stop. None of this felt real.
“You did,” I whispered. “Sorry.”
His thumb grazed my lips, and a soft sound escaped me. His skin was smooth, cool to the touch, yet somehow warm. It was an addictive sensation.
“Tell me,” Farr’vye said. “How long were you alone?”
My breath hitched. I knew he meant on Eukaria, but honestly, I’d always been alone even before I was chosen for this mission.
My awkward nature made it difficult to make friends, and impossible to keep them.
I was never anyone’s first choice except as a target for ridicule.
My skills were the only things that made me stand out, and anybody could do those with enough training.
I was nothing special. Until Farr’vye.
“On Eukaria, I was alone for eight years,” I told him.
Farr’vye’s expression softened. “Poor thing.” He stroked my cheek, and I leaned into it, wanting his touch. “All that time, you had no touch. No physical contact.”
He plucked at emotional strings deep within me. I steadied my rough breathing and nodded.
“And no mate?” he asked.
I laughed roughly. “No. Who would I mate with?”
Maeleons were sexually open and free, but I thought I saw a glint of satisfaction in Farr’vye’s eyes. As if he would’ve been jealous otherwise.
He really was a weird Maeleon. But I was a weird human.
“That all ends today,” Farr’vye promised in a dark, sensual growl.
My cock twitched.
There was something else I needed to be honest about. “Um, I have a confession to make. I’ve… never had sex before.”
Farr’vye beamed. His feelers rose in the air, flashing neon rings of pink and red.
“Wonderful,” he murmured. “I will be your first and only.”
The heat brewing under my belly simmered. Maeleons weren’t supposed to be possessive, but he was, and I liked it. A lot. I didn’t want him to want anybody else, and I only had eyes for him.
“My perfect little human,” Farr’vye purred, stroking my face. “You will be the death of me if I do not release myself soon.”
I blinked, then realized he meant his cock. Had he been hard internally this entire time?
“O-oh. Sorry. You don’t have to, um, wait for my permission,” I said.
He licked his lips. “In that case…”
My eyes fell between his thighs, glued to the subtle ridge in his lower scales. I knew Maeleons kept their genitalia hidden in cloacas but seeing it up close and personal was an experience. The slit in Farr’vye’s scales parted and the tip of a glistening wet member slid out. And out. And out.
My eyes widened. It just kept coming like it would never fucking end. How big was it? How did it get folded up inside his body?
And for that matter, how the hell was it going to fit inside me?
I stared at the full length of his cock, entranced and excited and terrified.
It was a beautiful pale lavender with darker purple veins snaking along the bottom.
The shape was different from mine, sleeker and smoother with no bulbous head.
I’d never been attracted to human dicks before—or any genitals at all, really—but Farr’vye’s erection made me feel things. A plethora of hot and confusing things.
“Wow,” I said.
Farr’vye smiled. “I kept it hidden, as not to frighten you. But you should know I have been aroused since our conversation at the feast.”
“Really?” I asked, more breath than voice.
He leaned down, his snout nearly brushing my nose. “Yes. And every time I glimpsed you in the village.”
“Huh?”
“I tried to be good. I kept my distance. But I can no longer hold myself back, little human.”
My head spun. He’d wanted me for that long? I couldn’t believe it, but the truth was staring me in the face—and breathing my air with blatant desire.
Suddenly, the front of my suit felt too tight. My hard cock strained against the fraying fabric.
“Farr’vye,” I murmured. “Could you, um… Could you take off my suit? Please?”
His eyes flashed. “Now? Or forever?”
Forever. It sounded like a deeper promise.
My heart raced in my throat, and it took an effort to speak past it. “Forever.”
“Are you sure?” he teased. “Because if you allow me, I will destroy it. I will rip it to shreds so I may finally see your naked body underneath.”
I moaned softly before I could stop myself. “Do it. Please. I don’t care anymore. I want it gone.”
Farr’vye resembled a predator about to strike. His feverish grin, hot breath, and gleaming eyes made me feel like a prey animal about to enter his stomach.
I’d never wanted anything so badly.
His snout grazed my lips in a gesture that was almost a kiss. “Final warning.”
“Please,” I mewled.
Claws raked the front of my chest. I gasped, shocked by his control. The tips of his claws didn’t touch my skin, but I felt them arc down my front, tearing the fabric into ribbons.
Tentacles came next. Their tactile pads gripped the ripped fabric and tossed it away.
Farr’vye destroyed my hazmat suit like it was a piece of paper. He could’ve done so at any moment but held back.
The idea thrilled me. He was dangerous. Objectively, he was the most powerful and intimidating individual I’d ever met, and he was obsessed with me.
Anxiety be damned. I fucking liked it.
The suit lay in shreds at my feet. My naked body was on full display in front of Farr’vye. My naked, skinny, weak body.
And he was staring at me with unbridled, carnal hunger.