CHAPTER 4
Markoban shows up, of course, but by the time lunch is over, I have a feeling he might wish that he’d stayed away.
I’m pretty sure Kita’s father was joking half the time, but I don’t think Markoban felt like he had any option other than to take him seriously.
“He’s head over heels? Is that the expression?” Sirin asks as we leave the four of them talking.
“It is. I almost feel bad for him. But I think Kita’s been honest with him, so if his heart breaks, he’ll only have himself to blame.”
“I’m glad my heart didn’t need to break.” He lifts my hand, kissing my palm. “Come with me to the baths to collect that sample.”
I want to, but, “I’m not allowed to bathe with you until we get that figured out.”
“You can come with me,” he coaxes. “We can do plenty of things that won’t put you at risk.”
“I do love being there with you.”
“Is that a yes?”
“Yeah.” I nod, my bun flopping a little. “Let’s go get wet.”
He’d already steered us in the right direction, so we don’t have to turn even once before we reach the right elevator.
He asks me about meeting my parents—we’ll figure that out later—and he tells me he wishes he could take me to his home.
I give him the same response I always give Kita, “We can’t all be made to withstand the vacuum of space.”
I look behind us as we go through the corridor, but there’s no one there. It only feels like we’re being watched.
The lighting on this level is dimmer than most. That’s probably where the creeping feeling comes from.
I’m just imagining things.
The Trulavians greet us with bright smiles. She teases me about how long it's been. He asks Sirin about alternative room options, as the one we regularly use is currently occupied.
Neither of us are picky this time around.
In minutes, we’re alone and naked.
I sit on the edge of the bath and drape my legs into the water as Sirin slides in.
Dipping himself under completely, the water glistens on his skin as it trails down his chest.
“You definitely make being wet look good.”
“So do you.” Tentacles smooth up my legs, easing them apart.
He kisses my chin, my throat, the top of my breasts. “You have completely ruined my work ethic.”
“Is that my fault?”
He chuckles against my skin. “No, but… I thought I’d try to blame you anyway.”
Laughing, I lift one leg, wrapping it around his waist. “Maybe I am a little to blame.”
“Only a little?”
Laying me back onto the edge of the bath, his lips twist in a hungry smile. “Then I’ll only punish you a little.”
The tendril tongue that can sound out syllables I can’t drives sounds from me I don’t think he can make.
He eases me open with each press and twist of his tongue. I lose count of how many tentacles drape over my skin.
A hundred kisses, all at once.
I love every one of them.
But they slither away too soon.
All but two.
Those wrap tightly around me.
He holds me up high against him, only my feet dangle in the water as he kisses me.
“I want to hear those sweet little sounds you make,” he says. “I want to feel them.”
His tentacles fill me, stuffing me fuller and fuller until there’s no room left.
“I love you,” he whispers against my skin, “My mate. My osserate.”
One tentacle pinches my clit, making me buck, making me squeeze.
The only response I can give him are those sounds he wanted to hear.
Soft and hard and sweet, he coaxes my orgasm from me a little bit at a time, until it washes over me in delicious waves.
“I always crave that smile,” he says as I look at him.
One tentacle brushes my lips, and when it lingers, I suck it. His whole body pulses in a shiver.
“We’re here for your sample,” I remind him.
“That doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy you in the meantime.”
And he does.
It takes another twenty minutes before he lowers me back down, and I know, even without a mirror, that my ass is covered in the small bruised reminders of those tentacle kisses.
“I can take care of this,” he tells me, looking at the cup. “You can sit back and relax.”
“I want to help.” I hold out my hand, trying not to laugh at the idea of him just plopping his cock into my hand. “And you like when I get what I want.”
The tentacles hiding his cock furl back, and he lets me take hold of him.
“Thank you for knowing you wouldn’t win that argument.”
He’s already started to ooze.
I stroke, not caring what my hands are going to look like after. The purse of his lips and the soft droop of his eyelids makes me want to scoot closer, to taste him, but I do care what my face looks like after this—in case the solvents don’’t work this time.
I almost ask if he was jerking off while he kissed me, but I don’t need to know. I just need him to come.
After a small curse and fumbling for the cup, he does.
Water sloshes into it along with his cum, but that’s the point and when he’s done, the cup is full.
“Oops,” he says as some of it sloshes out onto the bath’s edge.
I scoot away from it, just in case.
“Done for now?”
He nods. “For now.”
He pushes the cup to the side and I don’t love that it disappears through a portal. But he distracts me by crawling up onto the edge with me, holding me tight to him as we lay there and just breathe.