I felt vibrations from the engine of a large ship through my bed, and the soft sounds of a nearby machine filled the room. Taking mental inventory, I tested my limbs to see if I could move everything. Nothing was tied down. Everything seemed to work, but not without some stiffness and residual pain. My wrists were enclosed in heavy metallic bracelets, but I was glad I wasn’t tied down.
Carefully, I reopened my eyes, this time pausing to allow them to adjust to the brightness of the room. I wasn’t in either an infirmary or a lab, but a plain, bare bedroom.
Where was I? Had I gone from the hands of one master to another? If so, the Fates had a cruel sense of humor. I’d rather be dead than go back to the loneliness and pain of that life. I hoped he had found me or at least some group that was friendly.
I became aware of the sound of movement.
Footsteps approached, gradually growing louder until one of the doors in the room opened, revealing a stunningly hued alien carrying a tray of food.
Pupilless teal eyes locked with mine, and I shuddered out a breath, pulling the white blanket up to cover the blush I could feel burning my cheeks. I allowed my eyes to wander over the plant-like alien, tracing the vibrant blue and purple “V”-shaped markings that bordered his eyes and emphasized the sharp ridges of his cheeks. His lips were the same vibrant blue color, covered in what looked like purple downy fuzz. They looked incredibly soft, and I wondered what they would feel like against mine.
That thought shocked me. I shook my head to clear my wandering and disturbing thoughts. I hadn’t even talked to him, yet I was already thinking about kissing him?
As he walked toward the table near my bed, details became clearer. His skin was a dark gray—almost black—and looked smooth to the touch. Layered scales covered his arms and legs, dark gray patterned with green, blue, and purple. His coloring reminded me of the pictures of galaxies and nebulas in my studies. It was breathtaking, and I felt like I could get lost in studying him.
Trailing across his shoulders was what looked like thick emerald moss. His hair seemed to be long thin strands of a similar color grass with veins of a paler green, and it flowed to his shoulders. I eyed the six vines that wrapped loosely around his smooth torso from behind. At the base, they were the same color as his skin, the color gradually shifting to match his mossy shoulders at the ends and tipped with small cone-shaped teal flowers.
He had two additional, and unusual, body parts. Behind the arms that carried the tray draped was a set of beautiful, petal-like appendages in swirling shades of purple. They were large and extended to his knees, laying against his back as if they were wings. They looked too fragile to be structured for flight, which made me wonder about their purpose. He also had a second set of flower-like petals that started at his waist and went down to his knees—the same shades as the upper set—but these seemed thicker.
Perhaps they were some form of protection?
That’s when my perusal reached his hips, and my gaze caught between the alien’s legs. I took a long look, and my mouth opened in shock when I couldn’t find any genitalia. Maybe it’s hidden? Or perhaps their species was asexual unless aroused? Maybe I’d been mistaken the alien was a “he” when it could be a “she”? Or an “it”? The alien could be genderless for all I knew—not that it mattered.
A grunt pulled me away from my thoughts, and I noticed the alien had caught me studying the area between its legs. What a great first impression. Although embarrassed at being caught, I was unrepentant. I needed to know what I was up against.
Though... thus far, everything I’d seen was undeniably attractive.
The alien gave a small smile as it placed the tray of food on the table next to the bed.
As I glanced down, I was surprised to see how unusual its feet were, when it had very normal-looking humanoid hands, albeit with scales. Its legs ended in three large toes forming a triangle around the bottom of the stump.
“Cel irrui ilnasrdein na?” a deep voice inquired softly.
Male. Good. My original instinct was right.
I lowered the blanket and looked quizzically at the alien. The language he spoke wasn’t English or Galactic Common.
“No?” I shook my head hoping his species understood the gesture.
He turned and walked a few paces away, running his hand through his grass-like hair. Pausing with his back to me, he sucked in a deep breath, his petal-wings fluttering. As he exhaled, his petal-wings settled and the vines unwrapped from around his chest, dancing in the air as he placed his hands on his hip petals.
Now that I could see his vines clearly, I noticed they grew along his spine from his shoulder blade to his waist. His body was sleek and elegant looking—and I enjoyed looking at his firm butt.
He was magnificent, one of the most handsome aliens I’d ever seen—and I had seen a wide variety of alien males aboard the Yaarkin ship. To my surprise, I was highly attracted to him. A craving to be touched and to explore the unusual textures of his body coursed through me. Perhaps my need for companionship drove me to envision such sexual scenarios?
Logically, I knew these feelings were insane. We were complete strangers. I knew nothing about him, nor did I have any idea what he had planned for me!
Maybe the unusually sexual tenor of my thoughts had something to do with losing my virginity. I’d never felt this way before. Perhaps it had to do with the experiments the Yaarkins performed on me or being
