Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 57876 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57876 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Oh shit.
Tentacles rippled around me and I was rocked from side to side. “Human brains are wired to find this movement soothing. You must relax.”
Because my brain said so?
I wasn’t sure if him being right was frustrating or not, but once my heart stopped going a thousand miles an hour, I relaxed into the rocking movement and sighed. “Thank you for helping me relax.”
And for catching me, more than likely.
Nothing hurt besides my pride and I was pretty sure that was because my new friend had caught me before I could hit the ground.
“You are welcome, human.” He kept up the rocking and rippling motions, clearly not having any intention of putting me down, so I focused on what I could hear and feel.
He was strong.
He was carrying me and after a moment I realized he was walking us somewhere.
He also wasn’t panicking about me being broken like I’d seen some of them react.
So he was level-headed?
I liked that idea even if it wasn’t logical, so I moved on to other things I could sense.
We were still at the restaurant.
I could hear the sounds of the party even though they seemed further away and I realized I could smell something that seemed like steaks cooking in the kitchen.
As he settled himself lower and we stopped moving, I realized he’d sat down somewhere. “Humans are inquisitive, so I will explain that we are in a small office that has been designated as an employee lounge. We have a modicum of privacy. However, your voice will be heard if you raise it.”
Kind of had privacy.
People would come if I screamed.
Got it.
“Thank you for explaining that.” Since he seemed happy to be making the decisions and wasn’t being mean about it, I just stayed put.
I liked being cuddled and he seemed thoughtful.
“Can you keep doing the ripply thing?” If there was a better word for the movement, I couldn’t find it at the moment. “Unless you don’t want to?”
Maybe that was too personal to ask?
I’d never had anyone hold me like that and even Larry wouldn’t have picked me up unless it’d been an emergency.
Before I could get deeper into my worries, his body started moving again and I couldn’t help the way every muscle responded to it by going soft. My new friend made a low, almost humming sound. “I am very proud of you for not panicking and you are what is called a good boy for indicating your preferences.”
He thought I was a good boy?
How could I panic when he was so sweet?
He hadn’t even made me open my eyes or put me down.
“I have limited first-hand knowledge of humans in this category of situation, so your verbal responses will be necessary until I have become educated about your needs.” Something in his voice had me nuzzling against him and my fingers started barely caressing one of his smaller tentacles that were holding me carefully.
“If…if you don’t have a lot of first-hand knowledge about situations like this, then I should probably make sure you know you can put me down if you want to. You…you don’t have to take care of me if you’d rather be someplace else.”
Or with another sub.
My new friend didn’t stop the way his tentacles were massaging me, but he did make a thoughtful kind of hum that made me think he was confused. “Holding you is pleasurable.”
Okay.
Wait.
That was it?
Chapter 3
Yep, that was it.
Okay, he liked holding me and I’d told him that I liked being held.
Had he thought that was enough of a response since that was what I’d said first?
Well, they didn’t lie, so I didn’t need to worry about reading into what he’d said. He’d made sure I knew I was safe and he’d explained that he didn’t have a lot of human social interactions.
Hmm.
How not a lot was not a lot?
“Can…can you explain what you’re thinking?” How had I turned into the person who was leading this discussion? “Um, I just want to make sure I understand what you want.”
And what he thought would happen next.
It’d been a long time since anyone had cuddled me, and I had no desire to be put down no matter how casual his intensions were. But I didn’t want to read into something that wasn’t there just because we both needed someone to hug.
“Yes, trading information on thoughts is important at the beginning of a relationship. Humans especially need that verbally because of your blunted senses.” He sounded like he’d been reading a Humans for Dummies kind of book, so I just nodded since he wasn’t wrong.
“You require knowledge of my thoughts and emotions since you cannot sense them yourself.” He seemed like he was really thinking about how to answer my question because one small tentacle started stroking my head. It felt almost absent-minded on his part and made me smile.