* * *
Forcing himself forward, Alec stepped to the table.
“Good pet.” Sirus grinned. “Now stand with your back against it.”
“Do you have to restrain me?” Alec asked, complying.
“Tah. Keeps movements minimal. Very helpful.”
“For you,” he muttered. “I happen to like moving freely.”
“Tah. As do I. At least one of us will be happy.”
Smirking, Sirus positioned Alec’s arms by his sides, then locked his wrists and biceps into place. The same was done to his legs, starting with brackets above his knees. Then more unyielding clamps for each ankle. And still the Kríe wasn’t done. Alec’s heart hammered faster as Sirus reached for his throat. A second later, his freaking neck was pinned down, too.
“Hmm…” Sirus tapped his clawed finger to his chin. “There was something else… Ah, yes.”
Off went Alec’s towel.
Alec stiffened, inhaling sharply. Cool air licked at his junk. Butt naked and wholly immobilized with three behemoths in the room. He’d never felt so defenseless in his life.
Sirus studied him, his gaze lingering longest on Alec’s cock. “Modest, but handsome.”
Alec groaned and looked at the ceiling.
Sirus lifted his eyes. Slowly, he grinned. “You and me. We are going to have fun.”
“We?” Alec grumbled. “Or maybe just you?”
“Well…” The Kríe nodded. “Yes, probably just me.” Next thing Alec knew, Sirus was back at that wheel, returning the table to horizontal. Alec shifted atop the molded surface. It wasn’t soft per se but definitely not hard. Like rubber-coated memory foam or something.
The sound of a lever releasing met Alec’s ears. The table lurched, then started to gently sway, as if suddenly floating in a big tray of water. What the hell? A reedy, winding noise rose up from where Sirus stood, like a little wheel turning on a spindle. What was he doing?
“You weigh sixty-three teags.”
Oh. He’d been weighing him. Interesting method. Alec did a bit of division. Last time he checked, he was about one-ninety. So a teag was roughly three pounds.
Sirus shoved that lever thing back into place and, just like that, the table was back on sturdy ground. The big Kríe disappeared, but returned moments later with what looked like a retractable ruler. Wasting no time, he began his next task; taking and recording Alec’s measurements. The circumference of his head. And limbs. And waist. The length of absolutely every conceivable body part.
“Your cock is seven terahs. My cock is eighteen. I will measure it again later, though, when you are hard.”
Alec glared and bit his tongue.
Sirus gathered more findings. But soon things turned considerably more hands-on. Starting with Alec’s throat, he tracked his pulse with two thumbs, but then promptly moved higher to study his hair.
Which Alec supposed made sense. They didn’t seem to have that stuff on Nira. None on the body, and certainly none on the head. At least where the Kríe were concerned. They just had those dread things—that didn’t look like they should be ‘cut’—and some thick, black lashes and brows.
Sirus fingered his light brown hair, tugged it, combed it with his claws. “Like a Tohrí,” he mused. “But short. And dark.”
Alec didn’t reply. Sirus moved to his face, tracing his features, then studying his scruff. “Tiny little bristles on your cheeks and chin…” He turned Alec’s head to the side. “What is this?”
“This?” Alec drawled. “Gonna have to be more specific.”
“This small, dark brown circle.” He grazed it with a thumb. “On your jawline, not so far from your ear.”
“Oh. That’s a birthmark.”
“Ah.”
Yup, pretty self-explanatory.
He pried open Alec’s mouth and studied his teeth, then moved on to inspect his ears. Ears that, in comparison to Kríe ears, were nearly half the size. And didn’t have those subtly-pointed tips.
“So round… and little,” Sirus noted, sounding amused.
Alec sighed. To these Kríe, he’d forever look small.
His examiner moved south. “And what is this?” He touched the front of Alec’s shoulder.
“A scar. From battle.”
He stilled. “You are kensa?” Warrior.
“Uh, well, a soldier. And I was, but the war ended.”
“Hmm.” He seemed to ponder that, but instead of asking more, got back to work. Which evidently was now the brand new task of intently fingering absolutely everything. Alec’s shoulders and traps, his bicep and forearm, all around his pecs and upper abs. Like he was tracing the muscles beneath Alec’s skin, and getting the layout of his bones.
He took a break to scrawl a few notes.
Scratch-scratch-scratch on some parchment.
When finished, he extended Alec’s arm supports out from the table. Right, better access to the sides of his ribs, which Sirus swiftly got busy prodding the shit out of.
Oh, no. Aw, fuck.
Alec twitched and squirmed, yelping a curse before he could stop himself.
Sirus paused with a frown. “What? What is wrong?”
Alec clenched his jaw. “I’m ticklish.”
“Ticklish?”
“Yeah. As in, don’t touch me there.”
Sirus grunted and prodded his groin.
“Ah!” Alec yelped again. “Not there, either!”
“So sensitive,” he chuckled, moving farther to work his leg. Thigh… knee… shin and calf… foot. Once done, he flashed a smile. “Time for Mina.”
Alec exhaled, glad that was over, but—Who was Mina? His assistant? And what’s more—a female? This ought to be interesting, not that he relished the idea of more company. One Kríe was plenty, thank you very much.
Sirus stepped from their cubbyhole, but returned just moments later. “Mina,” he announced proudly. “Is she not captivating?”
Alec’s eyes flared wide, following the line Sirus towed. Holy shit. He’d somehow dislodged that junk-sculpture from between the wood beams and pulled it over via a track in the ceiling.
“Yeah, sure… Real captivating…” In a nightmarish sort of way. But Alec would keep that to himself. No point in hurting the Kríe’s feelings.
Sirus beamed as he situated it directly above. “She is my favorite invention, the product of my advancements. I am brilliant, you see. Have made many discoveries. And Mina is the culmination of them all.”
Alec stared at “her,” trying like hell not to grimace. But she was just so bizarrely grotesque. Although, oddly enough, her actual body wasn’t the issue—That was just a simple casing made out of wood. Smooth and black, similar in shape to a small blanket chest, with foliage and shit growing out of the top. Fat leaves and skinny leaves, thistles and grass—no doubt, the reason it’d been wedged into the ceiling. They were plants, after all, and needed sun. And what better way to get it than through a hole in the roof.
But no, what disturbed him was all the other freaky shit dangling off of it. Like those creepy-ominous gadget things attached to its belly and sides, whose purpose he could only freaking guess. Not that he wanted to know. Although, some did appear less intimidating than others. That cluster in the corner, for instance, that looked like a bunch of test tubes. Or that doohickey that resembled headgear with steampunk goggles.
But the gadgets weren’t the worst. What concerned him most were those fleshy, gray roots hanging limply from random holes. Or maybe they were vines, just really fat or something. Come to think of it, they kind of looked like—oh, shit—tentacles. Alec’s body went rigid. Even his lungs locked up tight. Swear to God, if those things started moving up there? He was going to have to scream—really loud.
“So, uh…” He cleared his throat. “What exactly does she do?”
“Hmm. I think I shall show you as we go.” Sirus cocked his head. Tapped his chin. “Now, what to investigate next… Ah. I know. I love this part.”
Oh, hell.
Sirus reached up and unhooked that headgear thingy and carefully slid it onto his head. Alec regarded it curiously. It looked like a helmet framed in some sort of metal, with the rest purely organic, made of roots. Little ones, though, that resembled veins. And they were clearly all from different types of plants. Different sizes and textures, different colors as well. Although, they definitely did have one thing in common. The location in which they ultimately converged. At the base of Sirus’ skull, against his nape.
He blinked at Alec through his bulky, bronze eye gear, the thick lenses making his eyes look twice as big. Alec swallowed as he stared at him. Mad scientist indeed. The big Kríe grinned, then slid the goggles upward, resting them atop of his helmet. Alec exhaled. Good. Those bug eyes were freaking him out.
Sirus straightened the headgear further, then reached around back, blindly fumbling with the part by his nape. A moment later, his big body twitched. He closed his eyes and dropped his arms, then subtly rolled his head atop his shoulders.
Alec frowned. What the frick?
“I am ready.” Sirus lifted his gaze to Mina and unhooked one of her tentacle thingies. “This is a suki vine. Sukis harness energy from the plant life around them then channel it through their vines as they hunt. Little zaps to the prey they wish to eat, shocking them into temporary paralysis. Of course, by the time the little critters regain motion, they are wrapped in suki leaves and half digested.”
Alec frowned in confusion. “Wait. A plant can do that? Electrocute small animals and eat them?”
“If they are suki, yes.”
“But plants can’t move, or think, let alone hunt.”
The Kríe’s smile faded. “Of course they can… They are from the dygon genus. Do you not have sentient plant life on your world?”
“No.” The closest thing he could think of would be a Venus flytrap. But they didn’t have a central nervous system, just specialized cell systems that responded to stimuli.
“Interesting,” Sirus mused. “Well, here we do.”
“So, they’re aware?”
“Yes, but not like you and I, or any other animal. Their brains are more like insects. Very simple.”
“Weird,” Alec murmured. And a little bit creepy.
“At any rate,” Sirus went on, “I have invented a way to manipulate their little minds, to control their actions, bend them to my will.” He reached up and stroked his lurid creation. “Every dygon within Mina, I can control.”
“How?”
Sirus grinned and tapped his root-woven crown. “Intercept their network of nerve cells and fibers, swap out their nerve impulses for mine.”
Alec stared at him blankly.
The big Kríe chuckled. “My brain tells their bodies what to do.”
Holy shit. That was nuts. And admittedly, impressive as fuck.
“Wow,” Alec mumbled. “That’s… really cool.”
“Tah.” Sirus nodded, pointing to himself. “See? I am brilliant. Brilliant me.”
If the situation was different, Alec might’ve actually laughed.
“So. Now that that is all clarified, let us begin.”
Moving in close, between Alec’s extended arm and side, Sirus tapped the tip of his suki vine to Alec’s pec. Instantly, his muscle contracted in response to the small zap.
Alec sucked in sharply. “Whoa.”
Sirus smiled. “Indeed.”
He did the same to Alec’s other pec. It bunched the same way. Then he touched it to the inside of Alec’s bicep. Not a tap this time, though. This time he trailed it down his arm, each muscle group constricting tight in its wake.
“Fuck, that feels weird,” Alec breathed.
Sirus smirked—then slid it to the center of Alec’s palm. Immediately, his fingers contorted all awkwardly. And yeah, the feeling wasn’t fabulous.
“Uh! Cut that out. Geez, Kríe. What the fuck?”
The big Kríe snickered and moved down Alec’s body, starting at the arch in his foot. The muscles locked up, his toes quirked all crazy, but before Alec could bitch, he moved higher. Alec’s calves proved pretty good entertainment, too, especially when each contraction made his toes point. Before long, though, Sirus continued on, giving the side of his kneecap little taps. His leg tried to kick, like he’d used a reflex hammer. Sirus grinned and kept going, to Alec’s thigh.
“Such a nice group of muscles here,” he mused as he played, making Alec’s upper leg go berserk. Contracting and twitching all across the top, then along his inner thighs, too.
Alec grunted repeatedly, in control of absolutely none of it. Wherever that vine beckoned, his body responded. Alec kept his mouth shut, though, despite all the strangeness, choosing to just deal and get it over with.
Unfortunately, that plan kind of flew out the window when Sirus moved all the fun to Alec’s midsection. Not so much initially, as he manipulated Alec’s abdomen, making it undulate, then dance like crazy. No, it wasn’t until Sirus removed part of the table that Alec found himself turning nice and vocal. A portion beneath his hips, just suddenly gone, giving the Kríe access to his spine. Or more specifically, his lower spine, where evidently lots of nerve bundles lived.
Sirus ran his hand under Alec’s side and felt around, as if seeking a specific location. His fingers stopped. He’d found it at the small of Alec’s back. Donning a mischievous grin, he met Alec’s eyes. “Let us see if your nervous system is anything like ours. If it is, you will either love this—or hate it.”
Oh, God.
Knowing how Kríe thought, Alec did not like the sound of that. But right as he opened to his mouth to object, Sirus touched that vine right above his butt dimple. Current dove instantly into the cradle of his pelvis and lit up his unsuspecting sphincter.
Alec gasped with a jerk. “What the f—Damn, Kríe. Shit.”
“You felt that?” Sirus chuckled. “In your—”
“Yeah,” Alec bit out. “Please don’t do that again.”
“Fine. I will try somewhere else instead.” He moved the vine a smidgen and tapped a second time. That zing shimmied straight to Alec’s balls.
He sucked in a breath as his scrotum firmed, then leveled his captor with a glare.
The Kríe beamed wolfishly. “You felt that in your—”
“Yes! I felt it in my nuts. Cut it out.”
“Esh. So testy.” Sirus tried a third spot, and yup, this time it surged up Alec’s cock. It was a strong one, too. The strongest yet, making his hips do a jig.
“Ah! My dick!” He was such a fucking shit!
The rat bastard cackled, holding his sides and everything. Clearly, he’d orchestrated it and knew exactly what he was stimulating. Kríe were such pervs. Swear to God.
Sirus cleared his throat and returned suki back to Mina. “All right. That was fun. But we must move along.”
Alec groaned. “Aw, Jesus. You mean there’s more?”
“Tah.” Sirus re-donned his goggle contraption, its lenses making him bug-eyed again. He looked at Alec and smiled. Alec sighed and shook his head. The guy looked like a bona fide moron. Again, if things were different, he would’ve laughed.
Sirus pulled something out from under the table with his foot, then stepped up high on the thing and hiked his knee. Hiked it right over Alec’s freaking torso, and just like that, he was straddling Alec’s body.
Which was still helplessly pinned.
And wholly naked.
Alec’s eyes flared wide, staring up at him in alarm. Good frickin’ Lord, what was he doing?
The Kríe chuffed, amused, and scooted back on his knees. “Móonday.” Do not fear. “I will not sit on you, moyo. Crushing your little body would cost me my head.”
Alec exhaled in relief, but then stiffened with a frown. “You saying I’m fragile?”
“No, of course not. Not at all…” He glanced down Alec’s body. “Actually, yes.”
Alec scowled and ground his molars.
Sirus smirked and unhooked one of those glass things from Mina’s body. Alec glanced at it. Yup, definitely looked like a test tube, only a little bit shorter, and fatter.
Sirus held it for him to see. “Tree sprites. Very hard to catch.”
Alec’s lips fell open as he studied the contents—a half-dozen tiny entities, with even tinier translucent wings, flittering around behind the foggy glass.
“Are those like… fairies?”
“Fairies?”
“Little people that fly?”
“Hmm.” Sirus eyed them through his thick, bronze goggles. “I do not think so. Although, they do have tiny cocks.”
Alec cut him a dry look.
Sirus shrugged, “I checked,” then gave the receptacle a gentle shake. Instantly, it lit bright. Like really, really bright, the sprites no longer visible amidst their radiance. Naturally, they reminded him of fireflies on Earth, but with a hell of a lot more potency to their punch.
Sirus pulled down a sleeve from the tube’s metal rim, but it only appeared to extend along one side. Apparently, he wanted all that bright-ass light shining in just one direction. Carefully, he snapped it into place on his headgear, positioning it horizontally above his goggles.
Huh. A helmet light. How very clever.
Sirus moved to fiddling with his eye gear next, flipping countless lenses up and down. Evidently, there weren’t just two thick ones after all, but a whole freaking slew of them back-to-back. Like that thing people looked through at the eye doctor’s office that narrowed down their ocular prescription.
Click-click-click—Round discs cranking up and down.
Finally, he found the right combination.
“There. All ready.” Sirus smiled broadly. “I will be moving very close now. Just stay still.”
Alec frowned. He didn’t like the sound of that at all. Next thing he knew, Sirus was straddling him on all fours, his massive body suddenly looming ominously. Alec stiffened like a board. This close, the male looked enormous, blocking virtually everything else from sight. But right as Alec readied to demand some personal space, Sirus firmly clutched his jaw, rendering it immobile.
Alec inhaled sharply. He could feel the Kríe’s claws. Poking his cheek, against his ear, along the hairline of his neck. He swallowed, stomach flipping. Sirus shifted his weight, then brought his other hand to Alec’s eye.
“Do not move,” he rumbled softly, carefully prying it wide.
Alec’s heart went nuts. He was going to lose an eyeball. Sirus slowly leaned closer, till that light had Alec blinded. “Shit, Kríe,” he grunted. “This cannot be safe. You’ve got friggin’ claws for fuck’s sake.”
“They are short.”
“They are sharp.”
Sirus grinned but didn’t reply.
Alec tamped back a growl—but ultimately focused on staying still. He could smell the Kríe’s body, feel his heat, and his dreads. Or at least the ones that had slipped over his shoulder. They were soft against his skin. He bet Zercy’s would be, too.
Alec inwardly stilled. Where the fuck did that come from? But Sirus swiftly distracted him from his thoughts.
“Your eyes are like the ocean,” the big Kríe murmured. “Green and blue with little specks of sun.”
“Yeah, uh, thanks. That’s great. Are we done?”
“Mah. Look to the side.”
Alec exhaled, but complied.
“Bellah.” Good. “Now to the other.”
Alec obeyed, officially blinder than a bat.
“Hmm… That is interesting…” He let go of Alec’s eye. With a frown, he rose back up. “And unfortunate.”
Alec blinked, seeing nothing but a big fucking spot. “What do you mean, unfortunate?”
“Eh. It is nothing you would miss.”
Click-click-click—Back the Kríe went to switching lenses.
Alec blinked some more, that blotch in his eye slowly fading, but not before Sirus re-gripped his jaw. Cranking Alec’s head back, he pressed a thumb to Alec’s nose, pinning its tip upward to peer inside. Alec grunted, shifting awkwardly as the Kríe leaned back in. Did he really need to—
“Uh!” Alec stiffened in abject shock. Something cool just slid up his nose and—“UH!”—wriggled! Instantly, he shot into tugging wildly at his binds.
“Kerra.” Relax. Sirus held his head fixed. “This will take but a moment. That is all.”
“No! Aw, God! What the fuck’s up my nose!”
“Just another part of Mina. Now be still.”
Fuck him!—Fuck that!—No fucking way!—
Alec tried to turn his head as that thing wormed deeper, desperate to dislodge it from his nose. But the Kríe’s grip was strong and wouldn’t budge, so it just kept slithering its way into his sinuses. His eyes watered. His pulse thundered. Then, all of a sudden, it reemerged in the back of his throat. He coughed and gagged as it tickled his epiglottis.
Sirus pried open his mouth and peered inside. “Ah. As I suspected.” He compelled it to withdraw.
As soon as it pulled completely free, Alec shouted, “Oh, my God! You’re such a dick!”
Sirus muffled another snicker and turned Alec’s head to the side. “Stop complaining. And stop wiggling. I am trying to work.”
Alec inhaled sharply when clawed fingers clutched his ear. “Swear to God,” he ground out, on the verge of losing his shit, “if that thing touches my ear, I’ll fucking—”
“What,” Sirus chuckled, sounding wholly unconcerned. “You will hurt me when I release you? That should be interesting.”
Oh, God—Oh, God—
Alec broke into a sweat.
Sirus flat-out laughed. “Be calm, moyo ochay.” Funny creature. “It is only me this time. I give my word.”
Alec groaned, pretty sure he’d never been so relieved, but his body stayed braced nevertheless. It wasn’t like he trusted the prick. He could easily be lying.
Fortunately, Sirus did stay true to his promise, examining Alec’s ear with only his goggles. A few moments later, he released Alec’s jaw and sat up, careful not to put weight on Alec’s legs. Alec glared at him crossly—that spot in his eye finally gone—but Sirus didn’t seem to notice, or even care. He was too busy messing with those lenses again.
Click-click-click—
Click-click-click—
When he finished, Alec tensed. God only knew what was next.
Sirus chuffed, sliding the goggles halfway up his forehead. “Breathe. Just me and my lenses for this.” He tapped the side of his eyewear and grinned in earnest excitement. “The lenses in place now are derived from a ganshee.”
Alec’s brows scrunched. “Are you saying some of these plants can see?”
“Tah… But not in the way that we do.” He paused, as if searching for the words to elucidate. Ultimately, though, he just waved it off. “Too hard to explain. Besides, it is not how but what they see that matters.”
Alec eyed the things warily. “And what do they see?”
“Shades of gray, but more importantly, only the outline of organic matter. All organic matter, regardless if it is enclosed. Solids, like flesh, simply do not register. So they see right through it as if it was not even there. I believe this is so they can quickly locate life, efficiently discern between inanimate objects and prey. After all, what is more obvious than the outline of a beating heart? Even if an animal is trying to hide. Fascinating, is it not?”
Alec lifted a brow. “Actually, yeah.”
In fact, he was pretty sure scientists back home would kill for this. Not that their technology didn’t totally kickass. But this? This was cool as freaking shit.
“So now,” Sirus beamed, “I can see through matter, too.” His golden eyes twinkled as he covered them with his goggles. “And right now, that matter is you.”
Alec shifted beneath him. “Kinda figured that. What, uh, exactly will you be looking at?”
The Kríe leaned in closer—but not as close as last time—and got to work studying Alec’s throat. “Your organs. Your blood vessels,” he murmured. “All within.”
Alec exhaled, so damn grateful for a break from being touched.
Sirus nodded when finished and moved to scan his arms, eyeing them curiously for a moment. He proceeded to Alec’s chest next—and stared at it intensely—remaining there for quite a bit of time. Which wasn’t really surprising. A lot of important stuff was crammed in there.
But then something occurred to him. He looked at Sirus and frowned. “Why didn’t you use this with my head before? Instead of letting that thing crawl up my nose?”
“Cannot see through thick bone. The skull is very dense. Same with the pelvis and thigh.”
“Oh.” Alec supposed that made logical sense.
A happy little rumble made its way up Sirus’ throat. “So pretty inside. With such a busy little heart. It beats so very fast. Is this normal?”
Not really, Alec thought irritably. But, hey, that’s what happened when one got captured by alien behemoths, stripped and restrained, then intimately examined on top of a table.
“Yes. Perfectly normal.” Although, he suspected Sirus knew the truth. Probably asked Alec the question just to rib him.
Seemingly content with what he’d seen in Alec’s chest, he scooted down to study his abdomen. But instead of looking bored with the abundance of nothing but bowels, Sirus paused with a frown and cocked his head.
“How peculiar,” he uttered, giving Alec’s stomach a couple prods. “I do not understand what I am seeing…” Alec grunted, instinctively tensing his abs. But that only made the Kríe poke harder. A low, perplexed sound emitted. It’d come from Sirus’ nose. He nudged Alec some more. “So abnormal.”
Alec grunted through each one, scowling up at the guy. “Seriously?” Grunt. “You’re seriously saying you’ve never seen,” grunt-grunt, “intestines?”
Sirus stilled and met his eyes. “Intestines?” He looked totally baffled.
“Yeah. You know, bowels? That path from your stomach to your ass?”
The big Kríe recoiled. “But that implies they are connected.”
Alec stared at him, nodding, feeling a bit confused now himself. “Yeah. Because they are.” How could brilliant boy not know that? Was he messing with him or something? It didn’t look like it.
Sirus didn’t reply, as if absorbing his words, but eventually looked back down at Alec’s stomach. “Intestines,” he mused. “Such a foreign concept.” He rubbed his chin. His lips slowly curved. “An anomaly that I simply must investigate.”