Chapter 2

I stood there dumbfoundedly for just a bit too long, so Larry decided to step in. “That is not a conventional greeting.”

Damn right.

“Stature and even facial hair do not designate age.” The alien gave a liquidy shrug and his features pulled into what I knew was a confused and slightly frustrated expression. “I have been approached by several for the purposes of mating who are not of legal age.”

Oh.

Horny teens.

Got it.

“It is understandable, but you must research more appropriate ways to gain that information from potential human partners before you are ready to be a caretaker.” Larry gestured toward the door in an I don’t make the rules kind of way. “Please come back when you have practiced more social interactions.”

The new guy didn’t seem to find it offensive because he sighed. “I must agree. I shall look for ways to interact with more humans.”

As the guy walked off, Nicholas rolled his eyes. “He clearly doesn’t work with enough humans.”

“I must agree with your assessment.” Shrugging, Larry frowned thoughtfully. “Some of our younger people have been slower to build appropriate social bonds.”

Oh yeah.

But I clamped my lips together and just nodded instead of letting anything escape.

Nicholas gave me a side-eye that said he knew what I was doing but Larry didn’t seem to notice I was being weird and just kept us moving as he scanned the space.

I had to admit to it taking entirely too long to realize we weren’t just randomly wandering the room, but I had no idea what he was looking for so I turned to Nicholas and did my best to actually whisper that time. “What are we doing?”

We were starting our second lap around the room and I was starting to wonder if it was some kind of alien OCD thing.

Larry was very particular about how I cleaned the lab and I was the only one of the janitorial staff that he’d let near his equipment… Was that more than me just being the only one who could follow directions?

Or who hadn’t come on to him?

As I thought about how important that part might’ve been, Nicholas chuckled. “He’s watching their reactions to you. I’m not as good at reading strangers as I am Larry, but I think at least two have indicated that you smell really good.”

Oh wow.

Two?

How many guys would I need to meet before I found one who didn’t think I was annoying?

I knew the human Dom to me ratio, but I wasn’t sure those numbers would translate to this situation.

I was trying to do the math when Nicholas sighed and I realized he’d been expecting some kind of reaction. “Um, I don’t know what to say to that.”

Rolling his eyes, Nicholas let out a huff. “I’m not even going to ask you where your mind was.”

Good.

“I would like that information, please.” Larry was serious judging by the look on his face. “Mental wandering in humans has not been highly researched.”

Oh, good grief.

Smart people.

“Um, well.” He wouldn’t ask unless he really didn’t understand it, so I kind of thought I should answer even though Nicholas was snickering. “I was trying to do the math on how many Doms like you that I’d have to meet before one liked me. I know the ratio with human guys, but I’m not sure how the math looks in an…in an intraspecies relationship.”

Was that even the right way to phrase it?

No one laughed so it couldn’t have been too wrong, but as Nicholas sighed, Larry gave me a curious look. “Every single male of my species in the room would enjoy giving you human sexual pleasures. However, fleeting pleasure is not our goal, so I will be narrowing down those who I will introduce you to. We will primarily focus on those with the strongest hormonal reactions. Although, there are other factors to consider.”

What?

“Then we can select for submissive compatibility.” Larry went on talking like finding me a mate was a new scientific endeavor and I told myself I needed to remember that he was a legit genius scientist.

It somehow seemed like a bad move to have forgotten that part.

“Humans sometime require significant amounts of personal space to be happy.” Larry gave Nicholas a look that said he didn’t appreciate such a ridiculous human idea.

Nicholas just ignored it and kept his gaze on me. “Just remember that they like submission so don’t hide what you want. That’ll just fuck things up.”

Nodding, I slowly let out a breath and tried to tell myself to stop worrying. “I read up on the information you showed me.”

Not that I’d understood most of it.

“Submission good. Lots of submission better. Don’t let them take over my life unless that’s what I want.” That was what I wanted, so I wasn’t going to push back on that too much unless it was utterly impractical. “Oh, and verbalize boundaries clearly or they’ll pretend not to notice them.”

Evidently boundaries were just vague ideas unless you specifically spelled them out.

Larry’s very human-sounding huff said he was the one who’d inspired the boundaries need to be verbalized clearly rule. “Humans do not always recognize what will provide them with contentment and security.”

Well, he wasn’t exactly wrong, but I was saved from having to hear what would be a stressful debate between those two by several tentacled gentlemen moving closer. I was pretty sure they didn’t want to hear the argument either, but they might’ve been hungry.

It looked like we weren’t going to sit down for dinner until the mingling had gotten a bit more productive, so maybe they just wanted to hurry things up. But the way Larry had stopped us after our second round of the room might’ve been a sign they were waiting on too.

In some ways it was so much easier than hanging out with human Doms, but in others it was so much more confusing.

“Interesting.” Larry jumped off the argument train and studied the guys who’d moved closer like we were back in his lab. “I am not familiar with everyone who is interested in you. However, I do recognize several potential suitors.”

Was that a good thing or not?

Suitors?

What had they been watching lately?

Wait. Did knowing them mean he’d worked with them?

I wasn’t sure I could handle any more scientists or professors in my life…they were all insane just in different ways.

Before I could decide how I was going to figure out any of those questions without actually asking any of them, Larry had us moving again…that time toward the guys who were getting closer.

My suitors.

They were mostly different shades of blues and greens, with one who had grays in his coloring as well, but that was all I could tell at first glance. No one looked happier than another and no one was giving off flirty Dom vibes, so it was hard to tell that they were interested in me.

Especially with how many other subs there seemed to be.

But as I tried to see how many humans were in the group, I realized there were more alien Doms than human subs. Did that make me look better? Usually when I’d gone out, there were always more subs than Doms.

This had to improve my odds, right?

The way Larry was weaving us through my suitors didn’t give me confidence in it.

“Human privacy customs vary, but would it be acceptable to explain that you are a submissive that could tolerate higher levels of caretaking than average?” Larry said that with such a straight face, I had to look around him and focus on his giggling partner.

“He realizes he just said that out loud, right? He’s fucking with me?” The question got giggles from several humans around us but a few of the tentacled cuties seemed to realize how funny it was too, so I knew they’d been around humans more than some of the others.

“Yep. He realized he said that but he’s exploring the different ways humans use language to get what they want without actually saying what they want.” Nicholas looked like he was thoroughly enjoying the situation. “It’s really cute as long as it’s not aimed at me.”

Great. He was proud of his mate for learning to fuck with people.

Sighing, I shook my head and reminded myself that I knew he’d overshare. It was just what he did. Sometimes it was accidental and sometimes it was because he was really curious. Now it seemed like it was because he was being pushy at the very least. “It would not be oversharing in this social situation.”

Just this once because it made sense.

He’d finally learned to stop asking me questions about his research when he saw me in the hallways, so I couldn’t complain about it now. This was at least a reasonable space to be talking about my submission and my submissive reactions.

“And good job on exploring new ways to use language.” Might as well praise the dork because he’d done it pretty well.

Yep, he got all puffed up and proud of himself as Nicholas just went back to snickering.

But something about the ridiculousness shifted the way some of the Doms saw me because the group changed. I lost a few that’d been hovering near the back and gained a few new onlookers who were watching me carefully.

What’d happened?

“Interesting.” Larry’s comment said he’d noticed it too but it didn’t give me any context.

I was going to ask…probably…but a broad-chested guy with tentacles that looked larger than average somehow shifted closer and gave Larry a polite nod. “I would request an introduction to the human you have called a friend.”

Larry spoke really good human English because he had fun talking with all the students on campus when he was taking a break from his experiments, but this guy spoke like he hadn’t interacted with quite as many humans.

“It would be an honor.” Larry inclined his head and gestured toward me. “Please be introduced to our human friend and colleague Theo. He is a member of the university staff that is involved in maintenance and caretaking.”

I wasn’t sure I’d have phrased my job description that way, but it wasn’t wrong.

“He is patient with others and dislikes confrontation. He also needs guidance in making daily decisions and is highly respected for his homemaking skills.” It was the strangest introduction I’d ever been a part of and Larry didn’t let it end there. “He appreciates mild pain in human-based sexual pleasures and finds tentacles highly erotic.”

Oh God.

He sounded like I had a fetish for them.

I didn’t.

They were just…

I was just…

They…

Shit.

As the world grayed out around me, my last thought was that I was going to kill Larry.

When reality tuned back in, my first thought was about killing Larry again, but my second thought was that I wasn’t on the floor.

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?