Chapter 5

“You were serious about that whole you met Larry and within a few hours moved in together story, weren’t you?” Nicholas snickered and nodded but Larry and Jerker pretended not to hear us.

It seemed like along with explaining BDSM, someone had explained a few other social niceties to my new…something.

“Yep.” His eyes twinkled as he grinned and waggled his eye brows, looking more like a naughty frat boy than the genius scientist that he actually was. “Congrats seem to be in order.”

Rolling my eyes was my first reaction, but after a second, I shrugged and nodded. “Probably? Jerker is…well, he’s going to be taking care of me.”

It wasn’t until Larry laughed and a few other humans around us snickered that I realized how that’d sounded.

Gesturing toward him with my fork, I glared at the giggling lunatic. “Not that way.”

Nicholas wasn’t contrite and kept laughing. “Oh yeah, that way. But several other ways too.”

Ugh.

“Fine.” There wasn’t any reason to deny it since every human in the room was at least curious about BDSM and every alien in the room had dreams of taking care of their own human sub. “We’re going to be getting to know one another.”

That got more giggles from the people around us at the table, but I barely blushed that time because half of them were making eyes at the tentacled cuties they were fantasizing about too. “He’s very sweet.”

Nodding, Nicholas’s smile got less frat boy with a dirty joke and more understanding. “Yeah, he seems very sweet on you.”

He was not helping my blush, so I decided to change the subject. “It seems like more people paired up while we were talking.”

And cuddling.

And teasing.

Ugh, I was still hard just thinking about it and I knew it wasn’t going to go down anytime soon because every time it did, Jerker would reach over with one of his smaller limbs and pet my back or my leg. I wasn’t sure what his motivation was, but it was definitely deliberate and making me slightly insane.

Back to smirking, Nicholas nodded as he looked around the restaurant where the groups were broken up at several long tables. “Yeah, it’s going pretty good so far. There’s no way of knowing how much is just horny and how much is hormones, but I think it’s a success.”

There was no reasonable response to that…and probably not a polite one either considering we were in a restaurant…so I just ignored the weird part. “I’m glad. At the very least, it seems like everyone made some new friends.”

And not just in the naughty, euphemism way.

When we’d first walked in, most people were standing around awkwardly like we were at a middle school dance, but as we were eating, everyone I could see around us was chatting and looked like they were having fun.

Of course, some people’s fun was naughtier than others.

I could see several tentacles that seemed to be wandering and more than a few blushing human faces.

Hmm, maybe Jerker was behaving himself better than I’d given him credit for.

“So, you moving in with the captain or is he moving in with you?” Nicholas was trying to keep a straight face but I could see he was thoroughly enjoying fucking with me.

“Our plan is to spend the evening together and we’ll go from there.” I was not even going to give Jerker any ideas that moving in together was something that humans did on the first date.

Especially since he’d gone very still on the other side of me.

“Then we’ll have to plan our next date. I’m looking forward to spending time with him.” His body slowly came back to life as another tentacled Dom on the other side of him leaned in close and whispered something to him, but it was the way one limb started petting my thigh again that made it clear he approved so far.

Just that tiny bit of approval went right to my head…both of them actually…and gave me confidence I wouldn’t normally feel considering we’d just met. “And I need to share my limits list with him while we have a conversation about it. Communication is important.”

Oh, he liked that too.

His tentacle went from patting my thigh to caressing my dick and I had to work at keeping my face neutral. “He’s already been very clear about what he’s thinking and I appreciate that.”

God, he was rewarding me when I said good things about him.

Was it a domination thing or a it made him happy thing?

Did it matter?

No.

Nicholas’s gaze dropped down to my lap but other than a faint smirk he didn’t give away what Jerker was doing to me. “Communication is very important and I’m glad you guys are planning on talking about limits.”

It wasn’t really a question but he raised one eyebrow.

So it was a question?

Oh.

“We’ve already addressed some things and I will remember everything you said about boundaries.” To remember that I needed them and not get railroaded by a sweet Dom.

He probably should’ve given me that lecture a few more times because Jerker was really sweet.

“That’s good.” Nicholas dropped his gaze to my lap again, barely shaking his head. “I’m slightly jealous of your conversations, though.”

That one sentence was enough to have Larry tune back in, and before I could blink, he had one tentacle playing with his sub’s dick as he went back to some kind of conversation on hormonal variations and how the university wouldn’t let him do sexual research.

Nicholas rolled his eyes and groaned. “I should think before I talk sometimes.”

“Yep.” My new goal in life was to think more than he did, but since I was also getting played with at the table, I didn’t have high hopes.

I did, however, have an interesting new friend and a hard-on that might kill me.

So…the night was definitely looking up.

****

“Human dating rituals regarding safety indicate that I must ask one additional time if you are comfortable with me entering your establishment.” Barely waiting a breath, he frowned. “I do not understand why that question must be repeatedly asked. You are highly communicative.”

Huh?

Jerker’s words took me a few seconds too long to answer, and it wasn’t until I could see that he was starting to worry that my brain took over.

“Yes, I’m comfortable with you coming into my apartment.” What else had he said? “Um, I think it’s to make sure that people who aren’t good at communicating are both agreeing with what will happen.”

Maybe?

“Some people don’t say what they mean and confusion happens.” Oh. “But I won’t do that to you.”

Even if it killed me.

God, if he wanted me to answer questions, he had to stop caressing me.

“We both understand communication and I won’t confuse you by saying one thing and meaning another. It’s not what a good BDSM relationship looks like either.” I had a feeling there was another sentence in the middle that would’ve connected the two ideas better, but one of his smaller tentacles was caressing my hip and it was so distracting.

I would’ve been able to function better if he’d been jerking me off, but the unintentional teasing was making my brain glitch like one of the cheap computers in the lab that Nicholas was always screaming about.

I thought I sounded rambling and kind of stupid, but Jerker beamed at me and stroked over my head. “Good boy. Yes, we remember the importance of accurate communication.”

We had to get inside before one of my neighbors decided to be nosy.

“Thank you.” Giving him a quick peck on the cheek, I fished out my keys and opened the door. “Let’s go…let’s go sit down and talk.”

Anything to get us out of the small hallway because I could hear footsteps coming down the stairs.

Thuddy ones.

I lived in an interesting neighborhood and I wasn’t sure Jerker was ready to meet my neighbors.

“I approve of that activity.” Giving me a cute head pat, he pushed open the door once I’d pulled the key back and we made it into the apartment before I figured out who was thumping down the stairs. “You have a generous sitting appliance. I am grateful to see that.”

He was so grateful he picked me right up as soon as I set my keys down on the little thrifted table that I’d found when I’d first moved in.

Sucking in a breath as he held me like a princess he was rescuing, I wrapped my arms around him. “I…thank you.”

Maybe?

I wasn’t sure what a good response would’ve been but I didn’t mind being carried inside so I didn’t want to send mixed signals.

“We are no longer in what is considered public, my Theo.” He looked very pleased about that as he settled on the couch with me on his lap. “Public is more difficult than I had anticipated.”

I wasn’t sure if that was about finding a partner or just about peopling in general, but I couldn’t argue with him. Public was difficult sometimes, so I snuggled closer and nodded. “It is, so I’m glad we’ve got privacy now.”

Because I had questions, and I wanted to be rewarded again, and I wanted to come.

And I’d probably want to do all of those things several times.

Jerker seemed to understand at least some of that because his caresses weren’t as innocent as they had been just seconds before. One smaller limb was already moving up between my thighs and he petted my dick as he made a thoughtful sound. “You were hard for me earlier, my mate.”

Was he pouting?

I was still half-hard.

“I’m getting there again, don’t worry.” Driving had taken a lot of thought and he’d been a great Dom and hadn’t felt me up while I was driving the death machine he thought was insane.

Jerker hadn’t gotten used to cars yet.

“I am your dominant partner and will help with the situation.” Jerker’s limbs tightened around me before I could figure out how I felt about my dick being called a situation.

It fixed the situation.

“Good boy, my Theo.” The pulsing motion he made over my cock brought it back to full mast and got a moan from me, making my Jerker even more happy. “Yes, you enjoy pleasures.”

Yep.

And the way he appreciated it made it impossible for me to be embarrassed about it. “I like the pleasures you give me.”

Communication was important and I didn’t want him to forget how much I liked his touch.

“That…” Shoot. My words were wandering off. “That feels good and…and I like being held tightly.”

It was like the sexiest full-body hug I’d ever gotten. I didn’t have another way to describe it even though that didn’t seem like enough.

“Can…” Damn it. Words. “Can I wiggle and try to escape? But…but don’t let me? Please?”

Jerker made a thinking sound as his tentacles rippled over me in an almost unconscious gesture. “Prey instincts. Yes.”

He wasn’t talking to me yet, so I did my best to stay still and soak up the pleasure he was already giving me.

“That is an understandable desire for your species and subsect as a submissive human. However, before we continue, I must insist on the use of safewords going forward.” He waited until I nodded to finish his thoughts. “You must also articulate your needs for post struggle pleasures.”

Shit.

Articulate needs.

Got it.

He wasn’t a mind reader yet.

“I…I’m feeling needy and aroused.” Yes, I was going to stick to the facts so my new Dom didn’t get confused. “After…after I struggle, I would like to come…to orgasm.”

Yes, euphemisms bad.

“We…we talked about giving me a spanking.” Thank God. He was sweet and there was definitely something special about him, but I wasn’t going to ignore how much I wanted to be spanked. “But…but you could also explore my body and figure out what we both like. There…there are lots of things we could do.”

His wonderfully flexible limbs slowly tightened around me. “Once the different variations of pleasure have been applied to you, my submissive, additional conversations must be held. That is nonnegotiable.”

“Deal. Yes.” Oh wow, he was so strong. “I agree.”

“Good boy.” He rewarded my good behavior by jerking me off faster, the limb on my dick moving at a faster rate than the other ones, like the sexiest game of pat my head and rub my tummy ever. “You must also do your best to answer any questions I have as I apply pleasure to you, my Theo.”

I couldn’t hold back a groan, but it didn’t piss off Jerker.

“You have the human trait of being dramatic.” He seemed to find that cute but he didn’t let it distract him. “I must ask questions. I do not have a limit list as of yet. How will I know if you appreciate painful pleasures to your genitals if I do not ask?”

Fuck.

Jerker kept making words more and more difficult and more and more important.

He was definitely a Dom.