Chapter 9

I was stuck.

Why was I stuck?

Was I supposed to wake up stuck?

Oh.

Peeking one eye open, I saw a slender tentacle wave hi. So to be polite, I smiled back at it. “Hi.”

The adorable sound of Jerker laughing came from the other side of the bed. “Your alarm will sound in four minutes and thirty-two seconds.”

It took me a few seconds too long to realize that we’d just started some kind of beat the clock challenge. The tentacles around me started writhing and pulsing, bringing back the memory of arguing with Jerker about wearing clothes to bed.

I’d won and was still naked, but I had a feeling that might come back to bite me in the ass at some point.

For the time being, though, it’d turned out to be the best decision ever.

“Four minutes and twenty-one seconds, my mate.” Wrapping one limb around my dick and twirling around it like it was licking one of those rainbow-colored suckers, he quickly slipped another inside my ass and started making a similar motion.

Best fucking carnival ride ever.

As he slowly whispered the countdown, the rest of his limbs pulsed tighter around me. I might’ve actually made it to the alarm going off, but lucky for both of us, he figured out how sensitive my nipples were.

Nubbies were amazing.

They flicked.

They teased.

They pinched.

And as he got to one minute and nine seconds, they pulled my orgasm from my body.

All I could do was cry out because he was holding me so tight I couldn’t even shake. The complete restraint made it feel like my orgasm was bouncing around inside me like a trapped pinball. It just kept lighting me up like I was his favorite game and all he had to do was mash my buttons.

When my alarm finally went off, I was boneless and trying to decide if I had the energy to pee. When that seemed debatable, my brain shifted to trying to remember when the last time I’d taken a sick day had been.

“You are uncomfortable, my Theo.” Picking me up before I realized he was talking about my having to piss like a racehorse, Jerker was gentle as he hauled me off to the bathroom. “Humans are fragile, so multiple physical pleasures before work commences is not recommended.”

He wasn’t wrong, but I found myself pouting as he put me down in front of the toilet. “But I like multiple pleasures.”

And he was really good at giving them to me even when my body tried to complain that wasn’t always a good idea.

Master patted my head as he grabbed my cock and aimed it at the toilet—evidently I wasn’t supposed to do that by myself anymore? “You are a very good boy, my mate. However, I must be constantly vigilant about your physical health.”

That didn’t sound like I was going to get another orgasm before work.

“I will monitor your health closely and if I deem multiple pleasures safe, we will incorporate it into our morning routine.” Before my brain could wake up enough to figure out where the red flags in that sentence had come from, he patted my head again. “You must evacuate your bladder. Be a good boy.”

I wasn’t awake enough for discussions with Jerker yet.

Once I’d realized that, everything else went more smoothly. I submitted. He was proud of me. Verbal negotiations weren’t required at all.

Submissive, relaxed thoughts meant confident, take-charge Master.

Reminding myself that I needed to remember that, I snuggled into him as he carried me into the kitchen and just let him keep going. “You require a variety of healthy nutrients for your body to use as fuel.”

I was going to require caffeine too but I wasn’t sure if that was considered a health nutrient or something I was going to have to sneak later.

As I tried to figure that out without sending longing looks at my coffee maker, Master moved around the kitchen and opened every door and analyzed every appliance before setting me down at the table. “I have the knowledge that humans do not need to be hand-fed. You may sit on your own unless it is required for your submission.”

Shit.

Thank God for weird lectures…I was going to owe Nicholas flowers or something.

“If it’s something we want to explore in a scene, that might be fun, but yes, I can sit by myself and feed myself. Thank you, though.” I’d forgotten the subs in their society submitted that completely.

“Very good, my Theo.” After studying the contents of the fridge, he turned back to me. “Would you prefer a meat-based portable breakfast or would you enjoy consuming a grain-based meal?”

Huh?

I was going to have to brave the coffee discussion sooner rather than later.

Okay, grain-based meal probably meant oatmeal because nothing else made sense.

Simpler question…was there anything in the kitchen that I wouldn’t eat?

When nothing came to mind, I shrugged. “I would appreciate anything you made for me and…and I don’t know what I want for breakfast.”

It definitely wasn’t the time to point out that the Pop-Tarts in the cabinet weren’t as bad for humans as everyone kept saying.

“Decisions. Yes.” Nodding more to himself than to me, he ran a tentacle over my head and started moving around the kitchen. “I will remember that going forward.”

Remember what?

Waking up was so hard.

“My Theo, are your sounds of need a desire for more physical pleasures or have you become enamored of the device that dispenses roasted caffeine?”

Would both be a reasonable answer?

Wait.

Did he think I was horny for the coffee pot?

Fuck it.

“I would like caffeine, Master, but I wasn’t sure if you would think it’s unhealthy.” Honesty wouldn’t kill me, but as he kept me waiting, I wasn’t sure it would give me what I wanted.

“Chemical dependence is something humans struggle with.” Heading over to the fridge, he finally got to his question as I realized he’d been talking about making me a breakfast sandwich. “Do you struggle with that, my Theo?”

Chemical dependence.

“No. I don’t think so.” How were we defining that?

I wasn’t sure if we both had the same understanding about what that meant, but I couldn’t figure out the answer until I’d gotten my chemical dependence fix.

So, rock meet hard place?

“Um, I like a cup first thing because I sleep very soundly and it helps me wake up and then another one mid-morning when I take a break. I don’t think that’s too much coffee. Oh, and I don’t drink alcohol very often. I don’t do drugs either.” I made a variety of stupid decisions without fucking up my brain to help me get there.

Looking lighter as he set down eggs and ham on the counter, he nodded. “Then I do not think we need additional negotiations about that substance.”

Yay, I didn’t have to defend coffee.

Oh, wait. I could’ve had to negotiate coffee?

Having a Dom was going to be harder than I thought.

“I’m glad, Master.” Because I might’ve been too much of a sub to defend my coffee if it’d have made him sad.

“May I make it?” Did I have to ask to do that? It was my kitchen but we were definitely figuring out new roles and rules. “I could do it while you make breakfast in the morning.”

Okay, just saying that made me realize I should ask how often he was planning on sleeping over.

Probably.

Last night was definitely my fault.

I had several vague memories of being a pain in the ass about not wanting to be put down and wanting to be cuddled and generally just driving him bananas. I wasn’t normally like that but being overtired and probably over-stimulated hadn’t done my personality any favors.

“I think that is a reasonable plan for this morning, however, we must produce a daily and weekly timeline. I cannot plan your food intake and physical pleasures if I am not aware of your schedule.”

He needed to know when to feed, water, and fuck me.

Got it.

On the surface, that was very reasonable.

Once I had enough caffeine in me, I’d figure out what made it unreasonable. There had to be at least a yellow flag in there somewhere but I couldn’t pick it out yet.

Waking up was so hard.

“Yes, calendars and plans.” Getting up from the table before he could change his mind, I hurried over to start making coffee. “So I need to write down stuff like what my work schedule is and important things I need to go do?”

As he turned on the stove, scrambled an egg, and cut cheese all at the same time almost breaking my brain, Jerker nodded. “Yes. That is where we will begin. Additional information can be done in phases around your work and your necessary physical pleasures.”

We’d work around my job and my horniness.

Got it.

“Other time schedules will involve your daily routines, the tasks humans designate as chores, and those they call errands.” Jerker was in full Master taking over his sub’s life mode as he moved like we were in a kids’ cartoon show, every limb going a different direction. “That will provide me with sufficient information to begin.”

Begin what?

Nope.

I wasn’t going to ask.

“Alright.” Yep, I was going to sit down and drink my coffee and watch my Dom make me breakfast like we were living in a sci-fi show.

Oh, I was living in a dirty version of the Jetsons.

How did he keep every tentacle doing something different without losing his mind?

“Please advise me on your current schedule, my Theo.” Master had to repeat the order before it clicked in my brain.

Something about watching him pour the eggs into the pan while he made toast and searched the fridge for something at the same time was just as distracting as an orgasm. I had to physically turn my head and focus on my mug before I could focus on words. “Today. Yes.”

Starting the sentence even half-assed gave me a few seconds to figure out what to say next and to take a sip of the magical liquid that would help my brain come to life. “Um, I have to leave here in about an hour. I usually give myself plenty of time to get ready so that I’m not late. Today, I guess that just means I have time for us to chat over breakfast.”

Normally that basically gave me time to get distracted doing some kind of timewaster game on my phone or playing around with equally stupid what-ifs like “what if I went to college?” The games just destroyed time and looking up what I might study was equally as distracting.

There were lots of ridiculous things that always sucked up more time than I realized, so I’d learned to build in distractions to my plans.

“Is chat time in the morning important to you, my Theo?” If anyone else had asked me that, I’d have started looking for their motives, but I had a feeling Jerker’s question was meant to be just as practical as it’d come out.

And my very logical alien didn’t need me confusing him or talking around the subject, so I really thought about how to completely answer him.

“It’s not necessary in the morning for me to be happy or even content.” Refusing to overthink the conversation like I’d do with a human in the same situation, I took another sip and stayed focus on exactly what I thought he wanted to know.

How to take care of the human he’d found.

“If we’re together in the morning, at the very least, talking about the plans for the day makes sense and would probably make me feel good.” Yeah, I could see enjoying that kind of domestic scene with him.

It’d be like living out the kinky version of one of those old fifties sitcoms.

“But we don’t need to have long conversations. We can do that in the evening on workdays. Like when we go out on dates or if you want to call and talk.” Yes, that didn’t sound too needy. “If you’re not here when I’m getting ready for work, I’d probably text you good morning or something like that as long as it didn’t drive you crazy.”

He made a noncommittal thinking sound as he plated up the most perfect breakfast sandwich I’d ever seen. “All forms of communication will be something I encourage, my Theo.”

I had a feeling that would be an understatement.

“So that means I can text you first thing without worrying I’ll annoy you?” My question had him looking at me like he thought I was confused about reality. “I just want to make sure. Clear communication, right? I thought that was what you were saying but I want to make sure I can’t start worrying over it later.”

That had his thinking face coming back and he made quiet sounds that I had a feeling were for my benefit.

Fuck it.

“Do you make sounds when you think so I know what you’re doing?” It really sounded like a stupid question until he nodded and looked at me like I was the smartest little puppy he’d ever seen.

“Yes.” He was so proud of me he even patted my head as he went back over to the stove. “Humans require several layers of communication. The first-contact team discovered that very quickly. Without the ability to sense hormonal changes and other physical reactions, you have built in a variety of nonword-based information exchanges.”

Oh.

“So we didn’t react well without the clues?”

How not well?

Jerker nodded, probably another human thing he’d learned to do just for us, and went back to moving around the kitchen. “Please eat, my Theo. The temperature of human food changes its taste and viscosity.”

He was so cute.

“Yes, Sir.”

My reward for taking a bite was for him to continue the story. “From the report I was provided, the first-contact team was met with suspicion and unreasonable fear when we went from electronic communications to in-person discussions.”

Online to in person.

Got it.

“And that turned out to be about sounds?”

Really?

Humans were weird but not that weird, right?

“Yes.” As he started to make what looked like it would be several more sandwiches, he nodded. “The political leaders began as polite but it quickly…unvolved?”

“Devolved.”

Once I’d given him the word I thought he’d been looking for, he perked up and storytime got back on track. “Yes. Our natural state is still and quiet. We are not prey.”

Oh.

I hadn’t thought of that.

“And we started worrying that you guys were the boogie man or some kind of predator out to eat us.” It would’ve been like some kind of Hollywood horror movie.

“If I understand your expressions, yes.” Master sighed, another humanism I appreciated. “However, one of the human first-contact team members had worked with a variety of remote Earth-based civilizations and was able to explain the problem.”

That would’ve been crazy.

“So you guys learned to pick up our nonverbal cues and stuff. I think that makes sense, and I have to say, I appreciate you not sounding like the monster in a scary movie.” That would’ve been hard to deal with. “I’ll adapt now that I understand what to expect, so you don’t have to keep doing the human stuff if you don’t want to.”

Shaking his head as he started assembling three different sandwiches at the same time—still amazing—Jerker didn’t seem inclined to take me up on my offer. “I must continue to practice. However, I will give you gratitude for the offer and your understanding.”

Practice?

He hadn’t been doing it as long as everyone else.

Duh.

“Alright.” As he came back over to the table, I reached out and caressed one of his tentacles. “But just remember, I know you’re not human. I’ll just need you to explain things sometimes.”

I’d probably need him to explain a lot, but it felt obvious, so I didn’t point it out.

I would however start making lists…lots of them.

Like where had he learned to cook?