Tentacles With Benefits Read online

  I couldn’t blame him for being curious or even a little scared. I felt pretty much the same way. My heart was racing too, and I’d never seen anything like this. Never even thought I’d see anything like this with my own eyes.

  Was it a mutant? A totally new species? Some kind of secret experiment? I didn’t know, but that feeling of heat and connection I’d felt earlier only intensified when I was around him. As crazy as all of this seemed, I wanted to know more about this strange new creature. I wanted to see what was behind those shining black eyes. I wanted to find out where he came from, what he was, and what he wanted.

  In the back of my mind, though I didn’t want to admit it, I wanted to draw him into my arms. I wanted to hold him and soothe him. He was lost, a stranger in a new world. I knew how tough that could be—I was always a loner myself. Maybe I saw a little bit of myself in him. Maybe I didn’t want him to feel the same pain I had.

  “Can you hear me?” I asked again. I followed him to the back of the room where piles of paperwork stacked on an old wooden desk. I knew I should do something. I should probably sound the alarm or call for help or try to get him back into the tank, but I couldn’t. That intense longing, that feeling of connection in my heart and soul, hadn’t gone away. It was coming from him. My hands stopped shaking, but my heart was no less excited. Not to mention my, um, other parts…

  This was insane. I remembered learning about animals that put off certain pheromones as mating signals or to warn off predators, but nothing that could affect humans like this.

  If this got out, it would be the scientific find of the century. And that was the trouble, wasn’t it? Humanity had never seen anything like this before. And humanity, if nothing else, was curious—often to the point of destruction. The creature was trapped in that tank, after all. Was hooked up to all sorts of sensors amid piles of research. Who knew where they’d found him or what they were doing to him. If word got out about this find, every government in the world would be knocking down our door.

  The creature slithered over the pile of papers and started picking through them. His hands were agile enough, even had opposable thumbs like we did. I had no idea if he could read at all, but he seemed to know what he was looking for.

  Finally he pulled out a manila folder amongst the rest and wrapped it in his tentacles before turning back to me.

  “What…what’s your name?” I blurted out. It was a ridiculous question, and only one of the millions of unsolved problems. Even if he could understand me, how would he answer a question like that?

  The long, purple tentacle wrapped around the folder uncurled and thrust the papers toward me. I picked up the packet of paper and stared at the print.

  Project Kairius.

  I looked up at him. “Is that your name? Kairius?”

  He bowed his head.

  Okay. Next question. “Where did you come from?” I flipped through the report hoping to find that answer as well, but all I saw were a bunch of charts and numbers that didn’t make any sense.

  Kairius—or at least, I thought that was his name—curled a tentacle toward me in a come hither motion. I gulped and weighed my options. No one else was here. My phone was dead. If he wanted to kill me, he could. Easily. No one would be the wiser till it was too late.

  But when I saw the terror in his eyes, or watched his smooth, curious movements around the lab, I didn’t see a predator. I saw someone lost. Someone alone.

  I gulped and took a tentative step toward him. All kinds of warning bells went off in my brain, but just as strong was the almost otherworldly force pulling us together. I couldn’t explain how, but I needed to know more about him.

  Just as much as I needed relief from this surge of painful, overwhelming arousal.

  I took another step, holding my breath and bracing myself for any sudden movements. I kept the path to the exit in my line of sight, just in case, but I crept forward. One more step. Then another.

  Just like that, we were face to face. I’d been so panicked I hadn’t had a real chance to look at him, but now that he was right in front of me, I noticed the little things.

  The dimples in his cheeks. The damp curls plastered across his high forehead. The bobbing Adam’s apple on his neck.

  The sheen of iridescent scales all the way down his face, arms, and chest was barely noticeable. In the right light, you wouldn’t be able to see them at all. His face remained disarmingly human, save for the eyes. He didn’t have eyebrows or facial hair—only a few curls atop his head. I wondered for a brief moment why sea creatures needed hair, but then my eye caught something else.

  The scales around his navel flattened and lengthened, giving way to a glossy deep purple. The tentacles—twelve of them, I counted—were about as long as he was tall, and covered with circular suckers for grip. He moved each of them independently, curling the tips of them toward me in an invitation.

  I stood there, rooted to the spot. To stay or to go? To flee or to find out the secret history of a creature no man had seen before?

  I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and stood my ground. He wouldn’t hurt me. He wouldn’t. I just wanted to talk. To understand. My hand moved without thinking, reaching toward him. I sucked in a breath and traveled the last few inches to touch his skin.

  “Oh,” I breathed. He was warmer than I’d expected—though to be honest, I don’t know what I expected—and I could feel the pulse of life underneath his skin.

  Kairius didn’t draw away or launch into a murderous rage, so I took that as a good sign. He fixed me with those searching eyes, though, and I knew he had a message for me.

  “What are you?” I muttered under my breath. “How did you get here?”

  As if in answer, Kairius reached out to me. His slightly webbed hand found purchase on my shoulder, and before I knew what was happening, the world dissolved around me.

  The lab and the aquarium melted away along with everything I knew. Hallucinations danced around me, more real than any dream. All the while, Kai’s hand rested on my shoulder.

  Was this…his world?

  Spires of bone and coral shot up around me. Flicking, flowing slants of light cut through the waves. Schools of fish swam this way and that, swaying like the sea grass.

  Oh my God, I was underwater!

  I opened my mouth and clawed at my throat in a moment of panic. Kai was there, though. His touch anchored me. Soothed me. I dragged in a shaky breath. Then another.

  This wasn’t real. This was just an illusion. A dream. His way of communicating, perhaps.

  Fish, coral, and algae surrounded me and dragged me deeper. Salt water rushed against my skin. Bubbles tickled toward the surface. There was more than just a microcosm down here. No, I realized as I looked on in awe, it was something else entirely.

  A civilization.

  Glittering glass castles reflected the sunlight from above, shooting prisms of light through the endless current. Bright pink and white shells lined the sea floor in such an organized pattern it could have been called a road. Fences of bone led up to the nearest castle, and there I saw them.

  There were more.

  Half-man hybrids floated through the city everywhere I looked. Little ones. Big ones. All different color tentacles, too. The sight triggered some kind of bizarre deja vu, but I’d never seen anything like this before. Not even in my dreams.

  Then why did it feel like I knew this place? And why did my soul fill with longing for something I’d never had?

  The scene changed before my eyes. The utopia became a nightmare in a matter of seconds. Once peaceful creatures fled in terror, leaving everything behind. Turbulent currents rushed past me, and storms of bubbles flew upward to the surface.

  The once great city of bone and coral and glass…was collapsing.

  Massive spires caved in on one another, crashing soundlessly to the sea floor while its people died. One after another, their life forces snuffed out, crushed by the weight of the wreckage or the ominous black ink spreading in all di
rections.

  It all flashed before my eyes in a matter of seconds, but every feeling hit me right in the heart. The fear. The pain. The loss. The grief. What had happened to these people? What cataclysmic event forced them from their homes and families? And what unnerved me most of all was one ringing word above all else:

  Atlantis.

  A shock like lightning ripped through my body and I jerked out of the trance. The cold, sterile lab returned. Water seeped through my jeans. My knees scraped against the metal drains on the floor.

  And Kai was still next to me.

  I scrambled to my feet and away from him as quick as possible, my body on full alert now. “No freaking way,” I panted. “This isn’t happening. You can’t be real!”

  My back slammed against the cold metal door and I clawed for the handle. Forget fighting—full flight mode overtook every thought and sense I had, and the only imperative left was to escape.

  “What do you want from us?” I wailed. “What are you doing here?”

  There was no such thing as Atlantis. There was no such thing as tentacle monsters. There was no. Such. Thing!

  I twisted the knob at last and took off at a run. Forget this job. Forget this whole place!

  I turned a corner so fast I nearly skidded on the polished floors and ducked into the nearest bathroom. The lights clicked on.

  Bracing myself against the door, I tried to control my breathing.

  “Okay,” I repeated to myself. “Breathe, Evan. Breathe.” I staggered over to the sink and splashed cold water on my face, grateful for the chill. It took me out of myself for just long enough to forget everything.

  Not nearly long enough. My cock pressed up against the counter and strained against my pants, desperate for freedom. I growled and adjusted myself, splashing another burst of water over my face and neck. Despite the fear, despite the confusion and curiosity and anxiety, I was still hard and horny as hell.

  Damn it.

  I leaned over the sink and stared at myself in the mirror. Two bloodshot, tired eyes blinked back at me. I squeezed my eyes shut. Shook my head. Opened them again. Same bathroom. Same me.

  I let out a breath and ran through my options. Whatever was going on, this was definitely not normal. Now that I’d put a bit of distance between myself and that…thing, my thoughts were a little clearer, but not much. I didn’t know how, but he was affecting my brain somehow. Had to be.

  I fished out my phone to call for help, but it lit up to only a blinking ‘no signal’ screen. Of course.

  Forcing out a breath through my nose, I white-knuckled the countertop and tried to talk some sense into myself. “Okay, you got this.” Didn’t matter that my voice was shaking and I was talking to myself alone in a bathroom in the middle of the night. “You can’t wimp out your first night on the job. You need this. You’ve got overdue rent to pay, your mom’s in a nursing home, and you’re just trying to keep it together. You can’t afford to quit now.”

  I pushed back off the counter and ran my wrists under the cold tap. I shook myself, took a deep breath, and wiped the sweat off my brow. The moment of sheer panic had passed, but there was just one problem: I didn’t know what I was going to do next. Could I really keep doing my job knowing that he was in there? What if he escaped?

  What if…my mind wandered…he came for me again?

  “Fuck,” I groaned. My balls ached. My cock throbbed. Every thought that wasn’t panic was all-consuming arousal. What a combo, right?

  Finally, I gritted my teeth and pulled at my fly. If this wasn’t gonna go away on its own, I’d just have to deal with things myself. Normally I'd never think about jacking off at work, but tonight had been full of unusual circumstances. That, and I felt like if I didn’t, I was gonna literally explode.

  I pushed my pants and underwear down just far enough to reach my cock. Sure, I’d had some random boners as a teenager, but that was long past. This was more intense than any of them, and without any explanation why.

  I wrapped my hand around my dick and hissed in a breath. Was it…bigger? I stared down at my shaft. Nah. That couldn’t happen. I gave it a few good strokes up and down before squirting a bit of soap from the sink into my palm for lube. When I returned to my work in earnest, my mind flooded again with unbidden thoughts and sensations.

  I was just trying to get off so I could focus and move on with my life. This erection was literally painful and I couldn’t think of anything else. But the more I touched myself, the more I sunk into a hazy stupor, that heat and lust creeping through my body all over again.

  Think of something sexy, anything sexy. Damn it, I tried to direct my thoughts, but they had a will of their own. Again and again, my mind drifted back to the strange creature I’d found in the lab. Again and again, I wondered how those tentacles might feel against my skin. Wrapped around my arms. Wrapped around my cock.

  I sucked in a breath and winced at the shock of pleasure. This was totally wrong, but no one was watching, right? No one knew what I fantasized about, and I didn’t have to tell anyone as long as I got the job done.

  So for a moment, I let go of the resistance. I gave in to the feelings, throwing my head back and closing my eyes. I braced my other hand against the counter. My knees went weak. I pumped my cock faster, and my mental theater got more and more explicit.

  Just what could he do with all twelve of those tentacles? No man could do that. He could double penetrate me without an issue. No, triple penetrate. Or more. He could wrap one around each arm and leg, hold me trapped, and still have plenty left over to play. Not to mention the suckers lining each one, adding an extra sensory element to every touch…

  “Shit!” I cursed and bucked against the sink as I crested in a sudden, fierce climax. Cum shot across the counters and splattered on the mirror. It stared back at me—evidence of my sin.

  Of course, that wasn’t the only unexpected thing I saw in the mirror.

  Kairius was standing right behind me.

  I scrambled to cover myself, but it was too late. He’d already seen everything. Kairius watched me with a self-satisfied smirk, tilting his head to the side in a silent question. Almost as if he knew what I was thinking.

  Almost as if he wanted to help.

  I gripped the sink, still dazed from the intense orgasm, and took a step away from him. “How did you get out?” I whispered, even though I knew I wouldn’t get an answer.

  This was bad. This was really bad.

  I yanked my pants up and hurried to fasten them. I had to get out of here. I had to tell someone. Call for help. Something.

  Kairius simply stood there, pointing at the ceiling.

  I followed his gesture and my mouth dropped open. The ventilation shaft hung open above us, the metal grating removed. Air whooshed down from above and tingled my skin.

  “The vents,” I breathed. “No way…”

  I rushed to the door but Kai was faster. He blocked the exit with his huge body and each tentacle criss-crossed the door frame.

  Oh, shit. I really was trapped.

  But isn’t that what you wanted? A little voice, the devil on my shoulder no doubt, spoke up in a small, teasing voice. You wanted him here. You got off to the thought of him doing all those things to you…why don’t you try the real thing?

  At this point, I didn’t even know if it was me thinking those things, or some kind of hypnosis by the creature blocking the door. Did it matter?

  I wanted him.

  It wasn’t even a completely sexual thing, either. That spark of inspiration hadn’t died out since the moment I got here. That feeling of purpose. I was here for a reason, and maybe I was finally figuring out why. As much as he scared me, as much as I knew I should get out of dodge, I needed to know more.

  I needed to help him, and it looked like the only way out was through.

  “You were thinking of me.” I didn’t see his lips move, but heard the words clearly enough. He crossed his arms and gave me a self-satisfied smile. His tentacles still blocked
the doorway.

  “You can talk now?” That was news to me.

  “I’m simply projecting my consciousness onto yours. You called out to me, and I responded. Now I am here.”

  I bit my lip. I mean, I had been thinking about him pretty hard, and I may have even grunted his name at one point, but I wasn’t “calling out to him”—that was crazy!

  And you know what was even more crazy? The fact that he somehow heard me and escaped the lab to come all the way here!

  Something snapped in my mind. Suspension of disbelief could only get you so far, and this was so far out of the realm of possibility my mind started looking for any other explanation. You know what? Screw it. None of this was real. Couldn’t be. Maybe I fell asleep at the desk or something.

  But if it wasn’t real, I told myself, why not indulge a little?

  That’s what it always came back to, didn’t it?

  Whether this was real or not, the solution remained the same. I needed to go with him. I needed to see what he needed to show me.

  And yes, I needed to see just how talented those tentacles could be.

  “Come here, Evan.” I froze at the sound of his voice. I hadn’t told him my name. “Let me help you.”

  I gulped. Even the most intense orgasm of my life did nothing to sate the burning within. Those tentacles, on the other hand, promised something out of this world…

  “We’ll make a deal,” I breathed. “You help me. I’ll help you.”

  “Hmm.” Kairius made a show of stroking his chin, his tentacles squirming in excitement. A wide, wicked grin spread across his face. “Deal.”

  Twelve tentacles shot toward me at once, buoying me to the door and out into the aquarium itself.

  What a surreal feeling--being carried by something so much bigger and stronger than me. For that small moment, my worries fled away. His skin was cool and smooth to the touch, the tentacles a slippery, silky ocean. They moved and swarmed constantly until I couldn't keep track of them anymore. But with him surrounding me like this, I knew one thing: