“The red button on my collar releases my robe. If you wish to continue as my pet, touch the button. If you don’t by the time I count from five, I will put you in stasis, and you won’t remember me when you wake on Earth. Five.”
 
 It takes me two ticks to realize this is my chance to consent. It may be my only chance, but he’s giving me a faultless escape. My heart soars with trust in this alien. Desire burns in his eyes as they rake down my back and naked bottom, but he claims he will put that aside.
 
 “Four.”
 
 Oh, wait, I’m supposed to be doing something! My excited consent requires me to touch the button under his chin. I wobble on my knees as I rise to reach it. I’m too short! I thought this alien looked gigantic because he was surrounded by the little guys and low ceilings. But no, he’s massive. Is he massive everywhere? Do I want my first to be someone massive…everywhere? My brain questions my choice, but my body is already moving to claim him.
 
 “Three.” There’s a question in his voice and a squinting of his eyes.
 
 Oh no, Jenny, don’t ruin this! Don’t let this pass you by like the opportunities to sneak out to the teen disco, the sleeveless homecoming and prom dresses, and the dating outside of your church.I could be stuck as Jimmy’s wife because I turned down Mr. Right because of his religion. In my panic, I climb to my feet too fast and fall against the alien.
 
 He doesn’t catch me, but I wrap my arms around him. “Sorry, I’m short.”
 
 “Small, delicate, pretty,” he whispers. Our lips are less than an inch apart, and everything within me burns to close the gap. Do I dare? “Two.”
 
 The button hisses. A light blinks within it. The robe catches on my arms, where I have yet to release him. His chest is green, but it’s dotted with purple chest hairs—not a sweater like that Magnum P.I. guy, but just enough to tickle my breasts. He has the same chest implant as I do. It must be a translator of some sort. My daring fingers dance over his flat, purple nipples, but Idon’t quite have the guts to lean backward to get a look at the prize between his thighs. What pokes at me seems like a baseball bat, but that can’t be right…can it?
 
 “I’m going to make you so happy,” he growls. “All you have to do is ask, and anything in the Universe can be yours.”
 
 A lump lodges in my throat. All my life, I’ve been told to be seen and not heard, to be sweet and not demanding, and compliant, not questioning. When he asks me to speak my desires aloud, he might as well have asked me to fly to the moon using my arms. But this is my chance to prove to myself that I’m an independent woman despite what everyone tells me to be…
 
 “Can I kiss you?”
 
 At his nod, I lean in for my first kiss. If nothing else, this brush of our lips jumps my life path from righteous to independent. For once, I take what I want and do what will make me feel pleasure. My alien captor makes good on his promise to make me happy when he takes over the kiss. Even though I’m holding onto him, I’m ensnared in his power, helpless but to allow him to nip my lips and spear my mouth with his wide tongue.
 
 The doors open with a whoosh, and little aliens flood inside. I shriek and press my palms to my breasts to hide them. My knees slide on the soft sheets as I scramble away from the alien commander. I hit the bed face-first, but that doesn’t slow my retreat under the covers.
 
 “Pet, stop!” The alien commander thunders. “How dare you surrender to me and then crawl away when I try to claim you! That’s a naughty pet!”
 
 “I gave consent to you…not to the whole ship!”
 
 There is a general buzzing in the room, but with the chest implant, I can understand the questions spilling from the little aliens. “How did I misinterpret her?” “Why would she try to hurt me like this?” “That’s what I get for falling for an alien, but Ithought humans were sensitive beings.” “Why do I always end up rejected?”
 
 “I thought I explained this, pet,” he says with a dejected sigh. The bed dips as he sits upon it. The mini aliens gather around him. “We are of one mind, heart, and soul. Where your kind has one body for your consciousness, mine is shared. Each body is different, but the love—the person—is the same.”
 
 “These tears are not for me. They are for you,” I say, wiping my face with my hands. “I’m surprised and learning. That’s all. I want to understand,” I plead. Maybe I’m portraying myself as a stupid pet, but I’d rather be that than a heartless monster.
 
 The mini-self closest to me wraps his arms around mine and lays his head on my bicep. Another mini-self gives my other arm the same treatment. A third climbs onto my lap and lays his head on my breasts. With shy smiles and tentative touches, the mini-selves gather around me in a group hug. “I can hold you like this,” the commander whispers.
 
 “I understand,” I whisper, reaching for him. “I surrender to you—every piece of you.”
 
 The mini-selves scramble to my sides as their commanding body walks up the bed on his knees with perfect balance. I lie back in submission and stretch my arms above my head. With a mini-self on each side, he’s lowered onto me. He’s heavy, but his weight and the sheets wrap me in a secure cocoon. Our kiss resumes with wild fervor. I gulp down his flavor and suck on his tongue to learn what makes the purr rattle in his chest.
 
 Oh! Hesitant touches—the lightest of rubs—glide up my thighs and caress my hips. I break my kiss with the commander to peer between us. Four hands caress my legs. Two trace up the sides of my belly. A mini-self holds my hands above my head and massages the pads under my thumbs. That move alone pulls a groan from behind my lips.
 
 “Feel good, my pet?” The commander asks with a chuckle. “I need to hear the words spill from your puffy lips.”
 
 “I love your touch on me.”
 
 “Where, pet? Where do you like to be touched?”
 
 My brain short-circuits.
 
 “Someday you will realize how beautifully soft and romantically sweet your body is to me. If I could share sentience with you too, you could see that I find each of your curves fascinating. It is my wish that you learn to love your body as I do, and that you will teach me how to pleasure you.”
 
 “Touch my breasts…please.” It comes out as a shaky whisper, but at least it comes out.
 
 My moans fill the room as small, stubby fingers knead my breasts. They are pulled to the sides and stretched taut, and each grab of my flesh ignites a thousand matches under my skin. My nipples are twisted and released, making my eyes roll in bliss as blood floods my sensitive nerve endings. There’s a tug on my left leg, but I can’t separate my legs with the commander pinning me to the bed. The pressure between my thighs coils tight as my body barrels toward orgasm without penetration.