Page 38 of Monstrous Baby
Snryx remained silent but his coloring changed subtly. The darker purple-gray of his chest looked brighter, somehow. More lavender than charcoal.
:Look at him through my eyes,:Kroktl whispered to me.
I blinked and his sensitive temperature reading vision flickered before me. Snryx’s chest glowed with heat, burning red to yellow to a white-hot center deep inside him. Near his back at the base of his spine, a mini supernova blazed.
Very likely the location of his specialized hectocotylus tentacle.
Low on his back. Almost like a tail.
“Lay down,” I said, quickly adding, “On your stomach,” when he immediately moved to comply. “I want to explore your implements in more detail, if that’s alright with you.”
He rolled over as I’d asked, his head turned toward me so he could still see me, cradled on his elbow. “As I said before, you may do anything you wish to me.”
His face was more lavender, radiating heat I didn’t need Kroktl’s vision to feel. A blush? His implements swept together in a flat, thick coiled braid down the center of his back over his buttocks.
“I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”
His eyes flared. “I’m perfectly comfortable.”
“You’re very tense.” I scooted closer to him and laid my palm over the tangled, tight mass. “Are you sure?”
“I’m simply not used to allowing a full examination on myself.” He shuddered faintly and allowed the tight bundle to relax, though the tentacles stayed mostly flat and together. “I’m eager for you to explore to your heart’s desire.”
I started with simply untangling them one by one, spreading them open more like a fan so I could see how they were attached. Two came out of his skull at either temple. Two more sproutedbehind each of his small, mostly human-looking ears. Together, they gave the appearance of thick dreadlocks or hair. The rest of the implements attached down the back of his skull and spine in a line to the small of his back, where a ring of small, nubby bumps folded together in a sort of nest.
I gently ran my index finger around his temple, tracing the ridge where skin turned into implement. “Is this okay?”
“Absolutely.” Though his breathing came louder and faster. His pupils widened, darkening his amber eyes.
“You came before,” I whispered, lightly walking my fingertips down the back of his skull. “When we were in bed together with Rizan. I carry your DNA.”
“Affirmative.”
“Did your hectocotylus come out then? It must have. But I didn’t notice at the time.”
“I wouldn’t expect anyone to notice.” His jaw flexed, his nostrils flaring with each breath. “It looks very much the same as the others.”
“But you protect it inside of you?”
His shoulders moved restlessly, his very human hands clenched into fists on either side of his head. “Not for protection, exactly, at least in my case. I’m a specialist. I have very little need for a sexual organ that has only one use. I honestly never expected to utilize that implement in my service.”
I watched his face as I slipped my fingers between each implement, rubbing the delicate skin in between. The implements swelled and twisted, moving of their own accord, squirming very much like a nest of snakes. Old Natalie would have been completely revolted, I’m sure, but I could feel the sheer bliss my touch gave him. They squirmed with glee and pleasure, unable to remain still. “DSC might have wanted a little Snryx someday.”
“Medic specialists are made, not bred.”
Too many questions bounced around in my head. My infamous curiosity burned. Did all medic designations have cephalopod characteristics? What else might HQ have combined? Rizan and Lohr were specialists, weren’t they? Or maybe I completely misunderstood. I wanted to know everything about my squad. How they were made. What made them different from others.
But Snyrx’s breathing rasped louder, his cheeks pale with only a tiny bit of lavender coloring. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”
He laughed raggedly. “The most delightful torture I’ve ever experienced. Though I must warn you I am very close to release. You may certainly make use of any of my implements for your pleasure but if you’re specifically interested in the hectocotylus, you’re running out of time.”
I ran my gaze over his implements again, settling my attention on the small circular grouping near the base of his spine. Nothing protruded from the center, and I didn’t see a slit like Axxol’s. “Am I allowed to touch it? Or would that be too much?”
He shuddered, his eyes squeezing shut, his fingers clutched desperately in the bedding. “Please. Do. In fact, I recommend you sit on it for the fullest effect.”
My brain hiccupped, not quite connecting the dots. Sit on his back? Surely that was backward…?
His eyes cracked open in thin, glowing slits, shining almost as brightly as the white-hot glow I’d seen at the base of spine. “Pressure will bring it out. Regrettably, that means you won’t be able to see much of it, but I guarantee you’ll be able to feel it.”
