“Yeah, but...” She looks at Prust with a slight scowl. “Can’t he just print you up a textbook?”
“And when would I read it?” As my roommate for many years, she knows I always mean to read a lot more than I actually do.
“Okay, probably never,” she says. “So, that’s all this is?”
I nod, hating the taste in my mouth. “How about we get dinner together later? We can catch up a bit.”
“Sure.” Dani turns to Prust. “Can you let me know about these history lessons? I should probably learn more too.”
I nearly choke, but Prust smiles warmly, like an enthusiastic professor. “Certainly, Ms. Long. That would be lovely.”
“See you later,” I say, showing Dani out.
Leaning back against the door, my adrenaline finally wanes, and I’m left with a heavy ache in my backside. I’ve had Prust’s plug in this whole time, but my attention was on Dani. Now it’s back in my perception.
“Damn,” I say, shaking my head. “Sorry about that.”
Prust glares at me. “Was that really necessary?”
“Excuse me? I didn’t ask her to barge in on us.”
He takes my wrists and twists my arms behind my back. “Not that. Your lies. You could have told her the truth.”
I snort, despite the strain in my arms. “No way. What we’re doing? She’d kill me.”
“I doubt that. She’s your friend.”
I try to shake off his grip, but he doesn’t let go. “Plus, what I said was true. We are having regular meetings.”
“Don’t bullshit me, Alexis. You deceived your friend and we both know it.” Prust pulls my jeans down to my knees and takes hold of the plug. “Do you like me?” he asks.
“You know I do,” I say, gasping as he tugs on the toy.
“And you know I like you. If that’s how we both feel, I don’t like you lying about it.”
I groan as he lets the plug go, allowing it to sink back in. “You think I like lying to my friend? It sucks! But if she knew? If the colony knew? It would be a disaster. Everyone would be furious. You’re the reason we’re here instead of Earth. Your presence on this planet is tolerated, not welcomed. You and I are not supposed to be... companions. How could my people trust me if they knew what we’ve been doing?”
Prust releases my arms. “Maybe you should ask why they should trust you if you can’t be honest about us? If you told them the truth, they might not like it, but at least you’d have told the truth. Sometimes keeping a secret is worse than the secret itself.”
“That’s your opinion,” I argue.
“I’m usually right about things,” he counters.
I try to put myself in Dani’s shoes, or anyone else: if my leader was secretly connecting with a Dominar, would I want to know? Or would I rather be blissfully ignorant? It’s a tough question—although I know a worse one.
“Do you think we should... stop seeing each other?” Though I summon my well of resolve, I barely get the words out.
“I don’t want to stop,” he replies, allowing my body to relax. “But I’ll respect your wishes, if you think that’s best.”
I smile, stepping over to Prust, allowing him to hug me. “I don’t want to stop either... even if it is the smart thing to do.”
“I’m glad,” he replies, rubbing my back. His hard body feels dreamy pressed against mine; I’d let him embrace me like this forever if I could.
“Soon. I’ll tell Dani soon, and apologize for lying. We’ll see how she takes it.”
“Good,” says Prust. “But I’m going to give you a little extra motivation. Get in position.”
My pussy aches and my ass tingles in anticipation as I comply. Bending over his table, I cross my arms behind my back and spread my legs as much as my fallen pants will allow. Tensing up, I prepare for the inevitable spanking. Yet, the next thing I feel is Prust removing my plug.
“Sir?”
He sets the toy aside, but retrieves another, a slightly longer one.
“For this lesson, a regular plug won’t do. This one will suffice.”
At first glance, it doesn’t look especially different. The device glistens with oil, as I’d expect; as Prust presses it to my rear, I relax my taut muscle, allowing it to slide in easily.
My pleased groan only lasts a moment before turning into a shrill squeal. My ass suddenly feels like it’s on fire!
“Holy shit, what is that?” I ask, my skin getting hot. I reach back for the plug but Prust grabs my wrists, holding me in place.
“It’s a chemical reaction, caused by a compound coating the plug. It’ll continue to burn until the compound is fully consumed.”
My heart pounds as I squirm uncontrollably. “How long is that going to be?”
“A while,” says Prust. “And struggling is only going to make it worse.”
Unbelievable. Just when I thought I’d gotten used to his various torments, he introduces a completely new indignity to endure. Even when I tell Dani about me and Prust, I’m still going to have to leave out some details—especially stuff like this.
Sometimes I don’t understand at all how I can let Prust do things like this to me. I could pretend I don’t really have a choice, but that’s not entirely true. I could lie to myself and say that he’s being abusive, but that’s not really the case either; he’s rough and pushes my limits, but never hurts me seriously. As my body so overwhelmingly has proven, I feed off his domination; I can tolerate pain and enjoy being used. It might not make sense, but it can’t be denied.
For instance, if he’d told me when we first met he’d fill my ass with a toy that causes constant pain, I’d have run screaming. Now it’s mostly gotten me worried about how it will affect my work for the next few hours. Though the burning sensation doesn’t produce an excessive amount of pain, it’s certainly not pleasant, and I don’t know when it’ll be done. What does ‘a while’ mean? A few minutes? A couple of hours? A day? Considering the guy’s thousands of years old, it could mean anything!
Taking his advice, I calm myself as best I can. Keeping my body still reduces some of the discomfort, but only a little. My ass still burns fiercely, the compound showing no signs of dissipating. Prust takes his hands off me and watches. I whimper and occasionally tremble, solitary tears slipping down my face. With my ass held up in the air, utterly exposed to his leisurely viewing, my humiliation couldn’t get more complete. How could I want this? How could I desire it? I’m not sure I’ll ever know.
“Sir, I need to get back to my tasks,” I say, hoping it will earn me a reprieve, especially since it’s the truth.
“Then I’ll make this quick,” he replies, pulling down his pants.
I groan as he plunges his cock into my sopping pussy, blasting my senses with the pleasure of being filled completely. Though having him inside me at the same time as the plug exacerbates the burning compound, I don’t care—his cock feels too good.
He begins hammering me right away, accelerating to full speed in seconds. I howl as the floodgates of ecstasy open wide, wondering how I can experience so much bliss while also in such discomfort and distress. Something inside me must be broken.
“Can I come, sir?” I ask, unable to bear much more of his hard thrusting before I climax.
“Yes,” he replies.
My body quakes as I release the pressure building within. Electrified by carnal delight, I buck and scream. Pain from the plug mixes with the other sensations overloading my system until it’s all one mind-melting orgasm, and it doesn’t stop until Prust reaches his zenith, spilling his essence inside me.
“What do you say, pet?” he asks, pulling my hair.
“Thank you, sir,” I reply. “Can I take out the plug now?”
Prust laughs. “No, you may not. It stays in until tomorrow, or until you tell Dani the truth. Your choice.”
“Yes, sir,” I mumble, doing everything in my power not to growl a string of choice swears.
Cleaning myself up and getting dressed jostle
s the plug, causing the burning in my ass to flare. I grit my teeth. Prust sure knows how to motivate me. I can’t keep this thing in all night. I have to tell Dani, and soon.
Chapter Twelve
Establishing a restaurant isn’t a major priority for the colony, so there’s not much to do for a special night out. Still, that doesn’t stop Dani and me: we bust into our luxury rations, opening a pint of butterscotch ripple and a bottle of Cabernet.
“This is dinner?” Dani laughs, taking out a pair of bowls.
“I have fresh tomatoes if you want,” I offer, pouring the wine. Considering the active ache in my ass and the mess I’m going to make, I wish I’d opted for whiskey.
“Sorry, I had that for lunch.”
“Damn,” I say, handing her a glass. “We’ll have to tell the hunters to track down a few t-dogs.”
Dani sticks out her tongue in disgust. “That just doesn’t sound appetizing.”
“Didn’t you eat like three Dodger Dogs last time we were at a game?”
“Yeah,” she says, her smile fading. “Guess that’s probably not gonna happen again.”
Shit. She has a point. Being out here on the frontier has been an amazing experience, but there’s so much we left behind...
“I really miss grocery stores,” I say. “Just walking around, getting nearly anything at any time. I never imagined I’d miss something so... mundane.”
Dani nods, digging into her ice cream. She lets the first spoonful melt on her tongue, a habit she’s had since childhood. “I miss lighting some candles and taking a bubble bath.”
“Oh, me too,” I say. “And banana strawberry smoothies.”
“I miss our apartment. The view from the window, the way the lobby smelled...”
“Really?” Our best guess for the unique aroma was rubber cement and lavender. It wasn’t really nasty, just odd, especially since we couldn’t identify the source.
She shrugs. “It was home.”
“Until the invasion,” I say, immediately regretting it. Blaming the Dominars has been my instinctive reaction for so long, and I still believe it. In this case, though, it’s not going to make my confession any easier. Quite the opposite.
Dani sets aside her ice cream and slumps in her chair. “You ever think this was a mistake?”
If this were a TV interview, would I lie? I’ve never had to before, but now?
“Sometimes I wonder if we went about this the right way,” I admit. “But it wasn’t a mistake. We’ve made sacrifices, but it’s for all of humanity.”
“I know,” Dani sighs. “You were in the service, so I get that this all makes sense to you. Call me selfish, but I miss the life I had.”
“You miss bartending and catering gigs?”
“Kinda, yeah! It was better than breaking my back in a field picking lettuce, which I could’ve done back on Earth.”
I hold my hands under the table so she won’t see them balled into fists. “Your life might not have changed much, but I went from being a promising pilot to nothing. They took that all away from me.”
Dani nods. “I know, and it was sad. But on the other hand, you didn’t have to risk your life anymore in combat. Your family and me, we didn’t have to worry we might never see you again. Do you think I gave a shit if we had a human president or a Dominar Consul if it meant my friend would be safe?”
Blinking rapidly, I turn away for a moment, not wanting to let on what that means to me. “I... appreciate that, but the Dominars took our planet away from us. It wasn’t right.”
“They didn’t force us to leave,” says Dani. “If anyone did that, it was you.”
I drop my spoon, my jaw hanging open. “You volunteered.”
“For you, Lex! I didn’t want to get left behind by my best friend.”
Would I have left Earth if she didn’t come with me? I hate to imagine it—especially since I’m pretty sure the answer is yes.
“I didn’t want us to live on a planet where we weren’t free,” I say.
Dani sighs. “I wasn’t any more or less free after the invasion. And my acting classes were going really well. Maybe I could have gotten some gigs if I stuck around. Now I’ll never know.”
I finish my Cabernet and get up to pour us each another glass. My ass aches horribly, and I wish I could start this whole conversation over again. Actually, I’d love to redo this entire day.
“We’re going to have a community theater,” I say, forcing the soreness in my ass from my mind. “We’ll need some entertainment. You’ll get your chance to act, Dani. And when more of humanity joins us, and we’re able to live our lives free of the Dominars, you’ll see we made the right choice.”
“Yeah,” she mumbles, taking a long drink. “You’re probably right.”
Ugh. I really messed this up. How can I tell her about Prust now? Just out with it, I guess. Then I can get rid of this damn plug.
“Dani, I have to tell you something.”
She turns to me.
“When you came by Prust’s home earlier, you were right to be suspicious. I’m sorry I lied to you. We are... seeing each other.”
Working her jaw, clicking her tongue, she nods. “Is it just a sex thing, or do the two of you... have a relationship?”
“It’s a... complicated relationship.” For a second I almost take the easy out and lie again that it’s just sex, but I already know what Prust would think of that. “I really hated lying, but I thought no one would understand.”
Dani stands up and grabs a thin green sweater from her bed.
“Hey, please don’t go,” I say, blocking her path to the door. “I didn’t mean for it to happen.”
“That I believe,” Dani replies, pulling on the sweater. “Pretty ballsy, moving to another planet to avoid the aliens, then hooking up with one.”
“Yeah, I know,” I snap. “I’ve been thinking the same thing since this all started. I don’t have to agree with all of his beliefs to like him, okay? He’s not a bad person, and he’s good to talk to about things I can’t tell anyone else.”
Dani’s brows quirk. “What couldn’t you tell me?”
I shake my head quickly. “Nothing! It’s not like that. I just didn’t want to bog you down with all my complaints. It would be too much.”
She nods. “Come on, let’s go for a walk.”
I hide a small smile. This is a good sign. Aside from the stinging in my ass, I’m already feeling relief. Granted, taking a walk with this plug isn’t exactly going to feel good, but I’m not going to miss an opportunity to smooth things over with my friend. As Prust would probably point out, if I’d told her the truth earlier, I wouldn’t be in this situation.
“Are we okay?” I ask, grabbing an oatmeal Air Force hoodie.
She smirks, rolling her eyes. “He is really freaking handsome.”
I laugh, throwing the ice cream back in the deep freeze. “Yeah, for sure.”
“He’s no Kentucky Ken,” Dani adds.
“That’s debatable. Ken’s hot... for a human.”
“You did not just say that!”
We both laugh, spilling out of our tent. Walking quickly, we move out of earshot, though by now most of the colonists are inside having dinner, exhausted from the day’s work.
“Can I ask something serious?” says Dani. “What happens if things go south between you two? Or if he decides to leave the colony? It’s not as though he’s planning to stay here forever, is he?”
“No, not forever,” I say, pulling my hoodie tight against the evening cold. “But he’ll stay for several years, so we have time to figure this all out.”
I explain to her about Prust’s ostensible reason for being here—observation of the colony—and how we’ve been tampering with his work by letting him interfere. I come clean about the help he’s given me; it feels like ages ago this all began with something as simple as healing my wrist. The parts about getting tied up and spanked, or how there’s a plug in my ass right now—that stuff I leave out.
&
nbsp; “Okay,” Dani says at the end. “But let me ask this: what if things go right? If he stays here for years, are you and him... Do you think you have a future together?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t let myself think too far ahead. He said he’d be here observing us for many years but... the whole idea of it is so ridiculous, it’s like I don’t even bother assuming it’ll last forever. I mean, he’s on the Dominar Council, I’m not a friend of the Dominars... I guess this whole time I’ve always just assumed it would end somehow outside my control.”
“Like the entire colony finding out and causing a giant shit storm?”
I nod. “Something like that. Or maybe the colony would fall apart for some reason; then he’d be proven right about us and I’d hate him for it. Or we’d survive and prove him wrong, and he wouldn’t want to stick around the annoying human who bested an almighty Dominar.”
Piskiron’s moons shine brightly, the sky unusually clear tonight. I can see Dani almost as well as in daylight. She looks cold, even in her sweater. The wind picks up, covering the sounds of our voices but forcing us to stand close to hear each other. I glance around nervously, making sure no one’s following us. Though I don’t think anyone on the planet wants my job all that badly, I’ve watched enough TV to know I ought to be a bit paranoid.
“Would you really hate Prust if he turned out to be right?” Dani asks.
“He’s not right,” I assert.
“Lex, come on. You can’t know that for sure.”
I snort. “You sound like him.”
“Yeah, ‘cause we’re smart!”
“Well, then I look forward to proving you both wrong,” I say. “Even if it takes years. I’m going to make New Earth the world it ought to be: a perfect home for humanity.”
“With Prust’s help?” Dani asks. “Or on your own?”
Despite the throb in my ass, I walk a bit faster, forcing Dani to keep up.
“You can’t prove him wrong if he’s the one responsible for your success!” Dani calls out, louder than I’d like.
His Human Subject Page 9
