Monster Exchange Program

by Mark Albany

  Oh, right. Distracting.

  She stepped a little closer, making me wonder if she was after some payback for my lack of modesty from before. It didn’t seem right, but I hadn’t had much opportunity to hang around human girls before. Were they that intent on petty revenge?

  She batted her eyes when she was close enough to have to look almost directly up at me. Her head barely cleared my chest. “Have a long day?”

  I nodded, clearing my throat. “Yep. Getting used to the campus. Orienting myself, making sure I don’t get lost. Lots of…yeah, classes tomorrow.” Thinking was becoming more and more difficult as I looked down at her. I tried taking a step back. She followed me like she was trying to remain close. I didn’t have any more room to retreat. Not without dropping onto my bed, and I didn’t want to lose my height advantage.

  Yeah, she was definitely after some revenge. It was an odd way to go about it.

  “We have some of the same classes,” she pointed out, pulling her glasses off and tossing them onto my bed. “I guess I’ll see you there.”

  “Right,” I replied, narrowing my eyes and nervously running my tongue over my right tusk. “It’s…not like we won’t have other opportunities to interact with each other.”

  She smiled, then reached up and placed both of her hands on my chest. They ran over the powerful muscles underneath my shirt, nimble fingers finding the buttons that kept it closed. I cleared my throat again. If this was revenge, it wasn’t the way that trolls, half or otherwise, went about it. Humans were strange, I thought for what felt like the hundredth time.

  That said, I was curious about what her game was. I watched her undo the buttons on my shirt, gently, one by one, letting her fingers linger as the last one was pushed out of the way. There were muscles down there, too, which tensed up as she ran her fingers over my suddenly-bare skin.

  “Huh,” I grunted, unsure what to do with my hands. She lacked the same kind of inhibition, though.

  “Considering the long day you’ve had,” Kelly said, her fingers running up over my stomach, forcing me to draw a quick breath. “I’d say that you’re in need of a shower. Wouldn’t you? Jennifer said that she saw you working out early in the morning before you fixed her phone.”

  I nodded. I had indeed been working out earlier. I remembered that now. It was getting harder and harder to remember as her fingers toyed with the button holding my pants in place. If this was a human thing, there were a lot of things I needed to learn about how they handled this sort of situation.

  The pants were being pushed away, I realized. She dropped with them, personally making sure that they went all the way down before looking up at me, almost on her knees with a cheeky grin playing over her features as her eyes settled on what was right in front of her. It was still hidden beneath my underwear, but the outline was clearly visible through the thin fabric. She had seen it in the flesh earlier in the day, which made me wonder why she was making so much of a fuss this time around.

  She leaned closer and licked her lips as she gently nuzzled against it. A surge of sensation raced up my spine. A hint of a shudder rushed through my body in response as I watched her, curiously, while growing more excited.

  It wasn’t like I could help that.

  She giggled and let her hands brush over my rapidly-growing shaft as she stood, sucked in a deep breath, and rubbed herself gently against me. Her fingers traced over my exposed torso as she carefully pulled my shirt off. As close as she was, it was impossible not to bend my head and place a light kiss on her lips.

  It was a little more complicated than I thought it would be. The women that I’d dealt with before were trolls, too, and from what I remembered, they seemed a lot more durable than the smaller, more delicate woman now in my arms.

  Besides, I had tusks and she didn’t. It created some logistics problems, but the way that she used her tongue solved most of them. Her hips pressed against me as I leaned into the kiss.

  She broke away and backed up a few steps, sighing softly. It took her a few seconds to open her eyes. Then she looked up and down my briefs-clad body.

  “You know, if you’re not going to use the shower, you mind if I do?” she asked, tilting her head.

  “Have at it,” I grumbled, still trying to figure out precisely what her game was. She smiled and reached down to grip the hem of her shirt with both hands, then pulled it up and over her head and tossed it over to her bed. Her breasts weren’t overly large, about a handful each. They were perfectly formed, though, with small, pink nipples that clashed nicely with her pale skin. I couldn’t help licking my lips.

  She liked seeing that reaction in me and shifted around a little to give me a good view before her hands moved to her small pajama shorts. They looked loose-fitting enough that one easy move would send them down, but she took her time, turning around and making sure that everything was exposed as she bent at the waist, pushed them to the ground, then collected them and tossed them to the bed with her shirt.

  The way that she’d bent over, she’d made sure that I could see her pink lips, which glistened with wetness. She was genuinely aroused by this. And she didn’t appear to be playing any games.

  Then again, looks could be deceiving.

  She grabbed a towel, flung it over her shoulder, and slowly made her way toward the bathroom. She looked back when she reached the door and realized that I wasn’t following. I was watching her, rather openly and boldly, and she smiled, indicating for me to join her.

  I did, stepping behind her as she moved into the stall, leaving the curtain open as she turned the water on.

  When I moved to join her in there, too, she reached out and put a hand on my chest, effectively stopping me from entering the stream of water with her. “Not yet,” she whispered breathily. “I want you to watch me. And I want to watch you, too. Besides, you still have your briefs on.”

  “I thought you were the one who was intent on undressing me,” I growled, not moving from where I stood. I bit my bottom lip.

  “I don’t want to do all of the work,” she said with a small pout, her hand moving away from my chest and settling on her own, cupping her breast as I took a step back, away from the stream of water.

  “Fair enough,” I rumbled, reaching down to push my briefs to the tiled floor. My cock, already mostly hard by this time, jumped free of the confines. I picked up the solitary piece of clothing and tossed it out of the bathroom, closing the door behind me.

  When I turned back to look at her, she was leaning back against the wall, the steaming water flowing over her front. One hand was still on her breast, gently kneading the soft flesh. Her free hand had drifted down between her thighs, which were slightly spread to accommodate her fingers as they started to rub between her lips.

  She let out a low, pleasure-filled moan as her eyes closed and she pushed herself a little further back against the wall. Her lips parted as her fingers started to toy with her clit in slow, circular motions.

  Her eyes opened again and went to me. “Fuck… Let me watch you stroke that huge cock of yours, Nate. Please. I want to watch while you watch.”

  I was more than happy to oblige and reached down to stroke the shaft, playing with the head slowly. She kept her eyes open and picked up the pace of her fingers between her thighs, working quickly as the other hand squeezed and tugged at the soft, pink nipple.

  I’d never done anything like this before, I thought. My sexual encounters up until now had been rough, hot and dirty affairs, with little time spent on foreplay. The primal two-way satisfying of needs. This, on the other hand, seemed to be nothing but foreplay. Not that it was a bad thing. In fact, I couldn’t think of a time when I had been this aroused.

  “Fuck, yes, Nate,” she whispered, her head dropping back and pressing against the wall as two of her fingers slipped inside herself, her thumb still toying with her clit as she shuddered, almost losing her balance as she gasped for breath. She was a vision, pressed up against the wall with water cascading over her body a
s her eyes rolled back, panting softly as she slowly came back from what I assumed was a powerful orgasm.

  Her lips parted again, her tongue flicking out to lick her lips as she watched me still stroking myself. She stepped away from the flowing water, still drenched as she moved closer to me. My hand came up to cup her breast, dwarfing her easily as she pressed her naked body to mine. Her fingers reached down to touch my cock, the tips of them lightly grazing over the thick head.

  “Your turn,” she whispered, hands reaching up to grip my shoulders as she pulled me down to that unique kind of kiss again, moaning softly against my lips.

  “My turn for what?” My hands roamed over her bare skin, touching, stroking, and squeezing as I pleased. She moaned again, shivering against me.

  “To shower,” she gasped and pulled away from me. “I…need to get to bed. We have an early class tomorrow, remember?”

  I narrowed my eyes and nodded as she reached over to grab her towel. She hadn’t taken the time to soap herself up, which meant that she hadn’t intended to take a proper shower. She was teasing me, playing a game of cat and mouse, but damned if I didn’t enjoy a bit of a hunt myself. I licked my lips, enjoying the view of her body while it was still exposed before she turned her back and headed into the room.

  I reached out and pulled the door closed. There was a need inside me that was difficult to resist. I wanted to indulge, but I had the feeling that it was precisely what she wanted from me. I had misjudged her and was pleasantly surprised by what I saw.

  But I wasn’t going to give in to her that easily. Even with the door closed, not letting her watch, I wasn’t going to.

  The water was still going, filling the room with steam. I reached in, not letting the water touch me, and turned the hot water off. I waited for a few long minutes before stepping under the suddenly icy shower, shivering as it suddenly sapped my arousal. I gasped and spluttered, then closed my eyes and stayed under the water for as long as I could. It was a little while before I moved away. Then I realized that I’d left my towel in the room.

  “Shit,” I grumbled, shaking my head as I unlocked the door and stepped into our room. I didn’t mind letting her see me. I wasn’t ashamed of my body. Let her watch if she wanted to.

  But, she wasn’t watching. She was wrapped up in covers, and apparently asleep.

  On my bed.

  I was confused but happy to find this little bit of excitement and distraction amidst what promised to be a very morbid investigation. I easily found my towel in the darkness, quickly drying off and dressing only in my briefs. It was how I liked to sleep.

  I made sure not to leave any puddles on the floor before moving over to my bed. The fact that she had chosen my bed instead of hers was interesting, but I didn’t have time to think about it right now. We did indeed have an early start tomorrow. There wasn’t much room in the bed for two. Thankfully, she was as small as I was large. I gently eased into the bed against her.

  “You’re cold,” she murmured while settling herself into a spooning position in front of me, pulling my arm around so that she could use it as a pillow.

  “Are you surprised?” I whispered back, but she didn’t answer. Once comfortable, she drifted off to sleep. I wasn’t too far behind her.

  5

  I was up before she was. I’d forgotten to set my alarm, but my body knew what time it was and the fact that it needed to be up. It was going to be a long day, and if I wanted to be ready for it, I needed to keep up with my routine. One step away from it would lead to another, and then another. A slippery slope was a genuine problem.

  A jog around campus was once again used to disguise another sweep of the area. Surprisingly, I was already old news. Fewer students paid attention to me, although there was a spike when I reached the bodyweight equipment, similar to the first time I’d used it. Not as much, but still. I didn’t enjoy the attention, but it was easy to ignore as I made my way back to the dorms. When I walked into the room, Kelly was still asleep in my bed.

  It was weird how we had teased the line between sex and sleeping together, doing the latter more than the former. I still didn’t understand what kind of game she was playing, and I was curious to find out more about it. I couldn’t do any of that while she was asleep. I quickly stripped off my sweaty clothes, put them in with my other dirty clothes, and grabbed my towel before taking a lukewarm shower.

  I didn’t take my time; instead, I went through the motions of a shower quickly and precisely. My training was still deeply ingrained in me, and while I still didn’t get it done in the 30 seconds of blasted water that were provided during the early days at the academy, I was still out in a few minutes.

  A quick shave followed by some aftershave was next. It wasn’t particularly expensive, but the scent was subtle enough that it didn’t give me a headache. Trolls were known for having better vision and hearing than regular humans, but their sense of smell was often overlooked. Wearing anything too strong would have me pissed off and annoyed at everything and everyone before too long.

  Once I was finished, I wrapped my towel around my waist and stepped out. Kelly was already out of bed, dressed, and pulling her backpack onto her shoulder.

  “Morning,” she giggled, taking a moment to appreciate the view. “You’d better hurry if you want to make the class on time. And…put that thing away.”

  She tacked on the last comment as I hung my towel on a hook to dry and reached for some clean clothes. I chuckled but didn’t immediately oblige. She opened the door and left, quickly closing it behind her.

  There were enough people out and about for the first day of classes that my presence was obfuscated for the most part. Everybody was meeting up with someone else—old friends, new ones, and talking about what the coming year had in store. I made my way through the groups and headed into the lecture hall where they were teaching Pre-Engineering 101. Apparently, they required it for Electrical Engineering.

  Most of the students had arrived already, although the professor hadn’t. I was on time, though. I worked my way through the seats to a spot that was neither too close nor too far from the podium where the professor would be. I saw that Kelly had picked out the same row. She didn’t see me since she was poring over notes with a friend. I moved to sit next to her, but someone else beat me to it. It was a tall, preppy guy, who immediately addressed Kelly’s friend, oblivious to Kelly and me. Annoying jumped up into the back of my throat, but I managed to shove it aside.

  Focus, I told myself. You’re here to investigate kidnappings, not act like a horny fucking teenager.

  I picked out a seat that was a handful down from where Kelly was and pulled my laptop out, quickly closing the open case files and opening up the e-book versions of the textbooks that were required for the class. Pre-engineering was popular, apparently, with all of the at least four dozen seats quickly filling as the clock struck nine in the morning.

  A few minutes passed before the door opened again, admitting a tall, elegant-looking gentleman. He was too old to be a student and too well-dressed to boot, so I assumed that he was our professor, a few minutes late.

  “I’m sorry for my delay, class,” the man said, his calm voice easily carrying across the room and silencing everyone in a few seconds. “Lots of work to get done, and I’m afraid that I was a little caught up in some of the back-to-school parties last night. Only as a chaperone, I should say, before any eyebrows are raised.”

  The man was handsome and rocked his tweed suit like nobody I’d ever seen before. He was lean, with just a hint of bristle on his jawline to indicate that while he was usually all business, things could still get wild when he was around. I somehow doubted that he was only a chaperone. His hair was dark, with a hint of gray starting to appear around the temples. The guy looked like Mr. Fantastic. I wondered if he had any superpowers. That wouldn’t be a stretch, given the world we lived in.

  “Right,” he said, placing his briefcase on the desk at the front of the room. “I’m Professor Brian Wy
llis. Welcome to Pre-Engineering 101. Most of you are juniors although, we have a couple of sophomores with us as well. Welcome to you all.”

  There was a moment of silence as he pulled up a couple of slides from his computer onto the board for us to view.

  Outside of law enforcement, my true passion in life was engineering. Electrical engineering, to be precise. It related to my connection with the old magic, but it wasn’t only about that. Electronics spoke to me in a way that few other things in the world did. I didn’t like to think about it too hard, but it was there—something that helped me see deeper into myself through the mechanisms that made me want to explore the engineering behind them. It was why I obtained the scholarship without any help from the FBI.

  Which explained my confusion when the title on the first slide was “An Introduction to Quantum Mechanics.”

  “We’ve been delving into the mechanics of the world around us, working from the symptoms of the world instead of causes,” Wyllis started, looking around at the class while putting on a pair of glasses. “Engineering is the study of the symptoms but relies on others to provide the causes. Standing on the shoulders of giants while getting all of the credit as inventors, holding patents while the men and women whose work they rely on, depend in turn on grants from people who don’t know anything about what they’re doing. Here in pre-engineering, we’ll look into the causes. The rest of your courses will focus on the symptoms.”

  I grew a little hot under the collar. What he said oversimplified the issue to a dangerous, inflammatory degree. Doing so as a cheap trick to make himself feel superior to everyone else in the class. I suddenly didn’t like him.

  “Let’s start with the study of semiconductors,” Wyllis said, changing the slide to show a picture of one. “Some of the most overrated research papers in the field are based on these materials. People study them like they’re the holy grail, but they aren’t much more than symptoms, allowing everyone to ignore the causes behind them.”