Page 2 of Forced to Mate by the Mad Scientist (Kindred Tales Spicy Shorts #3)

2

SYLVIE

It had been on Minerva Twelve—a swampy planet that was barely habitable in the C’rex’or System. Sylvie had heard tales of a certain leech native to the bogs and swamps of the planet that secreted a numbing solution that rivaled any other topical painkiller. She had been determined to collect some for her research, even though Kross pointed out that the swamps of Minerva Twelve were home to dangerous Xaimons —or “water dragons” as the natives called them.

“They get up to ten meters long!” he’d growled, when he was trying to talk her out of the mission. “They have teeth as long as my fucking forearm. Any one of them could eat your curvy little body in a single bite, Princess!”

That was another thing Sylvie hated—his sarcastic nicknames for her. He was always calling her “Princess” or “Your Majesty” and being elaborately and sarcastically deferential when she insisted on doing her job correctly. And yes, that might mean going to some places that weren’t strictly safe, but Sylvie refused to let herself be intimidated. She followed the science and collected her specimens wherever they were, and so far she’d always been fine. Well, except for a few minor mishaps, she admitted to herself.

“Don’t call me Princess,” she’d snapped at Kross. “And the fact that the Xaimons are so big, means they won’t be able to go in shallow water. As long as I stay in the shallows, I’ll be fine. Don’t worry—you won’t have to get your precious boots dirty—you can just stand on the bank and watch.”

That was another thing about Kross—he was very particular about his appearance. His clothes were always the latest fashion. Even his Kindred uniform which consisted of a long-sleeved maroon shirt with gold buttons and tight-fitting black trousers tucked into high black boots, always seemed to be perfectly tailored to his tall, muscular frame.

Kross had scowled at her, allowing his irritation to break through the cool, sarcastic demeanor for once.

“If you go in the water, I go in the water—that’s the way it is, Princess. You know that.” His eyes flashed red with irritation as he spoke.

“Fine—then I guess you’ll just have to get wet because I’m going to get those leeches,” Sylvie told him. “Even Commander Sylvan admits they might have some real medical benefits he could use in the Med Center.”

Kross’s eyes were still red as he performed an elaborate bow and murmured,

“Yes, Your Majesty—your wish is my command. I live only to fulfill your every desire.”

Despite herself, Sylvie had felt her cheeks getting hot. She hated it when he acted like that! She’d seen him bow before when greeting others—apparently, it was a Skellax thing—a mannerism he’d been raised with. But when he bowed to her there was always a sardonic gleam in his changeable eyes that made her feel foolish—as though she was a headstrong child demanding her own way instead of a highly respected scientist trying to do her job!

Despite Kross’s objections, Commander Sylvan had given his approval and they had gone to Minerva Twelve. Sylvie had been wearing a protective cover-all, of course, but the day was so hot and muggy that by mid-afternoon she’d been forced to strip the top part of it down and tie it around her waist. Under it, she had on a thin white T-shirt and under that she wasn’t wearing any bra. Because, like most of the women aboard the Mother Ship, she had adopted the use of float dots instead.

Float dots were tiny, tear-drop-shaped devices that adhered to the bottom of each breast and acted like tiny anti-gravity engines. They caused even the largest and heaviest breasts to “float” and look perky. Which was a good thing for Sylvie, since she’d always had extra-large breasts to go with her extra-large curves—no one was ever going to accuse her of being skinny.

She hadn’t thought much about her outfit at the time—she was hot and sweaty and standing thigh-deep in the swirling, murky blue-green waters of the swamp. So what if she had mostly sweated through her t-shirt? She was too busy to notice and she still hadn’t found any of the elusive leeches!

They must be further out… She waded a little deeper so that the swirling waters came up just past her hips. She hoped the bottom half of her cover-all would keep the moisture out. So far it seemed to be holding and now she thought she saw some of the leeches. They were nearly invisible because their bodies were transparent but when you looked just right you could see the little ripple they made when they moved…

“Hey, Princess—you’re getting out too far!” Kross’s deep voice interrupted her concentration and she jerked her head around to glare at him.

“I’m fine! Just leave me alone—I’ve almost got them!”

She turned back to look down into the water and took one more step forward…only to find herself suddenly slipping under the murky surface.

“Shit!” she heard Kross growl just as the water closed over her head. Then there was a muffled splash and long arms were dragging her up and out of the swamp.

“Told you not to get out too far,” Kross said as he pulled her back to the shallows where the swamp only came up to their thighs—well Sylvie’s thighs and his knees, since he was so much taller than her.

“I was fine—I just slipped! You didn’t have to rescue me—I can swim,” she sputtered defensively, pushing her wet hair out of her face.

“Is that right, Princess?” Kross was smiling but it was an angry smile and his eyes were a burning reddish-orange. “Well what if it wasn’t just a slip? What if one of those fucking water-dragons had grabbed you? Because that’s what it looked like from where I was standing—you went down like something had dragged you under!”

“Well, it didn’t,” Sylvie snapped. “I must have stepped in a hole—that’s all. I’m sorry you had to mess up your perfect hair and clothes,” she added, since he was every bit as wet as she was and he hadn’t even been wearing a protective coverall. His maroon uniform shirt was clinging to his muscular chest in a way that was somehow both mouthwatering and irritating at the same time.

Kross’s angry grin grew even wider.

“Well, at least I know it was for a good cause. You finally found your leeches. And tell me, how do your nipples feel now that you have?”

“What? My nipples?”

Sylvia glanced down at her shirt and saw that the white fabric was now basically see-through and clinging to her tight points. Also, her Kindred protector was staring at them freely, as though he had every right to peruse her nearly-naked chest.

“You perverted pig!” she snapped and slapped his face. Of course, she had to reach up to do it, but she made a pretty good job of it—her palm connected with his cheek hard enough to make her hand sting.

The smile fell off Kross’s face and his eyes went full red for a moment. A muscle in his jaw clenched and his big hands balled into fists. For a moment Sylvie was sure he was going to hit her back, even though the Kindred never hit or abused women.

She braced herself for the blow…but it never came. Instead, Kross leaned down and swung her up over one of his broad shoulders. Carrying her like a sack of grain, he splashed out of the swamp while Sylvie beat on his muscular back with her fists and shouted for him to let her down.

“Hey, stop it! Where are you taking me? Let me go!” she was still shouting when he abruptly set her on her feet. They were right in front of their long-range shuttle, she saw—but why had he taken her back to the ship?

Kross opened the main hatch.

“Come on,” he growled, taking her by the arm and steering her into the interior of the shuttle.

“Hey, what are you doing? Stop it—I don’t care how mad you are, this mission isn’t over yet!” Sylvie exclaimed, though she was helpless not to follow him into the ship—he was dragging her along and he was much too strong to resist. “It’s not over until I find my slugs!”

“You found them, Princess,” Kross said shortly. He marched her to the tiny first-aid area in the back of the living quarters. It was no more than a bench to sit on and a cabinet full of medical supplies but it also had a brilliant overhead light—the better to see wounds or injuries. Kross flipped it on now, making Sylvie blink.

“Hey, why did you do that?” she muttered, shading her eyes with her hands. Outside in the swamp it had been a foggy, overcast day so the bright luminescence really hurt her eyes!

“Look down at yourself,” Kross demanded, looming over her. “At your nipples—really look at them this time. Don’t just fucking assume I’m a ‘pervert,’ as you humans say.”

Warily, Sylvie looked down. At first, she didn’t see anything except that her shirt now seemed to be practically see-through right over her nipples. Her pink points were standing out like two exclamation marks—probably because she was cold from being dunked in the water. It almost looked like she had cut two holes in her t-shirt to show them off—how embarrassing! She just…

The thought died as a new realization hit her. Her shirt looked like there were two holes in it because there were two holes—they had been made by the see-through, nearly invisible leeches that were attached to her—one to each of her nipples! They must have been drawn to her sensitive points because they were prominent and had good blood flow.

Sylvie normally didn’t get upset during her scientific missions—she prided herself on being nearly unflappable. But seeing two slippery, pulsating, alien leeches attached to such a sensitive part of her anatomy brought a shriek to her lips.

“Ah! Oh my God—get them off me! Get them off!” she cried, brushing frantically at the front of her t-shirt. But her brushing was in vain—the leeches wouldn’t be moved and now she could see faint reddish trails appearing in their nearly see-through bodies, like long red ribbons.

That’s my blood, she realized, staring at them in horror. They’re drinking my blood! Oh my God, I’m going to be sick!

“ Don’t get sick!” Kross commanded, almost as though he could read her mind. “If you throw up all over yourself, it’s just going to make getting them off even harder.”

Sylvie swallowed hard and took a deep breath. Somehow she managed to hang on to the contents of her stomach—which luckily, wasn’t much. She’d had a very light breakfast and they hadn’t had lunch yet, for which she was profoundly grateful.

“They…they’re drinking my blood,” she said faintly.

“I know, Princess. Don’t look,” Kross ordered firmly.

He collected a few things from the cabinet filled with medical supplies and crouched down in front of her.

“What…what are you going to do?” Sylvie asked, doing her best not to look down at her chest.

“Going to get these little fuckers off you,” he growled. He was holding a small collecting basin in one hand and a long pair of silver tweezers in the other, she saw.

“Wait!” she begged, as he started to reach for the leech attached to her right nipple. “What if they…what if they bite when you pull on them? What they bite…bite my nipples off?”

“Do they feel like they’re biting hard enough to do that?” Kross asked, arching one silvery eyebrow.

“I don’t know—I just feel numb,” Sylvie admitted. “I guess that numbing agent they generate when they, uh, feed really is effective,” she added faintly and her eyes started to close as a feeling of lightheadedness swept over her.

“Hey—wake up! Come on, Sylvia.” Kross’s voice was worried but she could have told he was anxious about her even if it wasn’t—he never called her by her first name unless things went seriously sideways.

He patted her cheeks until Sylvie opened her eyes and looked at him.

“Listen—you’re the Scientist,” he told her. “I’m just the grunt who protects you. You’ve been studying these little bastards—what can we do to make them drop off on their own?”

“Probably they won’t fall off until they…they drink their fill.” Sylvie started to look down again, but Kross caught her chin in one hand and kept her face level with his own.

“ Don’t look,” he said, frowning. “The way those things are growing, I’m afraid they might drain you dry before they let go on their own. What else can we do?”

“Maybe…cold water?” Sylvie suggested faintly. “The water of the swamp is warm—the cold might be a deterrent.”

“Okay, one cold shower coming up, Princess. Come on.”

Kross lifted her by the arm and then crouched low to slip his own long arm around her waist. He practically carried her into the bathroom—or “fresher” as the Kindred called it. Then he sat her firmly on the closed toilet and turned on the shower.

“You ready?” he asked, turning to her.

“I…I think so.” Sylvie nodded, trying to be brave and sound like an experienced scientist instead of a scared little girl.

“Good—let’s get you in here. But first…”

Kross knelt at her feet and began tugging at the bottom of the coverall which was still tied by the arms around her waist. Sylvie started to watch him…then stopped herself. She did not want to see how big the leeches were now. Though her nipples were numb, she felt as though two heavy weights were hanging off her breasts which she was sure couldn’t be a good sign.

Her Kindred Protector got the coverall untied and tugged it down. He took off her protective boots as well until she was wearing nothing but the thin t-shirt and a pair of white lace panties.

It was embarrassing to be so bare in front of him—Sylvie was usually self-conscious about her curves and she made sure to hide them from her sarcastic Protector, fearing what he might say about her. But Kross didn’t say a word—he only helped her strip.

Then, to her surprise, he started undressing as well.

“Hey—what are you doing?” she asked faintly, as he stripped out of his long-sleeved maroon shirt, showing a bare chest that would have made an Instagram model weep.

“I’m getting in with you,” he said grimly, reaching down to take off his boots.

“But, you don’t have to do that,” Sylvie protested.

“Yes I do.” He stripped down his black flight leathers—the tight leather trousers he always wore when they were on a mission together—revealing a skin-tight pair of black boxer briefs that clung to his muscular buttocks like a lover. “You’re too unsteady—I can’t risk you falling and hitting your head, Princess.”

By the time they were both ready to get into the shower, Sylvie was feeling extremely faint. How much blood had she lost? By the way the “weights” on her nipples were dragging at her breasts, it must be a considerable amount. Even the float dots were having a hard time keeping her boobs perky.

The ice-cold water in the shower brought her back to full alertness when Kross helped her into it. True to his word, he came in with her, though she saw his jaw clench when the freezing needles of water hit his bare skin.

“All right,” he rumbled and knelt in front of her again. “Let’s see what we can do with these bastards.”

“L-let the wuh-water f-fall on them f-f-first,” Sylvie advised, her teeth chattering and her skin pebbled into gooseflesh from the cold.

“Fine.” Kross positioned her so that the spray was hitting directly on her chest.

Sylvie shivered helplessly. For a moment she felt as though someone was tugging—hard—on her breasts. Then, abruptly, the weight on the left breast was gone and she heard a splashing sound on the shower floor by her feet. Then the weight on the right breast dropped off as well.

“There they go, the little fuckers!” Kross sounded relieved as he reached behind him to turn off the freezing water.

“Am I…are m-my nuh-nipples okay? Are they…st-still th-there?” Sylvie asked, her teeth still chattering.

Without waiting for his answer, she looked down anxiously, wanting to be sure the alien leeches hadn’t bitten off those extremely sensitive parts of her anatomy.

To her overwhelming relief, both her nipples seemed intact—though each one had a ring of tiny tooth marks all around it which was oozing blood. But then she made the mistake of looking lower—down at her feet.

“Don’t look!” Kross said again quickly but it was too late—Sylvie had already seen the leeches.

Both of them had grown horribly. When she’d first noticed them, they were no bigger than her pinky finger. Now they writhed on the floor like two fat sausages, each almost a foot long and monstrously thick.

“Blood sausages,” she whispered. It was too much—too awful.

Her vision grayed out and the world began to spin around her as she started to fall…