Page 15 of Kidnapped By the Beast (Beasts of the Kindred #11)

LEXI

Back in the mushroom shaped building, T’linga led them down a softly lit corridor, the walls alive with glowing vines that perfumed the air with something sweet and drowsy. The air itself seemed to hum, and Lexi wondered if the whole place was designed to lull newcomers into a state of docile calm.

“Here we are—your rooms. I hope you don’t mind—I thought adjoining rooms would be best in case Alexandra had difficulty with her nectar during the night,” T’linga said.

She opened two sliding silver doors, revealing two rooms side by side. Only a curtain of blossoms and trailing greenery separated them, acting as the “connecting door,” Lexi supposed.

She peeked in, her eyes widening. The furnishings looked as though they had grown straight out of the walls and floors rather than having been built.

The bed was enormous, covered in sheets woven from broad, overlapping purple leaves with silver veins, and the mattress peeking out from under them was a thick pad of moss.

The floor was carpeted in living green as well, springy underfoot, and faintly damp like a forest floor after rain. A table of twisted vines, polished smooth, stretched along one wall with stools that seemed to have sprouted right up from the floor.

“It’s like a fairy tale in here,” Lexi murmured under her breath, though she wasn’t sure if it was more enchanting or unnerving.

“You’ll find everything you need, here including new clothing and bathing supplies in your bathing room,” T’linga said kindly. She squeezed Lexi’s arm, her four eyes shining. “Sleep well, dear friend.”

Then she disappeared down the hall, leaving Lexi alone with Dr. Brandt.

He gave her one of his steady, golden-eyed looks, and Lexi felt heat coil in her belly despite her exhaustion.

“Get some rest, Alexandra. Tomorrow we begin nectar collection in earnest. I will test your output to determine if the Bacillus has taken hold.”

“Yes, Sir,” Lexi muttered.

He looked at her more closely.

“Are you well?”

She pressed her thighs together against the throbbing ache that wouldn’t leave her. Her breasts were so heavy they ached, her nipples still raw from the clamps and his mouth. Her pussy was so swollen, her clit so tender she felt sparks of sensation with every step she took.

Don’t tell him. Don’t you dare tell him. If you do, he’ll touch you again. And what if you secretly want him to? What if you beg him to? You can’t do that—you’re nothing to him but a test subject.

“I’m just fine,” she lied. She forced her lips into something that might pass as a smile. “Good night.”

He inclined his head.

“Good night, Alexandra.” His voice was calm, as if he hadn’t just had his fingers buried inside her behind a tree in the middle of a public park. As if he hadn’t been sucking and teasing her nipples since they got here, making her half-crazy with lust without offering her any relief.

Then he stepped through the curtain of flowers into his own room, leaving her trembling, conflicted…and alone.

Well—she would just have to take care of herself, Lexi decided. But she was going to do it in private. She’d had enough public exposure today to last a lifetime.

Since the flower and vine curtain between her room and Brandt’s wasn’t exactly soundproof, she slipped into the adjoining bathroom, looking for privacy.

The room was just as fantastical as the bedroom—organic and strange, yet oddly functional. The shower stall, when she pulled aside the vine curtain to see it, looked enchanted. A broad waterfall poured from a sculpted stone ledge into a shallow basin below, mist rising in a fine spray around it.

Lexi put her hand in the water but pulled it back with a hiss— it was freezing cold!

“But there must be some way to adjust it—I hope,” she muttered.

Looking around, she saw a twisted, shell-like device embedded in the wall next to the shower.

When she brushed her hand over it, the mini waterfall shifted from icy cool to pleasantly warm.

Lexi tried running her hand back and forth, marveling at the control.

At least now she knew she could take a hot shower.

She decided to look around at the other bathroom fixture.

What appeared to be a composting toilet grew from the floor like a pale, footstool-sized mushroom.

When she flipped up the cap of the “mushroom” she saw dirt instead of water.

When she pressed the handle on the side, a small opening appeared, and another clump of dirt was deposited in the bowl.

Hmm…so that was how it worked. There was also some thin, moss-like toilet paper hanging in strips on the wall beside the toilet.

There was a sink too—a waist-high, hollowed stone basin with an even smaller miniature waterfall trickling endlessly from a curving spout that looked like it was made from shell. The water never stopped flowing and everything seemed alive, humming faintly, as though the room itself was breathing.

But the enchanting bathroom could only distract Lexi from her problems for so long. She stripped quickly, her skin feverish, her breath shallow. Her body felt like an over-tightened guitar string, vibrating with unbearable tension.

Okay, she needed to come—that was clear enough. She remembered that Dr. TOo-loo had recommended a “manual release.” Right—that was a fancy word for getting off.

If she’d known she was going to wind up on a distant planet far from home, one of the things Lexi would have packed was her vibrator. But since Dr. Brandt had basically kidnapped her against her will, she hadn’t exactly had time to pack. Luckily, she didn’t need her favorite dildo to get off.

She pressed her hand between her thighs, trying to relieve the sexual pressure, but pain shot through her—sharp—almost scalding.

“Ow!” she gasped, yanking her hand away. What was wrong with her? Was she so sensitive that she couldn’t even touch herself now?

Tentatively, she tried again…with the same, painful result.

“No good—this is no good,” she whispered to herself and was alarmed to hear her voice shaking. “God, what’s happening to me?”

Her breasts throbbed in time with her pulse, her nipples so tight and swollen they felt like they might burst. She tugged lightly at one, desperate for release, but the sensation was too sharp, too much. She dropped her hands, tears stinging her eyes.

This stupid nectar—I can’t even touch myself. I’m broken. What if I never feel normal again?

She thought of asking Dr. Brandt for help…and then remembered how coldly he’d talked to her, telling her she was only here as his test subject. The memory made her burn with shame when she also remembered how much his touch had turned her on. No—forget it. She wasn’t telling him anything.

Hoping to cool down some, she stepped under the waterfall, letting chilly water cascade over her body. The spray dampened her feverish skin, slicking her hair against her shoulders. She tilted her hips and body into the flow, trying to let the chill ease her clit and aching breasts.

For a moment she thought it might work…but within seconds the ache returned, even deeper and sharper than before. The cool water only made her nipples tighten more painfully and her clit was still throbbing for release.

She came out trembling, her thighs sticky and blotted herself dry with a large towel woven from a soft, furry moss. After squeezing the water out of her hair, she went back into the bedroom. On the bed lay a folded garment she hadn’t noticed before. T’linga must have left it.

Lexi lifted it gingerly and groaned. It wasn’t a sleeping gown so much as…

lingerie. The fabric was thin and translucent, softer and finer than silk—the color of moonlight through fog.

The shoulders draped in wispy straps that left her breasts completely bare.

The lower hem parted scandalously at the hips, leaving her pussy visible with every move.

It was clearly made to showcase her body, not cover it.

“Perfect,” she muttered bitterly. “Alien Victoria’s Secret.”

Still, she slid into it, the silky fabric clinging to her overheated skin. Every step made her breasts sway and her thighs brush together, reminding her of how swollen and needy she was. Lexi tried to ignore the sensations.

Sleep—I just need some sleep, she told herself.

She crawled under the leafy sheets, pulling the covers to her chin, but there was no escaping the heat. Her body was on fire, every nerve ending buzzing.

Still, she tried to sleep…without success. She tossed and turned, the moss mattress rustling beneath her. She pressed her thighs together, then spread them, then tucked a pillow between them, seeking some kind of relief. None came.

Her nipples ached, her pussy throbbed, her clit begged for attention she couldn’t give it. Soon she was whimpering aloud, biting her lip to keep from crying out as the ache sharpened into near pain.

Suddenly, the curtain of flowering vines between her room and Dr. Brandt’s rustled.

Lexi froze, her heart leaping into her throat. Oh no! Had she woken him up! Was he coming in? Was he—

The blossoms parted, and Dr. Brandt stepped in, his massive form backlit by the glow of his own chamber. He was shirtless, his broad, muscular chest on display in the pale purple moonlight that slid through the bedroom window. His golden eyes gleamed, sharp and assessing, as he looked down at her.

“Are you all right, Alexandra?” His deep voice was serious, threaded with concern. “I heard you cry out in pain.”

“I—I’m fine,” she lied quickly, her voice trembling. She pulled the leafy covers tighter over her body, though the transparent gown beneath might as well have left her naked.

“I doubt that.”

He didn’t believe her. Of course he didn’t. He came to the side of her bed and turned on a lamp carved from glowing crystal. Its warm light bathed them both, leaving no shadows to hide in. Then he pulled back the covers with a decisive hand.

“Wait—what are you doing?” Lexi demanded, attempting without success to keep hold of the leaf sheets.

“Lie still,” he said firmly, pulling them down. “I’m going to examine you again. You are definitely showing signs of nectar fever. Also, I can tell by your scent how hot and needy you are.” He inhaled deeply and frowned.

Lexi trembled, her blush spreading from her cheeks to her chest as he parted the flimsy gown, exposing her bare breasts completely. His golden eyes darkened, his jaw tightening as his gaze raked over her.

“So beautiful,” he murmured, almost to himself. “Such a lovely little Elite.”

Lexi’s breath caught in her chest. Natalie had told her once that the Kindred called women with especially full curves Elites. They were considered rare and desirable.

Did Dr. Brandt really think she was beautiful? Or was this just another one of his clinical observations, like commenting on nectar output?

Does he actually want me? Or is this just research?

She had no idea, the questions swirled in her mind as she bit her lip, heart pounding. She didn’t know what scared her more—the possibility that he didn’t want her…or the possibility that he did.