“Let me be the judge of that.” His voice is low and gentle, and when I look up, his eyes are the same silver as his hair. When it comes to his hair, it’s this cool silver fox look even though he appears young enough, but those silver eyes are just mesmerizing. As they meet mine, one of them does something weird. It’s like the pupil twirls and then begins to glow. He starts to run his eyes along my whole length. If it was any other guy, I would think he was checking me out, but I don’t think this is the case this time. The scan is too slow, and it looks like he’s taking ineverything, not just my tits and ass.
I look at William, and though he stays silent, he gives me a simple but encouraging nod.
Reaching for my hand, Link picks it up, simply holding it in his. His thumb comes over and brushes across it before I feel a pinching in the middle of my palm. Gasping, I glance down. There’s a drop of blood welling and a needle-like probe retracting back into his skin. He puts his index finger over my blood, and I watch, completely amazed, as the blood sinks into his skin and disappears.
A moment later, he pushes back the sleeve of his uniform, revealing a forearm that’s weirdly attractive.Have forearms always been attractive, or did the water do something to my libido?His shimmery skin gives way to a screen. Its setup seems similar to an iPad, but it looks way more advanced. I mean, how could it not? It’s in the middle of his goddamn arm! His fingers fly across the screen, his poker face not giving anything away.
“Body scan is normal. No broken bones or any damage to her internally. Blood tests also look normal, but I would need her back in my lab to do extensive tests for DNA and things. She is slightly dehydrated, exhausted, and..” He breaks off, and a blush crosses his cheeks. The silver of his skin is now tinted with a delicate hint of pink, and somehow, it’s almost kind of adorable.
“What? What else?” John asks from where he’s still sitting next to me.
“Horny,” the doctor says dryly, recovering from his embarrassment, and now it’s my turn to blush.
“Agh, well, yes, okay, I didn't need to know that.” John scrambles to his feet, not waiting for Link to check him over. He holds out a hand to me as Eric joins us, another glass of water in his hand. “Thank you, Link, for coming so quickly.”
“No problem, boss. I was already having dinner.” He reaches down and helps me up. His skin against mine feels cooler than normal human temperature, and it’s a lot smoother too.I wonder how cold other parts of him are…He helps me slowly get to my feet. “It was nice to meet you, Lila. I hope to see you around. Maybe next time it won’t be as a patient.”
“Actually, she needs to have the galactic translator implanted. Can we get you to do that for her tomorrow?” William asks. What? Hang on now. I didn’t sign up forimplants. My poker face is definitely not in place because I don’t even voice my objection before William is sharing a counterargument. “Lila, not everyone in the circus speaks English. Yes, it’s the Skarrian language so most of our performers somewhat speak it, but there are many languages spoken throughout the galaxy, and you need to know them. It’s only a little chip that gets placed behind your ear. Everyone has them, and all it does is translate; no other surprises, I promise.”
“Okay, fine,” I grumble, now feeling tired and getting grumpy because of it.
“Of course, come and see me whenever.” Link smiles at me before gently dropping my hand and walking away. My eyes follow him as he rejoins a table across the room and starts chatting with the occupants before he looks up, those eyes meeting mine again. He shoots me a cheeky wink, and I almost fan myself. Damn him, I can’t believe he could tell how turned on I was.
I grab hold of John as he moves back toward the table. “What is he?” I whisper, not sure how good Link’s hearing might be.
“Link is from the planet Cybartronian, and he’s a cyborg—half man and half machine. They are technological geniuses, and their species is responsible for creating the pleasure bots that are used in a lot of the brothels around the galaxy. Their creation decreased abductions and sex trafficking exponentially. Not to mention they’re responsible for so many other technical advances.”
Pleasure bots and brothels? “Sex robots? You mean sex robots!” I shout, and he shushes me as he guides me over to the table so we can sit back down.
Slowly, I sip the water, my mind whirling at the thought of sex robots and cyborg doctors. Tapping a finger on my hand to get my attention, William begins speaking. “Tomorrow, we’ll work on your powers in the morning. Then get you familiar with the dome in the afternoon and the show tomorrow night. Let’s not get too worried tonight.” I smile at his no-nonsense attitude.Suck it up, Lila, he’s trying to distract you.He turns to the room and raises his voice.
“We would like to introduce all the acts to Lila one at a time. Please start your dinner, and we’ll bring you up in order of appearance.” He sits back down, and beings start to make their way over to the ATM machines. Ahhh, they must be the food replicators. William turns to John and mutters across me. “I found her fast asleep when I went and got her. She hasn’t had a chance to read anything.”
“Oh,” says John, becoming a bit pale. “Well, this should be interesting.” He looks at me. “A typical circus would start off by easing people in with acts that build up to a grand finale, but we’re a bit different. Every one of our acts is a grand finale,” he proudly states.
“The ringmaster will start by welcoming everyone, and then he will introduce each act before they come out. Maybe a little banter in between if a set needs to be changed, and we have other strategies to draw the audience’s eye somewhere else. The first act in our show is a juggling act made up of a troupe of jugglers who use all sorts of things, including balls, batons, and swords. What makes this so interesting and puts a spin on the act are the creatures who are doing it.” He speaks across me to Phillip. “Can you get Caspian and Dylan?” Phillip frowns but does as he is asked.
As he walks away, John says to me, “Caspian and Dylan are shifters from the planet Fluxx. Somewhere along the evolutionary chain, they changed, developing two forms, and most can do a half shift. Dylan is a dragon shifter, and he uses his ability to breathe fire, lighting things up mid-juggle. Guests believe he is just using fluid and a light. Caspian...” He pauses and frowns at the two people heading toward us. “Well, you’ll see. It looks like he’s going for full shock factor tonight.”
I turn to where he’s looking, and I can’t stop it this time. My mouth drops open. Heading toward me are two men. Well, one looks like a man. He is stockily built with dark ebony skin and close-cropped black hair. It’s his eyes that draw my attention though. Those reptilian eyes are yellow and green, and I can see shiny black scales shimmering back and forth across his exposed arms and neck.
The other being is all man… from the waist up. If men came in a mottled blue and purple, that is. He isn’t wearing a shirt, so his washboard stomach and rounded pecs are on display, both nipples adorned with rings. His arms are covered with what looks like nautical-themed tattoos. I look up into a face that’s just as eye-catching as the rest of him, particularly those piercing stormy blue eyes and challenging smirk. His hair is shaved on both sides, with a tousled vivid purple mid-section that drapes down over one eye. From the waist down, he is a writhing mass of shimmering blue and purple tentacles. Holy fuck! An octoman. He could be related to Ursula fromThe Little Mermaid. I close my mouth just as they get to me, but I’m more than sure they saw my reaction. Lila, 0. Aliens, 1.
William stands up, a proud smile on his face. “Dylan, Caspian, this is our granddaughter Lila. We’re hoping she’ll allow us to retire from performing in a year’s time when she takes over as ringmaster. Lila,” he turns to me, “this is Dylan and Caspian, the leaders of the first act. They have a few people who work with them, but they’re the ones you need to meet. Caspian starts the act in his human form and will shift to half-form midway through the act. The viewers’ minds are blown when he starts juggling with all eight tentacles!”
My mind immediately shifts to the gutter, wondering what else he could do with his eight tentacles. Phew, is it getting hot in here? I start to fan my face before I catch myself and stand up, reaching out my hand to Dylan. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I say. He smiles at me—is that a glimpse of fang I see?—and grasps my hand, shaking it in return. His palm shimmers with scales before it returns to normal. He’s warmer than the average human, and the scales are a lot smoother than I thought they would be.
Switching to Caspian, I tentatively reach out a hand to him, wondering how he’ll react. Instead of returning the handshake, he gets a wicked gleam in his eye and reaches out a tentacle.I bet he thinks I’ll freak out, but I’ll show him.I grasp the tentacle in my hand, marveling at how thick it is. The thing’s gotta be pure muscle. It wraps around my arm, some of the suckers attaching themselves to me, and I can’t help the giggle that escapes with the tickling sensation they’re causing. He frowns, his suckers detach, and he removes his tentacle.
“Welcome to the freak show. It’s nice to meet you,” he says to me in a growly rumble. Goosebumps erupt across my flesh, imagining what that voice would sound like when he’s balls… er,tentaclesdeep inside me. I’m such a dirty bitch.
“Oh,” I say, winking at him, “the pleasure’s all mine.” He stumbles backwards on his tentacles in what could only be described as shock. His eyes switch from human to cephalopod, the pupil elongating horizontally and the stormy blue bleeding out to cover the entire white part of his iris. He shakes his head, and they switch back before he turns and undulates off in the direction he had come from.
Did I just commit some massive alien faux pas? Is it some kind of workplace harassment to flirt with the performers? That’s really something the grandpas should have warned me about. Dylan bursts out laughing. “Wow!” he says. “I’ve never seen anyone get the best of Caspian. You really knocked the chip from his shoulder, sister.”Ping! There goes my gaydar.“I think you and I are going to be fabulous friends.”
“Actually, Dylan, that would be lovely. Would you like to join us?” I turn to ask William if he can, but he’s already moved down a spot and is making Phillip and Fiona move too.
I can hear them grumbling, proving that prejudiced assholes aren’t exclusive to Earth. “Freaking fag,” mutters Phillip. I’m really starting to dislike those two. Didn’t the grandpas say Skarrians were open to all sorts of relationships? Wonder what their problem is...
