Golden bangles decorated each of his four human arms and a red silk scarf was draped around his throat. Gold earrings dangled from his ears. He blinked down at me, his thick black eyelashes flirty despite his obvious displeasure of my presence.
I swallowed as my eyes moved to his lower half, which discarded any pretence of humanity. His lower half sat in a twisted heap, like a snake resting on a log. He wasn’t smooth and scaled like a snake though. Instead, he had a series of bumps, rings of wide ridges from his pelvis to the very tip of his tail. The skin of his tail was a rich sapphire that paled in the front and looked soft and almost velvety to the touch.
Also unlike a snake’s body, he had legs. A shudder rolled over my body as I imagined those appendages gripping me all over, pulling me close into his body, and holding me tight.
“Who are you?” He asked again, more agitated this time. His black eyes waited on me as he pulled the absinthe back to his mouth and drank. I watched the apple on his neck bob.
“Alice and—”
“Stop,” he said before setting the hose tip in his mouth and pulling another bubbling drag of smoke. Steam came from his nostrils like a dragon then he opened his mouth and let the smoke trail out as he talked.
“What do you want?” He asked, smoke tendrils dancing from his mouth towards the ceiling. I understood now why some teased that he was a Persian prince. It was more so his attitude than merely along with his looks. My eyes trailed over his lower half. I was staring, forgetting to blink.
“You,” I said softly, wanting to reach out and touch his lower half. To feel his skin with my fingertips and rub the ridges of his body. He wasn’t impressed with my answer though.
“Obviously,” he said apathetically, rolling his eyes. “Try again.” Now I was confused. I’d told him the truth. All I wanted was him. Every part of him. All of him. He was perfect, just how I imagined. Better even. I felt awed by the creature in my presence. How could my imagination and that faded black-and-white picture ever be good enough after having him in front of me?
I recalled Cheshire saying Caterpillar sent the last person away and grew anxious. I couldn’t be sent away. Not now that I’d seen him in the flesh. Seen that he was exactly what I needed.
“I want you,” I tried again.
“Wrong,” he snapped, leaning forward, his face coming closer to mine, stealing my breath. His large black eyes looked vicious. His gaze swept my face and the anger left him, replaced with a huff of annoyance.
I was not doing well. Now I was very nervous that I was just a moment from being sent away.
“You want me but I’m not sure I want you,” he paused to pull more smoke from his hose before finishing his statement, “Alice.” My name came from his mouth along with a thick, twisting vein of smoke. He then blew the rest in a puff directly in my face. I coughed. It smelled like honey and roses over the tobacco. I waved the smoke away as I tried to clear the scratch in my throat.
“Prove to me it's worth my while,” he said, a devious smile curling his lips. Caterpillar laid on his side in the bed, most of his tail now hiding behind his lounging body. His lean upper body was stretched out on display. He moved the hookah hose down to his hips, gripping the long mouthpiece in a tight fist.
“I don’t understand.”
“Suck it,” he said.
“What?” I asked because he couldn’t be serious. He wanted me to suck his hookah hose? “You’re joking.”
“I don’t joke,” he said very seriously. He gripped the mouthpiece tighter, wiggling it a little and taunting me with his eyes. He was treating it like his cock but I wasn’t even worthy enough to have his actual cock in my mouth. He would rather embarrass me than have my mouth on him. Maybe he hadn’t really sent the other person away, maybe they left in offence.
I couldn’t leave though. I had to have him.
I walked up close, my eyes scanning his lower half curled behind him on the bed. My gaze swung down to where he gripped the mouthpiece like a stiff erection. He kept that teasing smile on his face, turning his nose up a little, and probably waiting for me to turn and leave.
I swallowed and dropped to my knees. The blue skin of his lower body made my heart beat faster. I was already wet, already clenching in want between my legs. I guess humiliation really wasn’t much of a sacrifice in the face of my obsession.
I leaned forward, my fingers pressing into the mattress as I put my lips on the tip as if I meant to smoke it. My face was burning in embarrassment as I felt him watching me with his judgemental eyes. I steeled myself to the task and let it slide past my teeth. My lips gripped the glass as I took it deeper in my mouth, feeling the odd, ridged shape roll up my tongue.
Finally, I pulled off and sat back on my heels, looking to see if that was enough for him. If he’d let me stay.
“Was that supposed to convince me?” He asked, his voice layered with disapproval. He wasn’t letting me off easy. I let out a breath, accepting he needed this. If Caterpillar wanted me to prostrate myself in front of him, I would. I’d prove to him my desire. I’d let him humiliate me and I’d do it gladly if it meant I could have more of him than just a worn and faded photo.
I looked into his black eyes as I kissed the side of the mouthpiece. It was made of red glass with a bumpy texture that reminded me of his body. Once that thought was in my mind, I couldn’t let it leave. Maybe his cock looked like this mouthpiece, a dramatically ridged length that would pop inside me in intervals. Maybe he’d count off how many rings he could fit inside me. I hoped dearly he’d give me that pleasure.
I moaned and took the hose in my mouth, the glass sliding on my tongue to the back of my throat. I lavished it, bobbing my head up and down, pretending it was really him. A laugh startled me back to reality and I looked up, my lips still around the mouthpiece.
“Well, you really do want it, don’t you?” He asked, his eyes finally lighting in true amusement. My cheeks heated and I pulled my mouth off the hose, sitting back on my heels and looking at the floor, embarrassed but not regretful. I was much too committed to my adoration to regret doing anything he asked.
My eyes followed the hookah hose as he lifted it back up to his mouth. The slick, saliva-coated tip settled into his mouth as he pulled another drag. His lips were shiny where my spit transferred from the hose tip. It was an erotic sight made even more so when he slid his tongue across his lips, tasting it. He smiled knowingly at me.
“I suppose I can let you use your mouth on me, Alice. Try not to let me down.” One of his arms came down, the bangles on his wrists clinking together as he moved.
