A Love So Deep: Chapter 9 (Patreon)

When eventually I am able to tear my eyes away from the wondrous view I turn to find Ellerie and Kelrak staring at me.  The view they had seen many times but I was still a strange sight to behold.  I get to me feet, feeling a bit self conscious at the attention, and look around the room.

“Is this satisfactory?”  Kelrak’s voice echoes in my mind.  His single eye stalk tilts closer and the two tiny hands at his waist wring together with seeming eagerness.

I both nod and give him a double thumbs up hoping to get his weird glossy green eye off of me.

“That means she likes it.”  Ellerie explains as she mimics my thumbs with hers.

“Excellent.”  It bows.  “Find me if you need anything.  I am at your service.  Supper will be in an hour.”  With that Kelrak scuttles off and out the door.

I shudder despite myself.  Kelrak had done nothing against me but his scarred malformed alien appearance and haunting voice gave me the heebie-jeebies.

“I can get you art, books, clothes, whatever you need to feel at home.”  Ellerie says.

I shrug.  Right now the last thing I was thinking about is my room’s decor.

Ellerie chews on her lips before suddenly blurting out.  “Can I touch?”

“Mmm?”

Her eyes flit up to the top of my head.  “May I touch your head?”

After a moment I nod and tilt my head slightly forward.

With wide eyes she reaches up with one hand and slowly pushes her fingers into my floating dark hair.  When she feels it her face lights up with a big wonderful smile.  I notice the tendrils on her head darken black and start to sway as if caught by a current, mimicking my hair the best she could.

“Oh!  Ohhh, it’s so pretty.”  She says, combing her splayed fingers through the length.  “Can you move them?”

I shake my head no.

She brings her other hand up to touch the other side.  Her fingers tickle as they gently play with my hair.  “It’s like strands of drifting ink.  So beautiful.  You are so pretty.”

I…didn’t know how to respond.  What a nice thing to say!  I point to her head and she enthusiastically nods.  Reaching up with my right hand I very carefully slide my fingers in amongst the slender fleshy tendrils.  They were supple and spongy and pleasantly warm, not at all cool or rubbery like I expected.  The tendrils curl and lightly grip at my fingers while still allowing them to glide through unhindered.  Her fingers soon find my ears which she feels and tenderly pinches with equal fascination.  We spend a wonderful little moment just feeling the other’s head, each of pleased with what we discover.

Ellerie giggles and so do I.

She pulls her hands away so I do the same.  I take a backward stroke and lift my feet to show her.  Her skin ripples with color as she cocks her head curiously.  I peel my socks off and show her my feet.  I wiggle my toes which makes her laugh again.  With two fingers she reaches out and takes one of them.  She feels it, squeezing the flesh and feeling the bone within as if it were something miraculous.

“What funny little fingers.”  She titters.

In turn she then tilts her tentacles up my way to allow me to touch them.  Taking one in my hand I carefully grip it then slowly pull back along it, feeling the warmth and firmness and texture and the tickly little suckers that grip at my palm as my hand slides along its length.  As I reach for another with my other hand I notice the space beneath her body within the ring where the tentacles met like a dress was exposed to me.  On a human it would be her crotch.  I didn’t mean to look but it was all right there to be seen.  I didn’t even realize what I was looking at until the parts and location all connect in my mind.  When I do I feel a hot blush color my cheeks.

Ignoring the more obvious anatomical differences of tentacles instead of legs her groin looked surprisingly familiar, though not like any human I had seen before.  At the back was an anus positioned between the base of two tentacles and right where it should of been in relation to her ‘butt’ like area on top.  Forward from this was a slit bordered by small soft mounds, fleshy petals peeked from the crevice, absolutely recognizable as a vulva.  Like her and Nanea’s ‘eyebrows’ there was a slightly darker patch and a rougher skin texture in place of hair.  It didn’t end there though.  In front of this was the unmistakable shape of a scrotum, testes, and the nubby glans of a penis hugged in tight to her body, sort of half immersed in her body.  They didn’t dangle free like a humans but the shape was there and it looked like they could be deployed easily enough.  For a second I stare, I couldn’t help it.  Ellerie had…both sets of sex organs?

The moment I realize I am staring I turn my head and jerk back, terribly embarrassed to have openly ogled her privates as I had.

Ellerie too pulls back in surprise at my sudden motion, her shifting patterns go wild for a second.  “What’s wrong?  Did I hurt you?  Are you okay?  You’re cheeks are darker!  I-I-I’ll go get Mistress.  She’ll know…”

I hold up my hands and shake my head, assuring her that I was okay.  Ellerie would have seen me looking yet she didn’t seem the slightest bit flustered.  It was my reaction that she was reacting to.  Clearly these people had different standards of decency than the world above.  As I thought about it I realized it made some sense, any sort of garment among or beneath the tentacles would be very difficult to affix and probably just get in the way as they moved.

Seeing that I was fine Ellerie relaxes.  “Oh thank the Spirits.  Don’t scare me like that!”  She glides forward and puts a hand on my arm.  “You sure you’re okay?”

I nod and pat her hand.

“Good, good.”  She says.  “Listen, I have to go back down to the tavern for a little bit.  Your loud noise kinda caused a stir down there.”  She titters.  “And I was in the middle of something when it happened.  Make yourself at home.  Relax.  Kelrak is always around if you need him.  Feel free to explore your room or the other living areas.  I’ll be back before supper, okay?”

I knew I was a prisoner.  I knew that one small mistake would spell my death.  But damned if Ellerie and Kelrak didn’t make me feel like a valued guest.  I give her a thumbs up and say.  “Okay.”

She giggles at the vibration of my voice, touches my hair one last time, then twirls around me once before zipping off in the blink of an eye.  Damn that girl was fast.  She closes the door behind her leaving me alone with my thoughts for the first time since the deck of the ship.

I look down to my body, breathing water and alive, as I think about the sequence of events that found me in this impossible place.  I look to the door and think about the fascinating people I had met.  I look about the sparse yet perfectly adequate room, this was my place now.  I look to the hatch at the ceiling and think about the terrifying and beautiful creature that would be lurking up there at nights.  I look out over the lights of the vast underwater metropolis of Nerylune and once more I am struck by the stunning view.  If this was hell or some sort of crazy nightmare…it certainly could have been a lot worse.

Chapter 10