The Human Pet: A Sci-Fi Romance

Part 15

Tarak

Most of my day had been tense, worrying about my pet. Would she eat and drink? Would she be warm?

So, to arrive home and see that Zon bot attacking my pet...

Having a pet has changed me. Or maybe it's having a pet that I find beautiful and alluring? She has heightened my dominant instincts. There is a constant niggling in my mind, a need to care for her and provide for her physical needs (food and bathing). Even when I do fulfill her needs, I am not satisfied. No, I need her to feel safe and protected. Sometimes when her eyes glaze over and she lets me hold her, I think I may have achieved this.

There is also a darker side of my dominance that has awakened. I want to dominate and control her in every way. She is a pet and could not possibly understand such impulses; to act on them would be unjust. So, although I indulge my impulses by caring for her, when it comes to touches that might progress into controlling her, I hold back. I will not allow myself to touch her in that way, because I might not be able to stop, and to do that to a pet who can't possibly understand would be wrong. When she touches my atums, though, this quickly arouses me; I become overstimulated and in danger of losing control. I have no choice but to subdue her.

Her racing heart thrums loudly in my ears when I push her against the side of the pool and encircle my hands around her throat. If I don't do this, I might lose control. I do not mean to scare her, so I do what I can to calm her: I brush my fingers over the divot in her throat, making tiny circles, watching it concave as she breathes. Her heart pounds louder. My mind fills with static and shivers race down my spine. Hearing her loud, strumming heartbeat sends me a message. My pet lives!

I think this might calm my pet, too, especially since her eyes are closed, except... She makes a tiny sob, gasping with tiny breaths.

I release her but she stays against the wall, and she is shaking. She's squeezed her eyes shut, that's how afraid of me she is. My poor pet! I had frightened her, and she did not understand what she did.

I pull her to my chest, gripping her tight. "I will not hurt you, pet, but you must never touch my atums. Do you understand?" I kiss the top of her head, lightly placing my hand on her flank to calm her. "You tempt me, but it would be wrong to use you like that pet."

She still shakes and she won't open her eyes, so I take her out of the bath, dry her, and carry her to my bed. I just want to hold her like I did the night before, but she pushes against my chest and slips out of my bed. My pet crawls to that ratty blanket I had given her on her first day here and she drapes the blanket over her head and body. Huddled in a corner of the floor, she looks like a sandworm larva from the quicksand of Cerberus.

I clap, dimming the lights. Only a small light from my alarm in the corner of the wall shines.

I cannot sleep. Not holding my pet makes me feel ill and I am aware of her every movement in this dim light. Eventually, she stops shaking, and soon after, her breaths slow, and she falls asleep.

We are less than an arm's length away, but it might as well be light-years. I desperately want to touch her and inhale the scents of her skin and hair, but this is what she wants. Not having my hands on her is what she needs to feel safe.

The only thing I can do is clench my fist; as much as I want to reach out and touch her, I can't. 

***Author's Notes***

So, while everyone waits for tomorrow's update... Do you have a favorite character (or characters) so far? Why do you like that particular character?