A gasp broke the silence.
Briny water crested and peaked at the struggle underneath. Greedy for air, needing to breathe, Venus filled her burning lungs and grabbed the edge of the glass tank, heart racing. Her white labcoat molded itself over her drenched form while her coffee sat neglected, sitting on a small metal table nailed to the floor underneath a digital timer.
The big red numbers continued to count down, and Venus couldn't help but think she'd just made the worst mistake of her entire professional career.
The smallest of ripples gently nudged Venus' heaving chest before its source pulled her back under. Her silk wrap came loose, freeing her twists in the freezing water. The overhead fluorescent lights refracted off the gold bands adorning her hair. A diamond in the rough. A shard of hope amidst the chaos.
They called it Specimen X, and it was relentless.
Strong vine-like appendages wrapped around her legs. Vibrant orange pillars of fire glowed and pulsed around her body. Alone with the monster. It could easily maul her, but something gentle gleamed behind its saucer eyes, onyx and bright. Something almost human.
The salt stung, but she couldn't pull her gaze away.
It had started with routine feedings. Curious tendrils peeked over the observation tank and suckled around her fingers. Sensual like a thousand butterfly kisses. If Venus had been confused before, the rough waves of longing which slammed against her now stirred a tempest of fear and want. A storm which raged harder than her fight to breathe, bubbles escaping her nose with every ticking second.
Ten minutes max.
Collect data and get out. In the interim, the doors were locked, the solid steel hermetically sealed. There would be no escape. For either of them.
The timer's reflection blurred against the bullet-proof glass as water sloshed over the edge, smearing the notes on her clipboard.
A barbed sucker grazed over a matching scar on the back of her hand, and her lungs began to scream.
Stars shot off like sparks. Lungs shriveled. Muscles twitched. She thought she might drown. A cloud of yellow shot out from underneath her ripped nylons as she lost control of her bladder, the hot stream cutting through the icy brine. As if sensing her life force ebb, more tentacles embraced her and propelled her to the surface.
Recycled air never tasted so sweet.
Inhaling, oxygen singed her every nerve. A high, higher than high. Higher than heroin. Fleshy confines, strong yet tender. Glancing at the clock, her breath caught. X constricted around her body tighter, and she felt their heartbeats sync.
All six of them.
Without submerging her, X cushioned her on a raft of swirling muscle. Her nose pierced the water tension as her breasts slipped between her torn blouse, dark nipples hard from the frigid claws of her aquatic prison.
The buzz painted goosebumps down her body. X's fiery arms wriggled their way over every available space. Skirt hiked over her hips, bra yanked down, gusset pressed to the side, Venus closed her eyes and curled her toes in anticipation.