Page 32 of Tasty Tentacles

“The one where they all remember the aliens in their dreams and recreate it…”

“Aaaand, that’s my cue,” Hideo says. “Do you have a tennis ball? If you don’t mind, I’ll just go out back and spend some time with Jake.”

I point Bertie to the movies and get Hideo set up with some balls and Jake’s favorite rope tug toy.

“Is Hideo going to be okay?” I ask as I set up the DVD.

“More than okay. He’s always wanted to adopt a dog, but our jobs have gotten in the way and we’ve never had the time. He’s been looking forward to playing with Jake all morning, so if my guess is right, we won’t see him for hours.”

I plunk down on the couch with the remote, and Bertie immediately scoots over next to me…very close to me. As the titles start, I feel a hand on my leg. I guess this is happening, and I’m ready to see where it goes. I wrap an arm over his shoulders and it feels so natural. He snuggles into me and gives a deeply flattering sigh.

I’ve seen this episode dozens of times—it’s also one of my favorites—but it barely registers today. That sigh told me everything I need to know. This is exactly where he wants to be, held in my arms, and I have less than an hour to figure out what to do next.

“Orion?” he says. “Can I kiss you now? A real kiss this time?”

He wants to kiss me? I stammer out, “Um, yes?”

That’s all it takes. He jumps up and straddles my legs, sitting on my lap. I scramble to tuck my tentacles away—I don’t want to ruin this before it even starts—then his lips are on me. They’re soft and full and hungry, and it’s abundantly clear he wants this. I kiss back, with my lips, and then with my tongue, and he flowers for me, taking the kiss deep and filled with passion. I pull him closer, feeling his firm, compact beariness filling my arms.

It’s wonderful and excruciating. I feel his want, and feel my own responding, but my tentacles…they’re screaming for attention and I can barely hold them at bay. I clench them under my chin, curling them tightly together, forcing them to stay out of the way.

He pulls back and looks at me, looking for something, then he puts his hands on my shoulders, rubbing out the tension gathering there. Then he reaches up to my face and pauses.

“May I?” he asks.

“Of course,” I say, wondering and hoping, then I add, meaning every word, “Anything you like.”

He gives me a smile I’ve never seen before, and his eyes fill with curiosity, and attraction, and sheer lust. He teases his fingers gently, but insistently, under my chin and strokes my tentacles out of hiding. They respond instantly, and I let them. He continues, stroking and petting, letting them wind around his finger. Taking my mustache tentacles in his fingertips and teasing them out to full length.

“Orion, I want you to kiss me now.”

“But I…” I start, hoping I understand the permission he’s giving, but he cuts me off. He takes my head in both hands and forcefully, deliberately, brings his lips to mine, and I feel it. He wants all of me, so I give it to him.

As we’re sharing tongues and lips, exploring the ways we fit together, I unleash my tentacles. They dive into his beard, feeling the silky softness and dancing deep, exploring the contours of his chin hidden inside. They gently stroke his cheeks, tasting the slight saltiness from our afternoon exertion. I let a few tease their way into the corner of his mouth, tasting traces of champagne and caviar and chocolate on his lips.

The intimacy is overwhelming…my tentacles are ablaze with sensation. I’ve never let myself go like this, and they want more, they tell me it could be so much more, but my mind screams that it’s wrong. That he’s disgusted, frightened even, but it’s so obviously not true. His hands hold me tight, weaving through my hair, and his kisses are intense, hungry, like he can’t get enough. I couldn’t escape, even if I wanted to.

Suddenly, he softens, and the almost-intolerable intimacy recedes, allowing my internal battle to quiet. He releases his grip and softly caresses my tentacles. He pulls back and gushes, “Now that’s what I’m talking about.”

“Albert, I…” I start, but I don’t know what I’m trying to say. I want to know—is it real?—but I don’t have the words. This is entirely new territory, and I’m lost. And then, suddenly, the terrain gets even more treacherous.

Over Bertie’s shoulder, I see Hideo in the doorway to the kitchen, leaning on the doorframe, arms crossed, watching. Have I overstepped?

“Orion,” Hideo says, smiling. He uncrosses his arms and holds one hand over his head…with the mistletoe. “How about a proper kiss for me, too?”

14

HIDEO

My darling Bertie gives him a little nudge, and that’s all it takes. I see confidence flow through Orion’s body, and suddenly he’s here, towering over me, pinning me to the doorframe. I’m not a small man, and I don’t feel small often, but I do with him, and it’s glorious.

He looks down at me and says, “Tell me if you’d like me to stop.”

“I will,” I say, tipping my face up to him, more than ready to submit. “But please, don’t stop now.”

Then he’s on me, in the most immersive kiss I’ve ever experienced. He wraps an arm around my neck, holding me tight, and the kiss involves my entire face. His lips are soft and his tongue is strong and insistent, and that all feels familiar. Damn sexy, but familiar, but when he brings his tentacula into it, it takes a quantum step upward.

They’re everywhere, like they have a mind of their own. Stroking my cheeks, tracing my jawline, roughing through my beard, caressing down my neck. I’m buried, surrounded, dominated with sensation. They never stop, sometimes gliding skin-on-skin like soft fingers, sometimes dusting me with the soft ginger fur.