If I’m to be completely honest then I must say it was the most amazing kiss I’d ever had. Even though I felt like I was cheating on Dante, I couldn’t help enjoying the feel of her body as she pressed against me. Dante had always had a slight aloofness to her that made love feel like a privilege – but here was an alien princess kissing me as if I was all she ever wanted in a lover. My mind went blank as I revelled in her aura, kissing her back like nothing else mattered but us two.
I felt the bounds loosen about my wrists and started touching her frantically, trying to fit as much intimacy into as little time as possible. She sensed my urgency and pulled away. I felt like I’d very suddenly dropped into a ten-foot hole during a sprint – knocked out, completely drained of energy.
“Relax,” she said, with a smile that both scared and exhilarated me. “We have all the time in the world.”
I considered that “the world” might be coming to an untimely end and felt the urge return even stronger.
“Why do you continue to toy with me?” I asked.
“You misunderstand me.”
“How?”
She didn’t answer, and I didn’t need an answer to be honest. I was bound again and she had turned away, so that was that I supposed. I looked at her wistfully for a while, and then stared up at the white ceiling, which had no visible illumination, and prepared for whatever tests they had left to run. I was resigned to my fate, but in a strange way that kiss had made it all seem so worthwhile.
I realised I wasn’t alone with my thoughts when Alizé told me she’d be watching all the tests and she’d want to talk to me as soon as they were through. I smiled and nodded, as I was now completely bound to whatever it was I was on. I was suddenly enclosed in what I could only think of as a coffin, even though it was a tube not a box. I was petrified. I’ve always been mildly claustrophobic, and this sudden entrapment threatened to push me over the edge. I heard Alizé mutter something, and suddenly the top of my coffin was clear, and I could see it wasn’t too bad.
It was really rather comfortable when my heart stopped pounding. The material I was lying on wasn’t hard like a table, yet it wasn’t so soft that I sank into it. It was supportive, and aligned itself to the curves of my body so I didn’t need a pillow – the head was elevated slightly, just as it should be. We humans could learn a thing or two from these aliens, I thought as I reposed.
I allowed myself to relax and thought again of that kiss. I wondered if that was the alien’s true form, or if she looked something far more sinister than she made herself appear. What I couldn’t get my head round was the fact that she genuinely seemed to like me. She’d only known me for a few hours plus whatever amount of time I’d been here. (I had lost all sense of time at this point.) It didn’t make any sense to me that an alien female could fall in love at first sight as it were.
I tried to think of what Dante would say to me if we were in this box together. She’d probably spend time convincing me I’d be okay while she figured out a plan for our escape. She was both calm and smart, and I missed her more than I could say. So why had Alizé got such a hold on me?
It occurred to me that the tests were already running, and it might be a good idea to look around and try to figure out what they were doing. I realised I was naked, even though I had no memories of taking my clothes off. I was skinny, and felt incredibly small in the enclosure. The enclosure. That probably describes my coffin best. I was sure it was a plastic of some kind, but worked so that it had no visible seams – even where the opaque base met the clear top.
The clear top! They could see me through it. I tried to roll over and found that I couldn’t. The weird bounds that had held me when my enclosure had been a table were back, and they were really irritating me. I felt awfully exposed; and weak as there was nothing I could do. I tried to relax again and thought once again of Alizé. That magnificent kiss. Her perfect form.
Suddenly I was really exposed. The enclosure had turned back into a table and I was lying naked on top of it. I tried to roll over and found that I could. I felt much more comfortable exposing my rear to them – I couldn’t really feel self-conscious over something I’d never spared much thought for.
Alizé came and sat at my head. She looked at me, and I loved her.
