…for Harriett…
Papa can’ttake her away—not when she looked at me with love in her eyes.
I scowl at Papa as he leads us to the lab. I hate the lab. Women scream and claw at me while Papa yells at me to implant my eggs into them. As their bellies balloon with eggs, the women cry and screech at me to stop. They die. They always die hating me. They fight my eggs and bleed to death, or they kill themselves. I bury them in my swamp with lilies because Mother said lilies are flowers that say,I’m sorry.
If I hesitate to give the women my eggs, Mr. Breyers hits me. His belt hurts. Will Harriett hate me? Will she cry out in fear or with joy like she did in the swamp? If she doesn’t want my eggs, I will stop. Mr. Breyers can hit me all he wants, but I won’t kill her. Will Papa take Harriett like he disappeared Mother when I refused to deposit my eggs into her?
“I won’t put too many eggs, Hairy. I will protect you no matter how hard he hits me,” I whisper against her hair. My sack bulges with six eggs, enough to ensure a living hatchling but not enough to kill Harriett. This is why I pushed my mating liquid inside her before we moved. It opens her body for eggs, making her crave my oviscape.
She cries harder but buries her head against my shoulder. Her arms around my neck tug me closer. I press her front against me to keep Papa from looking at her pretty curves. She rubs her thighs together as my ejaculate starts warming her body. The rubbing ofher folds will feed the need, not reduce it. If it takes all my strength, I will ensure Harriett feels pleasure, not pain. I can’t help but hope she knows we’ll fight together against Papa.
“We can run,” she whispers so softly, I wasn’t sure she said the words. She hasn’t noticed my egg sack hangs too low for me to run. My thigh muscles strain to lift my legs high enough to protect my egg sack from bouncing on the stairs. “You must be a strong swimmer. From the swamp, we can swim to the river, build a raft, and float to freedom.”
How does she know my deepest desires if she isn’t my soulmate? She’s never heard me tell stories of my future on a raft to my siblings. Could she be the mystery lady I call my starlight? Is that why she visited me under the full moon? I loved her before I met her. The life she offers has lived in my mind since I was a child. I will do anything to live that dream.
“I dream of a raft life with Hairy,” I whisper too softly for Papa to hear. My hearing is better than a normal human’s ears, but Papa’s worsens as his hair falls out.
“If you help me escape, I’ll give you a raft life,” she whimpers.
“What’s your conversation about Harriett? Are you getting better acquainted with the father of your children?Well, don’t bother! Those hatchlings will be the centerpiece of my exhibit at the World’s Fair,” Papa shouts as he storms into the house.
Harriett cries harder.
I see red.
“You don’t need to yell at her, Papa,” I snap.
He repeats me, mocking the way my words come out.
I want Hairy to smile and love me when she receives my eggs—not howl and claw at her handcuffs! Despite her anger at Papa, her body weeps for my cock. I love her because she looks at me as a person with thoughts and feelings—not a beast. I’m more than my fins and fangs. I want to learn, build, and create. My world is small but beautiful under the swamp. No humans go deep into the grasses. It’s a special place I can show Harriett. She will love sharing the wilderness with me. Someday she will love me.
Or I’ll die proving how much I love her.
My mind grabs Harriett’s raft life and refuses to let go. I can see myself building a floating house for her and our hatchlings. Our home will have a cooking area, so I don’t have to eat raw fish. We will have a reading area where Harriett will teach our hatchlings—the way Mother taught me. No lab. I will give Harriett dozens of eggs and beautiful hatchlings without strapping her down. We won’t need alab. We will transfer eggs with pleasure and love…always.
“Your lab? There’s no room in your lab! Why don’t we retire to my rooms?” Harriett says in a stronger voice.
She glares at Papa, but he smiles at her. It’s not a loving smile, but rather one a devil would wear. We cross his small animal room to the secret door behind the bookshelf. Harriett struggles for the first time. She kicks her feet to swim away without water. Her eyes widen with terror. The ‘O’ shape in her mouth displays her blunt, defenseless teeth. She’s clawing…but not to escape me…she’s climbing me like a tree.
Blunt teeth, flat claws, mind clouded, my mate needs me to rescue her.
If only I could communicate my plan.
Harriett
“No, no, no,” I yell as I squirm.
Phineas holds me steady. He whispers stunted affirmations of love and protection with his speech impediment. Instead of calming me, they windthe horror tighter within my body. Whose side is he on? Do I dare trust him to let me go? He’s following Leopold into a room so camouflaged, I never noticed it before. I hold onto the doorframe as long as I can before my arms no longer reach. With the finality of the last nail in my coffin, Leopold slams the door behind us.
He lights a gas lantern to reveal his torture chamber. Straps and tubes hang on the walls. My flailing legs kick over a table covered with sample jars and hastily labeled bottles next to the door. I’m smug for two seconds before I’m spanked by Leopold. The sting on my wet skin makes my body gush a torrent of embarrassing liquid. Phineas’s webbed fingers hold most of it, but nobody can miss the splatters on the floor.
I lost control of myself after Phineas pressed his ejaculate into me.
Phineas growls and swings me to face the wall. He may be my ally after all.
“No hitting! No, not like Mr. Breyers! No hitting Hairy,” Phineas roars.
Leopold opens his mouth to assert dominance…and then closes it. I hope the booboisie sees how small and feeble he is compared to Phineas. If I can convince Phineas that he’s in charge, Leopold will have no choice but to let us go. I lock eyes with my husband as understanding blooms in them.
