Laura

Posted by PK on March 02, 2008 at 15:41:51:

"Well, it's been delightful talking to you," Harold said, "But I'm getting a little hungry, I think I'd like to have something to eat now."

"Oh, of course," Laura said. "Go ahead."

It was Laura's first party at the Alien Embassy, which was quite a suprise as she'd got the guest ticket in a magazine competition she hardly remembered entering. She'd thought it might be awkward or frightening, but the aliens weren't so bad once you got to know them. The Rallifrexian who'd introduced himself as Harold was quite charming, even if he did look like a giant greenish- purple slug with tentacles. His conversation had been entertaining, erudite and witty.

"You really don't mind...?" Harold inquired politely.

"No, not at all," Laura said. "Help yourself."

"You're very kind," Harold said warmly, "If you'd just remove your clothing, please? It's quite lovely, but not really edible." He sounded faintly apologetic, as if he didn't like to criticise.

Laura was taken aback. "What? Pardon me, I don't mean any offense, but do you mean you want to eat ME?"

"Well, yes," Harold said. "Why not?"

For a moment, Laura couldn't think of a suitable reply. "But....but I'm a guest, not part of the buffet," she protested feebly.

"I'm afraid the distinction is sometimes lost on me," Harold said contritely. "Humans are part of our natural diet, so I simply assumed that since you were here...." he trailed off. "Didn't you know?"

An understandable mistake, Laura thought dizzily. "No, I don't follow much interplanetary politics," she said, "You eat humans all the time?"

"Not exactly. To be honest, we can eat almost anything, preferably warm blooded mammals, but humans are our favourite food, particularly young adult females. I hope it's not too, um, personal, to say that I can tell by your scent that you will be delicious. Sorry, would be. I shouldn't have presumed. Terribly rude of me."

"Not at all," Laura reassured him. "Do you always ask people before you eat them?"

"Of course!" Harold exclaimed, sounding rather shocked. "Well, on Earth, anyway. It's in the rules, and this is your home planet, not ours. When in Rome, as you say...."

"I see. But it's different on your home world?" Laura guessed.

"Yes. Tourists from Earth and elsewhere are required to go about naked, as we do sometimes eat them and clothes are such a nuisance. We're not used to them. Our native hominids don't wear any at all."

"I'm sorry about the misunderstanding," Laura said. "I didn't mean to lead you on. I shouldn't keep you talking, you need to find something else to, um...." she looked around. Actually, there didn't seem to be much that a creature (person of different species, she corrected herself) that size could use. The finger food was obviously designed for humans. Harold would hardly be satisfied with a few mushroom vol-au-vents or miniature sausage rolls.

"To be honest, there's nothing here I really fancy except you," Harold admitted. "Oh, don't worry, I won't starve. We've got plenty of preserved food in the larder and a few livestock, pigs and sheep mostly. I was hoping to have a human today for a change, that's all. I don't get much time to go out and mingle, pressure of work and all that."

"That's a shame," Laura said sympathetically. She was actually starting to feel a little bit mean for not letting the poor, purple people-eater gobble her up. "I wish there was something I could do...."

"Well," Harold said hesitantly, "I almost hate to ask, but there IS something you could do..."

"What's that?" Laura asked cautiously.

"Let me taste you. Just a taste, I won't bite. Actually, I can't. We don't have teeth."

"Well....I suppose.." Laura considered it. It wasn't so much to ask, was it? "Would I still have to take my clothes off?"

"It would help," Harold admitted. "Or I could just taste your exposed parts with my tongues. Those lovely legs, for instance..."

Laura found the idea of getting naked at a formal party rather embarrassing, but having Harold stick his tongues up her skirt seemed even worse, furtive and a bit dirty, if perversely exciting. She glanced around. A few of the other women were down to their underwear. "What the Hell," she said, pulling her little black dress off over her head and folding it on a table. This way, she wouldn't get drool on it. She pulled off her shoes. "Underwear too?" she asked reluctantly.

"That would be nice, if you would be so kind," Harold said.

Oh well, in for a penny, in for a pound. Laura removed her bra and panties. "Now what happens?" she asked. "Should I just stand here while you taste me or lie down on a table?" As soon as she'd said it, she had a vision of herself as sushi at an alien restaurant. She shuddered.

"What?" Harold seemed to come to himself, as if enraptured by the vision before him. "You seem to be nervous. Is it because you are unclothed in the presence of other humans?"

"Something like that," Laura prevaricated. "Can't we do this in private?"

"Oh, of course," Harold said. "Silly of me. Just get inside and I'll be able to taste you without exposing you further to public view." He opened his mouth wide, very wide. "Don't worry, I won't swallow you."

"Promise?" Laura asked nervously.

"Of course," Harold said. "You'll be warmer inside, too. I know humans don't like the cold."

Laura climbed gingerly into the alien's mouth, not without thinking 'I must be mad'. She must be a people-eating creature's dream, human prey that undressed itself and fed itself to its predator. She turned around and sat down on what seemed to be the creature's main tongue. "Hey!" she cried in alarm. The front aperture was closing.

"Is something wrong?" Harold asked. "I thought you preferred not to be exposed. I'll leave my mouth open a little to let some light in and for you to see out."

Sure enough, the aperture stopped closing at something like a foot or more across, allowing Laura to see without being easily seen. "Thank you, that's fine," she said, her heartbeat slowing down again. Actually, the creature's tongue was quite comfortable to sit on, though she was disturbingly aware that her bare pubis was in contact with its taste buds, if it had them. It? "Um, Harold?"

"Yes?"

"Are you really male? If that's not a rude question..."

"Not at all, and yes, I am. All the Rallifrexians on Earth are male. Our females are much smaller and not very bright, to put it kindly. Less intelligent than your house pets, in fact. When we want to copulate with them, we issue a pheromonal signal, select one of those who respond, and open our mouths. The female enters and we stimulate and then impregnate them."

"And then let them out again?" Laura asked hopefullly. Would he let her out again?

"Sometimes," Harold said. "Sometimes we just eat them afterwards. They're quite tasty."

"Some dinner date," Laura muttered.

"The conversation lacks something," Harold replied drily. "I much prefer humans. You taste better too."

"Yeep!" Laura exclaimed. A couple more of Harold's tongues had made their presence felt. One of them had wrapped itself around her waist and another came over her shoulder and fondled her breasts. She relaxed. Of course, Harold HAD said he was going to taste her.

"Something wrong?" Harold inquired.

"No, no, it's all right. Carry on." The sensations the tongues engendered in her were quite pleasant. They weren't slimy at all, just slightly moist. "Are you trying to 'stimulate' me?"

"Yes. It enhances the flavour of your genitalia, to put it crudely. I'm told human women enjoy it, too. Foreplay, I believe it's called."

"Told by whom?" Laura asked, trying to retain some rational control. She guessed the answer before Harold replied.

"By the last woman I ate, amongst others. A charming young lady called Angela. We also copulated before I swallowed her."

"And I suppose you want to copulate with me?" Of course, he was a male. Same on any planet.

"Only if you want to," Harold reassured her.

"You'd better get me a drink while I think about it," Laura said. "It's traditional."

"Of course," Harold said. A slender tentacle whipped out and snagged an open bottle of wine from a nearby table, then passed it back into his mouth.

"Thanks," Laura said, taking a hearty swig as Harold's tongues continued to explore her. "What's going on over there?" Her point of view shifted as Harold moved his head and she swayed slightly.

"There?"

"Yes." A naked blonde woman with breasts like melons was almost half-engulfed in the tentacles of another Rallifrexian. "Is she being tasted too?"

"I suspect she's about to be eaten," Harold observed.

Laura watched in fascination. The woman was writhing in sexual ecstasy in full view of everyone. Finally her panting changed to a hoarse cry of "Yes! YES! EAT me!"

The Rallifrexian obliged her. The tentacles pulled her into its - his - mouth head first. Her long legs kicked in the air for a second or two and then she disappeared.

Several people applauded enthusiastically.

"Your friend certainly knows how to pull the chicks," Laura commented, her flippancy a cover for the strange sensations in her lower belly.

"Gerald does have a way with the ladies," Harold admitted. "But he does tend to gulp his food. Bit of a boor, actually. She's probably in his stomach already."

"Being digested," Laura mused. Her own insides seemed to be turning to jelly. As they probably would along with the rest of her if she wasn't careful, she reminded herself. "Harold, do you like wine?"

"I quite like the flavour," Harold replied, "But it would take a barrel of it to get me even slightly drunk."

"Good," Laura said. "I don't want you to lose control." She took another hearty pull at the bottle.

"I beg your pardon?"

Laura poured the rest of the wine over her body and sprawled back, legs apart. "Taste me some more," she rasped throatily. "And do the copulation thing. Just try to remember not to swallow me when you've finished."

"I'd be delighted to," Harold said.

Laura felt something long, thick and warm slip between her legs and into her. How big was it, anyway? Would it split her open when it became fully engorged? For a moment she almost regretted her hasty self-abandonment, but she was too far gone. If Harold decided swallow her without asking, there was nothing she could do about it now anyway. If she split, she split. Might as well go out with a bang, she thought. It was the last near coherent thought she had for a while. Harold's various internal appendages were all over her, inside and out, and she let herself go, writhing and panting as shamelessly as the woman she'd just seen being devoured. She didn't know how many orgasms she had, one just seemed to melt into the other until eventually she peaked, exhausted, and passed into semi-consciousness for a minute or two. When she came round, she noticed that the light had dimmed to almost nothing. Harold had closed his mouth nearly all the way. Was he going to eat her now? Maybe it was the Rallifrexian equivalent of a post-coital cigarette. She almost didn't care.

"Are you all right, Laura?" she heard him say at last. "You did seem to get a bit carried away there."

"I'm fine," she said, basking in the afterglow. "Best sex ever."

"Really?" Harold sounded pleased. "That's kind of you to say. I enjoyed it too, very much."

"Can I ask you something?" Laura sat up with an effort. She was just so comfortable.

"Of course."

"Why didn't you swallow me when I was coming? All you had to do was ask. A woman will say 'yes' to almost anything when she's that far gone." It was true. If he'd asked, she'd have let him have her and she'd be in his stomach now, being digested just like the blonde.

"It was tempting," Harold admitted, "But it wouldn't really have been fair to trick you, would it? You've been so nice to me I couldn't bring myself to do it."

"You're a gentleman, Harold," Laura said. "May I get out now?"

"Yes, of course." Harold opened his mouth. "I just thought you might like a little more privacy for that."

"Definitely a gentleman," Laura said, climbing out and pulling her dress back on. Her skin was only slightly moist; Harold seemed to have licked off most of her excess juices. She hoped he'd enjoyed them.

"Thank you," Harold said modestly. "I do try."

"I'm sorry you missed the meal you were hoping for," Laura said apologetically. "I'm afraid you picked the wrong woman. You'd have been better off with the blonde."

"Not at all," Harold said gallantly. "I've enjoyed your company enormously. Of course I'd have liked to eat you too, but one can't have everything. These parties are usually so boring but I had a lovely time, thanks to you."

"Me too. Do you think we could see each other again some time? I mean, if you'd like..."

"I would like that very much," Harold said. "I don't have many human friends. My relationships with women tend to be brief and men don't seem to like me for some reason."

"I was thinking of a sort of casual relationship thing," Laura said tentatively. "I mean, conversation, sex, the occasional meal maybe. Not of me, I'm afraid. I don't want you to get the wrong idea..."

"Well, if you ever change your mind about that.."

"You'll be the first to know, I promise."

Harold hesitated. "You do realise I can't promise not to see other people?"

"Of course not. If you meet another nice young lady who really wants to be eaten, feel free to gobble her up."

"Well, in that case, I'd be delighted. When will you be free next?"

Humming happily on the way home, Laura reflected that her mother had better not find out about this. She never approved of her boyfriends, but this would give her a heart attack.

"You've got to be kidding me," Liz said.

"No, really," Laura said, brushing her hair. "It's all true."

"Oh, I believe you," Liz said. "I just don't BELIEVE you. You had sex with an alien..."

"Great sex!"

"....after you let it swallow you?"

"Him, not it, and he didn't actually swallow me, I was only in his mouth...."

"Oh, that's all right then. You just climbed into the mouth of an alien who said he'd like nothing better than to have you for dinner. That makes perfect sense."

"He promised he wouldn't unless I let him," Laura protested.

"And you believed him? Laura, you're far too trusting. That's me being polite and not saying you're totally batshit crazy."

"I'm still here, aren't I?" Laura pointed out. "I've always been a good judge of character."

"Everybody thinks that until it's too late," Liz countered. "And now you're actually dating him?"

"I like him. He's fun to be with. And the sex...."

"Is great, yes, you said. Laura, he EATS PEOPLE. Are you hearing me?"

"Nobody's perfect," Laura quoted from 'Some Like it Hot'. "I've had worse boyfriends. He's polite, intelligent..."

"And large, purple, alien and HE EATS PEOPLE. Getting it yet?"

"There's no need to shout. Yes, I know that. At least he's never lied to me. Remember Roger?"

"Oh, don't go on about that."

"I told you he was no good. Would you listen? Noooo....."

"At least he was human."

"So he said, anyway. I wouldn't believe him if he said the sky was blue."

"You're not going to listen to sense, are you?"

"What, because I'm not taking advice on my love life from somebody who dated an insurance salesman?"

"Oh, I give up. Just take care, will you?"

"Will do." Laura put the phone down and examined herself in the mirror. The tiny blue bikini looked good on her, she thought. That should get Harold's juices flowing in more ways than one. She slipped into sandals and a white bathrobe, slung her handbag over her shoulder, picked up the hamper she'd packed and went out. It was a perfect day for an afternoon picnic at the beach.

Harold picked her up in the Embassy air-limo, a rather large one to accommodate his size. Apart from the chauffeur, there was another human in there, a rather attractive young girl of apparently Chinese or East Asian ancestry, wearing a pizza delivery uniform.

"Hi," the girl said with a nervous giggle. "I'm Chris."

"Laura," Laura said briefly. Should she be jealous? Well, she had agreed he could see other people. "Brought another friend? Or is she your lunch?"

Chris giggled again. "I'm his lunch," she said.

"I was going to bring a small lamb, just in case," Harold explained, "But I thought I'd bring a pizza as well. I've heard humans like them. When it arrived, this young lady came with it, so to speak."

"I didn't know you liked pizza," Laura said.

"I've never tried it," Harold said. "I thought I might taste one, for a change."

"I said I really hoped he'd enjoy it," Chris chipped in, "And he said, 'Frankly, I'd rather eat you'".

"And you just said 'Okay then'? That's dedication to customer service if ever I heard it."

"It was an impulse thing," Chris explained. "When the door opened, I thought 'Omigod it's a space monster and it's going to eat me' and I got all excited. A bit scared, too, but mostly excited. But he was all polite and nice and that was sort of a relief but I guess I was a little disappointed too, you know? Then he said he'd rather eat me than the pizza, maybe joking, and I almost came in my pants. I said 'really?' and we talked and sort of flirted a bit and one thing led to another and here I am. I hope you don't mind."

"No, that's okay," Laura said. It would have been mean to spoil Chris's fun in the circumstances. "I'm sure you'll be delicious." Well, Chris would certainly take the edge off Harold's appetite, she thought. That should be a relief but in fact she had to admit to herself that she wasn't entirely sure she liked the idea. Was Harold's appetite for her own flesh part of his attraction? Did she really enjoy being seen as food? Well, if that was all their relationship was about she might as well find out now. Besides, it might be fun watching the girl get eaten.

"Thanks," Chris said brightly. "I hope I will be."

Oh well. She seemed nice enough, Laura thought, and she'd be gone soon anyway.

The limo descended to the beach and the little party got out, Harold chivalrously carrying Laura's hamper. He'd also brought a tablecloth and a small barrel. The limo took off and Chris helped Laura unpack the food and wine. They did attract a few curious glances, and one of a group of girls playing volleyball in the nude missed an easy return, but nobody said anything.

"Would you like to stay for a while, have a glass of wine or something before you go?" Laura offered.

"I don't want to get in the way," Chris demurred. "I mean, this is your date, I'm just part of the picnic. I could go down the hatch now...?"

"There's no hurry," Laura said generously. "Relax."

"No problem at all," Harold agreed.

"Well, if you don't mind...." Chris started to peel off the jacket, cap, T-shirt, shorts and shoes she had on, leaving nothing but a brief pair of white panties. She was a uniform golden brown colour and had small, firm breasts.

Laura wasn't gay but she could almost have eaten the girl herself. She poured her a glass of wine and dropped her robe. "Sandwich?" she offered.

"Ooh, yes, please. I haven't had anything since breakfast. What have you got?"

"These are pastrami," Laura explained and went on to list the contents of the hamper, ending with "And there's plenty of fruit. Just help yourself." She couldn't grudge the girl her last meal.

"Lovely, thanks." Chris took a pastrami sandwich and an apple. "I've been kind of wondering," she said as she sat on the sand sipping her wine and munching. "If you Rall...Rilli"

"Rallifrexians," Laura supplied.

"Thanks. If you...um..what she said...like eating people so much, why don't you just invade and take over? Then you could eat anybody you liked." The prospect didn't seem to trouble her.

"Invade Earth?" Harold made a choking sound that probably approximated laughter. "Ethical questions aside, how? We couldn't land enough troops, if we had troops, which we don't. The whole population of Rallifrex wouldn't be enough if we could get them here, which we can't. There are billions of you and you're frighteningly good with weapons, which we're not. We may look impressive enough to you, we're bigger and stronger individually, but you're much better armed."

"Nukes and stuff, you mean?"

"Pointed sticks would do. A human - a teenaged girl from Japan - once defeated a Sirian with a broken table leg. Humans can make weapons out of anything. It's a Galactic proverb."

"What's a Sirian?"

"Giant amphibious squid, basically. They used to like poaching humans."

"Used to?" Laura was curious. "And now?"

"They try to avoid you. They're scared. We Rallifrexians prefer diplomacy. We're not warlike at all. We just hope you won't invade us. We wouldn't stand a chance if you really got mad at us."

"Gosh, I never thought of it like that," Chris said. "Silly question, huh?"

"Don't feel too bad," Laura said. "I didn't even know they ate people until I went to the Embassy." She frowned thoughtfully. "Isn't the Embassy technically Rallifrexian territory?"

"Technically, yes, I suppose. I'm not that well versed in human legalisms."

"How'd you get to be an ambassador if you're not good at legal stuff?" Chris wondered.

"None of us are very good at legal stuff," Harold said. "I'm no worse than most. I'm here because I like humans and I speak English."

"Don't you have those translator thingies?"

"No, we're just good at languages and we can mimic any sound we hear. I learned from speaking to tourists from Earth. I had a very long and fascinating talk with one of them before I ate her. I'd never tasted anything so delicious. I felt a bit guilty afterwards because I'm not sure she really wanted to be eaten."

"Whatever gave you that impression?" Laura wondered wryly. "Was it something she said?"

"Something along the lines of 'Eeek! No! Please don't eat me'," Harold admitted. "I told myself she was only playing hard to get, but that was probably just self-serving rationalisation. After I stimulated her a bit, she seemed to enjoy it, in the end anyway."

"Of course she did," Chris said. "What did she think would happen? Maybe she just got cold feet, but you helped her get over it."

"Naughty of you, though," Laura reproved him mildly. "Still, your planet, your rules. She must have known that when she went." On the other hand, she thought, I didn't bother to check when I went to the embassy. "I was just thinking, if the embassy is your territory, couldn't you just have swallowed me whether I gave you permission or not? You know, when we were....um.."

"We probably could do that sort of thing, but generally we don't. It might be seen as provocative."

"I thought it was a matter of ethics and honour and so on," Laura said.

"It is for me, I like to think. I like humans, as I said. For some of the rest, it's self preservation. Anybody in the embassy who breaks the rules, if he's caught, gets sent back home and executed."

"That's harsh," Chris said sympathetically.

"You have capital punishment?" Laura asked.

"We do now. Anyone who provokes a war between us and humans is risking racial extermination. Don't worry about invasion, it's impossible and the topic makes me nervous."

"Sorry," Chris said. "I didn't think space monsters got nervous. No offense. So no lurking in dark alleys at night waiting for unsuspecting victims?"

"No, and besides I'm not really built to lurk. In the jungles back home, maybe, but on Earth I'd stick out like a sore thumb."

"And no grabbing teenage girls in flimsy nightgowns out of their beds and devouring them while they kick and scream helplessly?"

"I'm afraid not."

"What a shame," Chris said. "They should let you hunt us, that would be fun. Whoever heard of people-eating thingies having to ask first?" She was lying on her stomach, propped up on her elbows, her small, pretty feet kicking idly in the air. "I used to fantasise about some alien thingy coming in through the window at night, grabbing me in its tentacles and gobbling me up."

"A traditionalist," Laura noted. Chris nodded.

"Well, I've got plenty of tentacles and I can certainly gobble you up," Harold said helpfully. "You could always lie down and pretend you're in bed before I eat you."

Chris giggled.

"Have a banana," Laura suggested. "Harold could probably do with some fruit in his diet."

"Hey, that's right," Chris realised. "Whatever goes into me ends up in him. Cool!" She held her hand out for the banana. "You don't mind, Harold?"

"Not all all," Harold said. "Feel free."

Laura bit into a samosa. "When are you going to have *your* lunch?" she asked Harold. "Not that I'm trying to get rid of you," she added to Chris, who just shrugged 'no problem'.

"Oh, whenever she's ready," Harold said. "No hurry."

"I'm ready any time you want me," Chris said nonchalantly. "I'm just part of the picnic food, remember?" She took another bite of the banana.

"You do realise this is actually happening?" Laura wondered curiously. Was the girl off her head? Was she?

"Oh yeah," Chris said, "Great, isn't it? Look, I know what you're thinking, she's crazy. Well, maybe I am, but you know when I said it was an impulse thing? I've thought about it before.You know when you talk with your friends about doing something out there, like parachuting or climbing Everest? You say, yeah, maybe I could do that, right? But if you really, honestly think about it you know deep down whether you would or not if you got the chance. Well, I did that. And I thought, if I really met a space monster, would I let it eat me? And I figured yeah, I probably would. No offense with the 'monster' bit, Harold."

"None taken," Harold said. "I AM a monster. As in something out of the ordinary, a prodigy or a gigantic animal. Which by human standards, I am."

"I suppose that makes me a monster's Moll," Laura mused. "Oh, well, each to their own. Live and let live. Or not, in your case."

"Excuse me," a female voice inquired. It was one of the naked volleyball players, looking slightly nervous. "Are you really a Rallifrexian?" Laura could see the girl's friends watching her, commenting and grinning from a safe distance.

"Yes," Harold replied.

"And do you really...er..." the girl glanced at Chris and Laura.

"Eat people? Yes, I do. I was just about to have my first course. Would you like to stay for lunch and be dessert?" Harold extended a tentative tentacle in the direction of the girl's belly. "You do look quite tender and tasty. Don't be shy..."

She squeaked and took a quick step back. "N-no thanks," she said, backing further away. "Sorry to have bothered you..." she turned and walked off quickly, trying not to run. Her friends laughed.

"No bother, do come again," Harold sent after her. He extended another tentacle, slipped it under the waist of Chris's panties and began to pull them down her legs.

"Guess it's chow time," Chris said, "Hope I'm yummy." She wriggled a bit to help Harold get the panties off. Harold deposited them on the pile of her other clothes.

"I have no doubt you will be," Laura said. She watched in fascination as Harold lifted Chris off the ground with his external tentacles while internal ones - tongues? - slid out of his mouth and all over the wriggling girl.

"'Eeek, no, please don't eat me," Chris said, giggling. "Just kidding," she added. "Hey, I just realised, should I have shaved my pubes?" Laura could see she had a neatly trimmed 'V' of pubic hair. "Won't the fuzz tickle your throat or something?"

"No more than will the hair on your head," Harold reassured her. "It's just roughage." He picked up the small barrel, pulled off the lid and poured the contents into his mouth. "An aperitif, as you would say," he commented.

Laura poured herself another glass of wine and held it up. "Cheers," she said. "And bon appetit." An odd thought struck her. What DID Chris taste like? "Hey, Chris?"

"Yesss...uh....yes?" Chris gasped.

"Would you mind if I tasted you?"

"No. I mean yes, go ahead. Feel free. Bite a chunk of me off, if you like. I'm just food now."

Harold swung the girl over to Laura. Laura took hold of Chris's left ankle and licked the sole of her foot. Then she pulled her closer and licked her smoothly muscled calf. Lightly salty, quite pleasant. "Not bad at all," she said. "If I were a people-eating alien I'd definitely eat you."

"Ohhh..." Chris uttered.

"Try this," Harold offered. He pulled Chris's legs apart and swung them over Laura's shoulders, offering the girl's pussy to Laura's mouth.

Laura wasn't gay, but she wasn't homophobic either, so why not? She'd had a boyfriend who liked to 'eat' her and she'd occasionally wondered what she tasted like. She hesitated. Still, it would be rude not to ask. "Chris?"

"Please. Please do..."

Laura ducked her head between Chris's thighs and tasted her pussy. She spread the girl's labia and went in deep. She worked around in there, occasionally lapping the clitoris, until she sensed that Chris was on the edge by the fact that the girl's lean but muscular thighs were threatening to crush her head. If her brains popped out, she was sure Harold would eat them too. "Mmmph!" she grunted.

"No problem," Harold said, as if she'd spoken. He pulled Chris's legs apart again and dragged her into his mouth. Chris screamed on a high note, like a girl on a roller-coaster. Laura watched her disappear with mixed feelings. It struck her that Harold could just as easily have pulled her apart like a cooked chicken. That had been interesting, she told herself calmly, but she was shaking a little. She licked her lips and then wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

"This is why we like to eat humans," Harold said conversationally. "Our females are quite tasty and sensual but you are so much more complex, more passionate...." He fell silent for a while.

Laura imagined him chewing Chris up. His head was making sort of chewing motions but he was probably just 'stimulating' her. She almost envied the girl, but she reminded herself firmly that she wouldn't be coming out again; she was on a one-way trip through Harold's intestines. She hoped it would be a pleasant experience for Chris. "Will it hurt her?" she asked.

"No," Harold said, "My digestive system contains a narcotic that prevents larger prey from trying to fight their way out. It works just as well with humans." He opened his mouth a little.

Chris popped her head out. "This is fantastic," she gasped. "You should try it. Eeep!" She slipped back inside again as if being dragged. "Bye, Laura, nice meeting you!"

"You too," Laura said. She lay back on the sand and sunbathed for a while to let Harold enjoy his meal in peace, and vice versa. After a few minutes, she decided she might as well take her bikini off to avoid getting tan lines. She thought about putting sunscreen on, but if Harold wanted to 'taste' her later that probably wouldn't be a good idea. She was nodding off to the Brandenburg Concertos on her earphones when she heard her name called.

"Laura?" Harold called quietly, not wanting to disturb her.

"Mm..sorry, I was miles away. Chris?"

"Being digested," Harold said. "Releasing her inner flavours. Were you listening to Bach?"

"Yes, why?"

"I wish you could explain it to me. Human music is so complex. I heard some at a party once. Your popular music took me long enough, but when I first heard Bach I was totally lost. A young lady called Angelina told me that it might help if I ingested some recreational chemicals which she'd had some experience with herself. LSD and THC, I think. She had some inside her when I ate her and just for a moment I thought I, um, 'grokked' it? That's what she said. It's not a real word, I think..."

Laura's attempt to explain took some time. "The thing is," she said at last, "You can analyse Bach all you like and it gets you nowhere. You either get it or you don't. You have to let go and let it take you. Eat the music, as Kate Bush said. Or maybe it eats you..." A thought occurred to her. "You said earlier 'I was going to bring a small lamb, just in case'. In case of what?"

"In case you didn't let me eat you," Harold said.

"I never said you could..."

"I know. But one may hope...."

"Fair enough." Laura packed Chris's discarded clothes into the hamper. "Mustn't leave the beach untidy," she commented. "Besides, the cap and jacket belong to the pizza place, they may want them back."

"That's true," Harold agreed. "I also owe them for the pizza, and I must thank them for their excellent service."

Laura giggled. "I don't think 'a free girl with every order' is part of their standard policy," she said.

"No, but one may hope," Howard replied.

"You're incorrigible," Laura said.

"That's me," Harold admitted. "Care for a stroll along the beach?"

"I don't know," Laura said. "I think I may have had enough sun for one day."

"No problem," Harold said, opening his mouth, "You can ride inside if you like. I'll carry the hamper."

"Well..." Laura mused. She was naked already, so why not? Of course, Harold had just eaten Chris with that mouth and probably pleasured her in it first, but who was she to be squeamish about it? She'd even tasted Chris herself. She'd quite liked the girl in the end too, or getting into a mouth she'd just been in might have felt a bit icky. "All right then," she said, stuffing her bikini into the hamper with Chris's clothes, and climbed inside, sitting down cross-legged, facing the entrance. "Just don't swallow me."

"Not unless you ask me to, of course," Harold said primly, inserting a tongue/tentacle into her pussy.

Laura could feel the thick, warm probe slipping into her. She wriggled her buttocks a bit, opening herself, inviting it to go deeper. When it was comfortably fitted, she settled down. "Okay," she said. "Let's go for that walk." She did feel a bit like one of the oysters in 'The Walrus and the Carpenter' for a moment, but she shrugged the thought aside. "Where are we going?"

"Oh, nowhere in particular," Harold said negligently. "Just taking in the sights, enjoying the scenery, you know."

What 'scenery' Laura could see through Harold's slightly open mouth mainly consisted of a closer view of the volleyball girls. "You're just ogling the menu," she accused.

"No harm in looking," Harold replied mildly. "They do look rather delicious, don't you think?"

From her current perspective, Laura had to admit that they did. She was getting the girl-gobbling space monster's point of view in more ways than one. "I suppose so," she admitted. All that naked female flesh bouncing about in the fresh air must have looked like a living banquet to Harold.

"Eep! It's the Space Monster again!" one of the girls exclaimed.

"Rallifrexian," her friend corrected her, the bolder one who'd approached them before, a slim, athletic girl. To Harold, she added "And no, I don't want to be your dessert." She glanced at the bare sand where the picnic had been. "You've already had two, don't be greedy."

Harold didn't correct her misconception. "Fair enough," he said, "But if you ever change your mind, just ask for 'Harold' at the embassy."

"If I ever fancy getting gobbled up, 'Harold', you'll be the first to know."

"There's a bit more to it than that," Harold said suggestively, something of a leer in his voice.

"I'm sure. Now, if you don't mind, we were playing a game.....?"

"Of course, dear lady." He ambled off.

"Flirt," Laura muttered.

"Never hurts to ask," Harold replied.

"And so soon after poor Chris. Have you no respect?"

"'Poor' Chris practically jumped down my throat," Harold pointed out.

"And now she's being digested...." Laura mused. Well, it was true, Chris hadn't exactly played hard to get. Now she was down in Harold's stomach, dissolving into girly nutrients, while she was riding in his mouth like his potential second course. Images flashed into her mind. The beach bare where the picnic had been, her clothes in the hamper with Chris's, several witnesses who would swear she'd been Harold's willing victim. Maybe she was food already and she just didn't know it. The tongue/tentacle thingy pulsed inside her and she shuddered in an exquisitely pleasurable pang of fear and arousal.

She tried to imagine how Chris must have felt, knowing she was about to be eaten and that this would be her last orgasm. "Ohhh..." she gasped.

"Everything all right in there?" Harold inquired politely.

"Ummmm...taste me? Please?" Laura begged.

"Happy to oblige." Harold enveloped Laura in teasing, tasting tongue tentacles.

"Can we play a game?" Laura gasped.

"I'm not very good at games. Chess? Charades?"

"Not that sort of game. Fuck me and pretend you're going to eat me. I'll probably say 'Eat me' at the end when I get carried away but we're just playing, right?"

"Right..." Sometimes Harold wished he had the projective empathy powers of an Aldebaranian. All those damned Space Toads had to do was get their tongues into what was sometimes indelicately referred to as a lady's snatch and she immediately wanted to be food. In his darker moments, he sometimes also wished he wasn't burdened with ethical standards, which the damned Space Toads didn't have either. He could probably eat Laura for real now and get away with it. "I may get carried away myself," he murmured suggestively, "You're sooo tasty..."

"Oh, that's good," Laura said. "Keep talking dirty." She sprawled back wantonly with her legs wide apart.

"Dirty?" Harold sounded puzzled. "I don't understand. You ARE tasty, but you're very clean too."

"Don't worry about it, you're doing fine," Laura reassured him breathily. "Say, Harold? Do you digest our bones too?"

"No," Harold said. "Or at least not much of them. We don't have skeletons like yours so we don't need so much calcium."

Laura imagined her own flesh dissolving into girl jelly while her bare bones sank down to the bottom of Harold's stomach to mingle with Chris's. She shuddered. "And then what do you do with them?" she asked faintly.

"Um, we regurgitate them," Harold said, sounding faintly uncomfortable. Maybe even Rallifrexians had qualms about discussing their bodily functions.

"No need to be embarrassed", Laura said. "It's perfectly natural." Her toes curled. She imagined her bleached bones lying on the sandy beach, some passing stranger seeing what was left of her and wondering who she had been. She wondered if she'd make a pretty skeleton. Maybe a medical student would put her back together and keep her in his study. "Do you eat our brains too?"

"Oh yes, of course," Harold said, no longer sounding discomfited. "It would be rude not to. Besides, there are certain benefits...."

"Like what?" Being intrigued and pre-orgasmic at the same time was a new sensation for Laura.

"I think you call it RNA transfer. We Rallifrexians don't understand the theory, we're not geneticists, but it seems...um...."

"Don't keep me in suspense," Laura begged. Any moment now she'd be over the top.

"The more women we eat, the better we are at it."

"You learn how to be good girl gobblers..."

"By, um, gobbling girls, as you put it."

"Practice makes perfect.."

"It's not just practice. We don't have the Aldebaranian contact empathy thing, but we do seem to get something more when we eat your brains. Not that your other parts aren't perfectly delightful, you understand..."

"Of course."

"I mean, I thoroughly enjoyed sucking Chris's entrails out through her anterior passage..."

"You eat our guts first?" Laura's belly muscles clenched.

"Not always. It was her idea. The first time I ate a human, I hardly knew where to start. Everything looked and tasted so good...."

Laura could sympathise. You go to a finger buffet, where do you start? The chicken vol-au-vents or a cocktail sausage? She drifted away a bit.

"..but Chris wanted me to eat her insides while she was still alive, so..."

Laura blinked. "You started eating her while you were fucking her?" It sounded intriguing.

"Yes. Your idea about the fruit was a good one. Chris thought so too."

"Well, I hope the samosas don't make me too spicy," Laura said. "I'd hate to give you
indigestion."

"I'm sure you'll be delicious however you're seasoned," Harold said politely.

Laura remembered saying something similar to Chris before she'd become Harold's lunch. Or
maybe just the first course? A seductive sense of inevitability tugged at her mind. She was food,
why fight it? "Harold?"

"Yes?"

"I'm not going to talk much for a while." She gulped. "Take me as far as you can, without, you
know...?"

"I'll try," Harold said.

"And do it any way you want to."

Laura knew she was tempting Harold, possibly past the limits of his self-control, but the
seduction of taking the risk had already pushed her past the limits of her own. She would just
have to relax and let go, trusting herself to Harold's integrity and willpower. If she'd guessed
wrong, there was nothing she could do about it. She would be eaten. That would be the end of
her. And she'd never get to hear Liz say "I told you so." Well, there was a bright side to
everything, and if she didn't get eaten, she'd be the one who got to say it. She giggled inanely. It
was a win-win scenario. She relaxed and let him take her. Harold's tentacular tongues enveloped
and invaded her and she let herself dissolve into a mindless creature of pure sensation.

Laura woke up some time later on the sand under a Westering sun. There was a pile of bleached
bones next to her. Small, feminine bones. Dazedly, she poked herself in the ribs. Not hers, then.
She sat up and looked around. Yes, she was still alive. And there was...

"Are you all right?" Harold asked. "For a minute there, I thought you'd died. I was just about to
swallow you when I remembered you fainted last time and checked to see that you were still
breathing."

"That was good of you," Laura said. "For a minute there, I thought I'd died too. Actually, I feel
fine." So, it had really been that close. Harold could have swallowed her and digested her alive
while she was in her post-orgasmic coma. Oh well, she'd known the risks. "Best sex ever."

"Even better than last time?" Harold inquired with pardonable pride.

"Even better," Laura confirmed.

"It was good for me too," Harold said. "But I'm afraid I've got to go, embassy business. They're
sending the car for me, I can drop you off at home on the way. Another time?"

"Absolutely. And if you want to bring another girl to eat, that's fine too. I enjoyed meeting Chris, I
liked her."

"That's good. I was afraid when I brought her along that it might be a bit awkward...."

"I thought so myself at first," Laura admitted. "Silly of me, really. I knew you liked eating people
when I agreed to the date." And after going off at Liz about it, she chided herself. She'd have to
phone her when she got home.

>
>

"You've got to be kidding me," Liz said. "He ate the pizza girl?"

"Yes," Laura said. "So? He was hungry and she was willing." She absently stroked the feminine
skull Harold had left her as a souvenir, wondering where she should put it. End of the bookshelf?
She hoped Harold wouldn't get into trouble with the pizza delivery place. He'd said he would get
the uniform back to them. "But the sex......God, you wouldn't believe it."

"Pretty oral, huh?"

"It doesn't get any more oral than that. But it's more.... "

"Okay, spill, all the gory details."

Laura did, at great and lascivious length.

"You are certifiably insane." A pause. "That good? Really?"

"I could introduce you," Laura said. "I'm not the jealous type."